About 20 years ago, when I was only 18 and just getting started in the auto repair business, I did not know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle, so a coworker volunteered to teach me. We got out on the highway, drove some back roads and did parking lot maneuvers. When we parked inside the shop, he told me to put the transmission in neutral, apply the parking brake and shut the engine off. I did exactly what he said. The lesson went smoothly. Being the new kid, I did not have my own service bay/lift, so I had to wait for one to open up. I went about checking over what I could on the vehicle without putting it on a lift. After a brief break, I realized that a bay had opened up, but rather than immediately claiming the open bay, I waited for the mechanic who had been using it to come back, just to make sure he did not need it anymore. What I failed to realize was that when I was on my break, he had moved the car I was working on backwards about two feet so he could get out of his bay. I also did not notice that he left it in gear with the parking brake off. I needed to start the vehicle for some reason I cannot remember, so what did I do (remember, 18 years old)? I opened the drivers door, carefully propped my RIGHT half on the seat, pressed the clutch in with my RIGHT foot and turned the key. Why would I need the brake? The car was in neutral, or so I thought! As I let the clutch out, the car lurched forward, and I fell to the floor. It ran over my left foot, and the driverless car crashed into the dealership's body shop. The customer's car was totaled. As the shock slowly wore off, I explained my mistake to the service manager, leaving any mention of the other technician out. It was my fault and I owned up to it. Believe it or not, they did not fire me. My manager gave me a few days off, sans pay, and I worked at that shop for seven more years until they closed. To this day, I cannot get into a stick shift car without instinctively putting my right foot on the brake and wiggling the shifter to make sure it is in neutral. Bob in Albuquerque