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Columnist Peter Cheney's mother, Tharon Cheney, in his Fiat 600 (which she later backed into a ditch)Peter Cheney

Last week, in honour of Mother's Day, we had Peter Cheney (My loving mother was the worst driver. Ever) and Dianne Nice (Mom traded a 1967 Mustang for motherhood and a Pinto. "Regrets?") tell us about their Moms.

We then asked our readers to send their favourite stories about Mom and driving. Here are a few of our favourite replies.

My Dad was stationed for years at Camp Petawawa, Ontario and my Mom, who had 7 kids to chauffeur around all day usually drove my Dad to work at the base. One morning away they went and she stopped along the edge of an 3 foot embankment by a huge parade square where row after row of uniformed soldiers were being put through their paces. My Dad got out and my Mom tried to pull away and things went downhill from there. Our puppy decided to try to go after my Dad and got wedged between the steering wheel and the gear shift lever and Mom was forced to turn the wheel the opposite direction to free the puppy. Unfortunately the turn was just enough to make the car go nose down over the embankment and it landed on its side, trapping my unhurt mother inside. Immediately hundred of soldiers surged to the rescue of the lady in distress. However, my Mom did not want to be rescued and put up quite a fight, which she lost. You see, she was dressed in only a nightgown and had curlers in her hair as she was successfully rescued and stood up amid a crowd of soldiers with smiling faces. Who do you think was the most embarrassed? Mom? Dad? or the soldiers? To the family it is still funny today! - Mrs. Patricia Rainey Campbell River B.C.

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One time my Mom was driving my sister and I out to our cottage in our van. I think I was around 12 and my sister was around 10. My sister and I were fighting the entire drive out to the cottage until we were on our cottage lane way and my Mom finally had enough. Mom started yelling at us to pipe down but in the process missed a turn in the road and ended up in the ditch.

Miraculously my sister and I immediately stopped fighting our Mom sat in a silent rage in the driver seat. The next car to go down the lane luckily had chains and was able to pull us out.

We quickly named the corner "Dead Woman's Corner" and thankfully are able to all laugh about it now. - Chris, Renfrew, Ontario

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Mom backed up till she"hit"something(usually a tree)then ahead. Arthritis made it difficult to look back. No longer driving :) - Cliff McGrath via Twitter

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Listening to soft rock on the way to school. Singing along. Ruining Van Morrison for me forever. - Stephen Smysnuik via Twitter

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Mom was screaming along in her Simca's 3rd gear and turned to me to ask if there was another gear. - Kenneth Wade Johns via Twitter

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My daughter might argue that title goes to me. - Mary Ellen Davis via Twitter

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Sitting in the back while my dad taught her standard. Husbands should never ... I repeat never teach their wives this skill! OMG she was terrible and bless her heart she never got any better! Subsequently, mothers that can't drive standard should not teach their teenage daughters either! On a lighter note ... Belting out Roxannne ... The Police ... enroute to the cottage! Best mom ever ... Lost her too young!

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A few years ago I arrived at the Halifax airport from Toronto where my mother picked me up. She had just gotten back from a road trip to the states. Before her trip she picked up a new GPS to navigate her way around. She was very happy with her purchase to say the least.

As we pulled away from the airport parking lot she proceeded to tell me all about how valuable the GPS was, how much easier it made her solo trek through the north east. She was so happy about her purchase and even how well the 'sales clerk' had treated her and what a deal she got.

Well, a half an hour later of all places we pulled back up to the airport exactly where she had picked me up. - Matt Howe - Toronto

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Our mother learned to drive when she had four children under the age of seven, and a fifth on the way. Newly arrived in Canada, our family had recently acquired an enormous 1953 Pontiac Strato Chief, already a bit of an antique. As we lived on the grounds of the rural psychiatric hospital where our father worked, miles from anything like shops or schools, our father decided that it was best that our mother learn to drive. So he persuaded a Maltese neighbour, Mr. Formosa, who was an orderly at the hospital, to teach our mother how to drive. As seatbelts and babysitters had not yet been invented, this meant that the four of us occupied the back seat in an unstructured way, while Mum and our unborn brother sat in the driver's seat with Mr. Formosa beside them, explaining about clutches and gears and so on, in his broken English. Mum, who found it hard to understand Canadian accents at the best of times, was as mystified by Mr. Formosa's explanations as he was by her Highland Scottish accent. We've never been sure who gave up first, Mum or Mr. Formosa, but she never acquired a driver's licence. Her children later found her invaluable as a passenger, once they learned to drive, because she had an uncanny ability to locate a parking space: a valuable skill once we moved to downtown Toronto. Long after her death, we still call on Mum whenever we need a place to park. - Eya Donald Greenland, Toronto

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My Mom and I were driving home and it very very foggy. We were worried about not being able to see and to be seen. We were driving very very slow. It was so foggy for about 30 kms. As we were driving and chatting and all of a sudden my Mom put the brakes on suddenly. We saw this black something in the middle of our lane. I was like, what is that? My Mom started laughing, it was a beaver crossing the highway. It was hilarious. We had wait for the beaver to get to the other side. As we drove by, it flap its tail in the creek on the other side. My Mom just "don't know why he's upset. - Karen Mustus, Edmonton, AB.

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When I was 14, my mom was driving home, she gets into the driveway and I guess didnt put the gear into park properly. she gets out of the car (in a hurry, dont remember why)...the car obviously starts moving back and she ends up running over her own foot. I was in the passenger seat. Had to jump into the drivers seat and stop the car from hitting the kids that were playing in the area. terrible!

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My Mom was a beautiful woman, with a warm heart and love for life like no other. But she drove like it was Armageddon and she was humanity's last salvation. Red lights were a signal to speed up and then slam on the brakes as hard as possible at the last minute. I think I still have the seatbelt marks embedded across my shoulder. She once sped away, squealing the tires no less, after getting a speeding ticket. It's a testament only to that police officers generous heart that she did not get another ticket. Or maybe, like any of the rest of us who dared get in a car with Mom, he was just in a state of profound shock, unable to react. Although my Mom is gone now, sadly, I can't help but smile in remembrance every time I pull up to a red light (slowly). - Alicja Parlak, Mississauga, ON @AlicjaAP

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Having Mom tell me "blind spots" don't exist since she can't see them. Lane change = near death experience. – LLSturla, via Twitter

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lol don't talk to your dad, he is driving and needs to concentrate - as she held onto the armrest with both hands. - Lynne/CarlynServices, via Twitter

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My Mum drove a yellow and black Dodge Dart. We called it the taxi. It was the seventies and the music was the best and my Mum would crank the stero and jam to the tunes with only using her thumbs on the steering wheel. I am now in my 50's now and when I drive I do the exact same thing! The apple and tree - you know?

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If you have questions about driving or car maintenance, please contact our experts at globedrive@globeandmail.com.

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