Most of us have had a moment behind the wheel where we got a little too enthusiastic with the throttle. Usually it ends with nothing worse than a wide-eyed passenger and a story to tell later. For one Moses Lake man, that moment ended with his 1984 pickup truck parked, quite literally, inside a Starbucks.
According to the Moses Lake Police Department, the incident happened just after 6 a.m. when 61-year-old Gregery Kaufmann left the roadway on Kittleson Road and drove straight into the drive-through of a local Starbucks. The impact caused significant damage to the building. After the truck came to rest inside the structure, Kaufmann reportedly backed it out and away from the building before finally stopping for good.
Witnesses on scene told police Kaufmann had been driving with headphones on before the crash, which is its own head-scratcher for a story that only gets more interesting from there. Skid marks and witness accounts indicate he accelerated hard coming off Maiers Road onto Kittleson, fishtailed a few times trying to wrestle the old pickup back under control, and ultimately lost that battle in dramatic fashion.
At least one Starbucks employee was hurt in the collision, though Kaufmann himself walked away unscathed. The store was forced to shut down for the day while crews assessed and began repairing the damage.
A Truck, Some Throttle, and a Very Bad Decision
Old trucks like a 1984 model can be a blast to drive, but they don’t exactly come loaded with the electronic nannies we take for granted today. No traction control, no stability control, just a driver, a throttle, and whatever tires happened to be on it that morning.
When you combine that with an “overaccelerated” launch onto a public road, you’re rolling the dice on physics doing what physics does.
Headphones Behind the Wheel
The detail about Kaufmann wearing headphones while driving stood out to more than a few people following this story.
Whether or not it played any direct role in the crash, it’s a good reminder that anything limiting your awareness on the road, whether that’s music blasting in your ears or a phone buzzing in your lap, is one more variable working against you when things go sideways.
Kaufmann is being cited for reckless driving. He reportedly told officers he was, in his own colorful words, just fooling around behind the wheel. That kind of candor might earn him a chuckle from the internet, but it’s unlikely to do much for him with the citation.
Our Take
Look, we’ve all wanted to hear an old truck bark a little coming off a corner. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a vehicle. But public roads next to buildings full of people ordering their morning lattes are not the place to find out how much throttle is too much throttle.
Save the theatrics for an empty parking lot or, better yet, a track day. At least there, the only thing you risk taking out is a cone.