Daughter Complains That Her Toyota 'Violently' Accelerates. Then Dad Realizes She's Been Driving It In The Wrong Gear—For 2 Years

"Should genuinely be a misdemeanor."

Daughter complains that her car 'violently' accelerates. Then Dad realizes she's been driving it in the wrong gear—for 2 years

Photo by: hanahbananaspammy & Andrei Poenalte

Nina Hernandez

By: Nina Hernandez

Dec 1, 2025 at 5:00pm ET

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A daughter reveals what happened after she told her dad that her car was "violently" accelerating. After inspection, it was revealed that she had driven it in the wrong gear for multiple years.

TikTok creator Hannah (@hanahbananaspammy) posted a video about her dad’s discovery on November 19. In the video’s text overlay, she writes, "My car accelerates very violently and I told my dad about it. Long story short, I’ve been driving it in the wrong gear and frying my engine for the past two years."

In the comments section, viewers offered feedback and made some harsh assumptions about Hannah’s overall driving capabilities.

"Vehicular incompetence should genuinely be a misdemeanor," wrote one viewer.

"I can’t believe how easy it is to get a license," said a second person.

"I feel like people should be more educated on their cars before they should drive," suggested a third viewer. "Similar to how a pilot has to know their plane."

Another person asked, "How do you possibly drive in the wrong gear? If it’s manual, you go to 1. If it’s automatic, just don’t go into manual mode."

Someone else asked, "Couldn’t you tell by the extremely high RPM?"

However, others asked everyone to cut Hannah a little slack. "You guys are judging her way too hard for something she has to do to survive (drive)," wrote one of her defenders.

Daughter Explains Why She Drove in Wrong Gear

Hannah edited the caption after the hullabaloo in the comments to defend her driving skills. "I don’t know who is telling y’all that I drive in low gear," she wrote. "I don’t nor have I ever unless needed. To those of you calling me incompetent and saying I need to give my license back? I don’t know. I’m a pretty good driver. I’ve been told by a few people."

She continued, "Me shifting my car a little bit to the left in the gears has nothing to do with my driving skills. I made an explanation video. Please watch it before you comment something about this not knowing the full story."

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In the follow-up video, Hannah reveals that her car has an automatic transmission, not a manual, as some viewers had assumed. She explains that she was supposed to put the car in the Drive position, but instead, she shifted it over into fourth gear by mistake.

Automatic transmissions allow drivers to select the gear they want to drive in. Lower gears are ideal for slower speeds and rough conditions. Higher gears are generally used when drivers are moving at higher speeds.

Viewers Apologize for Jumping to Conclusions

In the comments section of the follow-up video, some people said Hannah was unfairly judged the first time around.

"The ‘4’ option is just gears 1-4," wrote one person. "It’ll stop shifting up at fourth gear. If it’s a five-speed auto, you just weren’t using fifth gear. No big deal, no ‘engine frying’ has occurred. Probably just lower highway MPG."

What do you think?

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A second agreed. "All you did was lock the transmission out of the highest gear/overdrive. Basically, you spent more money on gas, and that’s it. Your engine and transmission are fine."

Motor1 contacted Hannah via TikTok comment and direct messages for comment. We also reached out to Toyota via email for comment. We’ll update this if either responds.

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