Red cars cause accidents.
When I was around 5 my older brother told me that red cars are in the most accidents. Obviously, he was quoting something statistical. For years I thought there was something intrinsically dangerous with red cars and was puzzled why people would intentionally purchase something that was known as "more dangerous".

Chris Doyle

There used to be kids, wherever we drove, who would hide at the sides of the road and throw stones at me and the car I was in. I'd always peek out of the windows, looking for them, but I never caught a glimpse. They must be extremely good at hiding, I guessed.

Not until much later did I realise that the stones thrown by these evil kids were just the tyres throwing up gravel against the car.

ethan

I used to believe that the lane divider reflector bumps in the road were to alert blind people when they were changing lanes.

Nonny

When I was little, I thought that when you wound down the window in the car, it would actually roll up into a cylinder of glass. This wouldn't have been too bad, except it took me until I was fifteen to realise that couldn't happen.

Anon

When I was a kid, I loved music. I used to sing along to the radio in the car with my parents, and somehow I got the idea that other people would think I was a famous singer and move out of the way in their cars. So if my parents were in a hurry, I used to sing until the car ahead of us switched lanes.

Theresa

My Dad convinced me that the button on the top of the emergency brake in the car, if pressed, would eject him from the car through the roof, and leave me in danger in a car with no Daddy driving it. I guess this kept me from pressing it, but its a good thing I never got angry with him.

Anon

When I was little driving in the car with my father, I almost pulled up the emergency brake. He told me that it was the lever for the ejector seat and if I pulled it I would be thrown from the car. I believed this until I started driving.

Angel

i used to think that the slogan those old gas stations said "Happy Murdering" instead of "Happy Motoring." it really confused me...

eliot

I used to believe that the speed of our car depended on how strong my father’s legs were. I thought that we went uphill more slowly because he couldn’t press the gas pedal hard enough. I now think I’d made an analogy with the brake pedal. Once, our crowded car stalled while going up a hill and my dad said something like “The engine’s not up to this.” I was very puzzled because until then I’d thought that the engine’s job was just to amplify my father’s effort. I asked him about it, but it took several questions and a looong time for him to understand me.

Pablo Zumarán

When I was young (5-6) I was terrifed of going to the automobile repair shop. I had heard people refer to them as "THE BODY SHOP" and I was positive that no good could come of going to a place that stored dead bodies.

theshoppe

When I was about 5 or 6 my mum and I got in a car wreck when the wheel slipped on a sheet of ice. We did 1 or 2 360s that my mum called donuts later when she was explaining to the family what happened. So, for years when I would tell the story I would tell everyone that one time my mum and I got into a wreck because we slipped on a donut that was left on the side of the road. My mum still picks on me for it.

Nicole(Granola)

When I was young, I was always confused about how, at night, the car-lights on one side of the road were always red, while the ones in the other one were white. It never occured to me that the cars were going in different directions, and for years I was convinced that there were designated "white-light" and "red-light" lanes. But it always confused me that we were always in the "red-light" lane, since I had seen the white front headlights once when my mom was pulling into the garage. I rationalized that the lights change color as you are pulling into your garage.

confused as a child

I used to think that the right sides of roads are empty in England, since everyone drives on the left.

Anon

When I was child I believed that all of those buildings labelled "Body Shop" were places adults could go to trade in their used-up bodies. And they were very popular, judging by the number of cars that always surrounded them!

Anon

When I was younger, it was quite an ordeal for my parents, having 3 kids each 2 years apart. So, when getting in or out of the car, my parents would have us hold onto the car so it "didn't roll away". The real reason being that they didn't want us to run into the traffic. So, when my dad was driving me to school and he'd start the car and realize he forgot something in the house, he'd leave the car idoling and run inside for a minute. I'd burst into tears because I was buckled and couldn't get out. I was afraid the car would roll away with me in it. I was always SO relieved when he came back. I still to this day always make sure that the Ebrake is ALL THE WAY UP!!

singer

I belived when a car broke down, it came completely apart. Every single piece would separate from the rest. When my mom's car broke down, I pictured her in the middle of the road, steering wheel in hand, with a pile of parts all around her. This belief was reinforced when, upon meeting my dad where he was fixing the car, I saw him screwing the knob on the shifter back on. I was amazed at how quickly he was able to put it all back together!

jamie

When i was a kid some 40 years ago, we sometimes were taken to the new Forest in Hampshire. At this time a new road had been built with a fly-over on it. Whenever i heard that we were going on the fly-over, i thought it meant there was no middle to the bridge, and we had to go fast enough up the ramp to fly over the gap in the middle. I was petrified by the prospect.

Alan - UK

When I was a kid and my mum and dad would send me to the shops for milk or something, I'd deliberately cross the road at extremely dangerous times, close to cars whizzing past, etc. The reason for this is that I thought a film director could be looking out for a stuntman for his next hollywood production.

I was never discovered, but I'm still alive, which is a plus ;)

Jim "Danger" Hance

When I was young, and we would go in the car with mom, that the way she used to get the car to go backwards, was by turning to her right, and putting her arm across the seat. And as soon as she took her arm off the back of the seat, the car would go forward.. Dumb, isn't it.

Yvonne

When I was little, my family would frequently visit friends and relatives who lived on bumpy or gravel roads. I was still too small to be able to look out the window and see the road. Shortly before we'd approach pavement, my dad would reach down beside his seat and say, "Gee, I'm tired of these bumps. I'm going to push the road smoother button." Like magic, there'd suddenly be a smoother ride. I believed this for YEARS until one day we were stuck on a bumpy road for a long time and I begged my dad to push the button. He told me that he didn't feel like it, that he was enjoying the bumps. When we got home I told him I didn't believe him anymore. He said he'd prove it, and showed me the seat-adjusting handle, explaining that it was the button. I continued to believe him for at least another year.

Erin