A Sonic Drive-In customer is calling for the drive-in fast-food chain to get wider stalls after she crashed into one.
In an 18-second viral clip, TikToker Pheebs (@pheebs.jc) is hysterically crying as she pleads to the camera. “I just took off the ordering thing at Sonic, and it hit the mirror,” she says.
She pans the camera around and shows viewers the damage. Half of the right rear-side mirror of her red sedan is on the ground. The other half dangles by a cord from the car. The right side of her car is dented and has scuff marks.
Next to that mirror on the floor, lays the Sonic ordering Kiosk. It’s no longer in its upright position. It’s glitching, and damaged. She turns the camera back to herself, tears running down her face and says, “I feel so bad.”
Over the video footage, the text reads: “Petition for bigger Sonic stalls.”
@pheebs.jc 13k later #fyp #trend #foryou #xyzbca #foryoupage ♬ sad SpongeBob music – michael
This has happened before
At Sonic, customers pull up to individual stalls and order via kiosk. Pheebs is not the only person to have crashed into a stall before.
In another viral video posted on Reddit under the thread “another Sonic Drive-In fail,” a customer fails to properly pull into the drive-in stall, damaging the side of the car, similar to Pheebs.
One Reddit user commented under the video, “Ok, so this is a phenomenon. It would also explain why so many times I’ve been to Sonic and wondered how so many of the menu screens are broken.” They asked, “Now, I just need to know why. Why does this happen so often? Why are these people doing this?”
Reddit user Righ Bread responded, “People pull forward thinking that’s how to get out, realize they can’t, and then try to force their way through because they don’t know how to reverse their car.”
Who is responsible for any damages?
A customer in a similar situation took to Avvo to get answers and insights from licensed attorneys on who is liable for the damage—him or the fast-food chain.
He wrote, “I went to a Sonic a few months ago, and went to the drive-through…I proceeded to a stall nearby, upon entry I realized it was tighter than I thought because from the looks of it, a previous patron tore a piece of the intercom off as they were pulling out, this very same damaged piece damaged my vehicle door.”
He shared that he “immediately took pictures, advised the manager on duty, and filled out a claim form.” He wants to know “liable for damage to your vehicle from a stall that was previously damaged and is partially sticking out?”
Robert Daniel Kelly, a car accident lawyer, responded, “Hitting a stationary object does not obligate the owner of the object to pay the person who hit the object.”
Sonic has also chimed in on this ongoing phenomenon via Twitter, stating, “We forgive you for hitting our menus with your car… #ThisIsHowWeSonic”
The Daily Dot reached out to Pheebs via TikTok and to Sonic via email for comment.
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