ATLANTA — One day Catherine Burns was sitting in the passenger seat of her friend Alex's car, parked at a mini-mart, waiting for him to emerge with a cup of coffee.
Bored, she wanted to listen to the radio. The keys were in the ignition. She reached over and gave them a twist.
Mistake. Alex's car was a standard shift. He'd left it in first gear. The starter motor drove the car over a small concrete curb and off the 10-foot cliff at the edge of the parking lot.
