Looked to me like he either threw it into reverse or park, he threw the shifter forward and I heard that click-click-click that an auto trans makes when its told to do something it wasn't built to do.

There were warning signs that should have caused the whole deal to be put on hold until they could be checked out, but really, how many of us would have gone ahead and made the 5 mile run at 45 mph to 50 mph without much concern? I've done worse without any problems, that one wouldn't have fazed me either. I probably would have gone to the extreme right as soon as I knew there were no brakes, if there would have been enough time, but as it turned out, you take the path with the least amount of total damage, which would have been the single minivan instead of a line with 3 or 4 cars in it.