Skip to main content

In Control

A disabled French driver had a terrifying experience when the accelerator pedal on his specially- adapted vehicle failed. The man was making a trip to the supermarket when the accelerator jammed at a speed of 100km/h. But when he tried to brake, the car accelerated instead of slowing down. The driver used his cellphone to call the emergency services and several police cars came rushing to his assistance. The police cars escorted him as he roared along a major highway in Northern France, with t
April 23, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A disabled French driver had a  terrifying experience when the  accelerator pedal on his specially- adapted vehicle failed. The man  was making a trip to the  supermarket when the accelerator  jammed at a speed of 100km/h.  But when he tried to brake, the car  accelerated instead of slowing  down. The driver used his  cellphone to call the emergency  services and several police cars  came rushing to his assistance. The  police cars escorted him as he  roared along a major highway in  Northern France, with three toll  stations raising barriers to let him  through until his vehicle eventually  ran out of fuel 200km later, in  neighbouring Belgium. The driver  is taking legal action against the  vehicle manufacturer, saying that  he had experienced a problem  with the accelerator on a previous  occasion and repair work was  supposed to have dealt with the  issue. He also said that he has had  two epileptic attacks as a result of his traumatic experience.

Related Content

  • Social Media montioring
    May 16, 2014
    A dim-witted Spanish driver has found to his cost that the police monitor social media for possible offences. A 20 year old student posted a video of himself controlling his car from the passenger seat. Police spotted the clip online, which showed the driver in the passenger seat steering the car and leaning over to work the pedals.
  • Tram time
    November 20, 2014
    A driver of a compact Nissan car gave passengers waiting for a tram in the UK town of Oldham something of a surprise. Instead of the tram they expected to see, the small Nissan car drew to a halt in front of the stop.
  • Road surface quality is vital to safety and policing - TISPOL 2015 conference
    January 18, 2016
    The state of Europe’s road surfaces “is absolutely vital” if TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network, is going to achieve its target of halving road deaths across the continent by 2020 says AA president Edmund King Speaking at the 2015 TISPOL annual conference in Manchester, King warned that the deteriorating state of Europe’s road pavements has become “a serious problem” and that the number of potholes is now an important road safety issue for the enforcement community.
  • Three wheeler
    February 22, 2012
    A British man arrested by police for drunk driving recently displayed an incredible lack of awareness. Police said that they spotted that the man's vehicle was missing a front wheel as it drove past a patrol car. Pursuing the man was not difficult as officers followed the trail of sparks and they then managed to persuade the errant driver to bring his wounded vehicle to a halt. Tests showed him to be three times over the limit for alcohol and he was banned from driving for three years. He had driven a dista