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

  • Anger management
    June 27, 2016
    During a road rage incident in Australia, a driver experienced a terrifying journey due to the behaviour of a man at the wheel of another vehicle. Dashcam footage from the driver of the car being pursued shows the other vehicle repeatedly swerving in front and braking hard. The angry driver also jumped traffic queues and veered into the path of oncoming vehicles. The person being pursued stopped outside a police station to report the incident, at which point the angry driver ran from his vehicle and committ
    Read More
  • Slick character
    February 24, 2015
    Police in Poland managed to stop a 29-year-old male driver after a 30km high speed pursuit. The BMW driver hit speeds as high as 260km/h (162.5mph) in his bid to elude his pursuers. When the traffic officers inspected the vehicle they realised the car’s rear tyres were so worn they had no tread remaining, and immediately impounded the dangerous vehicle along with arresting the offender. The man was from Krosno Odrzanskie in the west of Poland and close to the border with Germany. Unlike Germany however, Pol
    Read More
  • New York cabbies
    February 28, 2012
    Meanwhile in New York City, one cabbie has earned praised for his honesty. A passenger accidentally left a bag containing valuables worth US$100,000 in the cab when taking a trip across the city. When the passenger realised his mistake, he assumed he would never see the valuables again
    Read More
  • Sight unseen
    December 2, 2013
    Two British men are now counting the cost of a rather foolish idea they had. One of the men was keen to drive a powerful Subaru Impreza, despite the fact that he was legally blind, due to suffering a degenerative condition that has resulted in almost total loss of sight. With his friend sitting beside him giving him instructions, the blind man set off driving the high performance car along a public road. Somewhat predictably the car crashed when the blind driver failed to negotiate a large obstacle by the s
    Read More

Highlighted Content