Skip to main content

Driver survives terrifying 125-mile ordeal in speeding car with no brakes

speeding carIf you’re a car owner, it’s fair to say you expect certain simple things with your driving experience. You expect your engine to start when you turn the ignition key, even on the coldest of mornings; you expect the wheels to turn when you step on the gas; but above all else, you expect the vehicle to slow down when you apply pressure to the brake pedal.

Unfortunately for Frenchman Frank Lecerf, when he pressed the brake pedal of his Renault Laguna recently, the car sped up, leaving him hurtling along a highway at 125mph (200km/h) wondering what on earth he was going to do.

The poor guy had only intended to pop to his local supermarket to pick up a few groceries, but ended up careering along nearly 125 miles of French highway, crossing the border into Belgium and ploughing into a ditch when he finally ran out of gas.

Early on in his ordeal, Lecerf was smart enough to take one of his hands off the wheel for a moment to call the police to explain his predicament. They responded by sending out a convoy of cop cars to escort him on his terrifying journey into the unknown.

At first, the car, which had been specially adapted for disabled drivers, reportedly jammed at 60mph. But each time Lecerf tried to brake, the vehicle’s speed increased, until finally hitting 125mph.

Motorists on the highway were forced to swerve out of the path of the speeding convoy, while three toll stations along the way were ordered to raise their barriers in readiness for Lecerf’s fleeting visit.

Around an hour after the harrowing ordeal began, with the car’s gas tank almost dry and Lecerf no longer in the same country where the nightmare began, the exhausted driver steered his car into a ditch in Alveringem, Belgium. Lecerf was unhurt, though reportedly suffered two epileptic seizures, presumably shortly after the incident.

“My life flashed before me,” 36-year-old Lecerf told French newspaper Le Courrier Picard, adding, not surprisingly, “I just wanted it to stop.”

While the Frenchman’s lawyer has already said he’s planning to file a legal complaint over “endangerment of a person’s life”, car maker Renault has stated it’s waiting for the results of an investigation into the incident.

[via Guardian] [Image: Blazel Lyjack / Shutterstock]

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Alpine sale: Up to $160 off speakers and subs for your car
alpine speaker sale crutchfield march 2024 car and amp setup on table

If you’re looking to kit your car out with some superior speakers or a subwoofer, Crutchfield is the place to go today. Right now, there’s a huge sale on Alpine subwoofers and speakers with nearly 50 different items forming the sale. As there are so many options, the best idea is to hit the button below to see what’s around. If you don’t know where to start though, read on while we take you through some great items in the sale.

What to shop for in the Alpine sale
Buying the best aftermarket car speakers are important for anyone who spends a lot of time on the road and is currently dealing with a mediocre sound system. One good starting point in the Alpine sale is the 2-way speakers for $104 instead of $130. You get two 2-way speakers with a polypropylene/glass fiber/mica woofer with a specialized rubber surround. There’s a one-inch silk dome tweeter with speakers able to handle up to 80 watts RMS with 240 watts peak power. The grilles aren’t included but the factor ones should be fine for most purposes.

Read more
Mercedes to trial humanoid robots for ‘low-skill, repetitive, demanding’ jobs
Apptronik's Apollo robot at work in an auto plant.

Humanoid robots have been coming on leaps and bounds in recent years, and some major companies are starting to take note.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, has just entered into an agreement with Texas-based robotics specialist Apptronik to collaborate on identifying applications for highly advanced robots that the auto giant could deploy. The deal will involve a trial that will see Apptronik's Apollo humanoid robot work alongside Mercedes' human workers on the factory floor.

Read more
Hyundai Ioniq 9: price, release date, range, and more
Hyundai Ioniq 9 Front

Hyundai has been at the forefront of EV development for a while now, largely thanks to the success of the crossover-sized Hyundai Ioniq 5. But the company is readying another new EV that could be even more popular than the Ioniq 5 -- or at least more desirable in the U.S., the land of big cars.

The upcoming Ioniq 9, previously set to be called the Ioniq 7, will be Hyundai's take on an electric SUV. It will be to Hyundai what the Kia EV9 is to Kia. It will have three rows and carry over design elements from the Ioniq 5.

Read more