For most people, the weekly shopping trip is a fairly mundane affair. Perhaps it gets a little more interesting if you find a few good 2 for 1 deals, or maybe pick up a few tasty meals in the ‘reduced’ fridge.
But for Frenchman Frank Lecerf, his shopping outing got a little bit too interesting, after his throttle allegedly jammed at 60mph. Hitting the brakes, Lecerf realised to his horror that his Renault Laguna was, instead of stopping, was actually increasing in speed. Steering the machine as best he could, it soon peaked at the car’s top speed – 125mph.
He was forced to enter the autoroutes of Northern France in order to keep his car on the road.
Lecerf called the emergency services, and was soon being tailed by police cars. In front of him, the authorities cleared the roads and opened barriers. After about an hour and 120 miles, the car ran out of fuel and came to a stop in a ditch in Belgium.
Speaking to a French newspaper Lecerf said, "My life flashed before me. I just wanted it to stop."
Renault said it would be looking into the incident but could not comment until an investigation had taken place.
The car was adapted for use by a disabled person. French media reported that Lecerf had two epileptic fits during his ordeal.
An extremely rare and challenging mechanical failure – one that even startrescue.co.uk's breakdown cover rescue teams would find difficult to remedy.
If confronted with the same situation, what would you do? Feel free to leave your comments below.
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