Ford Explorer
Chase Weir and Sgt. Marnie Goldsmith, Victoria Police.
Posted on 12/16/2009 8:06:23 AM PST by myknowledge
The frantic triple-0 call from a Melbourne motorist whose cruise control jammed has been released.
Chase Weir can be heard screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God, I'm gonna die!" as he veered onto the wrong side of the road near the end of his hair-raising 30-minute ordeal through Melbourne's east.
Earlier, he can be heard becoming panicked as he attempts to slow the 2002 Ford Explorer.
The cruise control originally became stuck on 100km/h on the Eastern Freeway in Kew, with Mr Weir's attempts to brake having little effect.
"It slows down to about 80 and then the car just accelerates ... the brake pedal gets really hard to push," the 22-year-old says to the emergency operator.
The operator then asks him to turn off the engine.
"No, the key won't actually move," Mr Weir replies.
"I tried ringing Ford and they said the key wouldn't move."
He tried to switch the 4WD into neutral but he is heard saying on the tape "the button won't push in."
Triple-0 operator Sgt Marnie Goldsmith continually tries to keep the driver calm.
"Listen — we're on the freeway, there's no need to panic, Chase," Sgt Goldsmith says.
"I'm doing my best," Mr Weir replies.
A police escort had been attempting to clear a path for the out-of-control car as it hurtled down the Eastlink roadway.
But in the southeast suburb of Frankston banked-up cars near Monash University forced Weir into oncoming traffic.
"I just went onto the wrong side of the road!" he yells.
"I need you with all your strength to go on the brake, as well as the handbrake," Sgt Goldsmith orders as Mr Weir screams in the background.
A police officer on the scene can then be heard saying that he has finally stopped, half an hour and over 40km from where he first encountered difficulties.
Mr Weir has since been treated for shock and was today reunited with Sgt Goldsmith, who has been praised for her handling of the bizarre and frightening situation.
Ford Explorer
Chase Weir and Sgt. Marnie Goldsmith, Victoria Police.
built ford “tough”.
So EVERYTHING failed at once. Except the cruise control? Huh...
A vehicle that can’t be switched into neutral while moving? I’ve never seen one.
I’ve never owned a vehicle that you could not turn off with the key while driving. Is this something new?
Sounds like someone panicked.
Was this a cruise control issue or another case of unintended acceleration? There are some interesting discussions about UI at edmunds.com. People cannot seem to agree on exactly what the problem is, but the current recommendation is to put the vehicle in neutral. Turning off the engine will mean you lose all power, and braking does not seem to work.
Toyota/Lexus has had the most number of UI incidents, followed (but way behind) by Ford.
Sheesh!
Chane title to "Smart Driver Smells Big Lawsuit"
Somethin’ smells fishy here ....
BAN PIT SUVs!
Not even a skid mark?
Uh, move it into Neutral, idiot.
This must have been a ‘safety feature’ on ‘Built Ford Tough’ Explorer SUVs. No way you could kill the engine without damaging the transmission.
I suppose reading the article would be too much trouble?
Hmmm. Seems like a whole lot of things failed at once. Cruise control, ignition key, brake, button on the stick...
Unbelievable.
No, I mean REALLY unbelievable.
As in, I don’t believe a WORD of his “story”.
Reality Show wannabe.
Chase Weir and Sgt. Marnie Goldsmith, Victoria Police.
Looks like sparks flying here in this pic, no? Great way to meet a cute female cop.
“Help...help me unstick my accelerator” What a great line!
This happened to us on vacation when I was a kid...Dad just had cruise put on our ‘75 Cutlass. A couple of hours into the trip he couldn’t disengage it...I think he ended up just shutting the car off, but it was scary there for a couple of minutes.
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