• 03
  • August
    2011

Have you ever thought about how much trust we put into the manufacturers of our cars? Most of us drive our cars every day. If one thing were to go wrong on your vehicle, that mishap could mean the difference between life and death.

We have seen this play out in tragedy before, with the sudden acceleration problem among Toyotas and the accidents that defect caused. The problem resulted in personal injury lawsuits against the popular car maker. But it isn't just Toyota's that are dangerous. An almost accident in Huntsville presented a similar mechanical defect, and the driver wasn't in a Toyota.

According to a Huntsville Report, a potentially serious crash was barely avoided downtown last Saturday afternoon. A 21-year-old man called police when he realized, to his terror, that he couldn't slow down his SUV. He had been using his cruise control, and when he tried to slow down behind a car that pulled ahead of him, he couldn't get below 60 mph.

Fortunately for the frazzled driver - who reports that he was sure he was going to die - a local policeman was listening to his radio and heard about the emergency. He had heard of a similar case in the past and remembered how he could help the distressed driver out and avoid crashing. The officer arrived to the location where the out-of-control SUV was speeding, pulled in front of it and allowed it to bump into him until it slowed and stopped.

In this case, the driver of the SUV was extremely lucky. The responding officer's wise actions were able to save his life. Not everyone whose vehicle malfunctions for reasons out of their control escapes that terror alive or without injury. In this case, the surviving driver and his family are investigating the problem with the vehicle.

Source

The Huntsville Item: "UPD officer rescues driver when cruise control malfunctions," Brandon Scott, Aug. 2, 2011