Terror at 200 in runaway Renault
2013-02-14 21:00
FAST FRANK: French driver Frank Lecerf was stuck driving his Renault Laguna at 200km/h for an hour after his brakes failed.
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AMIENS, France - French driver Frank Lecerf (36) wasn’t expecting to make the national news when he popped out for a weekly grocery trip in northern France. What followed was a high-speed, escorted chase for 200km in his Renault Laguna.
The UK's Guardian newspaper reported that Lecerf was forced to speed through the French/Belgian border after the brakes failed - on his specially adapted car for disabled drivers - and his car's throttle jammed at 200km/h.
STUCK AT 200KM/H
He was driving 100km/h on a dual carriageway when the car's throttle jammed. Lecerf tried to stop his car several times, the Guardian said, but it apparently accelerated each time he tried to brake and eventually reached 200km/h and stayed there.
He managed to call emergency services which then dispatched a squad of police cars and warned three toll stations to raise their barriers for the oncoming high-speed convoy.
The Frenchman eventually swerved his car into a ditch in Alveringem, Belgium, after his Laguna eventually ran out of petrol an hour later. Even a Renault technician couldn’t find a way for the driver to get his car to stop while being on the phone to police throughout the chase, the Guardian reported.
He told Le Courrier Picard he was unhurt but had two epileptic seizures: "My life flashed before me, I just wanted it to stop."
PREVIOUS INCIDENT
His lawyer said Lecerf would file a legal complaint for "endangerment of a person's life". Lecerf also said his speed dial had jammed before but Renault had assured him there were no problems at the time.
According to the Guardian, Renault told France 2 TV that it would await the results of an investigation on the car.
