A Frenchman recently found himself driving over the Belgian boarder at 200kph surround by a police escort after the brakes on his Renault failed.
We can’t imagine a more terrifying situation than tearing through traffic at 200kph (120mph, in old money) while being surrounded by a police escort AND suffering two epileptic seizures along the way.
That’s exactly what happened to 36-year-old Frank Lecerf recently, after the brakes on his specially adapted Renault Leguna failed while on his way to the hypermarket.
The car’s accelerator first jammed at 80kph and every time he tried to brake the car picked up speed until it finally reached its top speed of 200kph. Mr Lecerf quickly rang authorities who sent high-speed pursuit vehicles after him in order to clear his path. Three separate toll booths were then ordered to raise their barriers so that the oncoming convoy could safely pass through.
The emergency dispatchers patched Mr Lecerf through to a Renault technician but the technician was unable to help in the ordeal. The car only started decreasing speed when it began to run out of petrol and Mr Lecerf eventually saw his opportunity to swerve into a ditch, 200 kilometres from his home.
“My life flashed before me,” he told Le Courrier Picard. “I just wanted it to stop.”
Mr Lecerf is now taking legal action against Renault over “endangerment of a person’s life”.
