AUDIO: DRIVER DOING 100 MPH CLAIMED BMW GAS PEDAL STUCK
A runaway BMW SUV tore down a Florida interstate for nearly 40 miles Monday afternoon, but the motorist managed to keep his cool while authorities made several attempts to stop him, telling a 911 dispatcher calmly “my gas pedal is stuck.” The driver, Joseph Cooper, was alone in his SUV on I-95 near Vero Beach just before 1 p.m. when he lost control. He was able to call 911. Authorities helped control traffic as he careened as fast as 95 mph with his flashers on. Asked if he could shift to neutral, he told the dispatcher, “I can’t, ma’am, I tried that already. I’m trying to hold onto the wheel and talk to you at the same time.” Troopers tried to slow the car three times to use spiked stop sticks. The second time, the sticks took out the right two tires, which slowed the car down to about 60 mph. “Eventually the vehicle was traveling on all 4 rims with no tires,” the highway patrol said. Finally, the SUV came to a complete stop. Cooper had traveled 40 miles. A BMW spokesperson called the scenario “implausible” and said there were numerous ways in which the driver could have stopped the car: One way would have been to hit the brake pedal – the car’s software logic would override the accelerator. They say he also could have put the transmission in neutral and coasted to a stop, or also shut off the ignition without removing the key.
* “The dummy,” they added.
* Failing that, there’s always throwing out the anchor.
* Something tells me that, over a distance of 40 miles, he might have tried the brake once or twice.
* Interesting stance by BMW: “Our cars never do that, but if they DID, we just happen to have built in a bunch of ways to stop it.”
* The BMW was hurrying to hook up with a hot Lexus it met in Port St. Lucie.
* 95 mph? How come when he hit 88, it didn’t activate the flux capacitor?
* The good news: The car came out of the incident just needed four new wheels. And new upholstery for the driver’s seat.
CLIP: A bit of 911 audio from the incident.
