Florida Driver Blames Stuck Gas Pedal For Run Away BMW Chase

Joseph Cooper drove his 2003 BMW X5 down almost 40 miles of Florida highway on Monday, at speeds of up to 95 miles per hour, before police deployed spike strips to pop the errant driver's tires. The cause was alleged by Cooper to be a stuck accelerator pedal.

The incident began around 1 p.m., and Cooper dialed 911 soon after to report his apparently out-of-control vehicle. A dispatcher made suggestions to Cooper about how to slow the vehicle down, but he dismissed the advice, stating, "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," reports ABC News. In Cooper's defense, he was confirmed by the Florida Highway Patrol to have communicated his location to the dispatcher by using the road's mile markers.

Truthy - 2/14/2018 10:40:38 AM

+5 Boost

Why not put the car in neutral?

MDarringer - 2/14/2018 8:22:51 PM

-4 Boost

Yes and blow the engine!

Throttles these days are often electronic rather than mechanical, so if the electronic throttle has failed, what makes you think the over-rev limiter will magically work.

Tiberius1701A - 2/14/2018 10:47:51 AM

0 Boost

Believe it or not, this is quite possible. The brilliant engineers at Bayerische placed the throttle pedal potentiometer at the bottom of the pedal which leaves it susceptible to intrusion by moisture and all other sorts of crud. As the Mythbusters would day this is plausible!

atc98092 - 2/14/2018 10:56:02 AM

+1 Boost

How would spike strips stop the car? If the throttle was truly stuck, it would just keep going on flat tires, right down to the rims once the tires shred. Don't know if an X5 that old has run-flats, but still seems dubious.

atc98092 - 2/14/2018 10:59:43 AM

+6 Boost

After reading the article, it seems he dodged the spike strips once. If he really wanted to stop, he wouldn't have done that.

carloslassiter - 2/14/2018 5:59:09 PM

+6 Boost

Yeah, sure, absolute BS.

MDarringer - 2/14/2018 8:28:47 PM

+5 Boost

The fact is that you can mash the brakes and eventually bring a car to a stop even with the accelerator pinned to the floor. ANYONE who has taken an automotive safety course where they teach you accident avoidance etc. has most likely brought a vehicle down from 75 or 80 with the accelerator and brake pedals mashed. It takes a rather long time and distance, but it is doable.

dumpsty - 2/15/2018 10:45:07 AM

+2 Boost

I'm still wondering why the SUV didn't continue to accelerate up to its limit & only stayed "under 100 mph"?

skytop - 2/15/2018 3:50:10 PM

+2 Boost

Kill the ignition. This driver's lost his wits and ability to think.