Renault Laguna (File) (Renault)
A French driver led police on a high-speed chase across borders while he was trapped inside his car with no brakes.
Franck Lecerf, 36, was driving his Renault Laguna to a supermarket in northern France over the weekend when the ordeal began, the Guardian reports. The brakes on the car – which is modified for disabled drivers – first jammed at 60mph.
The newspaper said each time Lecerf tried to brake, the car would go faster and faster until it settled at a speed of 125 mph.
While careening down a highway, Lecerf managed to call emergency services and police were able to escort him across 125 miles of roads and into Belgium.
The chase ended an hour later when Lecerf drove the Laguna into a ditch in Alveringem, Belgium after it ran out of gas, the Guardian reports.
"My life flashed before me," Lecerf told French newspaper Le Courrier picard, according to the Guardian. "I just wanted it to stop."
Lecerf suffered two epileptic seizures during the incident, but no other injuries. Renault told France 2 TV that an investigation into the car’s brake problems is ongoing.