Police car dashboard cameras have provided plenty of footage over the years of criminals attempting to evade police or horrific car accidents, but Lauri Ulvestad wasn't the former and some inspired – if not lucky – driving prevented the latter. Ulvestad, 47, of Ames, Iowa, experienced a stuck accelerator while driving her 2011 Kia Sorento along Interstate 35 in Missouri, and while she was able to call police to help clear traffic in front of her, it was her miraculous driving that ultimately ended the day with not so much as a scratch on her crossover.
The dash cam footage of a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer shows Ulvestad at speeds of well over 100 miles per hour swerving around cars and even using the median to avoid a collision. Ulvestad's Sorento was equipped with a keyless, pushbutton starter that she was unable to turn off, and according to the phone recording with a 911 operator, she was also unable to get the car to decelerate or shift the vehicle into neutral. After the 59-mile ordeal that lasted for about 35 minutes, police finally told her to try pulling back on the accelerator while hitting the brakes. This worked, and her Sorento came to a stop on the shoulder, leading some to suggest that accelerator entrapment (i.e. a floor mat wedged under the gas pedal) was to blame rather than a computer-related unintended acceleration. It has been reported that Kia is investigating what caused the problem, but it is just amazing that nobody was injured during the course of this event.
For vehicles with pushbutton starters, most vehicles can still be shut off by press and holding the starter button for a few seconds. This combined with shifting to neutral and applying the parking/emergency brake can usually help bring an out-of-control vehicle safely to a stop.
Scroll down to see the dash cam footage of Ulvestad's frightening incident.
The dash cam footage of a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer shows Ulvestad at speeds of well over 100 miles per hour swerving around cars and even using the median to avoid a collision. Ulvestad's Sorento was equipped with a keyless, pushbutton starter that she was unable to turn off, and according to the phone recording with a 911 operator, she was also unable to get the car to decelerate or shift the vehicle into neutral. After the 59-mile ordeal that lasted for about 35 minutes, police finally told her to try pulling back on the accelerator while hitting the brakes. This worked, and her Sorento came to a stop on the shoulder, leading some to suggest that accelerator entrapment (i.e. a floor mat wedged under the gas pedal) was to blame rather than a computer-related unintended acceleration. It has been reported that Kia is investigating what caused the problem, but it is just amazing that nobody was injured during the course of this event.
For vehicles with pushbutton starters, most vehicles can still be shut off by press and holding the starter button for a few seconds. This combined with shifting to neutral and applying the parking/emergency brake can usually help bring an out-of-control vehicle safely to a stop.
Scroll down to see the dash cam footage of Ulvestad's frightening incident.
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