Remember our friend in the BMW?

mike65

I cant arsed to dig the original thread out but here's the follow-up

A MOTORIST who claimed his luxury car took him on a 130mph terror ride when his accelerator jammed has been arrested.

Kevin Nicolle, 25, was held on suspicion of dangerous driving after tests found nothing wrong with his BMW.

He was interviewed and released on police bail for further inquiries.

Last night lorry driver Mr Nicolle said he was "shocked" by his arrest and described it as "madness - I can't understand it".

Mr Nicolle was filmed sobbing on ITV's This Morning as he told how he wrestled to control his BMW 318 as it hit breakneck speeds through two counties.

He said he dodged through traffic, flashing his lights and blaring his horn, before calling 999 on his mobile phone and screaming: "Call an ambulance - I'm going to die!" ...

Mike.

unkel

Nice one! I knew he was lying. He's unfit to drive a BMW imho

crosstownk

So he asked for the ambulance after he seen the old bill chasing him! The whole thing sounded a bit suss to begin with.

colm_mcm

wouldn't have happened in an Octavia

mike65

Only the Mirror would claim a 318 is a luxury car!

Mike.

colm_mcm

......it was probably the model with a CD player and rear electric windows

maidhc

Didn't Renault being defamation proceedings against the Vel Satis guy?

Still, there have been a lot of accidents with drive by wire and auto gearboxes.

colm_mcm

Dodgy electrics? In a Renault?

Whatever next?

Stark

This is my favourite part of the article:

"I couldn't even turn off the ignition because it would have disabled the power steering."

colm_mcm

power steering, essential for those 130mph parallel parking manouvers?

Anan1

To be fair, I don't think any of us would appreciate power steering failure at 130mph.

colm_mcm

you won't really need power steering at 130mph, steering will be very light.

Anan1

colm_mcm wrote:

you won't really need power steering at 130mph, steering will be very light.

In a car with dead PAS, the steering will be heavy and wooden, even at high speed. Try it at say 50kp/h, it's completely different to a car without power steering. Additionally, the sudden change would be pretty unnerving at that kind of speed.

colm_mcm

Electric power steering is very heavy if the ignition is switched off. normal power steering isn't heavy above 30mph. I've had enough belts snapped to know what they're like without the pump working.

Stark

Anan1 wrote:

Additionally, the sudden change would be pretty unnerving at that kind of speed.

More unnerving than having your car accelerating out of control? I've driven cars without PAS before, it's a good deal harder than driving a car with PAS but far preferable to driving a car without brakes

colm_mcm

seems unusual that it couldn't be put in neutral, or that he didn't use the tiptronic to change down the gears, or that he didn't switch the ignition off.

Anan1

colm_mcm wrote:

Electric power steering is very heavy if the ignition is switched off. normal power steering isn't heavy above 30mph. I've had enough belts snapped to know what they're like without the pump working.

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with you on that one, in my experience the steering is heavy and, more importantly, wooden & imprecise even at speed. I'm not saying I wouldn't turn off the ignition in a situation like that, but I'd be sure to do it when I was on a straight.

Stark wrote:

More unnerving than having your car accelerating out of control? I've driven cars without PAS before, it's a good deal harder than driving a car with PAS but far preferable to driving a car without brakes

As I've said before, a car without PAS is a different thing to a car with dead PAS!

Anan1

colm_mcm wrote:

seems unusual that it couldn't be put in neutral, or that he didn't use the tiptronic to change down the gears, or that he didn't switch the ignition off.

Or that he didn't stamp on the brakes properly instead of pussyfooting around with them until they burnt out.

jimmycrackcorm

Anan1 wrote:

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with you on that one, in my experience the steering is heavy and, more importantly, wooden & imprecise even at speed. I'm not saying I wouldn't turn off the ignition in a situation like that, but I'd be sure to do it when I was on a straight.



As I've said before, a car without PAS is a different thing to a car with dead PAS!

Makes you wonder how we managed to drive before PAS was invented...

colm_mcm

in fairness a car with failed power steering will be harder to steer with than a car without any power steering, but it's not impossible, especially on a motorway

Owen

I think he's more worried if he turns off the ignition that the steering could lock. An impossibility, but would you like to try to find out at 130mph+?

Besides, it sounds like a scam. I remember an Irish biker 'clearing out his carbs' on the motorway near sligo at 140mph before ...

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

mike65 wrote:

Only the Mirror would claim a 318 is a luxury car!

Mike.

well if that's the case Ireland must be doing well...
because even the foreign workers from the eastern block all drive luxury cars, and big BMWs as well.
far cry from poor paddy walking the streets of London.... ha?

Anan1

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Makes you wonder how we managed to drive before PAS was invented...

Read before you post!;)

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

Dodgy electrics? In a Renault?

Whatever next?

This very similar story: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/07/satanic_renault/

On a more serious note, was the bus accident a few years ago in Dublin caused by the driver leaving the box in D, and the drive by wire getting a mind of its own.