Cruise control crisis: UAE driver saved at 135 km/h
The cruise control malfunctioned on the 22-year-old Emirati motorist
Sharjah: A typical, mundane drive to Umm Al Quwain turned sour for a Sharjah-based motorist after his cruise control malfunctioned at a whopping speed of 135 km/h.
The 22-year-old Emirati man was driving along Emirates Road on Sunday when he realised that he could not control the speed of the car.
The Sharjah Police Operations Control Room said it received a call at around 12.30 pm about a young man who requested assistance after his cruise control failed.
Police patrols immediately rushed to deal with the life-threatening situation with full professionalism by keeping in direct contact with the young motorist, and took him through a step-by-step process on how to come to a halt.
Sharjah Police first made sure that the driver’s seatbelt was fastened, the hazard lights were switched on, and was told to remain calm as he was guided to safety.
Police coordinated with a number of patrols to secure a safe path for the motorist as one of the police vehicles matched his speed of 135 km/h.
Once the driver and the police vehicle were close to one another, the Emirati motorist was then instructed to slightly bump into the police car; disabling the cruise control.
The Sharjah Police General Headquarters calls upon all drivers to be cautious and not to completely rely on the vehicle’s cruise control, in addition to following the required speed limit and adhere to the traffic rules and regulations.
Drivers were also urged to carry out regular maintenance of their vehicles to avoid such dangerous situations.
What to do in cruise control failure
- Keep calm and make sure your seat belt is on.
- Put on the hazard lights.
- Call 999
- Put the gear on Neutral (N), then turn off the engine
- If that fails, step on the brakes firmly and steadily until the car eventually stops.
- If the previous method also fails, slowly pull up the handbrake while firmly holding the steering wheel.
- If that fails too, change the gear setting from Neutral (N) to Drive (D) repeatedly.
Source: Dubai Police