Dubai: Police in Abu Dhabi were able to rescue a driver from an impending crash after his sports utility vehicle (SUV) got stuck in cruise control on a major highway.
The motorist was traversing the Abu Dhabi-Al Ain road at 130 kilometres per hour on Friday when the cruise control jammed.
The driver managed to get in touch with the police on the phone while behind the wheel and requested for immediate assistance.
Fearing for his life and safety, the UAE resident spoke to the police, describing his ordeal. He said it was the first time he encountered such an incident and that he had tried to engage in neutral gear and step on the brakes, but to no avail.
Authorities then deployed 15 patrol cars and two ambulances to prevent any collision.
Brigadier Salem Abdullah Bin Barak Al Daheri, director of the traffic department at Abu Dhabi Police, said they were able to immediately draw up an emergency plan to deal with the situation.
The patrol vehicles raced down the highway to get to the distressed driver’s location and attempted to slow the vehicle down so it won’t collide with the other cars.
The emergency responders were able to help the driver maintain a safe distance from other road users and ultimately, they managed to stop the speeding car.
The rescue proved successful and nobody got injured from the incident, although there was a fire under the vehicle that was later extinguished.
