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âCHiPsâ inspires runaway car stop
It took some quick thinking, and maybe an old TV show, for two Denver cops to stop a runaway car. Twenty-year-old Angel Eck was driving her 1997 Pontiac Sunfire westbound on I-70 Friday night when the brakes failed and the accelerator stuck, sending her hurtling uncontrolled down the freeway. "It had a mind of its own," Eck told The Associated Press Sunday. The car "kept accelerating, and my foot wasnât even down on the gas." Eck turned on her hazard lights and dodged other vehicles, including tractor-trailers and a van full of children, at speeds of up to 100 mph. Nothing she tried slowed the car down. "I probably went off the road three times trying to get around traffic," Eck told TheDenverChannel. She tried calling the police, but her cell phone couldnât get a signal. After 45 frantic minutes, she reached a friend, who called 911. Police cleared the freeway as Eck sped westwards. Meanwhile, officers Gary Ayers and Troy Bisgard decided to try something radical. They got their cruiser right in front of Eckâs car, then slowed down slightly so that she bumped them. It took miles, but both vehicles finally came to a peaceful stop. Officer Kim Lovato said Ayers and Bisgard joked that theyâd gotten their idea from an old episode of "CHiPs," the 1977-1983 television show about two motorcycle-riding California Highway Patrol officers. "Whenever they had a runaway car on âCHiPs,â this is exactly what Ponch and Jon would do," Lovato told TheDenverChannel. "One is brunette and one is blonde just like Ponch and Jon, and they did what they needed to do and it turned out just perfect." Over 45 minutes of runaway driving with no brakes, and she never thought to put it in neutral? What are the chances of the accelerator sticking *and* the brakes failing at the same time? Either this woman has never heard of car maintenance, or somebodyâs got an angry ex. Posted by: Dar 2004-02-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=25541 |