*Joseph Cooper has gone through something every driver has thought of, what will I do if my gas peddle sticks? Instead of panicking, he made every attempt to stay calm as his BMW sped down the I-95 Freeway near Vero Beach at 95 miles an hour. On the phone he told 911, “My gas peddle is stuck.” When the operator asked him if he could shift his car in neutral, she probably heard the fear and frustration in his voice as he responded, “I can’t, ma’am, I tried that already. I’m trying to hold onto the wheel and talk to you at the same time.”
Add to this, the fact that he admitted to the dispatcher he almost hit someone, and yelled “Get out of the way!,” according to the recording.
Cooper told emergency dispatchers that he lost control of his SUV shortly before 1 pm. Authorities helped control traffic as his vehicle sped along the freeway with flashers and a green strobe on.
It wasn’t until spoke strips were deployed that Cooper’s car finally settled down to 40 mph. But the driver was still unable to stop.
Finally, the strips poked the two tires on the cars’ right side.
“The vehicle was traveling on all 4 rims with no tire,” the highway patrol said.
Minutes later, the video shows the SUV coming to a complete stop. You can see, in the photo below, all the smoke surrounding the vehicle as Cooper gets out to speak with authorities. The car had traveled 40 miles by this time. Luckily, no one was injured along the way.
Alvaro Feola of the Florida Highway Patrol told ABC News that Cooper handled the matter well.
“He did call 911, he wore a seat belt, he kept the dispatch aware of the mile markers,” Feola said.
“Thank God in this situation nobody got hurt,” Feola added. “Traffic was maybe a little light, it wasn’t rush hour.”
Of course a statement by BMW says everything politically correct. Wouldn’t want anyone to think something ill of the brand, right.
