Man 'kidnapped' by his own runaway electric car jumped red lights and roundabouts before ramming into police van

4 October 2023, 18:38

A man has described how he was 'kidnapped' by his own electric vehicle and driven through red lights and roundabouts before colliding with a police van.

Brian Morrison, 53, was driving the brand new MG ZS EV near his Glasgow home when it malfunctioned, leaving him travelling at 30mph with no breaks or option to turn off the engine.

The incident, which took place at around 10pm on Sunday evening, saw the car suffer what he describes as a "catastrophic malfunction" mid-drive.

Describing the ordeal as "terrifying", Mr Morrison eventually called his wife in a desperate plea for help.

Trapped inside the moving £30k vehicle with no means of stopping, Mr Morrison was able to drive no slower than 15mph during the ordeal which lasted a staggering five hours.

Headling down the A803 towards Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, his wife joined the pursuit, driving ahead of the vehicle with hazards on in order to warn other drivers.

The six-month-old car "would not stop or slow down even driving up hills", said Mr Morrison, who eventually dialled 999 and waited until blue lights appeared in his rear view mirror.

Three police vehicles arrived and drove in front and behind the car with lights flashing.

However, even the police couldn't figure out the best means of slowing the vehicle down.

Eventually settling on a manoeuvre, the force decided to get use a police van driven by an inspector to stop the vehicle, slowing down to allow the vehicle to drive into the back of it in a controlled manner.

Driving alongside the vehicle, police tried to "calm me down and telling me the plans to help stop the car" said Mr Morrison.

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Explaining how he eventually came to a roundabout that he hoped would slow the vehicle, the speedometer appeared to go no lower than 15mph.

Colliding with the back of the police van while the car was slowed somewhat, the police used the momentary stop to jump into Mr Morrison's car.

However, every time police moved the van stopping his vehicle, Mr Morrison's car would begin driving off again until police held their van in place until the RAC arrived.

Describing the ordeal as "really stressful", he added that "5 hours later, RAC turned up to rescue me and got home at 5.30am ..."

"At least i am safe and well .... and have lots to thank these police officers for said Mr Morrison.

Following the incident, a spokesperson for Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 10.35pm on Sunday, 1 October, we received a report of a driver unable to stop his electric car on the A803 heading towards Kirkintilloch.

“The car was travelling at a low speed and officers carried out a controlled halt with the aid of a police vehicle. There was no damage to either vehicle.

“The driver arranged for the vehicle to be recovered.”