Yahoo Autos Police Use Controlled Crash to Stop Teen's 120-MPH Runaway Honda Pilot
A Minnesota teenager driving a 2022 Honda Pilot last month used the back of a state trooper to crash safely to a stop after he couldn’t get the SUV to come to halt by any other means, according to the Associated Press.
Sam Dutchner, the 18-year-old driver of the Pilot, claims that his car started to accelerate without his foot on the throttle pedal and wouldn’t slow down, eventually reaching speeds of 120 mph. Dutcher, a student studying auto mechanics, said that he “had the brake to the floor,” according to the AP, but that the Pilot continued to accelerate.
The AP reports that Dutcher tried calling 911 via phone voice command, but when that failed, he phoned his mother, who got in touch with 911 services for him. Police then reached Dutcher by phone and talked him through potential solutions, to no avail. (Generally speaking, techniques like putting the car in neutral, activating the emergency brake, pushing and holding the brake pedal as hard as possible and even turning the car off can all be helpful in a runaway situation.)
Eventually, a trooper in a Dodge Charger caught up to Dutcher as he was approaching the small town of Hitterdal, Minnesota. (This was reportedly 30 miles from when the accelerator problem began, so Dutcher seems to have made it a long way at high speed.) With the town and intersections approaching, Minnesota trooper Zach Gruver felt the only option was to have the Pilot crash into him to slow it down. This strategy was communicated to Dutcher, and he proceeded to crash into the back of the trooper car, allowing the trooper to brake and slow the Pilot himself.
As he crashed, the trooper says the Honda’s crash mitigation system kicked in, reportedly easing the impact and slowing the car down. You can watch the police dashcam footage of the crash via this local news outlet's story.
Of course, if the crash mitigation system did in fact function, that also means the brakes were still in operable condition. Road & Track reached out to Honda for a full statement and thoughts on the incident. The company sent the following in return:
“First and foremost, we are grateful that the customer is safe, and we appreciate the role of law enforcement in helping the customer stop the vehicle.
“We cannot speculate about the issue experienced by the customer without a detailed inspection of the vehicle. We encourage the family to have the vehicle towed to an authorized Honda dealer to enable that inspection. Until the inspection occurs, we cannot provide any further updates at this time.”
Certain 2021-2022 Honda Pilots were recalled last year because of a brake master cylinder and brake booster assembly issue. That recall states that if the problem manifests itself, the potential risk is diminished or loss of brake function. An inspection of Dutcher’s vehicle would reveal whether or not his Pilot was part of the affected population, and if so, whether or not the recall work was completed. It’s also worth noting that Dutcher’s mother said the Pilot was recently in the dealer “because the accelerator was apparently getting stuck,” AP reports.
Thankfully, everyone walked away from the crash without injuries. We’ll be on the lookout for a follow-up to this situation once an inspection of the vehicle is complete.
You Might Also Like
