'I was kidnapped by my runaway electric car'
- Published
Brian Morrison was shocked when his new electric car would not brake
A driver has told how he was "kidnapped" by his runaway electric car and forced to dodge red lights and roundabouts.
Brian Morrison, 53, from Glasgow, said he was heading home from work on Sunday night when he said his brand new MG ZS EV became stuck at 30mph.
Police were forced to stop the runaway car by allowing it to slowly crash into their police van.
MG Motor UK said it was trying to resolve the matter.
A spokesman said: "MG Motor UK has been urgently trying to make contact with Mr Morrison so that his vehicle can be fully inspected by our engineering team.
"We take this matter very seriously and now that contact has been made, we are making every effort to resolve matters quickly and comprehensively for him."
Police Scotland confirmed it had responded to "a driver unable to stop his electric car".
Mr Morrison said his car suffered a ''catastrophic malfunction'' and became stuck at 30mph on the A803 heading towards Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow.
He said he was lucky that the incident had taken place after 22:00 on a Sunday night when the roads were quiet.
"I realised something was wrong when I was coming up to a roundabout and went to slow down but it didn't do it," he said.
"Then I heard a loud grinding noise that sounded like brake pads, but because it was such a new car I knew it couldn't be a problem with them.
"I managed to get around the roundabout going at about 30mph and then had a long road ahead of me, so I assumed it would stop without me accelerating - but it didn't."
Mr Morrison said the car could not be stopped
Mr Morrison has mobility issues, so he was unable to escape the car travelling at 30mph by jumping out.
He added: "It might not sound like it is very fast, but when you have no control over the speed and you're completely stuck inside, it's terrifying."
Mr Morrison initially called his wife in a panic to ask her to warn vehicles ahead of him that he could not stop his car.
He called 999 when he grew concerned about crashing into pedestrians and navigating more roundabouts and traffic lights.
"The car was just running away on its own, there was nothing I could do," he said.
"When I dialled 999, they sent police to help and put some engineers on the line to try and solve the problem, and they were asking if it was a self-driving car.
"It was the first time that the call handlers had experienced the issue, and they had no idea what to do."
'I can't stop'
Soon after he made the call, three police vehicles arrived and drove in front and behind the car.
He said: "I was 100% concentrating on my steering, so when a police van pulled up besides me and asked if I was Brian and if I was okay, I just yelled 'no I'm not, I can't stop'."
Police asked Mr Morrison to throw his electronic key through their van window before driving off, and then tried forcibly shutting off the engine - but nothing could stop the car.
He was also asked to hold the power button for a couple of seconds which also failed to stop it and the entire dashboard lit up with faults.
Officers decided to get him to crash into the back of their van before he got into a more built-up area.
The car had to crash into the back of a police van
Mr Morrison said: "Eventually I came up to a roundabout which slowed the car down to about 15mph and the police van was waiting for me on the other side.
"I went into the back of the van while it was moving, before they put on the brakes to stop me.
''After that, a police officer jumped into my car and did something which seemed to keep the car still."
The police could not move their car as the electric vehicle would keep moving, so they had to wait for the RAC to arrive.
"I still have no idea what happened," he said. "But when the RAC got to me about three hours later, he plugged in the car to do a diagnostic check and there was pages of faults.
"He said he had never seen anything like it and decided he was not willing to turn the engine on to see what was wrong."
Mr Morrison's insurance said they were investigating the incident, which has left him unsure if he would drive another electric vehicle again.
He added: "I don't know if I'll get another, frankly I've not even tried driving my wife's car - it was a terrifying experience."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "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."