What a balloon! Driver careers along motorway at 70mph with airbags inflated for 15 miles
What a balloon! Driver careers along the highway at 70 mph with airbags inflated for 15 miles
- The driver of the black Peugeot now faces prosecution for dangerous driving
- According to police, he swerved between lanes on the M40 with the airbags deployed
A motorist was called a “right balloon” today after driving more than 15 miles on a highway at 70 mph with inflated airbags.
Police said it was amazing he didn’t crash and kill someone as he could barely see or move behind the bags.
The driver of the black Peugeot now faces prosecution for dangerous driving after police stopped the battered car.
Thames Valley Police said he swerved more than 15 miles between lanes on the M40 with the airbags deployed.
The car bounced off the median between Warwickshire and Bicester at least four times.
The driver of the black Peugeot now faces prosecution for dangerous driving after police stopped the battered car
Traffic police, alerted by terrified motorists, overtook the car, which also had no rear window and an ‘obvious’ lack of tire on the rim, at 6:15 am.
They said the driver had passed drug and field tests but is now facing charges of dangerous driving and likely other offences.
A police spokesman said: ‘The risk to the public posed by this driver meandering more than 15 miles on the highway in this condition was significant.
“Fatigue is not a defense and the prolonged nature of this style of driving makes it dangerous.
“He passed our tests which showed he was not under the influence and there are no medical concerns.”
Pictured: airbags (file photo). Thames Valley Police said the driver swerved more than 15 miles between lanes on the M40 with the airbags deployed
In June, a gas engineer was banned from driving after his company car called 999 when he crashed drunk and the airbags inflated.
Alan McShane, 37, was on his way to a football game in May when he drove over a curb on his way home.
The crash deployed the airbags on his electric Mercedes EQC 4×4, which automatically alerted emergency services, a court heard.
Michael Henderson, defensively, said, “He didn’t know what was going on. Rescuers showed up. They must have been called by the system.’
Tests showed that McShane, a senior manager at a heating company, had a blood alcohol level of 110 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath – more than three times the legal limit of 35 micrograms.