Woman Goes On Wild Ride After Car’s Accelerator Gets Stuck

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman driving through Missouri on her way home to Iowa had the ride of her life last weekend after her accelerator became stuck – sending her speeding along I-35 at up to 120 miles per hour.

Laurie Ulvestad, 47, was driving the 2011 Kia Sorento on Sunday afternoon just north of Bethany, Missouri, when her vehicle began to surge and she couldn’t get it to stop.

“I spoke to the driver and she said the 911 operator did a great job at keeping her calm and helping her to concentrate on her driving while different methods of stopping the car was described to her,” said Sgt. Sheldon Lyon of the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Missouri Highway Patrol troopers tried to clear traffic ahead of Ulvestad as she weaved in and out of traffic, including driving on the median several times to pass other vehicles during the 59 mile ordeal.

“She did a fanstatic job of maintaining control trying to go around the vehicles down in the median without striking the rear of them, which would have been a catastrophic accident,” said Sgt. Sheldon, noting that she maintained control with just one hand on the wheel as she was on the phone to 911 during the entire 35 minute ordeal.

Kamran Sarwar from A Best Automotive says that if you’re ever in this situation, it’s important to stay calm – and whatever you do, do not try to jam your car into “Park,” which would lock up your steering wheel and cause you to lose control.

“Shift it down to neutral, that will be your best option and start pushing down on the brake so the accelerator, even if it is stuck, your car is running on very high RPM, still your brake is going to start working because the engine is not powering the wheels anymore,” said Sarwar.