EmailA Texas teenager suffered several broken bones after his Hyundai allegedly took him on a terrifying ride on a Texas Highway with, he claims, no way to stop the car.
Elez Lushaj, 16, was driving on highway 183 in Rockwall County, Texas, Dec. 2 when his 2011 Hyundai Elantra reportedly accelerated out of control, reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour, according to police.
Unable to slow down, Lushaj traveled at break-neck speed for nearly 120 miles, finally losing control of the vehicle when a semi pulled in front of him, causing the car to flip four times before coming to rest on the side of the highway.
Rockwall County Deputy Tim Williamson told ABC News the teen was in relatively good shape after wrecking at such a high speed. ”His arm may have been broken, they had to cut him out of the car but he was talking and alert when we walked up to him,” he said.
Lushaj made a frantic 911 call shortly after the car accelerated. In the call, operators are heard struggling to come up with a way to slow the car down, telling Lushaj to turn off the ignition, or put the vehicle in neutral.
When the teen was unable to decelerate, deputy Williamson was dispatched to help shepherd the out-of-control vehicle away from traffic, capturing the nightmare ride on his car’s dashboard camera.
“It took me about five miles to catch up to him,” said Williamson. ”Right about the 125 [miles per hour] mark is roughly how fast I was going to stay in front of him.”
The dashboard camera video shows Lushaj’s vehicle swerving at times onto the shoulder at high speeds to avoid traffic.
“He was doing a pretty good job avoiding traffic, avoiding any road obstacles, considering how inexperienced he was given his age,” Williamson remarked.
According to WFAA-TV, the teen’s father called the incident, “a nightmare,” and claimed that his son would likely have permanent damage, but said they are declining further comment based on advice from their attorney.
Hyundai however, is doubtful of the teen’s story.
“It is extremely unlikely there would be simultaneous and spontaneous failure of the braking, acceleration and transmission all at the same time,” Hyundai Public Relations Manager Jim Trainor told ABC News in an emailed statement.
According to the Rockwall County Sheriff’s department, the incident took place on December 2 and the incident was not investigated because no criminal charges were filed. It is unclear at this point why the incident was not reported to Hyundai until now.
“We have a never heard from the driver, his family nor their representatives and have not had a chance to inspect the car in order to determine what went on here,” the Hyundai statement continued. “We would like to speak with the parties involved and take a look at the car. And we’d like to find out why this hadn’t come to our attention for almost three months.”
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Even if the engine accelerated uncontrollably, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t be able to either turn off the ignition or put the car in neutral. If that scenario really can somehow come about, there’s a serious design flaw in that model of car.
Posted by: Dave | February 25, 2013, 5:12 pm 5:12 pm
I’m sure Elez Lushaj isn’t lying about the car accelerrating on it own… Twenty years ago. the same thing happened to me while on my way to school.. I was driving a brand new 1992 XR-7 V8 Mercury Cougar, I had just picked up my friend when all of a sudden it jst accelllerated on me. I kept pressng the break but it would jst vibrate. I kept pressing it and pressing it then I decided to pull the hand break and that’s what made the car stop not immediately but eventually. I do believe this story is true and Hyundai better take responsibitity
Posted by: Gtrevino | February 25, 2013, 5:14 pm 5:14 pm
Are you people just too stupid to TURN THE ENGINE OFF and put it in neutral?????
Posted by: bubba | February 25, 2013, 6:17 pm 6:17 pm
RE: BUBBA – Are you aware that some cars do not turn off unless they are put in PARK? Not saying this is the case, but it is possible.
Posted by: michelle | February 25, 2013, 7:43 pm 7:43 pm
I’ve heard of this happening to others in different vehicles. The driver couldn’t turn the ignition off in those cases. I don’t doubt his story, but I do wonder why they did not contact Hyndai about it.
Posted by: MicheleinCA | February 25, 2013, 7:59 pm 7:59 pm
Throdle, shifter, ignition and breaks are all electronicly controled. Some new cars are also servo steered. An electronic malfuction can definatly make the car go out of control. Welcome to the future.
Posted by: john the electrician | February 25, 2013, 8:10 pm 8:10 pm
Brakes are not breaks…jeez. Put the car in neutral and try and turn off the car. If that won’t work, let the engine explode, but at least you can use the BRAKES to slow the car down. How anyone can drive 125 miles at those speed without doing something effective to stop is pretty amazing…
Posted by: Mad Dog | February 25, 2013, 8:21 pm 8:21 pm
I was driving an old Mercedes station wagon with my 6 year old, when the car accelerated for no know reason – I held the break down with both feet as hard as I could -wore the break pad out – ran through a stop sign – after a harrowing 8 minute ride I was able to whip the car sideways off the road and kill the engine.
Did a lot of praying! -
Posted by: Debbie | February 25, 2013, 11:14 pm 11:14 pm
How much money is the competition, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Ford and GM paying for this propaganda???
Posted by: Tom | February 25, 2013, 11:17 pm 11:17 pm
9 cents
How much money is the competition, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Ford and GM paying for this propaganda???
Posted by: Tom
Posted by: abc | February 26, 2013, 3:30 am 3:30 am
Nothing reported to Hyundai and no complaints in three months?? Something not right, or owner trying to cover something up.
Posted by: Mike J | February 26, 2013, 5:16 am 5:16 am
Totally premeditated:
>> It is unclear at this point why the incident was not reported to Hyundai until now.
“We have a never heard from the driver, his family nor their representatives and have not had a chance to inspect the car in order to determine what went on here,” the Hyundai statement continued. “We would like to speak with the parties involved and take a look at the car. And we’d like to find out why this hadn’t come to our attention for almost three months.”<>According to WFAA-TV, the teen’s father called the incident, “a nightmare,” and claimed that his son would likely have permanent damage, but said they are declining further comment based on advice from their attorney.<<
Posted by: Brian | February 26, 2013, 11:44 am 11:44 am
You would think at 120-mph, the Elantra would have gotten to 113-miles in less than 1 hour, but it took over 90 minutes, which equates to 75-mph.
Posted by: Brian | February 26, 2013, 11:51 am 11:51 am
I believe this has been staged to get money out of Hyundai. I agree with Hyundai it is extremely unlikely to have a total system failure like this. You should still be able to turn the ignition off, usually you can at least turn it to cut the engine, even if you can’t remove the key. The car should be able to shift into neutral, as IIRC the Elantra’s of that generation still use a physical link to the transmission. Also, the parking break is also physically linked to the brakes.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 26, 2013, 1:17 pm 1:17 pm
Bunch of crap.
Posted by: Karen | February 26, 2013, 1:32 pm 1:32 pm
This is why Throttle By Wire, Brake By Wire, Electronic Parking Brakes, and Electronic Transmission Gear Selectors are BAAAAAAAD and should be banned by the NTSB.
Posted by: TG | February 27, 2013, 7:15 pm 7:15 pm
Law enforcement needs to start filing charges against the dozens of sudden acceleration fakers who try this scam.
Start prosecuting them and even if they fill the jury box with a dozen, mechanically ignorant, soccer moms; the liars will have to expend thousands of dollars in legal fees.
The police and the press that fawn over this stories make it more likely some punk will try this again and innocent pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles will be injured or killed.
There is ZERO cars on American roads that are more powerful than their brakes.
Every review of these cars reveals they brakes worked and were not worn indicating the brakes were only applied to turn on lights.
Posted by: Allen Frye | February 28, 2013, 9:57 am 9:57 am
I don’t believe it for a second, they sound like a family of leaches. the dad states that he will probably have “permanent damage”? I have had a lot more broken bones than that kid (head-on collision with a sleeping driver) and have had no permanent damage. They want money and are willing to sacrifice their integrity and honesty to get it. If this was a legitimate claim they would have reported it immediately.
Posted by: brian | February 28, 2013, 3:03 pm 3:03 pm
Although I’m shocked that the car went into total failure, I do believe it. I own a 2005 Hyundai Tucson and when I bought it brand new, just a week after I purchased it, I had an acceleration issue with the cruise control. When I tried to use the accelerate with the cruise control, it got stuck somehow and wouldn’t turn off. This happened TWICE. The first time I took it back to the dealership, they assured me they had fixed it. That time, I was able to quickly put the car in neutral and came under control pretty easily. After the “fix,” it happened again on the highway, only worse. What a nightmare. I was standing on the brakes, using the emergency brake as well, and couldn’t get it into neutral. I got myself slowed down enough to get off an exit and up a hill, all the while standing on the brake. I got it slammed into park at that point, and even then the engine was revving uncontrollably. Very scary, and I’m an experienced driver. Back at the dealership, the service techs treated me like an idiot, assuming I didn’t understand how cruise control worked. They finally discovered it was a known problem and fixed it.
For those being sarcastic about using the “breaks/brakes,” it’s not as easy as you think slowing down a wildly accelerating car at those speeds. As I said, I was practically standing on my brakes and using all my weight. The gearshift didn’t just glide into place either. It was a whole process of using brakes and slamming the gear into place. I can easily picture it not working at all now after my experience.
Posted by: Marcia | March 2, 2013, 8:21 am 8:21 am
I have a bridge I’d like to sell the Rockwell County sheriff.
Posted by: Yoda | March 6, 2013, 11:21 am 11:21 am
I remind you people about the California Highway Patrol guy (I believe it was) with passengers that died a year or so ago because the heavy floor mats that were from a truck, trapped the throttle to the floor on a Lexus loaner, and people in the car, if not everybody in the car, died.
A floored pedal on a fairly high horsepower engine, cannot be stopped by brakes. Don’t you think that Lexus driver with his passengers would have stopped, or was he out to kill himself and his passengers? Also, many of these cars have push button start. Pushing the button, even repeatedly, when in gear will not turn off the engine. You must hold the button down continuously for at least 5 seconds or more to turn off the engine. In a panic, would you know to do this? Most people are not aware of this. I was told by Toyota service techs, when I enquired when the Trooper died, because I rent these cars, and am thinking of buying one.
Of course, Hundai cars have electric power assist, as do many now, and all power assist would surely cease, if the ignition is shut down, assuming that holding the button actually does shut it down in all cases. It depnds on design, and electrical system. Also, a racing engine might prevent shifting into neutral, as one other poster said happened to him. You are all guessing. Any of you who say it impossible ever ven drive a push to start?
Posted by: Jerr | March 9, 2013, 4:51 am 4:51 am
Baloney. The kid might have panicked but you can slam on the brakes hard enough to at least slow the vehicle. Then you engage the parking brake. You downshift and burn the engine. This is 15-minutes-of-fame-maybe-make-a-buck fakery. It has been done before. I am just happy he didn’t kill himself or anyone else with his stupidity.
Posted by: John | March 10, 2013, 5:29 pm 5:29 pm