If ever there was a reason to be nice to ChatGPT, it’s this.
An electric car in Glasgow decided to disregard its stupid fleshy master’s commands and take control of its own destiny, according to this cracking story from the BBC.
53-year old Brian Morrison was reportedly driving his new MG ZS EV around 10pm on a Sunday night in the outer suburbs of Glasgow, when the car started to malfunction.
“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 told the BBC.
“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 [48km] and then had a long road ahead of me, so I assumed it would stop without me accelerating – but it didn’t.”
48 km/hr might not be race track speeds, but it’s certainly fast enough to put you into a hairy spot on the road.
Unable to stop, and facing a series of traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, and roundabouts, Morrison called the police.
“It was the first time that the call handlers had experienced the issue, and they had no idea what to do.”
Eventually the MG was given a police escort while they trouble shot the drive-away car.
Neither throwing car keys out the window or holding down the power button to force an engine shutdown worked.
Eventually, the police resorted to more desperate measures.
“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.”
Undeterred, the car tried to keep driving. The police van kept the car in place, while roadside assistance came to disable the engine.
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.”
