North Dakota teens runaway car speeds up to 120 mph before troopers daring rescue in last-ditch plan to avoid horrifying disaster

Sam Dutcher had just finished running errands when the 18-year-old’s Honda Pilot suddenly began to accelerate, even though his foot wasn’t on the gas pedal.The brake wouldn’t work, he couldn’t shift into neutral, and before long, the runaway SUV was speeding into the western Minnesota countryside with no way to stop.“I had the brake to the floor,” Dutcher said Thursday, but the SUV kept going faster and faster, eventually reaching 120 mph.A last-ditch plan averted disaster that September evening — a trooper sped in front of the Honda and Dutcher was told to crash into the rear of his squad car, allowing it to ease safely to a stop moments before reaching a dangerous intersection.“That was really all I could think of that was going to get him stopped in time,” Minnesota Trooper Zach Gruver said.

“We kind of just ran out of time and distance.I really didn’t know of any other way.”Dutcher, who graduated high school in May and is studying auto mechanics, was driving to the family home near West Fargo, North Dakota, around 7:30 p.m.

on Sept.17 when he realized something was wrong.“I went to take my foot off the accelerator,” Dutcher recalled.

“It wouldn’t slow down.” As the SUV gained speed, Dutcher had two options: Stay on a two-lane road and drive into Minnesota, or hop onto the interstate.Figuring traffic would be lighter, he chose the road less traveled.Dutcher tried using voice command on his phone to call 911, but it didn’t work.

So he called his mom.Catherine Dutcher was in the drive-thru line at Hardee’s.In her 911 call, she mentioned that the Honda had just been in the shop because the accelerator was apparently getting stuck.

Authorities suspect that the SUV’s computer malfunctioned.The family should take the vehicle in to a dealership for an inspection, a Honda spokeswoman told The Associated Press.The company could not comment further until an inspection was done, she said.As the Honda sped into Minnesota, Clay Co...