Dad claims Vauxhall Astra ‘sped up to 120mph on its own’ and went hurtling down the road with his young family still inside
Father-of-two from Rhyl, north Wales, said he saw an error message on car’s dashboard earlier that day but was told by the manufacturer to take it for a spin before terrifying ordeal
A FATHER has spoken of the terrifying moment his car sped up to 120mph by itself and went hurtling down the motorway with his young family still inside.
Anthony Sammon said the vehicle was travelling so quickly that he was too scared to put his foot on the brake in case it spun out of control.
He said he noticed the vehicle display an error message on the dashboard earlier that day but was told by the car manufacturer that it would be fixed if he took the car out for a spin.
However, as he drove the £20,000 vehicle down the A55 in north Wales, he noticed the car begin to speed it up as it hit 70mph and that there was a “bang and a big puff of black smoke” before he felt as if someone had pushed his foot down on the accelerator.
Mr Sammon, from Rhyl, has owned the Vauxhall Astra GTC for 16 months and explained the vehicle eventually lost power which allowed him to take it off the road.
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The warning message on the dashboard earlier in the day displayed a message that read “particulate diesel filter full”.
He said: “I rang Vauxhall to tell them about the dashboard message and they told me to take the car for a drive and get it up to 2,000 revs so it could clear itself.
“I went on the A55 to get it up to 70mph then all of a sudden there was a bang and a big puff of black smoke.
“Then it was as if someone had pushed my foot down on the accelerator and my car sped up to 120mph on its own.
“It was scary, I had my girlfriend and two children aged three and five in the car but I didn't want to brake in case it took the back end out.
“Then it lost power and started slowing. I drove it off the A55 and let it come to a stop.
“Imagine if I'd been driving past a school or something when this happened. It just doesn't bear thinking about.”
Mr Sammon said he told Vauxhall about the incident and they said the car needed to be reset by turning the engine off and on again.
But after he did he found it wasn't working properly and “sounded like a tractor” so took the car, which is still under warranty, to a Vauxhall repair centre where it remains.
Coincidentally the car manufacturer sent a letter to customers on the same day of the incident explaining that there was an issue with the diesel particulate filter.
It said: “This is an important letter... We have identified that a certain number of vehicles equipped with the 2.0L engine could be affected by the diesel particulate filter being clogged resulting in loss of power.
“To rectify this issue we will update the Engine Control Module (ECM) software to adjust the quantity of the post injection... This will be carried out free of charge.
“Please contact your Vauxhall authorised repairer to arrange for the remedial work to be carried out.”
A Vauxhall spokesman said: “The vehicle is currently with our retailer, Slaters in Colwyn Bay, and we are sending a technical field manager to inspect the vehicle.”
The spokesman said they will be able to provide a further update next week.
Mr Sammon's claims come a little over a year since a company director died when his car crashed into the back of a parked lorry.
Kaushal Gandhi, 32, claimed his Skoda Octavia was stuck in cruise control at more than 100mph and couldn't stop the vehicle.
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