A Minnesota teenager had a chance to escape with his life after the autopilot in his SUV malfunctioned, leading to a chase with police and a near-fatal crash.
On September 17, 18-year-old Sam Dutcher was driving near the North Dakota and Minnesota border when his Honda Pilot's autopilot function suddenly overrode the driver's commands. “I thought, 'Hey, this thing is accelerating and my foot's not on the gas,'” Dutcher said. WDAY-TV.
The car began to accelerate faster and faster, pushing Dutcher through unprotected, busy intersections near the end of rush hour. She first called her mother, Catherine, and then 911. The officer transferred Sam to Deputy Zach Johnson, who began racing to find the out-of-control vehicle. During this time, Johnson exhausted all possibilities to manually override the vehicle, including the emergency brakes. There was nothing Sam could do as his car approached 183 MPH as the computer software completely overrode the vehicle.
Johnson knew they had to take more extreme measures to stop Honda. “We're going to put some stop sticks in front of you to catch your tires going flat,” the deputy told Sam during the meeting. Catherine listened helplessly on the phone as she prepared her plans. “Police officers and paramedics are coming to him from everywhere, okay?” Johnson told him.
Continuing to narrowly pass intersections, Sam began to think his luck could only last so long. “My mind started thinking, 'I'm going to die tonight,'” Sam admitted.
Catherine was equally distraught. “Honestly, I thought, 'My child is probably dead.' I said, 'God, please don't kill my child, please don't.'
As Sam approached a dead end, officers knew they had only a few minutes, or about four miles, to resolve the situation safely. Minnesota State Trooper Zach Gruver accelerated to pass Sam's vehicle. “I was going 130 miles per hour,” Gruver said. “The (team) car tops out at 140.”
Another deputy driving next to Sam ordered the young man to crash his car into the police car in front of him. Sam did as he was told as the officer braced for impact and positioned his car to absorb the Honda's force. “At that moment I realized this was actually happening. At that point I started to get scared,” Sam said.
“There were a lot of factors there that things could go wrong very quickly,” Gruver said. But he disputes any claim that he is a hero. “I don't think I did anything special. I think it was just a matter of having the fastest car and being able to get ahead of him.”
Sam miraculously escaped unhurt. He's already back in classes at M-State in Moorhead, where he's studying auto mechanics.