AN ELECTRIC car took on a life of its own – smashing into a wall and parked cars after the brake failed.
Helen Rees-Jones, 47, has been left “traumatised” after her MG ZS EV went rogue and wreaked havoc in a gym car park, smashing into two vehicles and leaving the bumper hanging off.
The legal worker was left in hospital with rib injuries and vowed never to set foot in an electric motor again after the terrifying accident.
Shocking video footage shows her driving towards GAH Gym in Pontypridd, Wales, before the car makes a sudden right turn into the building.
Speaking to The Sun, mum-of-one Helen said: “I was driving at a sensible speed and went to pull in.
“It just shot forward with this power.
“I turned to the right to avoid the wall I was pulling up to. I probably had my foot off the accelerator.
“I went to hit the brake but there was nothing.
“I was just slamming my foot down but nothing happened.
“There’s no handbrake nothing to stop me.
“The pedal didn’t go down – it was just a car out of control.”
The car only stopped when its electric safety system kicked in after the crash.
Shockingly neither the AEB braking system nor the airbags engaged during the terrifying incident.
Helen, who is from Pontypridd has been left suffering flashbacks of the traumatic ordeal.
She went on: “I was absolutely hysterical afterwards.
“It’s traumatised me. I keep having flashbacks.
“I go to that gym twice a day to pick up my son and now it gives me terrible anxiety every time I drive down that road.
“I still have dreams about driving cars where I have no control.
“I could have killed people.
“Imagine if someone had walked out at that moment.
“I’m lucky to have come out alive.”
She was rushed to A&E with rib injuries caused by the seatbelt but has since made a full recovery.
The MG, only released last year, is touted as a family-friendly motor and marketed towards elderly and disabled drivers.
Helen had rented the motor from Europcar for the past nine months.
And she was horrified to discover that the rental firm is planning to put the car back on the road.
Helen said: “They’ve told me it’s still in the garage being repaired.
“I told them it needed to be pulled apart and scrutinised.
“I’ll never step foot in an electric car again.
“They need to be taken off the road.
“It terrifies me to think other people are driving them.
“That car is everywhere now – they’re ten a penny on the roads.”
And British Firm MG has refused to take liability for the smash.
“They’ve just said it’s a ‘you problem.’
“They’ve called it some sort of accident and told me to report it.
“They said there’s no way their car could have malfunctioned.
“But there’s no way I’d drive like that.”
