Aisha Nozari
An unconscious man drove his car for 15 miles while slumped behind the steering wheel, with the vehicle’s cruise control and Lane Assist keeping him on the road.
Motorists on the E314 heading towards Leuven, Belgium, had noticed a driver flopped over the wheel at around 9.00am on Sunday, 14 August.
The emergency services were alerted and police were eventually able to bring the Renault Clio to a stop. The 41-year-old driver was still passed out and quickly taken to hospital, where alcohol and drugs tests were carried out.
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The results of the tests are still unknown, and the man is thought to have travelled for at least 25 kilometres unconscious after starting his journey in Genk.
After approaching the Renault, police quickly noticed that the driver was unconscious and attempted to slow the vehicle down by pulling up in front of it.
It’s thought the car scraped a safety barrier near Halen, bringing it to a stop.
Witnesses said the vehicle had been drifting from left to right in the lane while travelling at a steady speed.
The car's Lane Assist and cruise control were likely engaged, with the former making sure the car returned to the middle of the lane every time it began to meander off course and the second keeping the car moving at a constant rate.
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Photos from the scene showed emergency services standing around the car, which had veered off the road into shrubbery.
Back in November, a man was captured on camera sacrificing his own car in order to save the life of a person who had fallen unconscious at the wheel of their vehicle.
The incident, which happened in the Netherlands, started when a car looked to be making a fairly routine exit from the motorway before veering wildly off course.
Recognising the danger, a man called Henry Temmermans sped up and got in front of the car before braking enough to bring it to a halt.
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His brave actions were all captured on the dashboard camera of another motorist driving behind.
Speaking to De Stentor at the time, Mr Temmermans explained: "The car was swinging. I saw that in the corner of my eye.
"[It] drove across the grass, at first I thought the motorist had missed an exit. But I soon saw that that was not the case because the car was driving straight ahead."
"I could see from my window that the car was uncontrollable because the woman was leaning over the wheel.
"That was awful to see. In order not to endanger the woman and other motorists, I accelerated a little more to get in front of her and stop my car in front of her. Luckily it wasn't a big blow."