London: A 32-year-old Indian-origin man was killed on a slip road of a busy highway in the UK after the cruise control of his car got jammed, an inquest into his death was told.
Kaushal Gandhi was still on the phone with emergency services when his Skoda Octavia crashed into the back of a stationary truck in a lay-by off the M40 highway outside London on February 2.
Emergency services later found his body in the wreckage, an inquest into his death was told this week.
“My car is not coming out of the cruise control. It is not letting me stop. It (the speedometer) shows 70mph but I think I am going much faster than this,” he said, according to the recording of his emergency call played at the Coroner’s Court in Buckinghamshire.
The Mumbai-born car enthusiast was a company director based in Harrow, north-west London, ‘The Times’ reported.
“My speed is increasing. I think what has happened was I tried to change the mode on the car, because I was on the sports mode. I pressed a button to come onto the normal mode and then it is not allowing me to do anything,” he said in the recording.
The coroner recorded a “narrative” verdict, ruling out any suggestion that Gandhi had committed suicide.
Toxicology reports showed no substances in his system that would have affected his driving.
“The vehicle was badly damaged in the collision but subsequent extensive investigations have not revealed any evidence of the faults described by Mr Gandhi,” coroner Crispin Butler said.
Gandhi was described in court by a friend and work colleague as a “meticulous” driver.
