Photo: Hunan Police/Weibo
In an era of driving aid offering more convenience, some episodes show automakers must be really careful with how these systems work. A HAVAL H6 driver learned about that the hard way when a short 137-mile (220-kilometer) trip had to stretch to 348 mi (560 km) more when the car refused to stop.
The driver was identified by Autohome simply as Mr. Luo. He was taking the restyled first-generation HAVAL H6 of one of his relatives from Changsha to Yichun. Luo apparently went south to take the G60 highway close to Zhuzhou, a city 80 km (50 mi) away from Changsha and still 140 km (87 mi) far from Yichun.
At that point of the journey, Luo realized the SUV’s cruise control “suddenly failed.” Although there are no details about this problem, the Chinese driver could not reduce the speed or stop the vehicle: it would travel at 100 kph, or 62 mph, regardless of what he did. Luo broke down and started to cry until he realized he should contact the police before something awful happened.
After explaining the situation, police officers met Luo on the road to escort him and make way for the HAVAL H6 to keep driving without interruptions. They also warned nearby drivers to stay away from the white HAVAL. Luo was probably already on the G4 (Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway), which is one of the options to go from Changsha to Zhuzhou.
In the meantime, the police also contacted Great Wall to find a way to stop the car. The engineers sent Luo several instructions that simply did not work, which forced him to continue on G4 for as long as he had fuel in the tank. The SUV’s engine stopped working around Qingyuan, which is 560 km (348 mi) away from Zhuzhou. In total, the SUV drove around 640 km (400 mi).
Autohome reported that Mr. Quan – the SUV owner and Luo’s relative – sent it to a 4S store. The HAVAL dealership promised to investigate the defect’s cause. Considering the image damage this may cause to the Great Wall brand, Quan should probably have hired an independent forensic analysis company to determine what was wrong. If it were not for the police’s help, we would probably be reading worse news about the entire situation.
At that point of the journey, Luo realized the SUV’s cruise control “suddenly failed.” Although there are no details about this problem, the Chinese driver could not reduce the speed or stop the vehicle: it would travel at 100 kph, or 62 mph, regardless of what he did. Luo broke down and started to cry until he realized he should contact the police before something awful happened.
After explaining the situation, police officers met Luo on the road to escort him and make way for the HAVAL H6 to keep driving without interruptions. They also warned nearby drivers to stay away from the white HAVAL. Luo was probably already on the G4 (Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway), which is one of the options to go from Changsha to Zhuzhou.
In the meantime, the police also contacted Great Wall to find a way to stop the car. The engineers sent Luo several instructions that simply did not work, which forced him to continue on G4 for as long as he had fuel in the tank. The SUV’s engine stopped working around Qingyuan, which is 560 km (348 mi) away from Zhuzhou. In total, the SUV drove around 640 km (400 mi).
Autohome reported that Mr. Quan – the SUV owner and Luo’s relative – sent it to a 4S store. The HAVAL dealership promised to investigate the defect’s cause. Considering the image damage this may cause to the Great Wall brand, Quan should probably have hired an independent forensic analysis company to determine what was wrong. If it were not for the police’s help, we would probably be reading worse news about the entire situation.
Google News