Driver trapped in burning BMW after engine caught fire, brakes failed. Cause unclear
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Andrew Lindsay's BMW bursting into flames. A DAD-of-oneâs BMW 6 Series erupted in a fireball on a motorway and trapped him inside the burning car â when the locks jammed. See NTI story NTIBMW. Andrew Lindsay, 45, desperately tried to escape the motor when it burst into flames while he was travelling at 70mph on the M6 Toll Road. He managed to shoulder barge the driverâs door open and leap from the car moments before the engine exploded and melted the tyres to the road. Andrew, a copy editor from Whittington, Staffs., was on his way to see family in North Wales when the blaze broke out on June 1. (SWNS)
A BMW driver faced a harrowing ordeal last month when his car caught fire as he was trapped inside.
Andrew Lindsay was driving on the M6 highway in England on June 1 when then engine in his 2007 BMW 6 Series died and burst into flames.
Damage to Andrew Lindsay's BMW after it burst into flames. A DAD-of-oneâs BMW 6 Series erupted in a fireball on a motorway and trapped him inside the burning car â when the locks jammed. See NTI story NTIBMW. Andrew Lindsay, 45, desperately tried to escape the motor when it burst into flames while he was travelling at 70mph on the M6 Toll Road. He managed to shoulder barge the driverâs door open and leap from the car moments before the engine exploded and melted the tyres to the road. Andrew, a copy editor from Whittington, Staffs., was on his way to see family in North Wales when the blaze broke out on June 1. (SWNS)
Lindsay told SWNS that the car suddenly conked out at 70 mph and that he had to use the emergency handbrake to bring it to a stop at the side of the road.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Parked there, he found the door didn’t work and was initially unable to escape from the car, before finally getting the it open with a strong shove.
"When I tried to get out all the power in the car had gone haywire, and I couldn’t open the door,” Lindsay said.
Damage to Andrew Lindsay's BMW after it burst into flames. A DAD-of-oneâs BMW 6 Series erupted in a fireball on a motorway and trapped him inside the burning car â when the locks jammed. See NTI story NTIBMW. Andrew Lindsay, 45, desperately tried to escape the motor when it burst into flames while he was travelling at 70mph on the M6 Toll Road. He managed to shoulder barge the driverâs door open and leap from the car moments before the engine exploded and melted the tyres to the road. Andrew, a copy editor from Whittington, Staffs., was on his way to see family in North Wales when the blaze broke out on June 1. (SWNS)
"So I had to put in a shoulder barge to it and it fortunately opened.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The engine compartment and cabin were completely destroyed by the inferno, which the insurance company determined was started by the motor’s wiring.
Nearly 2 million BMWs were recently recalled worldwide for a wiring issue that could lead to a fire, but Lindsay’s model was not listed among them.
Lindsay said that a BMW inspector could not confirm the cause of the fire, due to how much damage was done to the car.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I think other BMW drivers need to be warned. This should not be happening.”