The footage of the vehicle passing the toll station. /CCTV News Photo
A judicial expertise result showed that there was no defect in the brake and cruising systems of a Mercedes-Benz vehicle which was described as going out-of-control by its driver Mr. Xue on March 14, 2018.
A judicial expertise report, sent to Mr. Xue on Saturday, showed that during Mr. Xue’s journey on the Lianhuo Expressway, the car was not out of control. They excluded the possibility that it was caused by technical defaults such as a stuck footpad, a problem with the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) or the Electronic Stability Program (ESP). So, unless the driver forced the cruise control to shut down by moving the gear into neutral, there were no faults with the car.
The report also said that whilst the car was running at 2km/h it would have been impossible to stop the car regardless of whether the door was open or not. This differed to Mr. Xue's account which stated that the car came to a stop after he repeatedly opened and closed the door.
The report also said that data showing when the cruise control was shut down was found stored on the vehicle and that it happened after the accident.?
In response, Mr. Xue posted on his official Weibo account early on Sunday, claiming that he never opened the cruise control after leaving the Huayin Toll Station in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province and that he had no idea why such a record had been found.
Mr. Xue added that he respected the result, but because of the technicality of the report would seek advice from friends who knew more about the topic before he decided whether to run a second test. He said he had continued using the car after the test and would continue to use cruise control.
Mercedes-Benz also released a statement concerning the report by the China Vehicle Forensic Center in Beijing on Sunday, expressing their support for the tests results.
The shocking moment took place while Mr. Xue was driving on a highway connecting central China’s Henan Province and northwest China’s Shaanxi Province on the evening of March 14, 2018. He suddenly lost control of his car after he switched on cruise control and his braking system failed. With assistance from the police, the car passed through a toll gate at high speed.
