In the Daily Mail today, there is a story of a driver whose
accelerator jammed as he was travelling down the A1(M).  The speed
rose to 130mph.  He called the AA for advice, and then the police, who
sent cars and a helicopter to help.  He eventually crashed into a
roundabout and miraculously received no injuries. He said that due to
various reasons he was unable to otherwise slow the car down.  This
reminded me of a similar incident a few years ago, where, upon
inspection of the vehicle, it was found to be in perfect working
order, and that the driver was suffering from some form of mental
illness. The previous incident involved a lorry, and today's story
mentions that the driver was a former lorry driver, but had had to
give up the job as he had a back injury.
My question is - could this be the same man?

Dear xandie100-ga 

I believe you are recalling this incident from 1999. The driver was
one Michael Rayner. He was later charged with dangerous driving, but
was acquitted by a jury.

BBC news items
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/197964.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/364260.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/365915.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/363407.stm

Acquittal report
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/06/15/nlorr15.html

As you know, the current matter involved Kevin Nicolle
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/11/ntrapped11.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/11/ixnewstop.html


I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

Thank you Answerfinder, for the info.  The two incidents had a lot in
common, very similar.  Thanks also to myoarin, markvmd and frde for
your comments.

Of course, it COULD be the same man, but the odds are against it.

"He said that due to various reasons he was unable to otherwise slow the car down."

Let's see:  He could make two phone calls, but he couldn't step on the
clutch or brakes or try to use the hand brake or turn off the engine.
Oh, and the AA and police couldn't advise him either.

He didn't downshift, either. That's what I did first when a tiny kink
in my Lincoln's accelerator cable got caught in the rotating cam it
rides through.

Well the driver, whose name is Kevin Nicolle is 25 years old.

Although the story sounds improbable, the article clearly states that
the police are not going to prosecute, normally they love throwing the
book at traffic offenders in the UK.