‘Trying to save my life’: Video shows man driving backwards on highway, but he says he had a good reason
Updated: 6:09 AM EDT May 6, 2021
Drivers in Washington state were shocked to see a man driving backwards on the highway. Video shows a car going backwards on a trafficked stretch of highway for miles, eventually exiting before turning around and driving forward again.It might seem like stunt, but the driver, Nathaniel Grayson, says he was trying to save his life after his car experienced a mechanical malfunction.”Turns out my car has this thing where the steering wheel locks up,” Grayson said. “My life was, like, in danger. So I was driving as if I was driving with my life on the line.”He says the power steering locked up on his vehicle while he was driving on the highway. When he noticed, he slammed on his brakes, but that made him spin out, hitting a concrete barrier. Thankfully, no cars hit him. Now, Grayson was rolling backwards, but his steering was working again, so he kept going, hoping to make it to an exit.”I see the exit sign and I was like, ‘You know what? I can probably make it to the exit,'” Grayson said. “Time just slowed down, and I felt like I was in ‘The Matrix,’ like, ‘I can do this.'”He guessed the reverse trip would only last a minute, but he said that reverse drive felt like it lasted much longer.The video drew criticism online by those believing the incident to be a stunt, but Grayson says his priority was safety in that moment.“Really, I was just trying to save my life and make sure nobody else got injured,” he said.Power steering failure, which can lead to a sudden loss of control, has been reported online by owners of early 2000s-era Chevy Malibus. The car Grayson was driving is also a Chevy Malibu. General Motors issued a recall to fix power steering for more than 1.3 million vehicles in 2014, among them were early to mid-2000s Chevy Malibus.
Drivers in Washington state were shocked to see a man driving backwards on the highway.
Video shows a car going backwards on a trafficked stretch of highway for miles, eventually exiting before turning around and driving forward again.
It might seem like stunt, but the driver, Nathaniel Grayson, says he was trying to save his life after his car experienced a mechanical malfunction.
“Turns out my car has this thing where the steering wheel locks up,” Grayson said. “My life was, like, in danger. So I was driving as if I was driving with my life on the line.”
He says the power steering locked up on his vehicle while he was driving on the highway. When he noticed, he slammed on his brakes, but that made him spin out, hitting a concrete barrier.
Thankfully, no cars hit him. Now, Grayson was rolling backwards, but his steering was working again, so he kept going, hoping to make it to an exit.
“I see the exit sign and I was like, ‘You know what? I can probably make it to the exit,'” Grayson said. “Time just slowed down, and I felt like I was in ‘The Matrix,’ like, ‘I can do this.'”
He guessed the reverse trip would only last a minute, but he said that reverse drive felt like it lasted much longer.
The video drew criticism online by those believing the incident to be a stunt, but Grayson says his priority was safety in that moment.
“Really, I was just trying to save my life and make sure nobody else got injured,” he said.
Power steering failure, which can lead to a sudden loss of control, has been reported online by owners of early 2000s-era Chevy Malibus. The car Grayson was driving is also a Chevy Malibu. General Motors issued a recall to fix power steering for more than 1.3 million vehicles in 2014, among them were early to mid-2000s Chevy Malibus.