Wheelchair is taken on 50mph ride by lorry

Ben Carpenter sits in his motorised wheelchair which became entangled with the front grille of this truck in Michigan.

Mr Carpenter was carried for several miles at about 50 mph (80 kph) down a motorway, authorities said. Picture: AP Photo/Michigan State Police via Kalamazoo Gazette

A 21-YEAR-OLD American was taken on a frightening ride when his electric wheelchair became lodged in the grille of a lorry and was pushed down a motorway in Michigan for several miles at about 50mph.

Ben Carpenter was unharmed but was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

He had been secured to his wheelchair by a seat belt. Carpenter, who has muscular dystrophy, told a television station that he thought he might not make it through the ride.

“I was probably thinking that this is going to keep going and not stop anywhere, 50 or 60 miles somewhere,” he told WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids.

Ben Carpenter’s father Donald said that his son had started to cross at a junction on Wednesday in Paw Paw, about 140 miles west of Detroit.

The light changed to green while his son was in front of a lorry, which started moving.

The wheelchair’s handles became lodged in the grille, the father said, and the ride began.

Motorists called police on their mobile phones, and a pair of undercover police officers who happened to be nearby saw what was happening.

They pulled the truck over and told the disbelieving driver, Donald Carpenter said.

‘‘He’s fine. It’s a very bad story that ended very well,” he said. “We’re just thrilled that he’s still around.”