Tram tunnel driver: "My GPS said keep left"

The driver who drove his SUV through the Brussels tram tunnel on Sunday evening is 67-year-old Francis L. of Keerbergen, who was “just following his GPS”, writes Brusselnieuws. It told him to keep left at the entrance to the Albert premetro tunnel, he said.

“It was dark and rainy, and I don't know Brussels very well,” Francis L. told Het Laatste Nieuws in his own defense. He also pointed out that the tram tracks are incorporated in the ground at first, so he didn't notice anything until it was too late. "Only when I heard 'too-dook, too-dook' did I realise something was wrong."

Francis L. thought about stopping to get out in the tunnel, but that seemed too dangerous, "so I drove on, cautiously. I also thought to myself: every tunnel must come to an end."

The driver was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.69, which is above the legal limit, but not inebriated.

The tunnel rider also stressed that he wanted to get out of his car in Brussels South Station, where his SUV got stuck in the tracks, but couldn't because the door was up against the platform. He ended up climbing out of his car through the window.