As Ford Australia closes the book on one cruise control drama it is poised to open a file on another.

The car maker is waiting to inspect a 2009 Ford Territory whose owner claimed its accelerator became stuck while driving through Melbourne's Burnley Tunnel this week.

The female driver says she struggled to slow the vehicle but eventually brought its speed down from the posted 80km/h to approximately 10km/h, at which point she disembarked from the vehicle. The Territory then continued a short distance before bumping into a concrete barrier.

Footage of the vehicle on the TV news showed minor damage to the front bumper, indicative of a low-speed impact.

Safety experts have warned that getting out of a moving vehicle is highly dangerous, as a runaway car could injure others as well the driver themselves.

At present Ford is at a loss to explain the bizarre incident which, on the surface, doesn't appear to add up. If the accelerator was stuck, the car would have sped away once the driver got out, but instead it rolled slowly until it hit a barrier.

A statement from Ford Australia on Thursday March 11 said: "Victoria Police contacted us this afternoon to inform us of the incident yesterday. They are investigating the incident and compiling a report on what took place and we will assist them with that where we can. We are unable to comment further until we have had the opportunity to look at the vehicle and Victoria Police has concluded its investigation."

It is not known if the Ford Territory in question has a mobile phone kit fitted (the suspected culprit in the Explorer incident), but the Territory model in general does yet not have the wireless Bluetooth system that was introduced on the Ford Falcon in May 2008.

Ford Australia hopes to inspect the vehicle in the coming weeks. As of today, a spokesperson for the company said: "The Territory incident isn't related to the cruise control at all -- our understanding is the driver didn't have it on and there's no indication that there was anything related to the cruise control at all.‬‪"

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