Seinfeld was driving alone in the Hamptons, on Long Island, when the brakes on his 1967 Fiat BTM stopped working Saturday evening, East Hampton Town Police Chief Todd Sarris told the New York Post. Seinfeld tried the emergency brake, to no avail, and then swerved to keep the car from careening into the road’s intersection with the busy Montauk Highway, Sarris said.

The two-door sedan flipped over and came to a stop just yards from the highway, Sarris said, adding that the comic’s maneuver “probably avoided a very serious accident.”

The wreck was attributed to mechanical failure, and no summonses were issued, Sarris said. The 53-year-old Seinfeld did not require medical attention and returned to his East Hampton home.

“He was a little shocked when he walked in and it started to dawn on him what happened,” his wife, Jessica, told the Post.

As for the funnyman himself, he took the crash in stride.

“Because I know there are kids out there, I want to make sure they all know that driving without braking is not something I recommend, unless you have professional clown training or a comedy background, as I do,” the Post quoted him as saying. “It is not something I plan to make a habit of.”

The sitcom star, who co-wrote, co-produced and starred in last year’s animated “Bee Movie,” is also an auto aficionado. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in November that his favorite car in his collection is a 1955 Porsche Spyder.