A 25-year-old Baltimore man was killed yesterday when his car unexpectedly accelerated as he worked on its engine, pinning him against a median-strip wall on Broening Highway, police said yesterday.

Edward Barnheart, who lived in the 3000 block of Louth Road in Dundalk, was driving south on Broening Highway at 1:45 a.m. when witnesses said his car collided several times with the curb, guardrail and "Jersey wall" in the middle of the road, police said.

He pulled over and stopped at Broening Highway north of Access Road, walked over to the passenger side of his car, opened the hood and began working on the engine, police said.

The 1976 two-door Chevrolet then accelerated and pinned him against the wall. Police said he was pronounced dead at the scene.