Brooke Burke-Charvet -- I Drove into That Fence ... ON PURPOSE

EXCLUSIVE

Brooke Burke-Charvet was so afraid her car would veer into oncoming traffic yesterday, that she drove it up a hill and into a fence on purpose ... to avoid a bad accident.

Burke got into a minor accident yesterday in Malibu and scratched up her sweet Maserati. Cops were suspicious enough that they gave her a field sobriety test .

But Burke was stone cold sober, explaining the ABS system on her Maserati that failed. She said her only concern was for the safety of the small children in her car ... and that's why she drove it into a fence ... rather than risk hitting another car.

Burke joked everything would have been fine if she had been driving her trusty Escalade ... which only reminds us again ... BUY AMERICAN.