Runaway Prius 911 Call Released - Listen here

Thanks Danny but I can't get anything to play...
Charlie

 

The link for the audio file does not appear to be working. Irony?

 

Having already listened to it I feel like the guy was wanting to document this instead of fearing for his life. He wants to get money out of this and the smell of BS is overwhelming (his 2008 bankruptcy would be more motivation).

For someone in a Corvette owners club he sure as hell seems clueless as to how to drive....

That's my 2 cents anyway. Karma will get this guy in the end.

 

True, but what is not known is whether that was truly cause by unintended acceleration or his lead foot on the pedal...

 

Exactly.

I wouldn't be surprised if he stopped talking just so that the engine sound could be heard!

 

Just asking.....

1) I don't understand why the car didn't make it up to 109 mph or so

2) If you floored the car to attain the 100+ mph and then moderately rode the brake to keep the car's speed around 95 mph, how long do you think you'd have to ride it before it produced a nasty brake smell?

The CHP officer (from other threads) stated he could see the brake lights on and smelled the brakes, but you could reproduce the same effect by mashing the accelerator and moderately riding the brakes at the same time, couldn't you?

I'm thankful no one else was hurt and I hope "the truth" whatever "the truth" might be, comes out on this.....although, I don't think it ever will.

I do think this person will file a lawsuit against Toyota. I think this is a driving reason why so many on this forum are "defending" Toyota.

There have been so many "instances" of people piling on when a company is down, that folks are cynical. I would remind people of the "syringe in a Pepsi can" incident. Then all of a sudden, there are multiple claims of syringes in Pepsi cans, all of them debunct. One woman was even caught on a store security camera opening the can in the checkout line, placing the syringe in the can, taking a sip and then exclaiming for all around to hear about the syringe in her can. The vibe is similar

 

Not only that - but at 90+ mph, how much of that brake smell would actually make it into the car?

Having smoked/faded a number of brakes in my time, I've only noticed the smell when following behind another car (usually a truck going down a long grade) or after stopping after some "spirited" driving.

 

This whole thing smells so fishy. Wonder how much they're paying him??

 

I have to admit the timing could not have been worse for toyota. they have the hired guns(exponent) make the presentation discrediting Prof Gilbert and it was lost because of the Prius in San diego. Amazing.

 

In some ways, I think you would be among the most sympathetic to Toyota's problem (no sarcasm intended). This could easily have been a GM problem with folks then "piling on" claiming they were suffering the same issue that the media has reported on.

It is a double edged sword, while GM would certainly look at this as an opportunity to regain some market share, at the same time, they would be foolish not to realize that they could be the next victim of an alleged safety issue.

GM and Toyota are both rivals and brothers in the automotive industry.

 

It will mean much tougher scrutiny for the automotive industry when it comes to safety. I can tell you that neither GM nor toyota fell like brothers, there may have been a time but that time is gone. the only thing prohibiting all out war is the dealers that have both manufacturers. Have you driven through GM, ford or Chrylser towns in the midwest? There has been a war and the folks in the US have been losing badly.

 

This has to be a Freudian slip.

Tom

 

Forgive me James Sikes if I'm wrong.

I could be wrong.

But I listened to the whole 911 call unedited. It still seems very, very suspicious to me. He calls 911 and tells the dispatcher where he is, and what is happening as soon as she offers a solution...put the car in neutral...then he suddenly stops talking.

The dispatcher spends most of her time telling him to put it in neutral or hold the ignition button to turn off the car, and he "convienently" just doesn't respond.

Someone should do a count of how many times she told him to put it in neutral and/or power the vehicle off. Seems he does nothing until an officer actually arrives. Then "magically" he is able to slow the vehicle and "Shazam" turn it off?

YES by all means investigate. Yes, I'm sorry if a real problem is revealed. But I'm sorry the whole thing just seems too suspicious to me.

Evidently he has stated he was hesitant to put it in neutral for fear of flipping the car? I don't get that either. First of all does he understand what "Neutral" means? Secondly, if you are going 90 mph and in fear for your life, which choice do you make? Continued 90mph or trying putting it in neutral?

He also ignores repeated pleas by 911 dispatch to turn the car off. Sorry...

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong but almost nothing seems to pass any test of sensibility to me.

 

And the Oscar goes to Jim Sikes for his performance in the "Run away Prius" incident. I especially loved the blatant ignoring of everyone telling him to hold down the start button and/or put the car into neutral (has he been living in a cave?). He also did a great job of choosing a road/time he could actually go 90+ on for long distance, and the heavy breathing at the end was the real seller. The timing if the incident is so questionable, not to mention his model isn't one affected by unattended acceleration. Are you really buying this? Bad economy + greedy down and out people = desperate stunts.

 

Completely unscientific, but when I first saw Jim Spikes speak about the incident, my very strong sense was that he wasn't telling the truth.

I got exactly the same feeling when I saw Alex Rodriguez tell Katie Couric on 60 Minutes that he never used steroids.

Maybe he's one of those people who on first meeting just do not seem sincere to me (but may very well be the most sincere and decent of people). I don't know.

 

I still don't see a player for the audio, but I figured our web filter is blocking it. Not sure if this has anything to do with others' issues.

 

I still have a problem with audio but don't worry about it. Most others seem to have gotten it and I've read enough text to get the idea.