Run Away Prius a Hoax

Well, not like the saucer abduction For it to be, saucer visitations would have to be real. Then, the question of the abduction reality can be debated

I gather then that you believe that ALL such accelerations are driver errors somehow?

 

Next on Unsolved Mysteries--Sudden Unintended Acceleration.

 

There are many possible factors. I've spent considerable time in Germany, so I can compare.

"Run away" incidents seem to happen more often with older drivers. I think the US has more of these for several reasons, including our culture, and infrastructure. We don't have nearly as good a public transportation system as most of Germany. Many more homes are in areas where a car is the only transportation. This leads some older people to continue driving past when they safely should.

We also have a different legal system that is more litigious, where people are more likely to be awarded damages for alleged defective products. This probably increases claims in cases that might not actually be the fault of the car. It is also beneficial to avoid being responsible for paying damages to try to blame someone else for an accident (the car, the road, anything but the driver).

I expect there may be a few legitimate unintended acceleration incidents, but I also would bet many are actually the fault of the driver, who is eager to blame someone else. The cases that may be legitimate seem to be other models, not the Prius. I do not believe this case with Mr. Sikes.

We also have many more Prius and Toyota cars than Germany. I see very few Prius cars in Germany (I am a bit surprised, since gas costs much more), although you do have more small cars in general. For example I see many more Smart cars in Germany than I do Prius, but in the US there are many more Prius than Smart.

I don't think our media is anything to be proud of, either.

 

Fiction-

 

You don't have anything to back up anything you said. Nothing more then you spewing your opinion. Don't give me more of your connect the dots, corporate America, ducky double speak. There is no evidence, only speculation on your part. What evidence to you have? Share it. Where are facts to back up anything you said?

You are simply regurgitating another person's opinion from an article you read (my opinion, and I think most people's opinion). Why do you think it is OK to go on a public forum and make accusations about this individual based on the speculation of another person?

No one who has reviewed the car, including Toyota has made any of these accusations. By the way (I just have to ask), but were you on the Toyota team that evaluated the Prius in question? "If you are pushing on the brakes, the car must stop". It is easy to make derogatory statements about people without facts or proof while hiding behind your anonymity.

 

Ahem, we do have a case in Europe - Norway.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/77670-another-runaway-in-norway.html#post1083909

 

Yes indeed we do .
We have another case of a driver who is unable to admit he made a mistake .
Believe me there is absolutly nothing to it !
An unintended accelerating and unstoppable Prius is and allways has been nothin but a fairy tail !

 

That, sir, is priceless. Bravo.
.
Maybe if I figure out where my "Bubba's BBQ and truck parts" ball
cap is and swap it out for what I'm wearing now, I'll
have ... an experience.
.
_H*

 

Check your facts..there has been 2 recalls for Prius in the last 6 months...2004-2009 floor mats(Trapped accelerator Pedal)back in October...2010's ABS brakes in Feb. ....Recalls are not made for fictional reasons.

Also again as stated, complaints were coming from Japan and the U.S(Not just the U.S)which account for 80% of the Prius' out there.Those complaints and media coverage of a few deaths(Other Toyota cars,which "Ran Away") put the 2 recalls in place.Your country on a whole does not have enough(1-2%)of these cars on the road to make a judgment call through people's experiences one way or the other .

I don't know or hear about "Run Away" Prius' in the U.S, other then the few mentioned on tv.Most of the complaints stated a sudden acceleration(Including Wozniak). Having a glitch in a computer system is not far fetched in my book. Every computerized item I have owned failed on me at one time or another. Guess we all own PC's that never froze or shutdown on us, that also didn't need the latest and greatest patch. Nor has that all in one Cell phone with the newest, best breakthrough technology, they all work great, ALL the time....Unfortunately these are not driven.

 

Guess I used a poor example in Wozniak's complaint on sudden acceleration...Hilarius , doesn't he know pressing the cruise control on a low horse power car like a Prius will cause the car to really step up the speed if he wants it to go from like 40 to 65 ..All of my previous cars showed aggressive acceleration with twice the horse power of the Prius to reach its objective speed limit .

 

Are there any known cases of runawy Prii in Japan?

 

Highly unlikely. Have you had problems recently with your microwave? How about your thermostat? Or your watch?

Computers are everywhere, and there are many different kinds of computers. PCs and cell phones run various software in various environments, and therefore cannot be economically designed to handle everything that is thrown at them. Devices that use firmware, like many appliances and cars, are much more reliable and incorporate several mechanisms to minimize the chance of complete failure.

Having a glitch is certainly a possibility, though there is no evidence of such to date. But to compare it to PCs and cell phones is improper.

 

I make a living designing and programming these sort of devices. I have also designed and programmed many software systems for general purpose computers. I can attest that these devices and environments are night and day different. This post has it exactly right.

Tom

 

The simple answer, if you are serious, is to reboot the car. This is available in a San Diego type situation. In a quick situation neutral works.

 

Shifting into neutral is safe but it DOES do something which is the topic of discussion in the thread about confusing manual instructions. It does remove the Emergency Brake Boost which is designed to increase the brake power in anticipation of a collision. This could be a life saver. A few people are in the habit of shifting into neutral to facilitate coasting. This would not be good if done just before a collision.

This is kind of a far fetched possibility, but it is "something".

 

You can see Mr. Sikes' bankruptcy filing on line. You can see how successful his real estate business is. You can read comments from former coworkers and neighbors. None of this is speculation. You can read the results of Toyota's findings. You can read a number of articles in several national magazines doubting his story. You are entitled to your opinion, but a little cynicism can be a good thing. Are all SUA events hoaxes? I don't know. But I know Sudden Intended Acceleration is more likely to kill or injure Toyota drivers.

 

Oh yeah ? So what appliance have you sent back for a software update recall ? ..I was using my example, because the fact remains. Every computer I had, had to get a software patch.Our car relies on computerization like no other car. The fact is Toyota issued a recall for 2010 Prius' , to get their ABS brakes software changed/updated, EVERY Prius 2010 must get this recall done or they will not be under warranty. I can understand getting my Navigation software system updated in a few years for new roads, new places ..etc... But getting your brake software changed/updated on a few month old car, sounds like an error to me. Wish you all smelled the coffee, had not been an apparent problem we would not need any update, you and all of us would smell rosy.

A hoax was probably done on the back of a failure by Toyota.

 

If you're going to take a small paragraph of mine and use it..It would be nice if you read that whole post and it would answer your question.

 

Well, once a month my TV does a firmware update... I got a flash drive in the mail to update my firdge's firmware not too long ago... Wake up buddy, microcontrollers are everywhere. Do you realize that even electronic toothbrushes have microcontrollers inside running firmware. You could reflash your toothbrush if you wanted to, just get to the ICSP pins and use the correct programmer.

Embedded systems are nothing like a PC or cell phone. And even then, I have never had a system failure on a PC or cell phone that wasnt caused by a 3rd party software install.

What is the difference in updating firmware vs. replacing a mechanical part? There is no difference. If the spontaneously combusting cruise control modules in Ford vehicles could have been fixed by attaching a programmer and applying new updates they would have saved quite a bit of money in their decade long recall.

There is no car problem, only driver problem. People can be judicial and say innocent until guilty, but this is hogwash. Only in America does this crap happen. Only possibilities are that there is some "bermuda-triangle"-esque effect over the US only, or the other commonality is the US driver is just "different" than those in the rest of the world. I'm betting on option 2.