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breaking news, one dead in prius crash

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by rigormortis, Aug 8, 2008.

  1. Cootunit

    Cootunit New Member

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    FYI, I review cars and here's a weird thing about skid marks and ABS. In my experience, even with the best ABS systems in panic stop situations there are actually skid marks, although they are very subtle and usually don't have a sliding ribber pattern like what you see with older brakes. The tires do actually slide a miniscule amount, and if the rubber is any good, it leaves some footprints as the tread is under a lot of pressure with the weight shift and such.

    This tragedy looks a lot like the driver was either asleep or incapacitated. It happens a lot. Very sad.

    -Coot
     
  2. penbed

    penbed New Member

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  3. abcdefgary

    abcdefgary New Member

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    I didn't know about this brake failure thing until I read some of the posts here.
    To be quite honest, this issue really scares me.
    I thought it was due to the floormats and they fixed it or something?
     
  4. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Wooo, brake failure discussed on another thread ... or Wooo, failure on multiple cars ... let's see ... over a MILLION Pri' out there, on the road now ... and let's say 10 failures just for round numbers ... that's one or more out of a hundred thousand. Stats declare the number a non-event. Put another way?

    [​IMG]

    :p
    harsh joking aside, & Don't get me wrong, I've been watching the issue for the whole time, & watching for TSB's but it's still a far cry from crisis level.
     
  5. auricchio

    auricchio Member

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    Speculating that this is caused by brake failure is totally irresponsible.

    Absent any details of the accident, the only fact you have is that the Prius hit a parked truck.

    Sorka, you are trying to argue that because that bit of information fits your agenda in the brake argument, that it supports your argument. By itself, that fact does not.

    It is true that a brake failure usually causes a rear-end accident. But in this case there is absolutely no evidence of that. There are a dozen causes of rear-end accidents, none of which are related to the brakes. (Best one? Inattention: not hitting the brakes in time to stop.)

    Please use sense in this situation. The fault in your argument makes it harder for people to take you seriously; if you keep this up you will appear to be a crank.
     
  6. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Hill, well well, whats all this then, full frontal nudity on Prius Chat, think of the children man. Are ya daft, they see be seein this and they will all want one, again

    The Troll plague will again sweep the planet.

    Hope you don't mind, I stole a copy of the pic, I will be dropping Troll bombs on some of the other chat groups I inhabit!

    Very Funny Well done lad!!!

    73 de Pat KK6PD
     
  7. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Thanks fro clearing that up. :) I generally only cross the new Benicia Bridge and stay away from any other bridges if possible as I hear that is where Trolls come from and there are enough on PC for me to deal with. LOL

    The article just seemed akward in its description of the location.
     
  8. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    Would there not have to be a steering failure as well?
     
  9. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    I think the failure was somewhere between the seat and the steering wheel.
     
  10. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Very sad. My heart goes out to the family of the driver.
     
  11. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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  12. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    Perhaps it was the driver, perhaps it was the brakes, or perhaps it was the steering wheel... Either way, the black box will tell.
     
  13. MikeSF

    MikeSF Member

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    Yup brake failure
     
  14. kazots

    kazots LifesaBeach

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    Accidents happen everyday, but I'm interested because it is a Prius. What speed and what caused the death? Is the Prius as safe as we think or are there flaws we should know about? I hope we get more details from you. Thanks
     
  15. rigormortis

    rigormortis Active Member

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    it is really hard to find updated news stories about this, its a really small article, i have not been able to find pictures
    it should be easier to find articles now

    i have found one update
    -----------------------
    HAYWARD — An elderly man died Friday morning after his car crashed into a parked Caltrans truck in a parking lot on the San Mateo Bridge, the California Highway Patrol said.
    B Kenneth Roberts, 84, of Monterey, had been traveling east on the bridge at about 6:25 a.m. when his Toyota Prius veered off the road and into the bridge's toll plaza parking lot, where it rear-ended the truck.
    The accident is still under investigation, but officials said a medical situation may have played a role.
    "There were no skid marks and it appeared he was driving with the flow of traffic," said Sgt. Mike Martinez of the CHP. "The car had major front-end damage and the driver sustained immediate fatal injuries."
    Firefighters responding to the scene used a Jaws of Life device to cut through the totalled vehicle and get the driver out.
    No one was inside the parked truck, and traffic was not affected, Martinez said.
     
  16. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    Just as a basic education point about brake failures. Cars have two independent brake hydraulic circuits. A failure that 1) Affects all wheels, 2) does not show up as a brake failure light(s) on the dash, 3) records no data in the cars electronic memory, and 4) vanishes when checked out with competent crash investigators is a likely as a being hit by a meteorite. On top of this, the Prius has the regenerative brakes that can function significantly even if the hydraulic brakes fail.

    When it comes to braking, the Prius is mighty safe, as well as any other properly maintained car.
     
  17. abq sfr

    abq sfr New Member

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    I'd like to propose that the driver might have already been dead, and that caused the crash. My grandfather dropped dead pumping gas in his car at the age of 82, just after zooming 50 in a 35 mph zone like had done for years. I hate to think what would have happened if he had died 3 minutes earlier. This or too many pain killers is much more likely than brake failure.
     
  18. Ichiro

    Ichiro Member

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    a bit off topic, but I've noticed that the Prius rates poorly for stopping distance in its class. i think it might be among the worst.
    not that it would have mattered in this crash
     
  19. abq sfr

    abq sfr New Member

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    Undoubtedly due to tires. Wonder what the stopping distance would be with 44/42 in the tires! Or with the other tires people are replacing with? The car does not weigh that much so that would be in its favor. Agreed, no bearing on this accident. If the driver were cognizant, they could have steered around.
     
  20. wogue

    wogue Lexus CT200h

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    and below these news an SUV-Advertisemet! So every naiv citizen comes to think: that wouldn´t have happened in the BMW---

    brave new world
    wogue