Toyota Prius Speeds Out of Control on SoCal FWY

He could have handled the situation better, but should the car speed out of control on its own?

 

Re: Run Away Prius

Maybe he just panicked. If your brakes stop working at highway speeds, panic is a possibility. It just seemed a little harsh to be calling the guy a fraud so early in the story.

 

So...what I want to know is who here is now afraid to drive their Prius, and who here will continue driving it like nothing happened? And why, for each side?

 

I will continue to drive like nothing happened. The why is simple. I have not experienced this issue and have not seen any evidence that indicates vehicle malfunction in this case. If that changes, then my opinion might change.

 

Yes! How did we miss this? Pushing on the brake pedal and applying the parking brake engages the "Automatic Return The Accelerator To Home Function". When I heard that this cat had overheated his brakes trying to stop his supposedly out of control Prius, then used his parking brake to slow the car to a stop, I knew that he was lying. How could the weak parking brake that utilizes the rear brakes stop an out of control car like this? The rear brakes were already overheated, right? The rear brakes provide maybe 10 - 20% of the cars stopping power when not overheated. Did anyone follow this cat from start to finish? He could have been driving along using his brakes off and on to overheat them, then when the cops showed up, they would smell the results. They should check the brake light switch to see if it was adjusted to turn on the brake lights at the lightest touch, that would hide the actual usage of the brakes.

 

Move the shifter to (R)everse. It's the best advice I think I saw on the forum. Quick, straight to the point. Whatever is happening the car should pop out of its funk to avoid destroying itself.

 

So, is obvious trolling not punished here?

 

I will keep driving as normal. Why? Because nothing has happened that changes my basic opinion about the safety of my Prius. To change my opinion I require one of the following:

1) Personal experience.

2) Experience reported by one of the main PC technical people.

3) Documented evidence from a reliable source.

What doesn't impress me is public hysteria or hearsay stories.

I'll tell you one thing I know for sure: Prius are capable of uncommanded acceleration and brake failure. I'll tell you another thing: all cars are capable of the same thing.

The odds are slim that you will ever need to deal with it. Even so, learn how to stop your car in all potential situations. If you are the one in a million that suffers mechanical failure plus electrical failure plus no place to run off the road, then you will probably die. Likewise if someone comes across the center line at high speed you will probably die. Driving is a risk. Life is a risk. Minimize the risk as best you can, and then get on with it.

Tom

 

Re: Run Away Prius

It doesn't seem like the brakes failed since the brakes worked at the end. The brake override should have also cut engine power. Too many claimed failures at the same time.

However, I wonder if the people who do have real unintended acceleration problems are having it because a cruise control fault? I read that one person stopped the problem by toggling the cruise on and off.

 

If you try to shift to "R" at high speed I think it just puts it in neutral anyway.

 

I agree with this:

"Again, we don't have any technical details yet, so this post could be totally premature. We'll hopefully know more soon."-Danny

Eventually we will know whether it was the aroma of BS or Burning Brake Lining. I could lean towards an opinion but there is so much unrevealed, I don't know if it's wise.

But poor Toyota. One truth, is given all the negative publicity concerning Toyota's, accelerator pedals, Brakes and "unintended acceleration" it just creates this reality in the near future for Toyota. A lot of people that are involved in "incidents and accidents" in any Toyota model are going to be predisposed to the idea that it could be "unintended acceleration" and all that has been attached to that phrase.

What REALLY happened with this specific case? Maybe nobody knows yet.

Another possibility to consider, admitting that it is way premature, and investigation needs to happen and be allowed to happen, is outright fraud. Given Toyota's woes lately would someone think a high profile "incident" of supposed unintended acceleration could be parlayed into sometype of financial gain?

With all due respect to the owner of The Prius, and begging apology if I'm wrong, and admitting that I could be wrong...once the "Unintended Acceleration" Genie has left the bottle, it opens up the possibility of so much. Innocent mistake, or after the fact subconcious application of applied ideas, or attempt to garner attention or financial gain through a fraudulent incident of unintended acceleration or REAL PROBLEM...they are all on the table as possible scenarios.

Being paranoid I too am highly suspicious as to what really happened but ultimately this is just an incident that needs to be investigated.

 

I think that this thread is silly so far. A lot of people claiming conspiracy is just nonsense. Lets wait to see what some sort of conclusions are drawn by investigations by both government and Toyota.

I will continue to drive my Prius as normal. Just over 34k miles of problem-free and issue-free driving by both my wife and I is the main reason.

I will stop driving it when one of these three things happen:

1. I encounter a situation of un-intended acceleration or something like that which I believe many others may be having

2. The government, or PRIUS, or my insurance carrier tells me that I can't drive it because it is an un-safe or un-insurable vehicle

3. When the car dies, many miles and years from now

SKIP

 

1. Remember the so-called "unintended acceleration" problem on Audis about 20 years ago? Turns out is was a case of driver error and media feeding frenzy. This is what is happening now with the addition of either UAW slug sabotage, worker incompetence or both at CTS, abetted by Government Motors.

2. Don't be a coward; use your First Amendment rights and tell the government to kiss your behind!

3. And replace it with another built-in-Japan Prius!

 

Wow. You're totally right!! I google Ford, Chevy and accidents, and NOTHING ever comes up. Well, maybe once in a great, great while, but certainly not everyday!!

Well done. Check and mate I suppose.

 

Alum99 has it right. The real story is not what he did or didn't do to stop the car. The issue is that the car speeds up on its own. Everything else is just static...

The humorous parts of this thread are the folks that test stuff on their non-malfunctioning car and draw straight conclusions about what is going to happen in the malfunctioning car. Brilliant.

I have no reason to doubt the story by the driver, cop, or 911 operator. None. But I also believe Oswald killed Kennedy, Obama was born in Hawaii, jets brought down the Towers, Iraq bought aluminum tubes for building uranium centrifuges, and we landed on the moon. OK, so I was wrong once.

 

There is a whole host of evidence for your examples (except Iraq, as you note), all of which can be pulled up instantaneously on the Internet.

On the other hand, the only evidence we have, so far, for this case is the driver's word. Neither the cop nor the 911 operator has said anything that indicates a first-hand observation of vehicle malfunction.

Seems like apples and oranges to me.

 

Re: Run Away Prius

I put mine in 'N' with the gas stomped ... so it works ok in our 2004. Now, brake fade on (rear only) drums I can understand ... but on (front) rotor/disks? Brake fade on disks is a bit more of a stretch, though not all together impossible. Heck, going down the grapevine (I-5) with 1,025 lbs of cargo, my disks did just fine ... so I duno.

If it's any consolation ... the 1st hybrid Lexus (like our 2006 SUV) DID have a regular shifter ... so that's why it was extreamly inexplicable to me when the family in S.D. went flying through the air to their deaths in the hybrid Lexus . . . a CHP dude, who trains OTHER CHP personel on how to drive in emergencies?

.

 

this is a good point, toyota should never have messed with the PRNDL design.

 

If you press the Park button the car automatically goes into neutral.... therefore cutting off the engine and allowing you to brake...