Feds to probe cause of runaway Prius in California

Shifting to B won't help much if your Prius thinks full throttle has been commanded. You can go fast in B mode.

Tom

 

What kind of Car do we drive?

A toyota Prius...

The drivers of such a car are those who believe in a clean environment. We drive a car that says we do not emit as much poison into our lungs as other cars do.
We do not burn as much gas, therefore we do not send as much money as those who do not drive a Prius to foreign governments that we are in debt to.
We must stand together as one we need to show the world we are faithful to Toyota that brought us a car our own car companies denied us.
To show those who are not a Prius driver that we do not have run away cars, let us stop at every stop sign and cross walk., Yes We Are! the gentlemen and ladies that sit in these hybrid cars.
Toyota will fix any problem that is real with this car. We need to be patient and not let those who envy us take away our cars and replace them with ones that will suck us dry at the pumps and pollute the environment.

Keep the Green.

 

The 911 tapes came out and the guy didn't even sound that panicked. I think the smell of brakes the cop said was due to the moron driver on the gas and brake at the same time.

 

No. I am not overly worried about it because I feel confident I can stop my car if I absolutely had to stop it. I'm hoping this isn't being overconfident. I am a very capable driver, yet this doesn't mean I want to drive a runaway car. I have practiced putting the car into neutral. I suggest you practice it, too.

Some of the "senior" members seem to be quite snobby about this car for some reason. I don't quite understand it. I really enjoy my Prius; I even named it for goodness' sake. The ambivalent feelings about it, however, are quite real.

 

Tell me how many strange twists can this whole thing take?

Issa butts heads with NHTSA over Prius probe - SignOnSanDiego.com

EL CAJON— The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, were in a “standoff†Wednesday afternoon over the investigation into a Toyota Prius in El Cajon, the congressman’s staff said.

 

It could be that Congress can hold oversight hearings but a congressman can't. It would be inappropriate to allow one congressman to be represented in this situation. It would get crowded to have all 537 members plus delegates at the investigation (as if you could find that many real experts). Conducting this kind of investigation is a function of the executive branch.

 

Well, according to the other thread, Park or R will also put it into neutral. And if that's the case, why practice doing this thing that will not come as naturally nor be as simple to execute as pressing Park or the immediate shift to R...

 

Well, I have never heard of putting a car into park or reverse while in drive! This seems like pure ludicrousness. But, hey, if you want to go for it, let me know how it went. I'd like to know.

 

Or just hit the brakes!!!! Sorry for the multiple links; some need it.

 

Agree.

I was looking for my key chain all over the place, and finally I found out the key chain was on my hand (not one, but several time).

 

Here you go. Watch this you will see another Prius not the same guy.

http://www.videosift.com/video/What-To-Do-If-Your-Toyota-Prius-Accelerates-Out-Of-Control

 

The only thing that bothers me about the alleged burning brakes smell is that if he was really on both the gas and the brakes at the same time the car would have ignored the gas pedal input and he'd have just stopped. No burning brakes. Others have mentioned it may be possible to use light parking brake pressure to get the burning result. It's also possible that he was alternately braking hard and then accelerating again, braking hard, etc., until he got them heated up. Both scenarios assume he's just being malicious. If it's a true fault with the car then all bets are off as to how it should behave. It's already misbehaving.

Already well established in other threads, but to repeat: above about 3 mph it will just go into neutral if you try to select P or R. It knows that'd be a bad idea and chooses a safe alternative.

- D

 

How did you regain control?

BTW, manual transmission drivers are constantly going into "neutral" by pushing in on the clutch. In our Prius, it takes all power off from the transaxle, which is the same effect as pushing in the clutch. It is quite safe at any speed. Based upon the shift pattern, you have to hold it for a full second, which may seem like an eternity but works. Practice at say 25 mph until you feel comfortable and later, at a higher speed.

Bob Wilson

 

I bet Al Gore III and Steve Wozniak are wishing they could've used the stuck gas pedal excuses few years ago.

 

I'm not anticipating that we'll hear anything for a few weeks. You can bet that everyone will go over that car with a fine tooth comb to see if there is any "smoking gun"...that, especially with the feds, will take time.

 

I wholly agree with you Tom. In fact, I always enjoy reading your responses and posts because they are almost always interesting!

I'm sure that different states have different requirements for obtaining a drivers license, but overall they are indeed woefully inadequate. The more I drive, the more I feel there should be more training that goes into obtaining a license. I know that in DE, you are able to take "Drivers Education" in high school. Once you successfully pass the written part of the class (you only need a C or higher, mind you) you get I believe 14 hours in a car. Half of that is "observing" your partner driving (at least, that's how it was 12 years ago for me). I didn't do so much observing as I did wondering if I'd make it back alive! Needless to say, they don't teach you how to "drive" rather how to make the car go where you want it. To me, it's kind of like my saying of "you can teach a monkey how to operate a car, but you can't teach him how to properly drive it". There's a big difference in making the car move, turn, etc. and knowing how the car actually operates and how to "work" it.

To put into comparison, in order for me to get my motorcycle endorsement, I took an MSF sponsored course at the local Harley dealership, and it consisted of 12 hours in a classroom setting with a maximum of 12 people and 8 hours of actual riding time. They taught you how to properly maneuver the bike, how it operated, etc. They required that you could show competency in operating the vehicle and actually pass a written and riding test, administered by someone other than the certified "teachers" in the course. Overall, I think this made me a better driver when in my car as well.

 

Remember the Audi 5000 problem, it took a long time and in the end Audi never did admit to any fault and always claimed driver error. In the end the government cleared Audi and claimed that 100% of the accidents were indeed driver error. The owners were hitting the accelerator instead of the brakes. On the Audi the peddles were closer together than on the average car and that was considered part of the problem as a contributing factor.

I am not that sure of the same result for Toyota but i am willing to bet that many of the occurrences of this problem will be found to be operator error, and careless use of floor mats, ect.

 

I still think its BS. We will see in the upcoming weeks perhaps. Here's another one: Do Prius problems extend to county fleet? - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Guess this guy had "acceleration" issues too..funny how they are all happening around the same time. You never know..people are crazy these days. just remember balloon boy

"Several websites are reporting Sikes (the guy with the recent runaway Prius) filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and faced federal and state tax liens. Apparently he is in debt $700K. How he managed to take his eyes off of the road and dial 911 yet be incapable of putting the car into neutral makes me wonder."