I was actually thinking this last night as I drove south on I-5 with the cruise control set at 65mph. Nothing happened. The car kept going 65mph for a really long time. Boring. So my mind started to wander and percolate on all the PC reading I'd done lately. I don't discount all the stories as driver error, or floormat interference. As much as I'm skeptical about Jim Sikes' story I still hold as a possibility that he's just a sad sack character who's had something go horribly wrong yet again. My nature doesn't allow me to convict either Toyota or the drivers until something is proven. So I find all of this incredibly frustrating. I just wish it would happen to me so that I'd KNOW FOR SURE. Yes, I'd be cursed as yet another scammer or confused idiot driver, but at least I would know better. Assuming there was room to run on the road I also hope I'd have presence of mind to do some logical troubleshooting. In order of theoretical failure: Check/cancel CC? Check/pull up on gas pedal? Light, gradual braking (not too much)? Hard braking? Parking brake to the floor? Neutral? Reverse? Park button? And if all those failed, Power button for a good long hold. If all that failed I'd be pretty damn amazed and probably try them all again unless I was running out of road and had to ditch. I love to problem solve, so I'd want to chat with Toyota and the NHTSA and go over things methodically. "No comment" to the media. No posts here until we learned something useful. On the other hand, maybe my car isn't a good case study considering how many times I've had the dash apart, the EV button, the amplifier installs, etc. Too easy to blame those I suppose. But at least I would KNOW. - D
Don, I wish you good luck on having your car accelerate over 90 mph. I also hope that you troubleshoot it prior to loosing control. regards spook
Thanks but I highly doubt it would get up to 90, or even 80. If the brakes didn't stop it before then I'm sure the power switch would. Like I said, I don't discount the possibility that UA is real but I do feel confident that I could stop the car if it happened. As long as I'm imagining my own personal perfect UA scenario I can also specify that it occur on a lonely, remote, LONG stretch of road. Don't take me too seriously tho, it was just the idle musings of a bored mind on the freeway. - D
Have you noticed that most of the UA scenarios *do* take place on a long, relatively open road? That or parking lots and minimall storefronts -- apparently never on normal surface streets, which I find awfully odd. . _H*
I find it interesting that Sikes had sufficient presence of mind to to call 911, but was afraid to put on the brakes? Even FOX News is questioning his background ... financial situation; law suits and other "funny business" in his past. I wonder if he telephoned his attorney as he was racing down the road ... or a media outlet? It is sad that the "main stream media" puts so much emphasis in such matters and when contrary details are finally revealed .... silence.
