Feds to probe cause of runaway Prius in California

Who knows why the driver didn't follow the 911 instructions> We were not in his position to follow it or do it on our own. Easy to criticise him for his reaction in an emergency. We'll see how some of you will react it this happens to you.
He did indicate he was afraid the shifter may go into reverse. I seriously doubt he is a member here and knows that that would not do anything at such speeds. He did use his break and even the highway patrol officer saw the tail light and smelled it; he the also applied the parking break.
Just because the Canadian taxi fleet has not experienced this, nor others before this means nothing. Right now everyone is just guessing of course. Do you know why your computer all of a sudden decides to freeze, etc???

 

A properly designed car shouldn't even experience a run away event (unless something gets physically jammed on the gas pedal). regardless of if you know what to do. I've never had a problem so I am skeptical. I'm going to take a wait and see approach.

 

IF I ran a red light (with a red light camera) i will no doubt get a ticket. I could use the actual defense in court, that a prius hater was 2 feet from my bumper and in an effort to avoid being rear ended, i proceeded through the yellow light which turned to red. I think the run-away prius defense will work much better.
Of course I don't want my wife or anyone injured from a run away prius, I just find it strange that this event could actually happen. Perhaps a poll is in order? Have you experienced a run-away prius? ( I don't know how to set that up) I also saw a youtube video which has a prius driver floor the accelerator and apply the brakes at the same time, what happened? the car turned off.

 

I just can't get my arms around this guy's story. I haven't had much luck getting my Prius to accelerate suddenly even intentionally. I also find it interesting that he could actually pull on the accelerator pedal- does my steering wheel telescope? And I like the idea that after he turned off the engine that the car accelerated again. And he seemed more angry than relieved to be alive...

 

I know this whole argument has been brought up before (during the earlier discussion involving the family that was killed in the runaway Lexus) - but not everyone knows (or remembers, even if they did RTFM or were told) that to put the car in neutral you have to hold the shifter in N position for a second or two and to turn it off you have to hold the Power button in for 3 seconds. After all, when the car is stopped one just presses the Power button to turn it off -- so holding the button for 3 seconds is neither habitual nor intuitive.

In a panic situation, he might have tried to shift to neutral or turn off the car, but couldn't get it to work because he didn't hold the shifter or button in long enough.

 

There is always some risk in anything, but if you look at the numbers (a few events in millions of miles driven) the risk is very low. The risk of having a "normal" traffic accident without any unintended acceleration is undoubtedly much higher.

The best thing to do for your wife is to make sure she knows what to do in the rare event that something does occur. She should practice shifting into N, etc. And you should too.

Which is why you should be familiar with what to do and how the car will react.

BTW: I just watched Mr. Sikes on NBC and he stated that he did not shift into N because he was afraid the car would flip . I've just scared my dogs because I was screaming at the TV.

 

I believe we've had at least one forum participant who claims
to have had SUA, but has had trouble getting anyone to believe it.
Find posts from "nylion" and make your own determination.
.
_H*

 

Yes I remember that thread and his problem seemed to be plausible, but happened each time at relatively low speed unlike the incident in San Diego. I believe that he ended up trading the car in for a new 2010.

 

I don't anticipate anything meaningful coming from the investigation
when it's findings are released 6 months or a year from now.

The driver of the "runaway" Prius in San Diego asserts that the
accelerator, "go-pedal," moved all by itself. (A strange reversal.
Previous to this the accelerator issue was that the go-pedal didn't
move by itself, that is it did not return to a zero output
position/condition under the influence of the return spring alone.)

The go-pedal is only connected to a base piece that has electronics in
it that generates very small electrical signals that then travel over
wires. Other than the return spring, there is nothing in or connected to
the pedal assembly that could move the go-pedal, malfunction or no.

So just how did the pedal move? If the driver did depress the pedal for
reasons known only to himself, there will be no error codes, the pedal
only generated the signals he essentially asked for... and reading the
"little black box" can only confirm this. It will report the output
signals, it cannot identify the thing -- foot or ??? -- that generated the
force that moved the go-pedal.

Countering the driver's assertion that the go-pedal moved on it's own
against the pressure of the return spring, there can only be an
investigative "finding," a counter assertion that the most probable
cause, the "proximate" cause, was that the driver did depress the go-
pedal. But this is not proof, it is an informed, well considered guess.
This of course will be vehemently denied...

It's a crying shame but in the end, nothing will have changed. Given
what I anticipate to be inconclusive investigative findings, it will
simply come down to individual assessments of the driver/claimant's
credibility.

 

A lie detector test would be nice if he consented

 

LOL, that was good one

 

I noticed this as well while listening to the 911 recording. The dispatcher *clearly* asked him if he could take his car out of gear, and he just cursed at his cell phone. I thought that was very odd. He was supposedly in great fear, and yet he could forget his fear for a moment to angrily curse at his phone.

At any rate -- Toyota and the Gov't should easily be able to figure out the problem this time, if one exists. The driver said he was unable to physically pull the accelerator up because it was stuck. How did he stop? He stomped on the brakes, engaged the emergency brake, went uphill, turned off the car and was stopped by the patrol car. That means the accelerator should still be stuck in place, and whatever is holding it there...


EDIT: Hmm, after reading about Nylion's unintended acceleration (where his car accelerated when simply releasing the brakes from a complete stop), I wonder if Sikes' pedal was actually stuck "down" at all. Could it be that his pedal was in the normal position already and he just thought it was stuck, and that's why it wouldn't move?

 

it was not an offering of opinion. we have refrained from offering much opinion, given that DH's speculations about problems reported here on the forums were just that: speculations. they were based on experience and previous patterns noted through such experience, yes, but there is a limit to what one cay conclusively say about a problem vehicle without having seen it.

right now we are looking at the same evidence you are.

 

I absolutely agree with you. I drive an 05 Prius and I can say that this car NEEDS to be included in the recall. For the last 4 years we have had our Prius overseas (due to military orders) and while driving in Germany I had a problem with the deceleration. I thought it was a freak incident seeing as it hasn't happen since. I had the cruise control on for an hour or two when we started down the Alps, went to turn it off but no decrease in speed, hit the brakes slowed up a bit, let off the brakes and the car automatically went back to the speed set by the cruise! My girlfriend thought I was joking so I showed her the light for the cruise control was off and then picked up both feet to show that it wasn't me. Like I said I thought it was a freak thing but now with all the other accidents I am just thankful to be alive seeing as I was coming down the mountain at about 85 mph!

I am not one to seek anything out of this other than a safe car. Again I agree with you and pray that you and your wife stay safe!

And sorry for my ranting!

 

not sure if i'm buying it. it seems a little strange that they said he went for "20 minutes" with this pedal "stuck." he could have made it from south county to north county in that time going 94 MPH...definitely would have hit someone by then. interested to see what comes of this.

 

It's not inconceivable that the return spring in a go-pedal
assembly *could* break and let it flop to the floor, but that
would be pretty obvious and it would *stay* that way afterward
permitting an easy diagnosis. But nothing across any of the
recent cases has hinted at that. These pedals have no mechanical
self-actuators at all -- unlike the old-school cruise controls
that physically moved the throttle and would visibly drift the
pedal down.
.
Which also makes it interesting to "demand match" your foot to
where the car currently is when trying to take over from the CC
smoothly without any lurch.
.
_H*

 

By now, if you own a Prius, and don't know and understand how to safely shut down the car in an emergency, you should not be driving a Prius or any other car, for that matter.

I tried out the suggested procedure for Prius shut down. It's easy and it works. With the go pedal mashed to the floor, if you hit neutral the engine shuts off. Power steering and brakes worked fine and the car came to a stop without any flip overs or other drama.

So, in order to shut off a "runaway" Prius... brakes, push the little shift lever to neutral and then pull over to a stop in a safe place. Push the park button and then the power button, just in case your Prius gets the itch to take off again. There's also a parking brake that can be set.

In light of the constant barage of "allegations" in the news, everyone that drives a Prius should know how to bring a Prius to a stop. Give it a try and practice the procedure on a safe stretch of road so in the unlikely event your Prius takes off on its own, you won't have to take the time to call 911 for instructions.

Sheepdog: My wife drives a Prius and she knows the procedure above. I also suggest that everyone please read their operators manual. It has a lot of good info in it.

 

I can confirm the 2008 Prius can be shifted into Neutral while accelerating.

I was in the car with my wife today and told her exactly what to do if some "phantom driver" caused her to accelerate out of control. Simply hold the button on Neutral for 2 seconds and the car winds down to an idle within seconds and you safely roll to a stop.

What do you want to bet his cruise control was suck on and in the "increase speed" position, he just didn't think to turn it off. In that situation the car would be working perfectly, and it would be driver error (ID10T computer problems come to mind).

 

The emergency call seemed odd. Wouldn't be surprised if this is a gimmick esp being that the car is an older model.