Got into an accident today due to brake problem =(

I like my prius as much as everyone else but the Heaven's Gate mentality is not cool.

 

Dude, seriously - your car just got completely f*cked up... You're entitled to a frowny-face or two - no apologies necessary.

 

Exactly? Really? So if you were driving an FJ-40 and hit a manhole cover with a front wheel while braking, you would entirely lose all braking for 1/2 second?

 

Here were go again w/newbies/low count posters asserting the car "lurches forward" when encountering pavement anomalies while braking.

For those who bought their cars recently, assuming it was produced Feb 2010 or later, it shouldn't be affected and should've already had the change described at http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...announces-voluntary-recall-2010-my-prius.html, http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/76158-prius-brake-recall-little-more-information.html and How To Tell If Your 2010 Prius Is Affected by the Brake Issue | PriusChat aka SSC-A0B. For those where it was produced before or it's unclear, check w/your dealer to see if it was applied.

IIRC, the dealer is legally obligated to perform recall work on unsold and undelivered cars on their lot before releasing them to customers. If a dealer skipped that step, I'd file a complaint w/NHTSA.

 

Yep... actually as mentioned at Report: Ford issues TSB fix for brake pedal on Fusion Hybrid models [w/video] — Autoblog Green and Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Ford issues prompt fix for Fusion Hybrid brakes, Ford quietly fixed it in October 09 w/o notifying anyone.

It was CR's hitting it (with even worse symptoms) months later that prompted Ford to notify owners.

 

Not a practical suggestion, but the OP could do it again in a normal car and see what happens.

I have found the Prius brakes are much better than a normal car. So much so that when I have to drive a normal car my initial reaction is 'OMG the brakes don't work'.

Normal cars take a lot longer to stop that the Prius. However, when the road surface is bumpy and suchlike, the Prius takes longer to stop (just like a normal car) and can do some strange things, but you do stop and in a shorter distance than a normal car would have. Unfortunately, not as short as you have got used to.

 

sorry about your car but accidents happen. u r ok, what else really matters?

in all things, NOTHING gets fixed properly if investigated with invalid data. Toyota has been diligent in investigating these issues but run into people who are simply not honest with their versions of how the incidents occurred.

most definitely report to your insurance company and everyone else for that matter what happened. but if your report is not as honest, detailed and as accurate as it can be, you are wasting your time and will ultimately cost yourself time and money

 

dont waste your time or abuse your car.

i can tell u what u will find. like the OP, unless you are going relatively fast, u will see nothing.

i found that i cant even come close to reproducing the issue unless i am doing at least 25-30 mph which would be more than double the sane speed limit. we had a roundabout construction project (easy to find since they are popping up like weeds around here) and i experimented with it.

when i completely failed to reproduce any issues, i actually had decided that my Pri was simply built better, i was lucky, got the one in a hundred that was ok, etc. but then again, i was driving reasonably.

i began to realize that i would almost never be in the situation the OP described. coming off a freeway ramp i start coasting as soon as possible. i will do it several blocks BEFORE the exit if there is no traffic behind me. (rare yes, but it does happen...mostly because i work weird hours) as soon as i am on the ramp, i immediately judge speed, distance, slope and light timing and if need be, begin to lightly brake to maximize regen.

so at the estimated distance to the main street, i would most likely be doing around 20-30 mph... more than slow enough for a panic emergency stop if any issues arose.

personally, i hate using friction brakes, i equate then to gas. i hate using gas.

 

I had the same issue several times before and after the computer fix, Toyota is the biggest BS artist. Toyota has no fix for the problem.

 

I think you hit it right on the nose....anticipate, esp if you know there is construction, almost guaranteed is a 10mph decrease in posted "safe" speed in the area. Sometimes it is more of a decrease. Most exit ramps are maxed out at 40mph (at least, from what I can recall).

I've had the brake issue pop up before at a bad time (I saw the rough patch of road too late, it was dark out), when I was turning right at the bottom of an off-ramp. Luckily, there wasn't anyone coming flying up the road. It's an awkward intersection due to the angle of the roads intersecting and also with the interstate going above the area so you've got those dang supports in the way.

I'm a little perplexed as to how people haven't heard of the issue, given all the coverage in the news about Toyota. But, regardless of that, the OP did have an accident, but appears to be OK which is what matters.

 

Any car will require additional stopping distance if you are on gravel, uneven/broken pavement, wet manhole cover, ice, sand, grass etc...
That is why they are called "accidents" =
 /ˈæksɪdənt/ Show Spell
–noun 1. an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss; casualty; mishap: automobile accidents.
Stop blaming the car!
IMO this falls under the " I put my coffee between my legs and it spilled and burned me" it is not the coffee's fault or the coffee establishment or the coffee machines fault.
Yes you read me right, I like my coffee blazing hot, now i only get luke warm.

 

They do, turn off regen and only use friction brakes.

But then it kind of stops being a prius, and just a heavy auris....

 

Other non-hybrids experience this same problem. Turning off regen is not the answer. The root of this problem lies with modern ABS technology. Perhaps we need to eliminate or reconfigure ABS, but then accidents caused by loss of control might exceed those caused by increased braking distance. There are always trade-offs.

Tom

 

I go over a lot of bumpy roads and haven't experienced the problem. Maybe I'm just lucky. Is it possible the software fix wasn't applied to the OP's car? Is there a way to check beyond going to a Toyota dealership?

 

It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.

 

After 4 years of driving a Prius, first Gen II now Gen III I can say the braking system works just fine, but some who claim of the car is "Lurching Forward" is not what happens. Drivers mash the brakes and on an uneven road surface makes the brake lose some, not all, of its braking as the wheels bounce across the rough surface. Because the Deceleration lessens for those brief moments, the car feels as if its accelerating across the rough road, but it is is not. If the car is driven by someone experienced with the sensation it is a cause for caution on wet washbord road surfaces. The worst I ever experienced was in my Gen II Prius entering a tollbooth in the New Jersey Turnpike, where the State of NJ had installed rumble strips to warn inattentive drivers of the toll gate ahead, so as to wake them from their stupor if necessary. The Prius never failed to decelerate but the traction was slippery, the wheels intermittently making surface pressure on them vary, and the car for a moment felt like it could hit the toll gate. It did not because the brakes stopped the Prius just fine, but the sensation was real if only for the briefest on moments. In 4 years that happened only once to a degree that impressed itself on my mind. I make certain I approach such obstacles at lower approach speeds since, just to be sure.

In fairness I have to add the same sensation has occurred for me when driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee over similar toll booth approaches, but the far heavier Jeep makes it feel less noticable.

 

lets take the OP's post and replace "rough patchy road under construction" to "wet, black ice, road".

now would the situation be any different. who would be liable in the 2nd scenario; still would be the driver's fault BUT the situation would not be the same. u cannot see black ice several hundred feet in advance, nor do u know about black ice several days in advance.

the fact of the matter; the driver knew about the less than ideal road conditions and should know that the "speed limit" is ALWAYS dependent on road conditions. he made an error in judgment.

i still think he should file a report since valid data collection is always helpful

 

I completely disagree. The last four cars i've driven to work every day in had ABS, and the last had ABS, EBD, EBA, ESC, the works. I've experienced ABS functioning (the horrible scraping sound, and a shaky pedal) in all of them bar the prius, both when i've got the car to test how the system will respond, and in occasional emergency stops. in the prius, driving on the same roads, i have experienced loss in braking. the ABS is NOT acivating, the wheels are not locking up. what's happening is that i'm used to sitting in the regen area on the HSI, and suddenly regen goes away (and you feel like you're on a runaway train). applying more braking stops the car. the problem is real, and if a driver reacts poorly (i.e. doesn't press the brake pedal more) could result in an accident.
I believe my car has had the software mod, so i can imagine it's even worse in the non updated ones.

It has nothing to do with ABS, i am applying nowhere near enough pressure to lock the wheels.

 

Four cars is not an exhaustive survey of all non-hybrid vehicles. I didn't say that *all* non-hybrid vehicles exhibit this same behavior. All I claim is that *some* non-hybrid vehicles do this, which eliminates regenerative braking as the root cause of brake dropout, if we can call it that.

The previous post lists the Jeep Cherokee as an example. Jayman has many times commented about his FJ-40 doing the same thing. Several other posters have made similar comments about other cars.

As for not being anywhere near enough pressure to lock the wheels, what sort of instrumentation are you using to ascertain this, and how do you know what the ABS ECU is commanding? All you can say is that in your previous cars this was nowhere near enough brake pedal pressure to cause ABS activation. You can't extrapolate from that for the Prius. It is a different system, with different brakes, tires, suspension, and ECU.

Tom

 

Actually now that I think about it, this must be the little 'turbo' feature that kicks in while applying the brakes. It's like an Easter egg type of deal.