Toyota Prius Speeds Out of Control on SoCal FWY

The Prius and 100% of the parts were made in Japan, no CTS brake pedal. This mess is ready to explode on toyota, if this guy dies in an accident with the chp as a witness then what happens to toyota. The problem is electronic in nature and until Toyota comes to grips with that, they are doomed.

 

There you go again..

 

Re: When will Toyota get it right?

Its probably from the parking brake. Its not made to stop a car.

 

The driver is a lunatic and the cop is a loser. Put both of them in the nearist lunatic asylem. Their coming to take me away ha ha ...................

 

There's been a lot of blame put onto the driver for not trying to put the car in Neutral or for not knowing about the shutdown function by holding down the power button for 3 seconds.

But, the real story is what caused the car to accelerate out of control? It's not what workarounds or solutions did the driver try / didn't try or didn't know.

It could be a design flaw or mechanical failure. And keep this in mind, it might be widespread or it might just be limited to his specific vehicle.

 

Hmmm. Luckier or smarter? I may go to the former for the reason best set forth by George Carlin: "Think about how stupid the average person is; now realise half of them are dumber than that."

 

Re: When will Toyota get it right?

Painting everyone who does not join you in blindly accepting this guy's claims as religious zealots is not very persuasive. There is good reason to be skeptical of this incident. I don't understand why you find it so upsetting that people want more information before condemning Toyota.

 

Do you think this is just gonna go away? What happens the next time there is a sudden acceleration episode that ends in death? This is a crazy situation. google toyota accidents or crashes, it is happening almost everyday.

 

I don't really see a lot of consistency in the reporting on this. All the more reason to wait until we get some official reports from CHP, NHTSA and Toyota.

I do have to admit that the video and the interviews with Mr. Sikes did not impress me. I was expecting terror and relief and saw anger- deep-seated anger.

 

Re: Run Away Prius

You're blaming the driver with the little info that's out about this?!

Stop :cheer2:

 

True, it could be a real failure. The driver, however, clearly stated that he did *not* try to power off or shift to N until much later in the runaway. When he did power off, the car stopped as expected. In this respect the driver deserves some abuse.

Tom

 

It was also noted that the driver had taken his Prius in to have the brake recall done. He was told that his vehicle was not part of the recall.

I believe that he staged this in order to get Toyota to take back his car.

I don't know why you guys are bad mouthing the cop. He did exactly the right thing by telling the guy how to push and hold the start button to get him to turn off his car. Maybe he should have told him to put it in nuetral, but so what. The start button off procedure was acceptable advice.

 

Re: Run Away Prius

It's possible to be confused and unaware as to how to select neutral or hold down the start button longer than normal, but the brake override should have worked regardless.
Either this guy is lying or there is a problem with the brake override system and he had a stuck pedal at the same time.

 

Can any of ya'll reach down and grab the gas pedal when seated in the car with the door closed.

I can't.. no where near it.. maybe he's smaller than he looks in the video and very limber for an old guy... That's where the story seems fishy for me..

 

This sounds like the balloon boy story, Prius version.

 

No, I don't think people with an agenda are going to go away.

 

Maybe the story will end up being a hoax, but he would have to have the chp officer in on it too. It is almost comical to see you guys 'circling the wagons' around toyota....the cult of toyota.

 

Hello?

Not like it hasn't happened before!

The Flip Side of the Perfect Prius - Page 1 - News - Seattle - Seattle Weekly

Shit needs a kill switch!

 

My comments are not meant to "blame" the driver, but to point out how he could have handled the situation better. Others can learn from this in case they ever find themselves in a similar situation.

The lessons:

Shifting to N is a good first option. He reportedly did not try this. You should do this before trying to tug at the pedal or manipulating the floor mat.

If for some reason, you cannot shift to N, then hold the Power button down until the car shuts off. This did work when he followed the instruction of the CHP officer.

If you are in this situation and want to use the brakes, apply the brakes hard and do not try to slow gradually because you will overheat the brakes and experience brake fade. In addition, when you apply the brake firmly, the car will override the throttle signal and cut power. If you apply the brakes hard at the outset, you can stop the car even with the accel pedal floored.

Try out these techniques so that you will know how the car responds if you ever need to do this.

 

I'm not suggesting it's a hoax, but if it is, there is no requirement that the cop is in on it. It would be easy to fake the runaway problem and the overheated brakes. The cop's reaction could be genuine, even if the incident is a fake.

Tom