Why the "Out of Control" Prius Driver Is Full of It

How does brake override work (or fail)?

 

Fishy, fishy, fishy.

1. "I gave them my recall notice and they handed it back and said I'm not on the recall list," Sikes said.

Doesn't the dealer see the same Toyota database that issued the notice in the first place? He had the recall notice in his hand, and the dealer said Toyota lied? Fishy.

2. There was a picture of Mr. Sikes' 2008 Prius in Silver Pine Metallic (that sort of pea-green color) on my local noon newscast today. Then I see a picture on the Priuschat home page showing a blue Prius with a trooper's car right in front of it, captioned, "Out-of-control Prius speeds down freeway."

Where did this pic come from? Staged by some enterprising Jimmy Olson? Was there a chopper on scene to snap the pic? It's not even clear from the news that the trooper ever positioned his cruiser in this way. Fishy.

3. "I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny ... it jumped and it just stuck there," the 61-year-old driver said at a news conference.

It jumped? As in, it was depressed about halfway, then, with no force from his foot, it popped down to the floorboards by itself? And then stuck itself there? Fishy.

4. "As it was going, I was trying the brakes ... it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up," Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning he was pressing the pedal so hard.

As stated in previous threads, Toyota's own web site states, "Please note that the Prius, and all hybrids for that matter, already have a version of the [brake] override system."

OK, so the accelerator pedal "jumped" to the floor, and at that very moment, the brake override feature failed? All the effort that went into creating the brake override in the first place was done for just one purpose: **to protect the driver against this very situation.** And it just failed? Shades of "The Right Stuff." when the astronaut explains to his wife, "Honest, honey, the explosive bolts just blew." Fishy.

4. Think about how fast all of this would have happened. You go to pass a guy, your car accelerates out of control, you hit the brakes and brake override fails, so you continue to accelerate. You are not smart enough to power off the car or put it into neutral. Faster and faster-- then you call 911, explain your problem, and the operator dispatches someone. How long before the police officer arrives on scene? Remember, you are speeding up, and the officer has to catch you. 5 minutes? 10? With your brakes "burning?" Fishy.

5. "After the car decelerated to about 50 mph, Sikes turned off the engine and coasted to a halt." Obvious question-- Why wait? Maybe it really took the guy that long to figure out that he had to hold the button in for 3 seconds. Umm... Fishy.

 

Wait, wait, I am still looking for that bridge I misplaced that I have to sell anyone who believes this story. It is so full of holes it looks more like Swiss cheese. Did not try to shift to Neutral, did not try and turn the car off. Oh, but he was able to call the police at 90 MPH and drop and rummage around on the floor or under the seats to retrieve the phone at 90 MPH, but not crash the car or go all over the road. Come on I still have that bridge waiting for sale!!!!

 

Maybe, but I'll bet you dollars to donuts (mabe that's not a good ratio anymore cause a donut costs about a dollar now. Oh well) that it doesn't get the same media coverage as the lie itself.

 

Toyota is in deep trouble

.....

if the "barefoot test video" is the prime evidence put up in its defense on this site.

 

That is a good question. With all that time, he had enough time to swing through a drive-through and pick-up some tacos.

Keith

 

It's always a good idea to keep our words sweet - in case we have to eat them.

This incident does sound a bit fishy, but some of the fishiness will probably get cleared up as early news reports get updated.

Toyota has undoubtedly spent a lot of time investigating possible software failures and has found nothing. They may be right - the software may be ok. BUT, they shouldn't discount the possibility of a hardware failure that could put the control systems into an unknown and unforseen state where nothing works as intended.

We're all familiar with software problems like the Microsoft Blue Screen of Death where the operating system hangs and nothing works. However, the hardware is still working during a BSOD event. Hardware problems can produce a wider range of failure symptoms than software problems. For example, some PCs today have variable speed cooling fans. Imagine an unintended bit flip in the control chip managing the fan speed. The fan might go to max speed for no apparent reason. Do unintended bit flips occur? You betcha! They can also occur more frequently with one control chip or memory chip than with another due to manufacturing and design differences. Chip designers have lots of experience with this.

It's not hard for me to imagine a subtle problem in a Toyota control chip where bit flips occur spontaneously, placing the car's control system, and perhaps also the braking system, into an unintended state. These things can be VERY difficult to uncover.

Is it hopeless? I don't think so. But Toyota may have to get some outside chip experts to help to go over their chips looking for possible problems.

 

No, you got that wrong. He went to Wendy's and ordered a chili with a finger.

 

And some other owners forget to disengage the emergency brake while driving. I have seen at least an instance a car dragging its rear wheels along in the freeway!

 

I have watched the news video of the out of control Prius, and it seems something is forthcoming.

It is not over yet. The root of this problem has still yet to be found. I plan on keeping my Prius.

Thank you Prius-Chat, I have been reading this forum for a few years now.

Keep up the good work.

-zxit

 

Most of those in full toyota defense mode, never have to eat their words. They simply claim they were right all along. They have full excuses all the time.

But you have good advice for those that actually care about the facts.

 

Two things immediately occurred to me as I listened to the story on NPR this afternoon. I thought it was impossible to power down the car while it was in motion. I also thought that unless the brakes were defective, that no amount of acceleration in any car would overpower the brakes.

 

I don't know the full facts and also can't comment on the mans charecter. All I know is that he is very unlucky to have the only Prius out of 1.5 million (or however many it is) that have been sold, to have this runaway issue. Perhaps he'll go away if Toyota give him $1million.

 

It is impossible to power down the car in motion without cutting wires. Holding down the start button for a long time powers down some systems and places the car in neutral.

The car did not overpower the brakes, the brakes did eventually stop the car. There is electronic control of braking from the brake pedal. There is good reason to believe this was not operating properly and needs to be investigated.

 

I think that the reason some of us rush to defend the Prius is because it feels like "our car" is being unfairly attacked. It feels like ALL prius cars are being tarred and feathered because a very few if any have problems.

But as Evan and others say, we will be better served to take the "higher road" and wait for the facts. Even some who post on PriusChat are not really friends of "our car". They clearly are not persuaded by our enthusiasm. Nor are the others out there with like sentiments.

If this guy is faking it, that will be known shortly. It is more likely that it will be discovered that he was being foolish in a way which could be replicated by all down to earth foolish people. This will result in no one feeling triumphant except those who are attacking the Prius. http://priuschat.com/forums/images/smilies/sad.gif

But it could be a set up job.

On the other hand it could be a genuine fault which needs action.

We will benefit from keeping cool and confident.

 

Good point.

If it is genuine then it would be a scary situation to be in and needs sorting as I know I'd hate it to happen to me!

If it was a set up job, then may the full force of the law fall on the guys head.

The truth has a habit of turning up eventually.

 

No. I was inclined to believe it when I first saw the news report on TV until I saw the guy describing it, looking away when he talked and I got a Richard Heene vibe from him and then too many things didn't make sense in the reports (like the car trying to accelerate again AFTER he had powered it off).

 

I just remembered the Prius owner said, on the news, that he had just been in for service on his Prius.

That makes me ask, if he did receive a computer update for what ever reason on his car, has anyone considered a computer virus in the programing?

So my question is, can a Prius computer have a virus that could have caused this run away out of control problem?


-zxit