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

Here's how to generate brake smell in such a scenario: set the
parking brake, and keep driving. The rears will get really hot
in short order, but when activated only with the E-brake cable
they're pretty wimpy and won't do much to stop the car. You
really need the full hydraulic pressure to make a difference.
So of course the cop smelled brakes, if he'd just recently told
the guy to lay onto the parking brake as part of the, uh,
attempted palliative measures. Someone should have felt the
*fronts* once he came to a halt.
.
There would be no EDR data in this case because there wasn't a
collision, and the timeframe was *way* too long to matter.
.
_H*

 

I agree that the story just does not feel right. Hopefully since the car was towed away right after the incident there will be good diagnostic data in the computers for the experts to analyze.

Giving the guy the benifit of the doubt, what I am wondering is if there might be a cruse control interaction. The news reports did not mention if it was on for off. In the Gen II Prius the control in on a stalk that turns with the wheel and pointed downwards towards your right leg. Might it be possible that during the panic situation he was pressing it towards the wheel (acceleration mode) with his leg, or it somehow got stuck there from some other mechanical failure? I have bumped it with my knee before. This brings the question someone may want to try. If you hold the CC control in accelerate mode, does hitting the break still deactivate it and kill the gas pedal?

 

The news tonight said he drove 30 miles at 94 miles an hour before he stopped. He had time to reach down to try freeing the gas pedal, he also had time to dial 911. He was told to shift to neutral but said he was afraid the car would “flip†if it was put in neutral? No, I smell something REALLY fishy in this story, almost like a “balloon boy†kind of stunt. Watch and see if this guy doesn't prove to be just that, a media hound.

 

If he is really caught lying, it will be a good news story and they will cover it.

 

I think some of these problems in other incidents might have been caused by a malfunctioning cruise control as opposed to a simply "stuck" gas pedal since one person said they got the problem to go away by cycling the cruise control off and on.
This particular case is fishy.

 

There is no steering wheel lock on the Gen 2 or 3 Prius.

 

It is now released. I just listened to the 911 call, which was painfully long. The 911 operator must have asked the guy about 100 times to shift to neutral, and asked him hundreds of other questions that mostly went unanswered. The guy had time to listen to a police officer next to him, but couldn't put his cellphone on speakerphone and talk?

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to raise the BS flag really high on this one. This man's ordeal is complete fraud. Either he is an actor, or he had a complete mental breakdown which probably started before his car was accelerating. He is flat out lying about cars "passing left and right". I've been on that stretch of eastbound highway many times during that time of day. It is normally wide open with little traffic. And 90MPH is nothing! Most cars can safely go that fast on that highway on dry roads during daylight. In fact, most cars average about 75-80MPH there. So, I doubt that anybody was passing anybody left and right. I've gone 90MPH+ many times in different cars, including my Prius, and they are generally very easy to control in an uncrowded highway. The speed and the traffic conditions should not have been that stressful to the average guy. Perhaps the "fact" that his accelerator was stuck induced fear and stress. Making a phone call while driving actually takes more skill than getting into the right lane, shifting to neutral, then pulling over and slowing down in the breakdown lane.

If you listen to the 911 call, you will realize that either this guy is a very good actor, or that he was honestly terrified and mentally "not with it." I think it's very possible he could have a psychological condition which was instigated by all the media attention given to Toyota lately, as well as the fact he was turned away by the Toyota dealer when he inquired about the recall.

Is it a coincidence that this happened in San Diego, now famous for this very issue? Is it a coincidence that this guy picked the perfect location in San Diego County to experience this "problem"? On any other stretch of highway in San Diego, or in an urban area, then yes, 90MPH could be stressful. But not where he was driving.

The compassionate, religious person in me actually feels bad for writing all this, but I had to speak my mind. I'm truly thankful that the man wasn't hurt and that no one else was hurt. However, the scientist / engineer in me has never been more skeptical of a story. I just don't buy this guy's story as it is presented. There is definitely something fishy here.

 

I still can't figure out what Toyota was "apologizing" about. It's no wonder they are having trouble fixing a non-problem. Imagine sawing off a piece of the accelerator pedal to make the floor mat idiot-proof! Not in my car.

The treatment of Toyota is a new low for the American media. Not to mention the meddling Congress. There are more honest ways of creating jobs in Detroit. Like making quality cars which get good gas mileage.

 

Thanks, there was no mention of it in the 2010 owners' manual. But, to be safe, I wouldn't put a car to OFF while driving unless I'm sure that it has no steering-wheel lock. But, yes, for late gen Priuses, this should be no problem. Although, I would press it twice after I put it to OFF to bring it to ON with the engine not running so that electric steering could function.

 

Regardless, this is an interesting incident. A normal person wouldn't pull such an hoax, as he would face jailtime once it's found out to be a hoax. If this is an honest incident, it would expose the root of the Toyota acceleration problem once and for all.

I personally don't believe that all these fatalities have been caused by mechanical problems. People would find a way to free off an obviously stuck pedal from a mat. And Toyota has already publicly stated that the gas-pedal friction only causes unintended small acceleration but not sudden or high (full-throttle) acceleration.

 

No matter how this turns out, this driver is NOT a qualified Prius (or any vehicle) driver. Not understanding the fundamentals of how a car operates, he should not be allowed on the road. His reluctance to put the car into Neutral is very odd as it would not cause an excessive slow down (his fear of being rear-ended) nor cause the car to "flip" (what would make him believe that putting the car into Neutral would flip the car?). Anyone just a simple understanding of the transmission principal and the key differences between "D" and "N" will be able to figure these facts out.

I don't care whether he was terrified or not - his answers to the advice suggest otherwise - he was rational and was spewing irrational explanations/arguments against the advice.

If I were the CA DMV, I would issue an emergency revocation of his driver's license just as the FAA would for a pilot who insisted on an off-field landing despite numerous suggestions of a near-by airport for fear that the wings would come off since his engine quit.

 

The link was on the San Diego channel 10 news website.

http://10newsblogs.com/audio/prius-911call.mp3

warning: it's a 43.5 MB mp3 file.

 

great analogy!

 

Actually, on the contrary, if this is an honest incident, this guy should be rewarded for not quickly stopping his car because the inspection of his car should expose the root cause of the Toyota acceleration problem, which will let Toyota fix it once and for all. But, of course, this is so only if it's an honest incident.

 

No he should not. He unnecessarily endangered others around him if he had the opportunity to stop early on, but continued to drive another 20 miles either to prove a point or out of an irrational fear the car might flip if it went into neutral.
That is the best case scenario. Worst case scenario for not stopping earlier is that this is a hoax.

 

I don't want to be argumentative, but if this is not an hoax, he will have saved many lives over the long run by helping Toyota figure out the problem in their accelerators. But, again, I'm not claiming that this is not a hoax.

 

Another link for the 911 call - a shorten 4 min version

Putting Runaway Prius in Neutral Didn't Work: CHP | NBC San Diego

 

Re: Another link for the 911 call - a shorten 4 min version

Totally mis-leading headline. All they could say was: "Officer Todd Neibert told Sikes to try and put the vehicle in neutral and try to shut it off. Sikes shook his head in response which Neibert took to indicate that that was not successful."

Or that he refused to do due to irrational fears? Jeez...

 

Re: Another link for the 911 call - a shorten 4 min version

At least according to Mr. Sikes.
I still have a hard time with elements like his "immediate" call to 911 on his cellphone. It just doesn't seem like the natural reaction to this kind of event...