Runaway Prius

Ughhhh, wouldn't it have been a lot easier just to put it in neutral?????

All this drama for nothing.


Prius with stuck accelerator glides to safe stop

EL CAJON, Calif. – A California Highway Patrol officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop on Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County freeway, the CHP said.

Prius driver James Sikes called 911 about 1:30 p.m. after accelerating to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 near La Posta and finding that he could not control his car, the CHP said.

"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. "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.

A patrol car pulled alongside the Prius and officers told Sikes over a loudspeaker to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brake.

"They also got it going on a steep upgrade," said Officer Jesse Udovich. "Between those three things, they got it to slow down."

After the car decelerated to about 50 mph, Sikes turned off the engine and coasted to a halt.

The officer then maneuvered his car in front of the Prius as a precautionary block, Udovich said.

In a statement, Toyota said it has dispatched a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the incident.

Toyota has recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide — more than 6 million in the United States — since last fall because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius.

Toyota owners have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles since 2000.

One of the crashes claimed the life of a CHP officer last August.

Off-duty CHP Officer Mark Saylor was killed along with his wife, her brother and the couple's daughter after their Lexus' accelerator got stuck in La Mesa.

The Toyota-manufactured loaner vehicle slammed into a sport utility vehicle at about 100 mph, careened off the freeway, hit an embankment, overturned and burst into flames.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_runaway_prius

 

There is an upside to all this stupidity.

The next time I get pulled over for speeding, I'll simply claim a stuck accelerator.

Now that I think about this should work for running stop signs and traffic lights as well.

Hmmmm, and how about those pesky pedestrians always stepping out onto oncoming traffic...

 

Turn the engine OFF.

 

I saw the Prius driver last night. When asked why he didn't just put the car in neutral he answered he was afraid the car would 'flip".

 

hahahaha, is he sure he didn't mistake the gas pedal for the break? :eek:

 

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http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Steve-Wozniak-Prius-Accelerator-Problem,news-5701.html

Could there be a second accelerator problem plaguing Toyota Owners?



Toyota has made headlines over the last two weeks because of a huge recall that was issued due to faulty accelerators. However, while millions of vehicles have been recalled because of sticking gas pedals, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak reports that the gas pedal on his Toyota is suffering from another issue; one he's insisting is software related.

Speaking at an event in San Fransisco, Wozniak claimed to be having a "very scary" problem with his 2010 Toyota Prius.

"Toyota has this accelerator problem we've all heard about," CNet quotes Wozniak as saying. "Well, I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled. This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again--safely. This is software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal. It's very scary, but luckily for me I can hit the brakes," he said.

"I don't get upset and teed off at things in life, except computers that don't work right," Wozniak said before adding that he had been trying to get through to Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for three months but could not get anyone to explore an alleged software-related acceleration problem.

A Toyota spokesperson said they hadn't heard of such a problem. "We're in the business of investigating complaints, assessing problems and finding remedies," John Hanson, national manager environmental safety and quality communications at Toyota, told CNet. "After man years of exhaustive testing we have not found any evidence of an electronic [software] problem that would have led to unwanted acceleration."

 

Back in the mid to late 70's I was driving my dad's truck which had recently been fitted with an after market cruise control. They were primarily mechanical back then. Anyway while on the interstate a small chain that pulled on the throttle got caught on something and wouldn't release the throttle. The truck started accelerating on it's own. Disengaging the cruise control did nothing. I put the truck in neutral coasted off the highway and turned off the engine, once I came to a stop so as not to lock the steering wheel. Opened the hood,took off the air cleaner dislodged the offending chain and resumed the drive. I was 16 - 17 years old, obviously with minimal driving experience. It was a non event.

The buffoon in the Prius is 61 YO and presumably has 45 years of driving under his belt.

Personally I think he was blinded by the dollar signs in his eyes, at the thought of getting to sue someone.

 

On a Prius if one has abnormal issues do this:

1) put it neutral

2) dislodge the key fob from the ignition (if it is in)

3) press on the ON/OFF button three times.

This will manually override the on board computer system. You should coast to a complete stop.

 

Jim Sikes, the runaway Prius driver, is bankrupt and hasn't made payment on his Prius.

http://jalopnik.com/5491101/did-bankrupt-runaway-prius-driver-fake-unintended-acceleration