[Eights-n-Aces]

Story 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.

The vehicle finally slowed when CHP officers instructed the driver to press the brake. In a related story, Mr. Sikes' man rights were revoked by unanimous vote.

[Potty_Pants]

I thought they had a top speed of 55MPH ???

I'll bet this Prius was blown or he had a 50shot or something under the seat... good thing the cop didnt inspect his car !

ppp

[ibeclueless]

His prius is moving quick, it is good he got it to stop

[noro]

Wait wait... he had time to make a phone call, but apparently not enough brains to drop the car into neutral? Or even overpower it with the brake?

None of this makes sense to me... but then again, every time I see a Prius on a highway it is usually traveling in the fast lane at 45 MPH so you can't expect these "environmentally conscious people" to have common sense.

[marcel b]

I read the story in the Swiss and Dutch newspaper already today! Toyota is getting a lot of attentention :-D
I also find it strange that people call the police when this happens to ask what to do.... what is so difficult by putting 2 feet on the brake paddel! (putting in Neutral will not be possible I think....) but with the power of a prius braking should be no issue.

[noro]

Originally Posted by marcel b

I read the story in the Swiss and Dutch newspaper already today! Toyota is getting a lot of attentention :-D
I also find it strange that people call the police when this happens to ask what to do.... what is so difficult by putting 2 feet on the brake paddel! (putting in Neutral will not be possible I think....) but with the power of a prius braking should be no issue.

You can... you can't put back into D until the car is stopped and you have your foot on the brake.

[brinkmann]

Originally Posted by Eights-n-Aces

In a related story, Mr. Sikes' man rights were revoked by unanimous vote.

Owned Mr. Sikes. Owned.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by marcel b

what is so difficult by putting 2 feet on the brake paddel! (putting in Neutral will not be possible I think....) but with the power of a prius braking should be no issue.

I believe this things have that regenerative braking stuff. The more you brake the more powerful it shall become!!!!! Mwhahahahahaha!!!

[discoboy1]

from now on, if you have a Toyota, you have a good excuse to get out of a speeding ticket!

[Outlaw 06]

Originally Posted by noro

Wait wait... he had time to make a phone call, but apparently not enough brains to drop the car into neutral? Or even overpower it with the brake?

None of this makes sense to me... but then again, every time I see a Prius on a highway it is usually traveling in the fast lane at 45 MPH so you can't expect these "environmentally conscious people" to have common sense.

+1. The December 2009 C&D had an article about “Unintended Acceleration” where they tested several cars including a “runaway” 540-hp Roush Stage 3 Mustang. In all cases, the test car’s brakes stopped the car even with the engine at full throttle. That’s without even shifting the car into neutral!

See: http://www.caranddriver.com/features...tion-tech_dept

The bottom line is that the skittish drivers crashing these cars lack basic skills (and common sense) behind the wheel and abruptly panic because of it.

[G.I.Joe]

Originally Posted by discoboy1

from now on, if you have a Toyota, you have a good excuse to get out of a speeding ticket!

LOL, that's exatcly what I was thinking

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by TJDiCandido

+1. The December 2009 C&D had an article about “Unintended Acceleration” where they tested several cars including a “runaway” 540-hp Roush Stage 3 Mustang. In all cases, the test car’s brakes stopped the car even with the engine at full throttle. That’s without even shifting the car into neutral!

See: http://www.caranddriver.com/features...tion-tech_dept

The bottom line is that the skittish drivers crashing these cars lack basic skills (and common sense) behind the wheel and abruptly panic because of it.

along similar lines... a magazine or web page did a review of various cars...

infiniti,ford mustang,toyota...

basically they did a 60 MPH or so stop with gas disabled... they all stopped at the expected distance.... however when they tried a full gas peddal and stop... the results were as follows...

infiniti 110 110ft
mustang 110 110ft
toyota 110 180ft.

you get the idea... there was another manufacturer who also had simiar results to toyota.

basically the cars are not shutting off the gas when the brakes are applied.

ppp

[pooskay]

sounds like bullshit to me.

i hate hybrid drivers.

[HoustonScott]

First I don't believe a Prius can do 90mph. The driver said he tried to shift to neutral and turn the car off. So much for that. Toyota has a ECU problem and they has better get on it fast or Toyota may go under. I don't know how they can continue to sale cars in the US until they identify the problem and are 100% certain of the fix.

HS

[maswastage]

Hey lets give credit where it's due, the Prius will in fact go up to 100mph, it just takes it several minutes to get there. The driver said he tried braking and putting the car into neutral, and I'll assume that's all true, but even then surely he could have just turned off the engine once he saw nothing else was working.

[noro]

There is NO WAY IN HELL, you can't over power the engine with brakes period! Especially a front wheel drive car, especially one that isn't all that powerful.

UNLESS, the braking system itself was also messed up.

[Schumacher]

The Prius has a completely different FBW System and was not in the recall. I feel that people are blowing this out of proportion to make a few pennies. Even an American isnt stupid enough to not switch off a runaway car, i feel that no PS is better than no say on the acceleration.

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by Potty_Pants

I thought they had a top speed of 55MPH ???
ppp

[Schumacher]

Originally Posted by HoustonScott

First I don't believe a Prius can do 90mph. The driver said he tried to shift to neutral and turn the car off. So much for that. Toyota has a ECU problem and they has better get on it fast or Toyota may go under. I don't know how they can continue to sale cars in the US until they identify the problem and are 100% certain of the fix.

HS

1. Prius does 106 in Euro Spec given a long enough road.

2. If the driver tried to put it into neutral (and/or) turn it off, it would be extremely unlikely that it did not respond to either.

3. I agree that i see GM's position for Toyota eventually but it will not be for making rubbish. No, the problem will be people like you that pretend to know the issue and preach to any and everyone.

If you feel this is harsh, i will tender an apology if you provide strong evidence of this grave "ECU" problem that refuses to let people switch off their cars or put them into neutral.

[Outlaw 06]

Originally Posted by HoustonScott

First I don't believe a Prius can do 90mph. The driver said he tried to shift to neutral and turn the car off. So much for that. Toyota has a ECU problem and they has better get on it fast or Toyota may go under. I don't know how they can continue to sale cars in the US until they identify the problem and are 100% certain of the fix.

HS

An oldie but goodie headline from 2007:

Woz gets $700 speeding ticket for doing 104 MPH in Toyota Prius
San Jose Mercury News, Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has admitted to being caught speeding in his Toyota Prius. Woz was ticketd by CHiPs for going 104 mph on California's Interstate 5...

[cotmfk]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I believe this things have that regenerative braking stuff. The more you brake the more powerful it shall become!!!!! Mwhahahahahaha!!!

Originally Posted by HoustonScott

First I don't believe a Prius can do 90mph. The driver said he tried to shift to neutral and turn the car off. So much for that. Toyota has a ECU problem and they has better get on it fast or Toyota may go under. I don't know how they can continue to sale cars in the US until they identify the problem and are 100% certain of the fix.

HS

I don't know what the issue actually is, haven't cared to take the time to read. But, I also am surprised people are still buying these things. Why would you buy something that has such a flaw that it can kill you in a fiery wreckage? And that Toyota has owned up and said they knew there was a chance this could happen just makes it even worse.

[noro]

Originally Posted by cotmfk

I don't know what the issue actually is, haven't cared to take the time to read. But, I also am surprised people are still buying these things. Why would you buy something that has such a flaw that it can kill you in a fiery wreckage? And that Toyota has owned up and said they knew there was a chance this could happen just makes it even worse.

It is not uncommon for car manufacturer's to be aware of a potentially dangerous problem and take the time to weigh the cost of a recall vs the cost in PR loss even if it affects people's lives. This has been blown out of proportion so much because here in US we LOVE to make heroes and then sticking them into dirt. This is basically our way of showing that winners can be easily turned into losers.

If GM had similar problem right now, it would probably not even make the news because we heard so much negative stuff about them as a company. But with Toyota it's like "hey look the untouchables are suffering now". In the long run this is going to be very positive for them. As a result they are likely to come back with more innovation then they ordinarly would if the problem did not exist.

Either way, I feel bad for the few people that got caught in this situation but to me the driver still remains the key element in an accident regardless of the fact if it is caused by another driver or your own car.