Another runaway Prius???

[zoiks]

I'm just a little skeptical that the car just started to stop when the police was present. It's like the the brakes didn't work before but when the police show up they work magically.

Well, in his defense the brakes were actually smoking. Even the police guy said that he could smell the brakes when he helped the guy stop so unless the guy rigged it up due to a vendetta against Toyota, he's probably lucky to be alive.
All is moot though since the car is under heavy scrutiny and will be analyzed with a toothcomb.

 

[zinfamous]

OH...found it:

local Fox broadcast, heh...the conspiracy is thick with this telling fo the story, but it seems more plausible, to me, anyway :hmm:

http://www.ktvu.com/video/22793689/index.html



wow...astounding how different the story is presented, dpending on who airs it.

...and that's the point. News is no longer concerned with news, or facts....it's all about "story" and doing whatever it takes to polarize those money-making demographics.



"I was afraid...so...I didn't touch it"

damn.

 

[Anonemous]

Well, in his defense the brakes were actually smoking. Even the police guy said that he could smell the brakes when he helped the guy stop so unless the guy rigged it up due to a vendetta against Toyota, he's probably lucky to be alive.
All is moot though since the car is under heavy scrutiny and will be analyzed with a toothcomb.

Yea CHP noticed that after the vehicle stopped. It just smells of a scam and he's not the first to do it.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/83184417.html

A CHP officer located Sikes, then pulled alongside him and instructed him over the patrol car's PA system on how to slow the car down.

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.

The officer was able to drive along the Prius' driver's side. Using the loudspeaker, Neibert instructed Sikes to apply the brake pedal and the emergency brake at the same time.

Neibert moved his patrol car in front of the Prius and tried to match the speed when he noticed the vehicle slowed down to 50 – 55 mph.

The Prius finally came to a stop in the number one lane with the engine shut off, Neibert said.

He placed his patrol car in front of the vehicle in case it tried to take off again. The Prius engine was shut down at that point.

"He was visibly shaken and seemed to be in shock on an adrenaline rush having to deal with the situation," said Neibert.

Neibert said he checked the accelerator and brake pedal and they both appeared to be in the normal resting position as if the vehicle was parked. The floor mat, a non-rubber mat, appeared to be in its normal position, he said.

Officer Neibert said he not only could smell the brakes from the Prius but also witnessed Sikes physically lifting his body to apply pressure on the brakes.

 

[Sea Moose]

OH...found it:

local Fox broadcast, heh...the conspiracy is thick with this telling fo the story, but it seems more plausible, to me, anyway :hmm:

http://www.ktvu.com/video/22793689/index.html



wow...astounding how different the story is presented, dpending on who airs it.

...and that's the point. News is no longer concerned with news, or facts....it's all about "story" and doing whatever it takes to polarize those money-making demographics.



"I was afraid...so...I didn't touch it"

damn.

Look at his shifty eyes:hmm:


I got the vibe he is lying. Just the way could talk on the phone and drive the car at the same time. Stupid person

 

[Anonemous]

Look at his shifty eyes:hmm:


I got the vibe he is lying. Just the way could talk on the phone and drive the car at the same time. Stupid person

Yea on the tape, when the operator tells him to put it into neutral, he doesn't comply and just says "I'm just trying to control the car."

Then he says he doesn't want the car to flip.

Then he changes to I don't want it in reverse.

 

[zinfamous]

Yea on the tape, when the operator tells him to put it into neutral, he doesn't comply and just says "I'm just trying to control the car."

Then he says he doesn't want the car to flip.

Then he changes to I don't want it in reverse.

yep.

he basically fucked himself on day one.

...and it's all recorded.

so sad, ...for this guy.

 

[Sea Moose]

A question.


Is this Toyota problem worldwide or just in America?

 

[Anonemous]

yep.

he basically fucked himself on day one.

...and it's all recorded.

so sad, ...for this guy.

Not really, if the engineers can't find a single fault in the car, the guy gets off free and can still sue the company due to some unknown failure that no one can determine. He's got only one witness, CHP officer who says he smelled of brakes burning (which can be caused by the deceleration) and how they were able to stop magically stop on an incline when both brakes were not sufficient.

 

[alkemyst]

Interesting how all these cars are flaking out at roughly the same time. Anyway, throttle cables FTW!

lawsuits are profitable.

 

[Wheezer]

I smell bullshit mixed with the heavy scent of a lawsuit.

 

[LTC8K6]

Officer Neibert said he not only could smell the brakes from the Prius but also witnessed Sikes physically lifting his body to apply pressure on the brakes.

Sounds like he finally began to stand on the brakes when the cop told him to.

 

[bignateyk]

Yeah, this one is starting to smell more like a scam. He could have easily made the brakes smoke by himself. All he would have had to do is step on the gas pedal, and drive with the brakes on for a few miles.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Or he could do what my wife did, he could drive the vehicle with the parking brake on, but not all the way locked. Our driveway is on an incline and my wife doesn't usually drive my car and didn't realize that I set the parking brake. Ahh the smell of it when she got back from the store.

 

[boomerang]

A few more high profile cases like this and Toyota is going to be forced to suspend sales of the Prius permanently along with whatever other models are garnering the most attention.

When cars that have had the 'fix' applied are still malfunctioning, someone is going to have to step in to put an end the madness. That will be the .gov.

 

[Vette73]

A few more high profile cases like this and Toyota is going to be forced to suspend sales of the Prius permanently along with whatever other models are garnering the most attention.

When cars that have had the 'fix' applied are still malfunctioning, someone is going to have to step in to put an end the madness. That will be the .gov.

To late...

http://consumerist.com/2010/03/yet-another-prius-goes-rogue-smashes-into-wall.html
Things went from bad to worse to downright awful for Toyota on Tuesday as yet another of their Prius hybrid vehicles was involved in an accident involving a stuck accelerator pedal.

Person was a little older female and happened in the driveway so maybe it was them and not the car this time. But not heard much other than this.

 

[Vette73]

Toyota faced with 2 more cases of runaway Priuses
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-03-10-toyota10_ST_N.htm

 

[StageLeft]

I don't know if he's lying but I'm alarmed and frankly upset that he feared flipping the car if putting it into neutral. How the hell would that work? I realize most people don't understand cars very much but come on.

Also the idea about him finally shutting down the car and using the hand brake and main brakes, per CHP, after he'd already gotten burning brakes, it doesn't quite add up.

Finally, I'm a bit surprised that a guy who thought about this enough to take the car to the dealership two weeks earlier for a recall had never thought in his head what he'd do if it happened to him and the FIRST thing anybody should think about is trying to put it into neutral. I enjoyed a bit on the news with him marching up to the dealership with three cameramen in tow, though. Like michael moore.

 

[StageLeft]

Question: Prius is surely drive by wire. In such cases does the pedal ever, EVER actually move itself, whether using cruise or not? he said the pedal "jumped". Is there in fact a servo that could do that to the pedal?

Also, I wonder why it only got up to 94 mph. I guess it must not have been floored because a prius can surely do better than that.

 

[AMCRambler]

Looking at the picture of that shifter and the description of how these things are put together, it sounds like that guy did an admirable job of keeping control of his vehicle and getting help to get him stopped without injury to himself or others. Sounds to me like he kept his cool and did everything right. Now Toyota better figure out what the hell went wrong and fast.

 

[AMCRambler]

Oh man. Just read about the other Prius crash. I wonder how many scumbags are going to ram their cars into walls on purpose and then sue Toyota now? Seems like an awful lot of opportunity for exploiting this problem.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

He admitted tonight on local news that "I was too afraid to try putting it into neutral, for fear of it shifting into reverse."

so he never attempted the obvious fix.

I posted in Daily tech...but I'm starting to think that this will end up a few years from now with data showing that 30% of these recalled cars were indisputable driver error. I know this is just one case...but I've had a growing suspicion of Prius drivers over the previous 3 years :hmm:...maybe it's the higher concentration that I recently moved into.....

sucks for drivers and Toyota. :\

So you do admit then that the root cause of the problem, faulty Toyota gas pedals, electronics are present. Regardless of the drivers responses to the incident, it wouldn't have happened if Toyota made a defect free product.

 

[ElFenix]

To late...

http://consumerist.com/2010/03/yet-another-prius-goes-rogue-smashes-into-wall.html
Things went from bad to worse to downright awful for Toyota on Tuesday as yet another of their Prius hybrid vehicles was involved in an accident involving a stuck accelerator pedal.

Person was a little older female and happened in the driveway so maybe it was them and not the car this time. But not heard much other than this.

people run their cars into walls pulling into and out of driveways all the time. a kid at might high school was given a Z28 when he turned 16 and drove it through the garage wall and into the pool.

 

[Vette73]

people run their cars into walls pulling into and out of driveways all the time. a kid at might high school was given a Z28 when he turned 16 and drove it through the garage wall and into the pool.

I agree, that is why I added the part it may be them not the car. All the toyota problems seem to be while they were moving for a extended period of time. But since toyota keeps coming up with different information its hard to say what it was now. i.e. toyota is making it worse.

I always say, the coverup is worse than the crime. Just ask Clinton, Nixon, etc...

 

[zinfamous]

So you do admit then that the root cause of the problem, faulty Toyota gas pedals, electronics are present. Regardless of the drivers responses to the incident, it wouldn't have happened if Toyota made a defect free product.

no doubt. But the guy changed his story a few times, within the same day. If he's part of some lawsuit, he probably wouldn't be a very valuable witness.

Of course, I doubt a jury would side with Toyota if this goes class-action so it's probably moot.

 

[AMDZen]

LOL all of this just cracks me up personally. People are dumb