Prius with stuck accelerator glides to safe stop

[peekoo]

This just adds fuel to the fire.

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

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.

[Skyless]

is it really that hard to shut a car off? I mean really wtf is wrong with people?

[erk]

I was just about to post about this, luckily no one got hurt.

[87 Turbo]

For people that just get in and drive everyday, of course they won't know what to do.

[Zivman]

is it really that hard to shut a car off? I mean really wtf is wrong with people?

at 90 mph +, you really want to shut off the car and have your steering wheel lock and have no brakes? Personally I would try to lift the pedal up with my foot and see if that helped and possibly try to get the car in neutral while applying the E-brake. I don't know for sure, but depending on RPMs I don't think the car allows you to shift into neutral, so that might be useless.

What I am getting at, if it were as simple as the pedal being stuck, it would be very easy to just lift the pedal up with your foot. There is more too it than that IMHO.

Until it happens to you, don't be so quick to judge.

On a side note; I am actually taking in my Tundra this afternoon for the "fix". We'll see what happens

[Skyless]

at 90 mph +, you really want to shut off the car and have your steering wheel lock and have no brakes? Personally I would try to lift the pedal up with my foot and see if that helped and possibly try to get the car in neutral while applying the E-brake. I don't know for sure, but depending on RPMs I don't think the car allows you to shift into neutral, so that might be useless.

What I am getting at, if it were as simple as the pedal being stuck, it would be very easy to just lift the pedal up with your foot. There is more too it than that IMHO.

Until it happens to you, don't be so quick to judge.

On a side note; I am actually taking in my Tundra this afternoon for the "fix". We'll see what happens

yes I would since you would still be able to use the breaks and you dont have to put it in the lock position for the ignition to shut off.. Most cars allow you to shift into neutral at anytime for emergency use just like this would be.. Useful in breaking situations so you dont still have power going to the wheels, esp in the winter... im sorry I just dont get the big deal here, there is many ways you can get a car to stop in a situation like this..

but with all the electronics controlling everything from shifting to power in the prius if it was a failure on that part I could see the issue.

[ZX2_racer]

Exactly. Yea, if you shift your car into neutral going 90 with the pedal down it's going to over rev, but who the fuck cares if it's your car blowing up you dieing in a bad accident and possibly taking out more people? Nuetral would be what I would do, and mash the fuck out of the brakes.

[yang85]

Saw it on cnn. The guy did try to lift the gas pedal but nothing happened. Looks like toyota will be doomed.

[Zivman]

yes I would since you would still be able to use the breaks and you dont have to put it in the lock position for the ignition to shut off.. Most cars allow you to shift into neutral at anytime for emergency use just like this would be.. Useful in breaking situations so you dont still have power going to the wheels, esp in the winter... im sorry I just dont get the big deal here, there is many ways you can get a car to stop in a situation like this..

but with all the electronics controlling everything from shifting to power in the prius if it was a failure on that part I could see the issue.

On a prius like he was driving, he had to hold the power button for 3 seconds to get it to shut off.... there isn't a position like there is on a standard tumbler operated car..... and I am unsure what happens when the car shuts off. He may have full use of the wheel and brakes, he might have no use of either. It's obvious this person didn't know how to operate the car since he was pressing the power button on his car repeatedly. If I were the owner of a car like this, I would be sure to find out the functions of the car before I bought it.

"most" cars allowing you to shift into neutral doesn't mean in this situation it was an option. Regardless he should have tried it. There are a lot of electronics in these cars and from what I have been reading, blaming it on the pedal being stuck is a flat out lie.

I agree there are many ways to get the car to stop, but blindly saying "all he had to do was do this" is easy to say from keyboard

[Taras]

Its been already said, prius does not have a physical key to turn it off. And i bet if you press the power button while driving nothing will happen because it would be dangerous to shut it off accidentally while driving, because the wheel look turns on right away (it is electronic as well) There is no way to put it in neutral too, because there is no physical connection between the little joystick and the tranny its all electronic. So if the electronics freak out there is no way to stop the car.

[AWDimprezaL]

The old prius had a lever that had neutral....

[superlude98]

please don't jump all over me but I agree just about with everyone on here! but I do believe experience and age play a factor. And.... RYAN I HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOU FUCK THE CAR I'M COMING OUT ALIVE!

[xveganxcowboyx]

The way this was reported on public radio was 'The car was accelerating and the driver could not stop it. The police managed to get it to slow down by having him press the brake pedal hard'

Seriously? You want to stop and you have to 'press the brake pedal hard?' No freaking way!

[Taras]

The old prius had a lever that had neutral....

2nd gen has a lever too, but its a button type lever, so its not like on regular auto trannies where you actually move mechanical rods or whatever to shift the tranny. These just have a lever but they might as well just have a P, D and N buttons, which the 2010 prius has. And ebrake is electric too and i doubt you can engage it while going 90mph because that would be freaking crazy and dangerous. All these electronics in cars are providing more trouble than help.

My miata does not even have ABS and electronics on it are simple. Makes me feel safer some how.

The way this was reported on public radio was 'The car was accelerating and the driver could not stop it. The police managed to get it to slow down by having him press the brake pedal hard'

Seriously? You want to stop and you have to 'press the brake pedal hard?' No freaking way!

lol, yeah i know. But i think the point is, its not very safe if the car just takes off on its own. I mean i would not want to have a car like that.

[mars_volta]

I bet its a software bug.

[Taras]

I bet its a software bug.

for sure. Something with ecu and the throttle sensor.

[cmspaz]

Wow, a whopping 94mph. Scary.

People are dumb.

[H22a4lude]

Wow, a whopping 94mph. Scary.

People are dumb.

a 61 year old man on a 'sunday drive' would probably freak out. but how he managed to call police while he was speeding out of control is beyond me

[mars_volta]

Wow, a whopping 94mph. Scary.

People are dumb.

I'd venture a guess that you have never wrecked a car at 94 mph.


or driven a Prius at 94 mph..

[DieselDood]

I'd venture a guess that you have never wrecked a car at 94 mph.


or driven a Prius at 94 mph..

Im amaized that a Prius did 94mph!

[xveganxcowboyx]

Im amaized that a Prius did 94mph!

You're not used to good aerdynamics.

[slimshady]

a 61 year old man on a 'sunday drive' would probably freak out. but how he managed to call police while he was speeding out of control is beyond me

so true, how could a person who is freaking out from a car speeding out of control be able to calmly call 911 and have a conversation with a police officer........

right....

scam....

add him to the lawsuit groups....

[AWDimprezaL]

Ive done an INDICATED 90 mph in a 1st gen prius, scary indeed.

[Mark Spictus]

A lot of people are missing the fact that with a Prius it has push button start and an electronically controlled shifter. If it is an electrical problem, you wouldn't be able to shift it into neutral or turn off the engine. I read somewhere that Toyota won't let you shift it into above a certain RPM anyways.

[xveganxcowboyx]

A lot of people are missing the fact that with a Prius it has push button start and an electronically controlled shifter. If it is an electrical problem, you wouldn't be able to shift it into neutral or turn off the engine. I read somewhere that Toyota won't let you shift it into above a certain RPM anyways.

There has been a flood of people trying this to prove the point. You can shift in to Neutral by using the shifter or by holding the start button. Also, the driver apparently refused directions to shift in to neutral, because he was afraid the car would flip. There are no excuses for such incredible stupidity.