... that it now has it's own t-shirt ;o)
Posted on 03/09/2010 8:02:35 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Runaway Toyota Prius reached 90 mph - police Tue Mar 9, 2010 3:46pm GMT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The driver of a 2008 Toyota Prius said his car uncontrollably accelerated to over 90 miles per hour on a San Diego County freeway before a California Highway Patrol officer helped him stop the car, police said.
The driver, 61-year-old James Sikes, was not injured in the Monday incident, which is another claim of unintended acceleration that has caused the greatest image crisis for Toyota Motor Corp in its history.
The incident occurred in the same county where an off-duty California Highway Patrol trooper and three family members were killed last August in an incident that brought the issue to national attention and led to the first major recall over unintended acceleration.
Sikes said he had received a recall notice to take his car into a Toyota dealership, but when he did, he was told that his car was not on recall lists, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The automaker has not recalled the 2008 Prius.
On Monday afternoon, Sikes overtook another car on Interstate 8 near San Diego, and then the Prius accelerated beyond his control, the highway patrol said.
For the next 20 minutes, Sikes sped 30 miles along the freeway, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
There are many people who are too stupid to manage complex operations like driving a car.
If you drive a Toyota, Pri(ap)us, or otherwise, and you’re speeding, then you see a HP cruiser in your rear view mirror with his blue lights going, just speed up and claim it won’t stop........................
I don’t think turning off the key will lock the wheel on most modern autos, they lock when you remove the key.
It has a push button starter.
What was the MPG at 90 MPH? The world needs to know.
... that it now has it's own t-shirt ;o)
Let's see....
1)Get out of city traffic for more room, check
2)Get on the freeway and step on it to pass another car, mashing the pedel to the metal, cause that is what is needed to get that thing up to speed to "overtake"..check
Oh oh, now going 90 + mph, car feels kinds squirrelly, no need to panic however,, let's see, kill power to motor? Nope, shift to neutral? nope, apply brakes? nope......hm, what to do , what to do...
Oh, wait, this IS a toyota. (picks up phone), "Hello? uh,, I have a problem..."
I expect nothing less from the Anarcho-syndicalists in this white house.
If the Prius is a ‘fly by wire’ type of vehicle, then I would think if one turned it off and then back on the glitch would clear and the driver would have control again.
Priusi DO have neutral however...
And I seriously doubt turning it off at speed will lock the steering and the brakes (or the Japanese engineers, and our safety standards are nuts).
The idea that a guy had time to dial a cell phone and talk with emergency personnel on it...and have police cars beside him with megaphones saying "turn it off!" all at 94 mph, without thinking of slipping the easy-to-move electronic lever on the dash into neutral...
REALLY doesn't pass the smell test at all.
I think we have a UAW/Democrap BALLOON BOY here...
Yea, what’s up with all these folks making a phone call while their car is driving wide open?
When this “problem” first gained widespread attention I commented then that if you have a wreck in a Toyota all you have to do is claim it took off by itself. Instant money.
Toyota should buy this guys car and duplicate the problem. Or better yet, send it to an automotive engineering firm and see if they can duplicate it. I will 100% guarentee that they can’t.
Doesn't work. I've driven one of these pathetic things, and
a conscious attempt to make them a “non-car” as part of the
marketing approach is very obvious. The driver must feel
very progressive and elite that it functions differently from the obsolete machine that the primitive peasant drives. No attempt is made to make the transition from a conventional vehicle easy. Controls and displays are even given nice PC names.
I saw the news item this morning. The trooper had to tell
the driver to use the hand brake. Dumb ass couldn't figure
it out on his own.
Folks, shift into neutral, move over to the side of the road and press on the brakes during the process. Once stopped, turn the car off.
There’s no need for this to be the problem people are making it out to be.
It’s hard to avoid the fact that we are at least in part a nation of idiots.
I believe what you wrote is correct, but it would require someone to hold a button for X seconds, similar to holding the power key on your computer for 5” to shut it off.
If someone is in a car that is accelerating and they can’t get the car into neutral, they might panic and never think about it. I’ve met lots of folks that didn’t know you can stop your laptop by holding the power key down until it dies - and laptops aren’t going 80 mph!
I’m stealing that...:)
Everything old is new again. Just like my first car (actually there was a second starter push button in the engine compartment as well.) And there was a key switch to kill the ignition.
I like your home page !
Next, people will call 911 to figure out how to change the radio station.
Honestly, do we need better screening before issueing driver licenses?
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