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 ...
No!!!!!!!!!!! and this was on our local news last night with the guy this happened to and the cop that helped him, he was still shaking out of fear from what he had just gone through.
I’m certainly not ruling out operator error.
However, there seems to be an assumption that it is impossible for the vehicle to act as described because “shutting it off” or “putting it in neutral” or “pulling the pedal back up” would have negated the acceleration.
That may have been true when all those linkages were separate mechanical subassemblies, and the liklihood of all failing simultaneously was infinitessimally small.
However, we now have vehicles for which some or all of those inputs are simply electronic signalling devices and the PCM controls the actual operation of the appropriate subassembly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the accelerator, start button, and gearshift devices all shared the same wiring harness and shared space on the same plug that connects to the single, non-redundant PCM. The code is likely proprietary and protected, meaning the same small group that developed it is probably the same group doing the troubleshooting.
I would hope Toyota (and other manufacturers) developed layers of safeguards in their hardware and software to mitigate any loss of control, but having worked on and with computers my whole life, it wouldn’t surprise me if they missed something.
You are smart enough to understand you turn off the key you lose braking and steering?????????? even the highway patrolman said he knew this was no joke since he could smell the guys brakes searing and the brake lights on and the car not slowing down.
Yes it would, you should never turn off the key or throw it into park, you can put it in neutral and then try to slow the vehicle.
Well, if this guy did put the shift lever in neutral and that couldn’t be used as a part of the resolution, Toyota’s problem just got exponentially bigger. I would hope the guy didn’t try it to be honest. I’d hate to think the electronics were the problem. If they were, it’s certainly best to know and fix it. I just hope they weren’t.
I agree with your comments.
How many people here making snide remarks remember the airbus that crashed at a Paris airshow after the computer went whacko and nothing the pilots tried to over-ride it worked... sheesh!!!!!!!
Surprisingly, a lot of people don’t know how. It’s a button, not a key, and, if the car is in motion, you have to hold it in for several seconds. Plus, there’s an over-ride so you can’t shift gears into reverse or neutral while the car is accelerating. The car has been compared to the HAL-9000.
I did not realize those cars were drive by electronics, and not linkages.
... in post #49, in fact.
Oh yes it does...... at least on my modern suburban.
The highway patrol actually used his PA to advise the guy on all steps to take and try to stop the vehicle.
Well, if they covered putting it in neutral, Toyota is in serious trouble here. Toyota has tried to claim the electronics didn’t figure in. Now this documented situation. Ouch.
Thanks AC.
Didn't the F16 have fly-by-wire problems initially where they found the control wires shorting out because of wear against internal metal parts?
New technology usually has a few bugs. That's why I always am a few years back on operating systems.
“Shift the transmission into Neutral HAL.”
“I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Like i said up-thread this is very suggestive of the airbus crash at the Paris airshow where the plane computer went out of control and the pilots were unable to override it and climb out.,. the computer drove the plane into the ground.
Does your key have three positions? Mine does...lock, acc (where the car is not on, but the battery powers the accessories, and the steering is not locked) and on.
Since this has been in the news and my boys are learning to drive, I had them practice as if the car ran away on them. They turned the key to “acc” (which shut off the engine) and were able to coast and use the brakes to stop.
So what do you do once you get back to your garage?
ML/NJ
“And not one of these people knows how to shift into neutral.”
Off-duty UAW limo driver?
There must be a kill switch.
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