Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Runaway Prius driver: Brakes were 'almost burned' [But he wouldn't shift into neutral!]
Yahoo News ^ | 2010-03-10 | ELLIOT SPAGAT

Posted on 03/10/2010 6:36:28 AM PST by justlurking

Before he called 911, James Sikes says he reached down with his hand to loosen the "stuck" accelerator on his 2008 Toyota Prius, his other hand on the steering wheel. The pedal didn't move.

"My car can't slow down," he began when a California Highway Patrol dispatcher answered his call.

[...]

During the two 911 calls, Sikes ignored many of the dispatcher's questions, saying later that he had to put his phone on the seat to keep his hands on the wheel.

Leighann Parks, a 24-year-old dispatcher, repeatedly told him to throw the car into neutral but got no answers.

"He was very emotional, you could tell on the line he was panicked," Parks told reporters outside the CHP's El Cajon office. "I could only imagine being in his shoes and being that stressed."

Neibert told Sikes after the CHP caught up with him to shift to neutral but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: jamessikes; prius; toyota; warontoyota
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 181-200201-220221-240241-256 next last
To: justlurking
If you turned the key all the way to the point that the steering wheel locks, then you were a candidate for the Darwin awards.

Guilty as charged; although I claim the stupidity and vapidness of youth as a semi believable defense. Hey, it was the early 80's and common sense was NOT what was filling my head at the time.

221 posted on 03/10/2010 9:21:28 AM PST by Turbo Pig (...to close with and destroy the enemy...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 81 | View Replies]

To: perfect_rovian_storm

When I was a tender 18, my first car caught fire under the dashboard. With smike filling the passenger area, I slipped it into neutral and guided it off the freeway. As it slowed, I shut off the engine and coasted to a stop.

My younger brother had a hood pop up on him at freeway speed. He did about the same thing.

No big deal. Anticipate problems and deal with them.


222 posted on 03/10/2010 9:35:11 AM PST by cyclotic (Boy Scouts-Developing Leaders in a World of Followers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: cyclotic

I once had my heater coil explode while doing 70 on the West Side Highway in Manhattan. I did the same thing. I had the hood thing happen a few years later. I also once had the gear shift in a manual car break off in my hand while driving. One time I drove from one side of the city to the other with no brake fluid...lol...

Now that I think about it, I’ve owned some REALLY crappy cars!


223 posted on 03/10/2010 9:37:59 AM PST by perfect_rovian_storm (The worst is behind us. Unfortunately it is really well endowed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 222 | View Replies]

To: perfect_rovian_storm

I did the no brakes deal last year. My daughters car loast nearly all the brakes. I had a friend drive my other car in front of me so I could hit him if I needed to on the way to the shop. The rear brake lines had corrosion holes in them.

I’ve taught several people how to drive on ice. When you start to slide, look around, if no one’s coming, yell “YAHOO” and enjoy the ride.


224 posted on 03/10/2010 9:44:34 AM PST by cyclotic (Boy Scouts-Developing Leaders in a World of Followers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 223 | View Replies]

To: cyclotic

I used to work for insurance adjusters. You can’t believe how many claims we had of airbags deploying while the vehicle was going down the interstate at 80 mph. Lesson: if you ever have any kind of front end collision, always have the airbag sensor replaced... whether the accident was 30 mph bumper bump or hitting a wild turkey. Also, every used car you buy, replace the sensor.


225 posted on 03/10/2010 9:46:11 AM PST by Annie5622 (Democrats DO have a plan! They apparently plan to stay stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 222 | View Replies]

To: USCG SimTech

These days, any single person who owns a Toyota can end up in Fat City if he’s able to do a little creative driving and can act things out with a call to 911.

I thought this was bunk from the very first time I heard it, sumthin just ain’t right here...


226 posted on 03/10/2010 9:48:13 AM PST by djf (Who says "The stuff of life" is not stuff? Mostly it's people who have the most stuff.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: justlurking

He’s a Prius owner because he’s not real good at math, and now we see he’s not real good at physics, either.

There’s a village someplace that is hailing the CHP as a hero and the savior of their idiot.


227 posted on 03/10/2010 9:51:02 AM PST by savedbygrace (You are only leading if people follow. Otherwise, you just wandered off.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: justlurking

“Sikes told reporters he didn’t go into neutral because he worried the car would flip.”

He probably just blew his lawsuit with this statement.

I think this is just another incident designed to generate lawsuits.


228 posted on 03/10/2010 9:52:24 AM PST by texmexis best
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: savedbygrace

Toyota blew it, another perfectly good opportunity to reduce the Moonbat Carbon Spewer population. If I was the dispatcher I would have suggested he wrap the seat belt around his neck and jump.


229 posted on 03/10/2010 9:54:34 AM PST by vwbug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 227 | View Replies]

To: devere
We are all creatures of habit, and most of us have no habit of shifting into neutral, just using the brakes and accelerator. Hindsight is 20-20.

In the first panicky seconds, sure. But this ride lasted 23 MINUTES and the driver was repeatedly told to shift into neutral.

230 posted on 03/10/2010 9:57:31 AM PST by Sloth (Civil disobedience? I'm afraid only the uncivil kind is going to cut it this time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: IYAS9YAS

Here’s a suggestion...

READ THE MANUAL!


231 posted on 03/10/2010 10:01:35 AM PST by Fresh Wind ("...a whip of political correctness strangles their voice"-Vaclav Klaus on GW skeptics)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 151 | View Replies]

To: STONEWALLS

PrIOUSes are known for frequent roll-over accidents, but I can’t see how putting the trans into neutral could do anything to cause it.


232 posted on 03/10/2010 10:13:35 AM PST by editor-surveyor (Democracy, the vilest form of government, pits the greed of an angry mob vs. the rights of a man)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: FrankR

“Will a Prius even DO 80/90 mph?”

Easily.


233 posted on 03/10/2010 10:14:32 AM PST by editor-surveyor (Democracy, the vilest form of government, pits the greed of an angry mob vs. the rights of a man)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Cringing Negativism Network

Yeh...except he said he put it in his lap....


234 posted on 03/10/2010 10:42:29 AM PST by Sacajaweau (What)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 142 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind
Withnall the going on, you'd think the dude would pay attention to some of the "what to do" stuff that's been all over the TV....

.especially since he said he had a recall card...and the dealer said it didn't apply???

So the cop and the dealer and the driver...yeh...sounds like they're all buddies...sounds like what buddies would do....and split the lawsuit profits....

235 posted on 03/10/2010 10:48:35 AM PST by Sacajaweau (What)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 231 | View Replies]

To: perfect_rovian_storm

Oh I am having so much trouble keeping up with such a very intellectual person who only comes across as a blowhard to us knuckle draggin mechanics out here in the boonies.

Einstein you still did not address my specific question. Obviously someone who kept driving off and on until getting to some shop, hasn’t a clue about sticking throttle (by the way unless its possibly one of the new fangled PLC operated Toyotas, in 50+ years of driving and working on cars, I have never seen a throttle stick that required paying someone couple of hundred to replace a $5 return spring on)


236 posted on 03/10/2010 11:14:32 AM PST by dusttoyou (libs are all wee wee'd up and no place to go)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 104 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind
READ THE MANUAL!

You'd be surprised at how many folks don't. I do, then I go out and try different things with the vehicle, just to make certain the car operates the way it should.

237 posted on 03/10/2010 11:16:10 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (The townhalls were going great until the oPods showed up.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 231 | View Replies]

To: justlurking
The next safety feature the federal government will mandate is an emergency shutoff switch on all hybrid vehicles . .

. . for those drivers too stupid to turn off the key when the car wants to go faster than the driver does.

238 posted on 03/10/2010 11:21:08 AM PST by logician2u
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dusttoyou

I had no idea you were a mechanic. I didn’t even think you were a knuckle dragger, but now that I do, it clears up a lot of questions.

Was this rant of yours related to your specific question?

I must confess, when I was 20 years old I didn’t have a clue why the throttle was stuck, except that I was a few miles away from where I had just gotten some work done.

My home was about 40 miles away.

Now, if I was a smart guy like you, I guess I would have driven the car home, so I could brag about fixing the $5 part myself on Free Republic 15 years later. However, I must confess that I did not do that. Like one of them there in’lectule types, I drove the car back where I had just gotten the work done. Didn’t cost a dime. Thanks for caring though, really.


239 posted on 03/10/2010 11:23:44 AM PST by perfect_rovian_storm (The worst is behind us. Unfortunately it is really well endowed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 236 | View Replies]

To: justlurking

Why is it so difficult to simply reach down, turn the ignition key to the “OFF” position? Instead, the “driver” had time to dial 911, bend over to work the foot pedal, throw it into neutral, etc,,, all while the car is running out of control. It’s as if the guy called 911 ahead of time before car ran amok.

This sounds quite suspicious. But mostly, patently STUPID!


240 posted on 03/10/2010 11:28:29 AM PST by PSYCHO-FREEP ( Give me Liberty, or give me an M-24A2!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 181-200201-220221-240241-256 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson