Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident

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Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident
« on: March 15, 2010, 01:33:01 PM »
Toyota casts doubt on man's speeding Prius claim

By ELLIOT SPAGAT and TOM KRISHER

SAN DIEGO – Toyota cast doubt Monday on a California man's claim that his Prius sped out of control, saying the report is inconsistent with the findings of the company's preliminary investigation.

Toyota said in a statement that the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system worked properly. The automaker said the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating, but the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.

The motorist, James Sikes, said his car raced to 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego last week. The March 8 incident ended when Sikes stopped the car with help from a California Highway Patrol officer.

"While a final report is not yet complete, there are strong indications that the driver's account of the event is inconsistent with the findings of the preliminary analysis," the statement said.

A telephone message seeking comment on Toyota's assertions was left by The Associated Press at the office of Sikes' attorney, John H. Gomez.

Earlier in the day, federal regulators said they were reviewing data from the gas-electric hybrid but so far had not found anything to explain the out-of-control acceleration reported by Sikes.

"We would caution people that our work continues and that we may never know exactly what happened with this car," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement.

Inspectors said they tried to duplicate the acceleration during a two-hour test drive but could not.

Sikes has said the car sped up to 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. He said he jammed on the brakes trying to stop it.

Sikes called 911, and a highway patrol officer helped bring the vehicle to a safe stop. Though no one was injured, the episode quickly becoming a high-profile headache for Toyota, which like NHTSA sent in an engineering team to investigate.

Gomez, the attorney for Sikes, said the failure to recreate the incident was insignificant and not surprising.

"They have never been able to replicate an incident of sudden acceleration. Mr. Sikes never had a problem in the three years he owned this vehicle," he said Sunday.

But Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., suggested the failure to duplicate the stuck accelerator, and the presence of a backup system in the car, raised questions about Sikes' story.

"It doesn't mean it didn't happen, but let's understand, it doesn't mean it did happen," Issa said on CBS' "The Early Show."

NHTSA is looking into claims by more than 60 Toyota owners that their vehicles had accelerated unexpectedly even after they were supposedly fixed.

Regulators said in a statement that Sikes' Prius was equipped with a backup safety device that reduces power to the wheels when the brakes and gas are pressed at the same time.

"The system on Mr. Sikes' Prius worked during our engineers' test drive," the statement said.

While investigators from Toyota and NHTSA reviewed the Prius during the same two days, a Transportation Department official said their investigations are separate.

"It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," said a memo prepared for Congress that cited a Toyota official.

Toyota has recalled millions of cars because floor mats can snag gas pedals or accelerators can stick. Sikes' car was covered by the floor mat recall but not the one for sticky accelerators. He later told reporters that he tried to pull on the gas pedal during his harrowing ride, but it didn't "move at all."

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Re: Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2010, 01:34:08 PM »
If this happens, put the car in neutral, coast to the side of the road and stop. Leave the engine running so you have the power steering and brakes until you manage to stop the car. The electronics should not allow the engine to overrev so you don't have to worry about it blowing up, but even if it does you're still alive.

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Re: Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2010, 01:34:36 PM »
Has everyone forgotten car basics?

If the gas pedal gets stuck, forget breaking and all. Simply put the car in Neutral ... you know P R N D 2 1 ... the N stands for Neutral which will disengage the transmission thus stopping the engine from applying power to the wheels. Putting the car in neutral while the pedal is stuck will cause the engine to rev up like crazy but you will be able to simply pull over and once the car comes to a stop, shut the engine off.

Why the CHP had this guy breaking and all that is beyond me.

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julius castillo

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Re: Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2010, 03:52:47 PM »
This incident has all the ingredients of it being a hoax.  In America, people are willing to do crazy things just to get what they want.  Remember the "Balloon Boy" incident that turned out to be a big hoax?  This one has all the signs and symptoms of "Hoaxology 101", if you just think...

1. The driver - James Sikes and his wife Patty filed for bankruptcy in 2008 with a combined debt estimated at $700,000 (almost 3 quarters of a million dollars).
2. It took James Sikes approx 30 miles without doing anything aside from stepping on the brakes. Logically, any person would try anything to stop the car, but his behaviour was doubtful. I happen to own a Prius and it is much simpler than P R N D 2 1... because it is not like that in a Prius it only has R N D P (see picture below) so I know how easy it is to put the car to Neutral.  The motion to put the car to Neutral is one stroke left, that's it... but James Sikes never tried it.  Hmmmmm... questionable.  There's a tape of the 911 call and he totally ignored the instructions to put the car to neutral.  See further down on #8.

3. The CHP found out that the allegedly "stuck" gas pedal - was NOT stuck at all when they inspected the car (now that's alarming!)
4. All the mechanical engineers and other experts have found out that all systems on his Prius are working as specified.
5. Investigators have found that James Sikes has a long history of getting claims from insurance companies for properties that he claims were "stolen" from him.  (What a load of crap this guy is!)
6. James Sikes has been delinquent on the car payments for his Prius (Hmmmm...!!!  He can't pay, so he's finding ways to get out of debt.)
7. James Sikes sent an e-mail that he wanted Toyota to give him another vehicle in place of the Prius (Ahaaah, that's what he wanted after all???)
8. After listening to the 911 tape, it sounded like a big hoax.  He was on the phone with the 911 operator for about 23 minutes.  If the accelerator pedal would have been stuck for 23 minutes, the car would have easily been over 120 miles per hour... but Sikes claimed he was only running at over 90 miles an hour.  He was asked by the 911 operator several times to put the car to neutral but James Sikes did not appear to have done it and pretentiously ignored the instructions of the 911 operator.  If you listen closely to the conversation, it does not appear to be a call of a person in distress.  All the lapses and the non-replies are indications that James Sikes was clearly thinking of something or trying to ignore and pretend not to hear the 911 operator.  Caution, it is a long conversation and it is clear that James Sikes is pretending the distress.

Listen to the 911 tape here: http://jalopnik.com/5489687/the-full-24+minutes+long-runaway-prius-911-tape  (about 23 minutes into the call, you can clearly hear James Sikes faking heavy breathing...about more than 3 times... what a load of crap!!!).

Other Links:
http://jalopnik.com/5491101/did-bankrupt-runaway-prius-driver-fake-unintended-acceleration
http://www.popcrunch.com/runaway-prius-hoax/
http://www.khabrein.info/news/Runaway_Prius_hoax___Toyota_Prius_hoax_will_embolden_Toyota_in_recall_matters_1268684987/

Points To Ponder:
1. The Big Three car makers General Motors, Chrysler and Ford were given bailout money from the government, Toyota is not one of them.
2. Toyota is doing well in the economic downturn, people would not be surprised if some conspiracy to pull Toyota down would be lurking on the sidelines.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2010, 04:00:09 PM by julius castillo »
Metrand Corp is a Software Developer and a technology consulting company specializing in Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Medical Billing Software, Home Health Billing Software, and any medical practitioner's electronic software systems. http://www.metrand.com

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Re: Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2010, 12:46:19 AM »
may crab mentality din pala sa U.S.?

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Re: Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius incident
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2010, 12:49:10 AM »
oh yea, we have a lot of James Sikes here  ;D