Feds to probe cause of runaway Prius in California

Try hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL when your computer freezes. Does it always respond?

 

It's good to know how to stop a runaway Prius on the freeway but it will be more scary if you're driving in the city. How to stop the car if some people are crossing the street and you're just a few feet away?

 

This is the whole deal for me. Hit it right on the head. It's almost like alien abductions. The people that get abducted are never mainstream people that we all know and respect.
If you think about the almost negligible percentage of Toyota's that have had this "problem" you just wonder why it hasn't happened to someone we all know, respect and can believe.
It's getting silly. Now my 86 year old father in law is freaking out. I drive a 2Gen Prius and my wife drives a Highlander Hybrid. He thinks we are both going to die.
I'm just weary of the whole thing. The worst part is watching the lying,backstabbing,criminals that run our government grilling the Toyo execs who have been more open and honest about this than the politicians will ever understand.
I'm making a solemn vow. If my Prius runs away; I WILL post all of the truthful details on this site. AFTER I TURN THE DAMNED THING OFF!!!

 

Actually what he said was that he was afraid, in his panic, he would accidentally put the car into reverse by trying to move the shifter into neutral-and that would flip the car. So he was standing on the brakes-usually a first-reaction attempt to slow a car.
He was afraid. He did not know what to do-not because he was stupid. Not all Prius owners read these forums.

 

He was trying to steer the accelerating car and talking to 911 at the same time. Apparently he had to use both hands to steer to avoid hitting another vehicle and threw/put the phone down-I don't think he was swearing at the dispatcher-possibly an "oh sh*t" type thing.

 

Now the truth comes out. The news this morning says that the 911 operator told him to put the car in neutral and he refused to do it. Now, why could that possibly be? So it appears doing this one simple thing could have stopped this problem well before the police had to get involved. Now I even suspect more that this whole thing was rigged for a publicity stunt.

 

I find it inconceivable this was a hoax unless the guy is a professional stunt driver. The investigation will confirm whether the car was going at those speeds.

No clear-thinking hoaxer is going to jeopardize their life, or others, weaving in and out of traffic at 94 miles per hour in a Prius. BMW M5 maybe, but not a Prius.

It is entirely possible that the driver kept sliding, or flicking, the shift lever to the neutral position but not holding it. That should also come out in the investigation.

Time will tell.

 

OMG! THIS HAPPENED TO ME late last summer. I wrote it off as something "fluke", but I have kept this incident in the back of my mind because it was so scary. I use cruise ALL the time, even in city driving. I have NOT had this happen to me since. I hope it never does.

Also, the whole issue of "throwing your car into neutral" with a Prius is substantially different than any other car I have driven. You don't "throw" it anywhere; you shift it and hold it and WAIT until it goes into neutral. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE EXPLAINED TO OWNERS. In an emergency situation it is well documented that one reverts back to what one learned FIRST, and for 99.9% of us, that means not having to hold any lever for over a second to "throw" the car into neutral.

 

How did you regain control over vehicle speed?

 

This comes down to driver training. Driver education in the U.S. is woefully inadequate. It is the responsibility of each driver to fully understand the control and operation of the vehicle being driven. This includes practicing emergency shutdown procedures.

People in this country treat cars like a microwave oven: pop it in, hit 2, press start, and walk away. It's that easy, until something goes wrong. In pilot training we spend 90% of our time practicing for things going wrong. Driver training should work the same way. As much as we would like our cars to be perfect, no one will ever build a perfect machine.

Tom

 

Hoaxers, by definition, are not clear-thinking.

 

So who exactly, are They?

Toyota haters or just Prius haters? Right wingers? Left wingers? The RIAA?
That's a very paranoid statement to make.

 

I was on mountain roads with ups and downs, slowed me up enough to pull over and once I turned the car off and then back on no problems...and of course this happened before I was aware of the put it in neutral thing!

I am interested to know if anyone else with an 05 Prius has had this issue!

 

Has your car been included in the recall yet? Mine hasn't

 

I just listened to the 911 recording. This guy is either

1. An idtiot
2. Trying for a publicity stunt
3. working for another car company or organization trying to give Toyota a bad rep.

After listening to this guy I'm leaning heavily towards option #1.

I mean do we need to start teaching kids in driver's ed how to stop a runaway car? Where did this guy learn to drive? Why would he not put the car into neutral when instructed to do so over and over by the 911 operator? (It wasn't an issue that the car wouldn't go into neutral, he blatantly refused to try)

And it is ridiculous listing to him constantly grunt and moan over and over again as he keeps stomping the brake. Don't you think if it didn't work for the first 5 minutes, then maybe you shouldn't spend the next 15 minutes braking too. Maybe try something else?

I think people this dumb shouldn't be allowed to drive cars in the first place. My opinion here is that yes, the car might be dangerous with this defect, but the bigger danger here is the dumb driver.

 

It's all very suspicious.

- 2 weeks before, he happens to go to the Toyota dealer and is told that there is no need to fix his car

- 1 day before, Toyota just happens to announce that the problem has nothing to do with electronics

- Despite being concerned enough to take the car to the dealer, he does NOT learn how to stop the car if this were to happen

- He reportedly ignored the police dispatcher who told him to put the car into neutral

- He plays the lottery religiously

- Has there even been ONE other documented case of a runaway prius? I'd be interested to know.

This is all circumstantial. It smells very fishy. Like someone who wants to get rich.

If this really is a problem, then I hope they get to the bottom of it. If this guy just pulled a hoax, I hope he gets thrown in jail for a long time.

 

I think this was the first story I heard about the runaway problem in a 2nd Generation Prius like mine! Up until now the accelerator recall was only for the 3rd generation (G III)...hmm...I wonder...

 

No, not correct. The 3rd generation Prius has *not* been subject to any accelerator recall. Some U.S. made Toyota models have been subject to the CTS accelerator recall, but all Prius are made in Japan and use Denso accelerator pedals.

The Gen II Prius was subject to a floor mat recall, and the Gen III is currently subject to a recall for skid control software.

Tom

 

What about shifting into "B". I've gotten so used to using "B" (low gear) to assist with rapid braking, that it's practically instinctive for me now.

 

I have no problem with a Federal Probe. I have no problem with legitimate investigation. I think real investigation is the only path to ending this.

There is no other way to get resolution.