Question from wrecked Alaskan Prius owner

Jim,

Thank you for the suggestions and at least being nice. I just got called a troll in another forum, so will stay in this one. It's frustrating to try to describe without pictures.

I was driving about walking speed. There were a few car lengths between me and the other vehicle and since this was last year, I will not even speculate on how many. But I was back there, as the pictures I took to court showed and the tracks on the road.

Maybe I didn't explain myself well. Both of us were in the turn lane, but I had not yet started my turn because he was still ahead of me - my wheels are straight in the picture. And I think that's why the officer asked if I was speeding because of all the damage, spilled fluids, etc. As in "why is there this much damage if you weren't speeding?" Well, I wasn't intentionally speeding. And I didn't even look at my odometer because I was too busy panicking, so I don't know how fast I hit him at.

I agree with you on turning at 25 mph, and don't do that except on the highway. We were both just creeping along. At the time, it was just a really scary thing I wanted to forget, so I tried to. All the recent publicity is bringing it back and making me more and more afraid of what I concede might be a perfectly good car. But I don't KNOW - and that is why I'm scared buggy about it. And I think that is what the guy who insulted me doesn't get: I am NOT after money, I just want to feel safe in my car, especially since all the publicity has probably made it impossible to sell except at a huge loss.

Oh, and re the pilots in my former job: No, I would not have given them a letter. But once we got past the swearing (hey, I'm just the messenger - I managed contracts), some of the more helpful ones suggested different test profiles to fly and we were eventually able to duplicate a few (but not all) of the problems. So then, I had the contractors mad at me too. Can't win for losing.

Sorry to be so long winded. I will try the things you suggested. Oh, and the dash lights are the least of my worries. I agree they are probably a thermal thing because the problem only happens when it's really cold and spring is finally coming. The dealer still has my car, but I AM going to call them one more time and ask about some of the more "out there" theories I have found on this board.

Thank you again for being pleasant. I don't think I'll post anywhere but the Newby forum any more - will just lurk in the other ones.

 

Hello Harold,

I am better than 99% sure my foot was on the brake before the first impact. Both of us were just above crawl speed, I have narrow feet, and the pedals do feel different. Plus I had no need to stand on the brake until after it sped up without my permission, for lack of a better word. So that part, I was willing to swear to under oath, which I take seriously because of my religion.

After it bounced (and I am speculating now about something I made a real effort to forget), does it make sense that my body got tossed around a little and my foot might have left the brake? Because I can't say with a clear conscience that I really remember. So I really don't know where my foot was just before the second impact and I kind of think it was probably flopping around in the air.

I said in an earlier post that when I realized it was going to hit again, I just "gave up", so anything I might say about whether I was on a pedal or which pedal would be guessing. But since I did hurt my ankle, I am guessing my feet got tossed around and that there is at least a chance my car was accelerating on its own.

And somebody (forgot who, sorry) had an interesting question about grit on the road. It was a commercial area, combined with a little bit of volcanic ash that was still drifting around (but not a lot - the big eruption had been a months ago and there was only some minor windborne ash drifting around - minimal). But ash, I just found out, is conductive or whatever the word, so it makes me wonder about the electronics, which I don't understand well.

I'll try the things you suggested when I get my car back. In fact, I am almost to the point of seeing if I can get a police officer to take it for a run on their test track if they have one.

At this point, I just want to know. Is my car safe or did I mess up? The not knowing is the scary part. I can understand why so many people want it to be driver error. This was my third Toyota and I would still buy another one, but probably an older model without the fancy electronics.

 

Tom,

Thanks. I don't think I'll bother reading it because there are few things sillier than arguing on the internet with people I don't even know. But thank you - if it was "tongue in cheek", that didn't come across, so I just decided not to go back there.

And this forum is interesting enough that worst case, I'd just lurk - and probably stay here where I feel safe.

 

Thank you very much to the people who have helped me with information. There is a lot of good information here and I appreciate it.

I asked the dealer to specifically look at those areas when I took it in Tues morning. They went over everything mentioned here, plus the electronics and the computer codes stored. Got my car back today with " at this point this car is safe to drive" in writing and the general manager picked up the loaner while they were working on it. So I admire them for doing that, and would buy from them again.

But I still think something strange DID happen to me last summer. However, since practically the whole front end of my car was rebuilt and the computer was worked on, maybe they fixed whatever the problem was. Is this plausible? If so, then great.

And I still don't think the problem was me. When I picked up my car, it is very obvious which pedal is which. I was thinking about having a friend spin me in circles until I'm dizzy, then have him gently toss me into my car and tell me which pedal to step on when I land. I think I'll get it right. It's that intuitive and I have narrow feet. ( Although it wouldn't really replicate the accident because I was panicked then and I wouldn't be if I were letting somebody throw me around on purpose.)

So - this is a good forum with good information, and has been very helpful. Thank you to the people who were pleasant and answered my questions, even though I got the feeling most thought it was driver error. I believe I was well treated by the dealership, who at least believed me enough to check out the car's electronics and computer codes, as opposed to Toyota corporate. But since it has all been repaired since the accident, it didn't prove anything about the pre-accident state of my car, or am I missing something fundamental? I guess it doesn't really matter, because what I want is to feel safe NOW.

So, would the most rational thing to do be to just take the dealer at his word? I am inclined to do so, or would that be naive? Back to lurking, but I think there are two sides to everything and I am still baffled, but feeling a little safer. I just wish Toyota would focus less on trying to discredit the victims and at least consider that they might have a problem. I'm glad this forum exists, anyway.

 

@ One More Coffee -- Thought I'd check back to see if there was any new information. Have been experimenting with my car to see if I could make it happen again and have not been able to. So maybe they fixed it at the dealer - who really did treat me very well (as opposed to Toyota).

You had an interesting comment about Toyota deciding not to disable power after first impact. I don't remember what vehicle line it was because I've been reading too much, but one of them is designed to fail "safe" instead (the opposite approach). Are you speculating (like I am), or is this a design flaw that can be fixed? Someone I know said he read that the computer chip that decides what braking system to use might be faulty. Me - I don't know. I'm majoring in logistics, not mechanical engineering.

I guess I should just be glad I wasn't hurt, but am still trying to decide whether to keep it or not, so that's why I came back here to look. Kind of hope gas prices go up this summer; it would restore my resale value.

 

Do you know how hard "hard enough" is? Because my car was still running and I had to be told to shut it off because all the fluids were draining out.

 

Jim,

Sorry to digress, but that actually made me laugh about the Evil Spirits. I guess it's as good an explanation as anything else, and is the only thing remotely funny about this whole mess. I still think something was badly wrong, but there's been so much work on it that I'll probably never know unless Toyota figures it out and makes it public.

And I have actually been trying to make it happen again in the WalMart parking lot (going slow like I was - with nothing around to hit) and so far, have not been able to. I tried using both feet - one on gas and one on brake at the same time intentionally, and the brake DID stop the car after the dealer worked on the car.

So - Evil Spirits. Maybe I'll take it to the cathedral and have it blessed.