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My Prius accelerated on it's own

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by bredekamp, Feb 20, 2009.

  1. bredekamp

    bredekamp Member

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    ...but it was my fault.

    A couple of weeks ago I was going up a steep hill near work. There was some traffic behind me so I decided to floor it to get out of the way. I let go of the gas pedal and the Prius keeps going. Wth! By now I'm accelerating hard up this hill.My first thought is, OH SH1T!. Computer freak out. Then I think, emergency shut down, hold down the power button. All the while I'm going faster and faster. Then I remember a loan car I once drove when a previous car of mine was in the shop. It's gas pedal got stuck behind the floor mat. I reach down, pull the mat back and the Prius slows down again.

    I washed my car a day before and put the mat back differently than usual. When I floored the gas (something I allmost never do) the bottom lip hooked behind the mat.

    I'm such a fool. We're so quick to blame the technology when it's just human error.
     
    #1 bredekamp, Feb 20, 2009
  2. jtlytle

    jtlytle Caution: Prius owner

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    I am glad to hear there is no accident!
     
    #2 jtlytle, Feb 20, 2009
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    And thank you for sharing this embarrassing incident. It will be a very useful cautionary tale.
     
    #3 richard schumacher, Feb 20, 2009
  4. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    As I was reading your story I was telling myself "its the floormat, oh no" and sure enough it was. Glad to hear that you got out of that situation safely. I had a pedal get stuck on me once, but it wasn't a mat... Just the throttle sticking on an old 50's Ford pickup and it is one moment of panic while trying to figure out what to do.
     
    #4 Paradox, Feb 20, 2009
  5. Tripod137

    Tripod137 New Member

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    My wife and I had that happen on my prius. Got rid of the mats the next day! Scared the crap out of me. Good thing the car slows down some when you hit the breaks. I hear, in those situations, you can put the car in neutral. Apparently, the engine idles when you are in neutral no matter what the gas pedal is doing.
     
    #5 Tripod137, Feb 20, 2009
  6. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    If these were OEM floor mats, there should be hooks installed to prevent them from sliding up that far. Were these hooks present and in use? One side goes into a hole on the car's actual carpet, the other into a hole in the floormat. I've had these in both my 2002 and 2004, and for 150,000 combined miles between the two, never experienced any issues w/ the floormats creeping up IF the hooks were properly in place.

    Hope this helps.
     
    #6 HTMLSpinnr, Feb 20, 2009
  7. CharlesJ

    CharlesJ Member

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    I think he just goofed.
    I washed my car a day before and put the mat back differently than usual.
     
    #7 CharlesJ, Feb 21, 2009
  8. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    My after market floor mats go under the pedal, are wedged between the centre and side of the foot well and never move. They also have sharp spikes under to engage the carpet. They cost less than $15AU for 4 mats, are 18 months old and still look like new.
     
    #8 patsparks, Feb 21, 2009
  9. bac

    bac Active Member

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    Glad to hear that you are okay. It scared me just reading your post!

    Just an FYI, the brake will always outpower the gas. I know in a panic situation, it can be difficult to think clearly, but perhaps consider the brake pedal as your first means of defense if this were to happen again.

    ... Brad
     
    #9 bac, Feb 21, 2009
  10. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    yep floor mats... same story recounted here many many times.
     
    #10 DaveinOlyWA, Feb 21, 2009
  11. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    This is a good reminder to always check that your floormats are properly secured. A quick Google will uncover many reports of unintended acceleration from all the makes: Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford, even Jeep. Imagine that
     
    #11 jayman, Feb 21, 2009
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