Posted on 03/09/2010 8:02:35 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Runaway Toyota Prius reached 90 mph - police Tue Mar 9, 2010 3:46pm GMT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The driver of a 2008 Toyota Prius said his car uncontrollably accelerated to over 90 miles per hour on a San Diego County freeway before a California Highway Patrol officer helped him stop the car, police said.
The driver, 61-year-old James Sikes, was not injured in the Monday incident, which is another claim of unintended acceleration that has caused the greatest image crisis for Toyota Motor Corp in its history.
The incident occurred in the same county where an off-duty California Highway Patrol trooper and three family members were killed last August in an incident that brought the issue to national attention and led to the first major recall over unintended acceleration.
Sikes said he had received a recall notice to take his car into a Toyota dealership, but when he did, he was told that his car was not on recall lists, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The automaker has not recalled the 2008 Prius.
On Monday afternoon, Sikes overtook another car on Interstate 8 near San Diego, and then the Prius accelerated beyond his control, the highway patrol said.
For the next 20 minutes, Sikes sped 30 miles along the freeway, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
Was he a UAW member by any chance?
Doesn’t pass the smell test.
Was it being driven by Al Gore’s son?
Turning off the key doesn’t work?
Must have been going downhill.
Wouldn’t that lock the steering wheel? I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.
The Prius doesn't use an actual key. It's all electronic.
On the plus side, the car’s batteries are now charged for life.
Locks the steering and kills the brakes.
Check and see if he wanted to get rid of the car, was behind on payments, etc.
Or shifting into neutral?
I agree, I think this is a hoax.
That said, I think it could help Toyota’s sales. A Prius can do 90 MPH? Who knew?
Reached 90mph, but how much carbon did it release into the atmosphere? What is the world coming to? This is hugh and series.
Rogue Toyotas. Coming to a movie theater near you.
Kind of like the SUV stories where they would just take off and crash in to trees and other cars with no regard for the driver. Given what’s going on, this story really looks like a plant. Like the GM pickup trucks that would explode on impact (with a little help of a pyro device).
I do not see how putting the car into neutral and turning the key off did not stop this car. I question if he even tried it.
Something stinks here, and not just this guy’s brakes...
Conveniently runs away after the fact. Yeah right.
Yup and next year year they will be the lead car at the Indy 500......
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