Posted on 03/10/2010 6:36:28 AM PST by justlurking
Before he called 911, James Sikes says he reached down with his hand to loosen the "stuck" accelerator on his 2008 Toyota Prius, his other hand on the steering wheel. The pedal didn't move.
"My car can't slow down," he began when a California Highway Patrol dispatcher answered his call.
[...]
During the two 911 calls, Sikes ignored many of the dispatcher's questions, saying later that he had to put his phone on the seat to keep his hands on the wheel.
Leighann Parks, a 24-year-old dispatcher, repeatedly told him to throw the car into neutral but got no answers.
"He was very emotional, you could tell on the line he was panicked," Parks told reporters outside the CHP's El Cajon office. "I could only imagine being in his shoes and being that stressed."
Neibert told Sikes after the CHP caught up with him to shift to neutral but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
>>Creation of “evidence” for the upcoming litigation.<<
HAHAHA! That is EXACTLY what I thought when I read his post. :)
You can get the presence of mind to call 911, but not shut off the accelerator.
Also, if it was a runaway - only 85 mph?!!! It is as if this guy was performing a “lawsuit stunt” but didn’t want to risk “too much”. The more I look at this, the more fishy it looks, frankly.
>>Oh wait, I did say he was a liberal so I’m repeating myself.<<
Well, he was driving a Prius...
IN some ways my car is a computer, and has the same odd things. Sometimes for example i can get in the car, “turn it on”, and shift before it’s really on, and the result is to get the computer locked up in an intermediate state, where my only recourse is to hold the button down for 10 seconds to turn it off.
The most annoying thing is that you can’t go straight from the “power on” state to the “accessory on” state. So if I pull into my garage, and I’m listening to the end of a song i like on the radio, if I want to turn the car off so the engine stops, I have to power the car completely off, shutting the radio off, and then turn it back on to get to accessory power.
Don’t know if that changed for the 2010 model. The 2010 prius is remarkably different from the 2004-2009 version.
My wife’s Prius (2002) has a key, so it can be returned to accessory mode from the “ready” mode, which is the Prius name for “on” (since the engine is often NOT running in “ready” mode).
Ahhhh, thanks justlurking. Sounds like the electric motors get you going before the gas engine kicks in? I have to hold the brake pedal in my 2000 truck to shift out of park so that ritual sounds familiar.
Why did the cop tell him to apply both the brakes and the emergency brake? Sounds like the cop must not know much about cars. Applying the brakes engages the front and rear brakes, applying the emergency brakes engages the rear brakes only, which is already engaged by applying the brakes.
“Is it too late to sue American Motors?”
You missed your big chance in life!
>>Turning off the ignition doesn’t disable your steering. It just requires more effort to turn the wheel.<<
I rented a toyota with the pushbutton starter once. I honestly do not know how one would turn off the ignition in one of those without turning everything off, completely locking the wheel. There may be a way, and if I owned one I might know what it is, but I don’t so I don’t.
Also, the brakes and steering will be harder to operate but not impossible. All in all though, the best thing to do is to put it in neutral or better yet have a stick shift so you can shove the clutch in periodically and slow the car that way while steering off the road.
Would that actually be in the owner’s manual? Every time I’ve wanted an answer to a question I thought would be in the owner’s manual, I didn’t find it there.
I guess I could commit the owner’s manual to memory, but it is rather dry reading. Or next time I’m in a panic situation, I’ll just consult the owner’s manual. Or maybe I could Google it on my iPhone! Or better yet, I can go over the list of federal ‘safety’ mandates in my head by year to figure out if the latest ‘key position’ option is actually included in my car and what it is.
Or I can just shift the car into neutral, come to a stop and shut the engine off, like I have in the past.
Decisions, decisions...
>>I heard the first part of the call, the 911 operator told him to shift to neutral, and he ignored it.<<
It is as though he was not willing to go so far as to ruin his car. One of the things that really destroys his story, in my opinion, is the absurdly low top speed he reached. My scion xB will go over 90, no problem. If my throttle was stuck for more than a few seconds, I’d be going a heck of a lot faster than 90.
Many things are wrong here. I think this guy is about to be in a heap of trouble.
The only way a car will flip is if the driver does something stupid. Husband helped develop the Explorer. The only way they were able to flip it when the tire blew was to jerk the steering wheel in the opposite direction. It’s usually the stupid driver.
While we are discussing driving I have a couple of questions..
Does Pennsylvanian but ME know that sign that says “WAIT FOR GREEN” does NOT mean “No Turn ON RED”?
Or that sign that says “right turn signal” does NOT mean “No Turn On RED”.
Or that you may indeed turn left on red from a one way onto a one way street?
As a former driving instructor for the federals, I gave classes on defensive driving, vehicle familiarity, and then give them a road test. The first thing I did was give every member of the class,some had been driving 50 years, a copy of the State Drivers manual. Rules change over the years. Most of my students had no idea of simple road sign additions. Not to mention rules changes and additions.
I suggest a copy for every Freeper for reading and a prominent place in the family reading collection.
“Would that actually be in the owner’s manual?”
Key positions, yes.
Sounds WAY too complicated. I’ll stick with my old Audi.
you meant EVERY Pennsylvanian, dummy..
Some cars use completely separate pads for the emergency brakes. My old LeBaron had disc brakes in the rear but inside they had small drum brakes as the emergency brakes. I know it probably doesn’t matter, but unless you’re just locking up of the wheels, it would give more grab.
that is my take too - what if he had his foot on the gas all the time and then called to make his case. Some friend, family member or TV show set him on to the idea and he needed the payout AND a replacement car.
In August 2008 I had surgery and came close to dying from what was obviously a surgical error, that had to be corrected with another surgery within about another two hours to save my life.
After I got out of the hospital, the surgeon sent me his bill, I paid the $1,000 out of pocket the insurance didn't cover, ins paid the rest of his almost $10,000 bill.
The hospital itself never even billed me or the insurance company, they knew the surgeon screwed up.
Friends were telling me to sue. I simply told them I didn't want people to think I was a democrat and besides, I'm still alive aint I.
Some people may believe I'm stupid for not pursuing that. I'm neither stupid for it nor special because I didn't pursue it, just an honest person doing what's right, people make mistakes and I won't try to gain financially from them.
Not everybody is out to get something for nothing. I'm 64 years old and I do not accept "senior citizens discounts" either. A few cashiers have asked me, "Why not"? I tell them if I start wanting something for nothing, people may think I'm a democrat, I hope it makes them think.
I hope you were just having a bad day when you said what you did and soon get over it. God bless you and your's.
He probably got it from some retard in Consumer Reports.
But no, he’s an indoctrinated liberal who expects government to take care of him.
&&&
Years ago recreational boaters used to call the Coast Guard when they ran out of fuel. After the Coast Guard put a hefty fee on such refueling calls, boaters learned to check their fuel gauge before they went out on the water.
Isn’t it funny how people can be motivated to think when not thinking affects their wallet.
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