Posted on 03/12/2010 2:18:23 PM PST by raptor22
The man who became the face of the Toyota gas pedal scandal this week has a troubled financial past that is leading some to question whether he was wholly truthful in his story.
On Monday, James Sikes called 911 to report that he was behind the wheel of an out-of-control Toyota Prius going 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. Twenty-three minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer helped guide him to a stop, a rescue that was captured on videotape.
Since then, it's been learned that:
— Sikes filed for bankruptcy in San Diego in 2008. According to documents, he was more than $700,000 in debt and owed roughly $19,000 on his Prius;
— In 2001, Sikes filed a police report with the Merced County Sheriff's Department
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“..Yeah...Toyota have a mystery “black box” installed ...so they can get a detailed print out of what happened...or not.
“
Actually, the ECU that controls the powertrain holds at the least the last 30 seconds of the operating conditions of the car, including throttle position and braking force. You can bet that the Toyota engineers are downloading and analyzing that info.
I’m wondering how many folks will want to see how fast their cars will go, get on the gas and if caught claim sticky throttles. My cr is drive by wire.......oh no help me!!
What gave it away for me was the 911 tape. The operator kept asking, “have you tried this., have you tried that?”. The driver’s response was “NO, I am trying to control the car”. Let see now, trying to control a car at a high speed and dialing the phone simultaneously. It seems to me that trying to stop the car should have been a more initial priority than dialing the phone and conversing with an operator, even if 911. He did not sound in a serious panic either.
either that or ACORN recrited him as a GM sales consultant
Toyota engineers are already on it. Reported today there was “no way” the car behaved as he described.
bamahead wrote:
I almost drove off the road.
..AND what kind of car were YOU driving????
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