Posted on 03/24/2010 6:48:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
For three days, James Sikes held America's highest honor: victim. The nation had been transfixed by his almost half-hour-long 94-mph horror ride in his runaway Toyota Prius. He burned his brakes right down to the metal, unable to even slow the vehicle. Only his prescience in calling 911, followed by a highway patrol officer providing assistance, saved his life.
Then my article "Toyota Hybrid Horror Hoax" at Forbes.com brought it crashing down. But lest you get false impressions from that title, the real hoaxter wasn't Jim Sikes, but the media. Red flags about his story were popping up from the start. Yet the entire Fourth Estate systematically ignored them. Here were some of the biggest.
1. After Sikes stopped, the assisting officer observed that the accelerator was in the proper position. Why would stopping make it pop back up? It was probably gremlins; still, somebody should have asked Sikes about it. Nobody did.
2. Sikes repeatedly says he stood on the brakes but couldn't even slow the vehicle. Yet Car and Driver had recently tested three cars at full throttle at 100 mph and brought them all to a full stop, including a 540-horsepower Mustang. The 2008 Prius only has 110 anemic ponies under the hood. (After my story broke, a leaked congressional memo revealed that tests on Sikes' car showed that, as they were designed to do, when the brakes on Sikes' car were applied, the engine automatically slowed.)
3. You can listen on the Web as the 911 dispatcher repeatedly begs Sikes to either stop the engine with the ignition button or put the car into neutral. Sikes says he was afraid to try them, giving various contradictory or absurd reasons. Regarding his refusal to shift into neutral, one of the many reasons was,
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Hmmm, the driver was inept, dishonest, has no real accomplishments, probably should be in jail.
And the difference between him and the idiot in the White House is?
Doesn’t the Prius “brake by wire”?
Skin color? Birth certificate?
He was looking for a pay day! Or he wanted to return a car he could not afford!
It’d still be interesting to know if Sikes happened to be a union man.
Michael Fumente is bashing other journalists for lacking questions!!!
He himself could be a Pulitzer winner as a real investigating journalist by investigating Barry Soetoro's true eligibility of the "idiot" in the White House???
Maybe he was jealous and wanted his 15 minutes of fame?
Innocent by reason of liberalism or mental defect?
Pretty minor concern in light of the old media election of a hateful tyrant and the jijacking of multiple private enterprises.
Prius “breaks” by wire.
I think there is a government conspiracy to bring Toyota (and other foreign manufacturers) under thumb...Driven by Obama for his union cohorts...
There are lots of theories but the one I favor most is related to the government take over of GM and Chrysler. Immediately afterward foreign cars started having problems. Those cars are mad in the USA in non-union factories.
They and Wal*Mart are the main targets of the proposed card check legislation.
My 2nd favorite theory is that Sykes is like Balloon Boy's dad. 3rd is money-seeker.
Exactly!
“...the government take over of GM and Chrysler. Immediately afterward foreign cars started having problems.”
Hmmm. Very interesting observation. I can put nothing past the hard Left at this point.
Are you suggesting the brakes weren't working?
OR.... he was late to an appointment, and thought if he called 911 he'd get an escort so he could KEEP going 90 MPH in a 55. He kept his foot on the brakes just enough to keep them heated up, but not enough to slow him down.
IF he truly had a 'runaway' situation, how (at 90 mph) did he keep from hitting ANY other cars (before he got the police escort)?
Irrelevant in this (and damned near EVERY) case. A stupid grifter tried to ride the perceived “anti-Toyota wave” to riches, and failed. Actually, skin color has nothing to do with anything, so why would you put such a potentially inflammatory comment up, unless YOU are trying to cast a shadow on this site?
Do the kitties smell fresh rat?
Who has the Viking Kitties list anyhoo?
“Irrelevant in this (and damned near EVERY) case. A stupid grifter tried to ride the perceived “anti-Toyota wave” to riches, and failed. Actually, skin color has nothing to do with anything, so why would you put such a potentially inflammatory comment up, unless YOU are trying to cast a shadow on this site?”
I guess you didn’t read the original post and his question about whats different between this guy and Obama. The answer? Nothing but the superficial.
So, you post back what I posted.
Are you the high pooh-bah of the department of redundancy department?
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