Man’s Account of Runaway Prius Questioned
There have been questions raised about the claim from a man that his Toyota Prius was subject to the same unintended acceleration events that have been giving other owners problems and also caused collisions, some of which resulted in deaths. Mechanics and technicians have tested the vehicle, but they were unable to recreate the claims.
Jim Sikes called 911 while his Prius sped uncontrollably down a California interstate at more than 90mph for about 20 minutes last week. He claimed that the gas pedal was stuck, and even though he tried to slam on the brakes, he just couldn’t stop. An officer was dispatched to help and told Sikes to apply both the regular and emergency brakes, as well as turn off the engine of the car to get it to stop.
However, investigators are having a hard time determining that the pedal really did stick and cause the Prius to unintentionally accelerate. According to a memo draft summarizing the observations of a representative present during the testing, it doesn’t appear to be possible that Sikes slammed on the brake while the gas pedal was stuck.
According to Toyota hybrid expert David Justo, if the driver applied the brake while the gas pedal was stuck, the engine would shut down. If the engine doesn’t, then the gears would spin past their maximum revolutions and cause the engine to seize, he said in the memo. Justo also added that it’s not feasibly possible - mechanically and electronically - that the pedal was stuck and he was slamming on the brake at the same time.
The Prius was even taken on a test drive, where they tried to duplicate the same incident, but this was unsuccessful. The memo noted that the engine shut off when the gas pedal was put to the floor while applying the brake, and the car immediately began to slow. So it sounds like the whole incident was faked.
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