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| Science & Technology |
| Investigators can't replicate runaway Prius |
| 2010-03-14 |
| SAN DIEGO – Investigators with Toyota Motor Corp. and the federal government could not replicate the runaway speeding reported by a Prius owner who said his car's accelerator stuck as he drove on a California freeway, according to a memo drafted for a congressional panel. The memo, obtained Saturday by The Associated Press, said the experts who examined and test drove the car could not replicate the sudden, unintended acceleration James Sikes said he encountered. A backup mechanism that shuts off the engine when the brake and gas pedals are floored also worked properly during tests. During two hours of test drives of Sikes' car Thursday, technicians with Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to duplicate the same experience that Sikes described, according to the memo written by the Republican staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. One congressional staff member observed the investigation of Sikes' Prius. "Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down," the memo said. Also, the Prius is designed to shut down if the brakes are applied while the gas pedal is pressed to the floor. If it doesn't, the engine would "completely seize," according to the report that cited Toyota's "residential Hybrid expert." "It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," according to the memo. The memo did say that investigators found the front brake pads were spent."Visually checking the brake pads and rotor it was clearly visible that there was nothing left," it said. But the wear was not consistent with the brakes being applied at full force for a long period, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing three people familiar with the probe, whom it did not name. The newspaper said the brakes may have been applied intermittently. Sikes could not be reached to comment. However, his wife, Patty Sikes, said he stands by his story. "Everyone can just leave us alone," she said. "Jim didn't get hurt. There's no intent at all to sue Toyota." Well...not anymore. "If any good can come out of this, maybe they can find out what happened so other people don't get killed." Can't we all just "move on"? As quickly as possible. Mrs. Sikes said the couple's lives have been turned upside down since Monday and they are getting death threats. "We're just fed up with all of it," she said. "Our careers are ruined and life is just not good anymore." Honey, go with the mouse in the Coke bottle next time. It's tougher to prove. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 Sounds trivial but this happened to me when the driver-side rug slipped its moorings and migrated up, tight against the accelerator shaft, so that the accelerator was stuck when pressed. Check the rug. And always engage brain before starting mouth. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-03-14 22:15 |
| #3 I'd tend to discount claims like this, except Woz has reported similar occurences and believes they are do to on-board computer / software problems in the Prius. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-03-14 18:10 |
#2  Runaway by Avril Lavigne
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| Posted by: Gleling Bucket1767 2010-03-14 14:24 |
| #1 This sounds a bit like the Jimmy Stewart movie, No Highway in the Sky, which every engineer should see early on in their career. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-03-14 14:19 |