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[spydglide]

Okay this latest incident that is all over the news with the Toyota Prius has B.S. written all over it, that or i am missing something.. the guy says he cannot stop and eventually the CHP uses their vehicle to stop his?  What happened to just turning off the ignition and/or shifting it into nuetral...i am going to use that excuse next time i get pulled over for speeding while driving the wifes 4Runner !

Unfortunately Dave, I think they've made it really hard to do just that.......my wife's car (made by Toyota) has a button to mash to turn it off but the car has to be in park for it to work.  And you can't put it into 'park' while the car is moving.  Can you say:  catch-22?  spyder

[OhioDave]

Unfortunately Dave, I think they've made it really hard to do just that.......my wife's car (made by Toyota) has a button to mash to turn it off but the car has to be in park for it to work.  And you can't put it into 'park' while the car is moving.  Can you say:  catch-22?  spyder

I guess i'll stick to my Chevy...

[grc]

Okay this latest incident that is all over the news with the Toyota Prius has B.S. written all over it, that or i am missing something.. the guy says he cannot stop and eventually the CHP uses their vehicle to stop his?  What happened to just turning off the ignition and/or shifting it into nuetral...i am going to use that excuse next time i get pulled over for speeding while driving the wifes 4Runner !

The only thing BS about this latest incident is the treatment he received from his dealership.  Took the car in with recall notice in hand, they told him his car wasn't involved in the recall and sent him on his way.  Now he's on the highway, puts the pedal to the metal to pass someone, and the pedal jams at wide open throttle.  He tries to pull up on the pedal, but it doesn't do any good.  He stands on the brakes, but since they didn't update his car with the Smart Brake feature his brakes don't overide the throttle.  He basically destroys the brakes but still doesn't slow down.

I can't answer why he didn't shift to neutral, or if he tried to and something in the electronics didn't allow him to do that.  Transmissions are electronic these days just like the throttle controls, so it isn't just a case of jamming a lever and linkage into neutral or park.  Supposedly the trooper knew how to shut the engine down with the pushbutton system and communicated that to the driver.  Once the driver got the car slowed down, that's when the trooper used his car to bring the Prius to a complete stop.  I assume by that point the Prius brakes were totally gone.


Jerry

[spydglide]

  Supposedly the trooper knew how to shut the engine down with the pushbutton system and communicated that to the driver. 

Jerry

I'd sure like to know how to do that.  spyder

[sadunbar]

I'd sure like to know how to do that.  spyder

I have no idea if it is factual or not, but I read a Toyota press release that says to push and hold the button for 5 seconds....

[DavidB]

Its a little funny how three systems on the car failed and began working again when the police showed up.

[grc]

I have no idea if it is factual or not, but I read a Toyota press release that says to push and hold the button for 5 seconds....

Exactly.  The amount of time involved varies with who is telling it, but the gist of it is that you have to press and hold the buttom, not just press and release.  


Jerry


I think if I owned one of these things, I'd be adding a "kill switch" with a big red button to the center console.  Maybe if someone designed and started selling something like this, it would shame the manufacturer into spending the few bucks to incorporate the Smart Brake feature found on several other brands.

[Wanna ride]

http://toyotasimulator.com/


Sorry... I had too.

[tazmun]

Its a little funny how three systems on the car failed and began working again when the police showed up.

YAH THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DavidB]

A California man called 911 for help on Monday and said his blue 2008 Toyota Prius sped up to more than 90 miles per hour on Interstate 8 near San Diego before a California Highway Patrolman helped him slow the car and bring it to a stop.

On I 8 ?
Must have been in the slow lane

[grc]

Its a little funny how three systems on the car failed and began working again when the police showed up.

What three systems would that be?  Only thing that failed, as best I can tell from the reports so far, was the accelerator.  The brakes didn't fail, they just burned themselves up while the driver "stood on the pedal" with the engine running wide open and the car at 90 mph.  The switch didn't fail, the driver just didn't try to turn the engine off, or didn't understand how to turn the engine off.  That seems to be a common problem among driver's of these "keyless" cars, btw.  It's not just Harley rider's who don't read the manuals.

The trooper said that when he pulled up alongside the car, he could smell the fried brakes on the Toyota but it wasn't slowing down.  So unless this driver was standing on both pedals to fake an incident, I tend to believe there was something going on there.  I guess we'll eventually hear what the post-incident inspection reveals, unless the owner wasn't smart enough to have it taken to an independent shop versus the Toyota dealer.  If it had been me, Toyota would never touch that car without my lawyer and a team of independent experts on hand.


Jerry

Oh, btw, there was another report on the news last night about a Toyota going out of control and crashing while backing out of a parking space.  That one I doubt is related to the other issues, even if the driver and the media want to make it seem that way.  That failure was much more likely related to the same thing we've been seeing for decades, wrong pedal applied.  Happens every day, usually some little ol' man or lady running through a storefront when their car goes out of control in the lot.  Can't blame Toyota or the other auto companies for those.

[reo]

  Can't blame Toyota or the other auto companies for those.

I saw the Toyota on the news that crashed while backing up and thought the same thing Jerry.

What I see with my customers is when a recall is induced whether it be Caterpillar, Cummins, Eaton or Peterbilt these people get worried and I believe it gets in their mind and they sometimes don’t think rationally. We had a steering box recall some time ago that made me able to look at this in a different light than some maybe, I remember talking to these drivers and they didn’t want to drive their trucks, these are professional drivers with a 2k a month payment.

Didn’t Audi have throttlle pedal sticking problem years ago?

[grc]

I saw the Toyota on the news that crashed while backing up and thought the same thing Jerry.

What I see with my customers is when a recall is induced whether it be Caterpillar, Cummins, Eaton or Peterbilt these people get worried and I believe it gets in their mind and they sometimes don’t think rationally. We had a steering box recall some time ago that made me able to look at this in a different light than some maybe, I remember talking to these drivers and they didn’t want to drive their trucks, these are professional drivers with a 2k a month payment.

Didn’t Audi have throttlle pedal sticking problem years ago?

The Audi "sudden acceleration" fiasco occurred back in the 1980's, and to the best of my knowledge there has never been a real finding of a defect.  The pedal spacing and placement were eventually blamed for people applying the accelerator when they thought they were applying the brake, and some changes were made both in horizontal spacing and vertical spacing.  Those changes made the heel and toe technique that was popular with racing and sports car types impossible, but I don't know that they had much affect on "sudden acceleration".  To this day, cars of various brands get driven into buildings by folks who hit the accelerator instead of the brake, and when the car doesn't slow down they just press harder on the accelerator.  Natural reaction is to blame the car, rather than the driver admit to a mistake.  I think the saddest instance of this I ever heard of was a woman who crushed her son to death against the back wall of her garage.  That car was investigated and gone over with a fine tooth comb, and no evidence of anything other than driver error was found.


Jerry

[J-Carr]

Oh, btw, there was another report on the news last night about a Toyota going out of control and crashing while backing out of a parking space.  That one I doubt is related to the other issues, even if the driver and the media want to make it seem that way.  That failure was much more likely related to the same thing we've been seeing for decades, wrong pedal applied.  Happens every day, usually some little ol' man or lady running through a storefront when their car goes out of control in the lot.  Can't blame Toyota or the other auto companies for those.

I was an update on that story this morning.  The guy had taped instructions on his dash on how to shut the car down in case of an emergency, and yet miracle of miracles his car accelerated in the one spot where he wouldn't be likely to het hurt and where there wouldn't be time to stop the car.

To me, it really looks like this guy is just trying to set up for a lawsuit to make some money off of Toyota.

Ride Safe,
J-Carr

[sadunbar]

I was an update on that story this morning.  The guy had taped instructions on his dash on how to shut the car down in case of an emergency, and yet miracle of miracles his car accelerated in the one spot where he wouldn't be likely to het hurt and where there wouldn't be time to stop the car.

To me, it really looks like this guy is just trying to set up for a lawsuit to make some money off of Toyota.

Ride Safe,
J-Carr

I'm sure there will be opportunists who will try to profit from this issue....which will only make it harder on those who have legitimate problems.  Seems like no matter what or where - some level of scum will rise to the occasion to try and take advantage and get something for nothing.