burlapp car

Run away Prius?

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Is this just another dim witted driver, or a real Prius problem?

The cops had to tell him to use the emergency brake, he just could figure it out on his own.

What do you think?

Conversation 31 comments

  2. Now that the recalls have received so much publicity, there will be many incidents like this coming out of the woodwork, with differing degrees of validity.

  6. AutoTribute: I totally agree with you. Wonder who is behind all this?
    I just don't buy this crap I read in the news anymore. My next car will be a Toyota – just out of symphaty …

  7. Putting on handbrake is pretty dangerous thing to do. One slight curve while using handbrake will spin the car. Why not simply put it in neutral…

  8. I must say that I don't know if I would ever try to use the emergency brake when in a car going 90mph. Good thing he was on a straight road or this could have ended very badly. If the brakes failed from overheating, an investigation of the car should show this.

  9. Finally! Someone suggests the obvious action in a case like this to shift into neutral. I was just talking to my wife about this very thing this morning. With all of the media attention this is getting, why don't we hear this being suggested?

  11. Oh…by the way…my friend is in the market for a new car in a week…he said he will take a Toyota 100%.

  14. whether this particular incident is the car's or drivers fault,
    imho it's clear that TM vehicles cannot be trusted to perform as desired
    due to TM's years & years of
    – shoddy enginerring
    – insufficient test methods
    – immoral mgmt practices

    Unfortunately, the conflict-of-interest Congresional committee seems incapable of doing the rational thing until someone famous enough is injured or killed by one of these Roling Mistakes… …ie GET THEM OFF OUR ROADS
    until someone figures out IF they can be made safe.

  15. Are Priuse (Prii?) incapable of being thrown in neutral while accelerating?

    Also, do we need further proof that switching every car from turnkey to push-button ignition is a bad idea, no matter how cute or cool it looks?

    Thirdly allowing anonymous comments may bring more comment volume, but the stuff they say has "who in the hell left the gate open?" all over it.

  17. Isn´t that funny. That guy went 94 mph on a highway and did NOT get a ticket for speeding? I am afraid there was no bad ghost in the Prius – now it is up to you to guess where that bad greedy ghost is at work. I do not care much for Toyota cars but this is getting ridiculous. Why not having a hearing in congress about the competence of some drivers? This one had to call 911 to find out where the emergency brake was. Scary – this could be the driver in the fast lane just passing you. Think about it.

  19. According to the local news channels here in San Diego, the driver first accelerated to pass a slower car. Then the car kept on accelerating even after taking his foot of the gas pedal. He tried to reach down to pull the gas pedal up to no avail. He then tried to shift into neutral but the transmission would not. Now reaching speeds of up to 90mph & basically applying a lot of pressure to the brake pedal, again to no avail. He did not want to turn off the engine because that would mean he would lose his power steering – not a good situation to be in since that area of Interstate 8 is up in the mountains with lots of winding roads. BTW, the Prius does not have a hand brake, the emergency/parking brake is located in the footwell. And when the CHP officer caught up with him, the CHP officer instructed him to apply pressure to the emergency/parking brake too, which helped to slow down his car to about 50mph and with the CHP car directly in front of him, he felt safe to turn off the engine. So, whether it is a stuck accelerator or a software problem, Toyota better come up with a solution to all this problems before someone else gets hurt seriously again or worst.

  20. I love the way people make it seem as if turning the car off or putting the car in neutral while going 90+ mph is something that should come naturally. As if they do it on a consistent basis. Really, who here has gone 90 mph while using the brake and gas pedal at the same time while dodgeing traffic? The cop could smell and see brake material all over the inside of the wheel well. Most who say "just put it in neutral" will be the first to panic and do exactly what this guy did. Bunch of internet stuntmen. You can't expect everyone to act calmly in such an abnormal situation, especially from a 61 yr old real estate agent.
    Is he faking? I don't know but I'm not going to keep giving Toyota the benefit of the doubt when people have died already.

  21. My 1995 Bronco gas pedal jammed a couple of years ago on the highway at similar speeds and i managed to stop by turning the vehicle off and slowing to a stop.
    It was quite easy even being the heavy vehicle as it is. Its not like a Boeing 747 landing on a runway.
    So a Prius should stop in no time.

  22. The unintended acceleration problem has been around for a long time for every major auto manufacturer.
    There have been complaints lodged against Ford,Chrysler,GM,Honda and Nissan for the same problem.

  23. The guy was told repeatedly by the 911 operator and the cops driving along side to put it in neutral. He refused!!!!! Said he thought car would flip!???? Safe car or no, this guy is an idiot.

  24. I think Toyota fanboys are in a D E E P sense of Denial. Even the Edsel looks like a sucess next to Toyota. Enough of the smoke & mirrors, already!!! Quit blaming you're customers, and fix the programming, Toyota. Why in the world would anyone buy a Toyota when Toyota/lexus has had more problems in the last 6 months (and life-threatening problems, at that) than GM, Mercedes, Chrysler, BMW, Ford, VW/Audi/Porsche, Jag, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai/Kia C O M B I N E D IN THE LAST 60 YEARS!!! Wake up or become the next victom Toyota Drones!

  25. Here in Australia Toyota dominates the vehicle market. Were still waiting for any of these so called problems that the US are whining about. Sounds like media overhype if you ask me.

  26. Is this driver an UAW union member? Or just a moron looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Whatever the case, this moron is not qualified to have a driver's license!!

  28. i hope toyota will countersue these fraudsters. it is the only way they can put a stop to it because it is really hurting their rep.

  29. It's a HUGE vast globel Right-Wing conspiracy that's sabotaging thousands of Toyota & Lexus cars… for over 10 years now. That's OBVIOUSLY the ONLY possible explaination for all these Toyota's, all with similar (and in many cases identical) electronics (including programing) failing in the same way. It can't possibly be a programming flaw that Toyota Legal has been shoving under the carpet to save $$$$. That's too simple. It's much more believeable that 1000's of people in dozens of countries speaking all different languages have meticulously coordinated a vast conspiracy to arbitrarily murder randomly choosen Toyota customers (& people who ride with them; & share the road with them); via the "unintended acceleration method". Yea, that makes all kinds of sense!

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