Toyota "Mystified" By This Guy

NY Times article today cites statistics that UA is reported overwhelmingly by senior citizens, by a 6 to 1 margin. And short people are more likely to report it. That definitely leads to the conclusion that driver error is the main factor here. Otherwise, how do you explain that a general crossection of drivers do not experience this?

All the lurid personal details now dribbling out about him aside, note that this is not the first time someone has claimed a Prius has gone miles at speed without responding to brakes. And I know at least one wasn't older, though don't know exactly how tall she was. Regardless, these people were Prius evangelists until it happened.

The CHP also claims he seemed to be braking and his brake lights were on, which makes it sounds even more like it's a software problem than any sensor or mechanical problem. But if he indeed was just riding his brakes so they'd smell as he held down the other pedal with his foot, it should be easy enough for federal investigators to tell by how burned they are how hard he was REALLY braking, so the truth will come out soon enough.

And jederino, older drivers would be the ones with the least strength to overcome a car that had suddenly gone WOT. Many probably DO think they've got the wrong pedal and take their foot off to make sure, making the unfortunate mistake of depleting any vacuum reserve for their power brakes they had left.

"Many probably DO think they've got the wrong pedal and take their foot off to make sure"

To be fair though they are the most common ones to drive through the front of stores when they are trying to park. I remember a local news story from several years back where the driver blamed the problem on "new shoes"

If (and that is a big If) it is a problem with the cars, good luck getting it to repeat under testing. Anyone that has ever had an intermittent problem with a car knows it is next to impossible to get it to repeat for the dealer :) I had a much less complex car with unintended deceleration ;) that the dealer couldn't get it to do even with hours of testing.

Something isn't complete in this story and it smells fishy...I'll believe it when they can replicate it...

"I'll believe it when they can replicate it"

Well, Dr. David Gilbert supposedly did, but he turned out to be a hack who was desperately seeking his fifteen minutes of fame.

With Toyota's standing and its current media environment, it is hard to tell whether people are genuinely having these issues or seeking frivolous litigation money;its like the Tiger Woods soap opera, but way past its prime and getting a little old.

As much as I don't like that the automotive media wants to defend their golden boy and go back to pretending like Toyotas never have any problems ever, I also want to know why this guy is poster boy for Toyota problems. There have been tons of other incidents, including some injury accidents (look at that dedication! Those frauds out to destroy Toyota sacrificed body and health to produce a lie!). Why is this one so big?

Another thing I don't get is why the presence of a brake override provision is given as proof that this is fraud. Yes in a normally functioning Prius applying the brakes will kill the throttle, but the whole premise here is that the Prius was not functioning normally.

Listen to the 911 call. The guy is full of it. He wouldn't put it in neutral but he claimed he tried to manually pull up on the accelerator. Ever been in a Prius? The shifter is RIGHT next to the steering wheel. He had time to reach down under his foot but he couldn't use his right hand to push the shifter to neutral.

Baloney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_03lbr-Jw&feature=related

I'm hearing a rumor that Runaway Prius Boy is three payments behind on his "defective" car AND his house is in foreclosure.
No incentive to attempt a shakedown of Toyota here...

"We did some public records searches (thanks to the help of Gawker's John Cook) and found Sikes and his wife Patty found themselves, like many in the California real estate business, on the bursting side of the real estate bubble last year. The two declared bankruptcy in June of 2008 and have a combined liability of over $700,000 dollars in debt.

Among the list of creditors holding secured claims is none other than Toyota Financial Services for a lease on a 2008 Toyota Prius with 7,200 miles on the odometer. Total value of the lease at the time of bankruptcy was $20,494."

http://jalopnik.com/5491101/did-bankrupt-runaway-prius-driver-fake-unintended-acceleration

Just listened to the full 911 call.

This guy was either:
A) suffering from a serious medical issue
B) a complete idiot
C) Faking it

I'm going to go with C.

Think... Just pointing out the obvious. If the accelerator pedal cut-off when braking worked, this wouldn't have been able to happen. The CHP saw the brake light on the entire time, which would have made the car decelerate know matter what he did with the gas pedal. It's not a linkage gas pedal, it's a wired one. He could have been on the gas the entire time & as long as the brakes are activated at all (remember, brake lights were on) the car is just going to idle, assuming it's working as Toyota designed it. It wouldn't be possible to fake it according to Toyota. This guy may be an idiot (put it in neutral), but just looking at the facts that don't depend on him, this couldn't happen IF the car was working properly. The same switch that activates the brake lamp should kill the electronic throttle input. Pretty simple, brake lights on, car decelerates no matter what he does as car idles. Brake lights were on, car didn't decelerate.

OK, I found the NYT "article" and it's an editorial. The guy is a psychology professor. He's studied all of 150 cases, mostly for Audi. In none of the cases did the incident go on for miles like with Smith, Saylor, Sikes, and some of the other cases ABC has found. The older drivers? That was a GM study. GM well trails the pack in reports of UA. Their rate is ridiculously low for their size. Think maybe the General has been doing at least this thing right? And one other thing: a great many of the cases he saw were carwash workers, parking lot attendants, and rental car drivers. Now, Saylor was in a loaner, but he also went on for miles and was a trained driver. In most of the rest of the cases, the drivers were owners with many miles of experience. Sorry, I don't find this guy any more credible than Sikes. Yeah, the Sikes' case is on the shall we say fuzzy side, but it doesn't automatically disprove the others and again, the Feds should easily have enough evidence to prove if he gamed the override or if the override failed.

Plus, let me point out that since Sikes we've had another Prius, a Camry, and two RAV4's wrecking, though all were relatively short duration cases. If anyone is seeing reports locally (because they might not get national attention) of drivers in other mfg's cars wrecking like this, please post them; that would be very helpful in sorting this out.

blueguydotcom / lmbvette,

Where do I find the 911 call?

brn, I got it on youtube. It's pretty funny how he just ignores 911 questions that he knows will end his BS. Everything about this is nonsense...

The 911 call, the area he chose to driver (8 east at 1-2 pm it's an empty freeway with a 70 mph limit - so people doing 80), his background/financial situation.

I was hoping for a complete recording from the beginning to the end. This is the best I could find.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOMcmPNbpZY&NR=1

I'm really not sure we can make any kind of determination from it.

As I've said before, I truly believe there are going to be plenty of folk that are looking to get on television. James may be one of them. I also believe that there people having legitimate problems with their cars. James may be one of them.

The New York one doesn't make any sense to me. I'm more skeptical of that one.

We won't know until federal investigators draw their own conclusions. Let's wait for that before passing judgement.

estreka, there is no time! Toyota must be defended! No Toyota has ever had any unintentional acceleration because no Toyota has ever had any problem - ever. If we don't rise up to slam down these malicious and false lies about our beloved golden boy, why, people might actually consider something from another brand - worst of all, a domestic brand. And we must not admit things have changed. Nope, business as usual around here. Toyota = good. Domestics = bad.

stovt, some of us would side with the manu on this regardless of the brand. People, in general, do not accept responsibility for themselves. They like to blame someone else for their mistakes and expect everyone else to watch out for them. Then you've got the other portion who want to make a buck off something (like the subject of this story). The hysterical sheep help fund the thieving wolves...

Estreka, do a search. I heard all 23 minutes last night. The guy was so full of it he smells worse than El Centro in the summer.

This guy is a FAKE! Period. Just like the story out of New York a couple of weeks ago about the guy that just had the recall mods done to his Camry and it alledgedly took off on it's own. If you read that guys full statement, you knew he had simply hit a slippery surface while braking and the ABS kicked in...doing it's job. The news didn't exactly cover that part very well! I guess, in the end, there is no getting past stupidy and the utter lack of accountability and responsibility ever present in the US anymore.

brn says:

07:55 AM, 03/12/10

I was hoping for a complete recording from the beginning to the end. This is the best I could find.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOMcmPNbpZY&NR=1

I'm really not sure we can make any kind of determination from it.

As I've said before, I truly believe there are going to be plenty of folk that are looking to get on television. James may be one of them. I also believe that there people having legitimate problems with their cars. James may be one of them.

The New York one doesn't make any sense to me. I'm more skeptical of that one.
----------------
it's obvious that foxnews has edited that 911 conversation to their liking. that guy was on the phone with the 911 operater way much longer than what foxnews showed. on the side note, i used to love watching martha m, however, seeing how stupidly she was acting over this 911 tape, i'd say that's the disappointment. she used to appear quite intelligent when she was with cnbc... oh well.

alman: "it's obvious that foxnews has edited that 911 conversation to their liking"

Fine. Point me to another version. I want to hear the whole thing, but I keep getting told to "do a search". My Google skills must be poor, because I can't find a full version. Anyone?

"some of us would side with the manu on this regardless of the brand. People, in general, do not accept responsibility for themselves. They like to blame someone else for their mistakes and expect everyone else to watch out for them. Then you've got the other portion who want to make a buck off something (like the subject of this story). The hysterical sheep help fund the thieving wolves..."

Exactly.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589090,00.html

cz75, all that story does is cast doubt. There's never been a shortage of doubt.

this idiot said he didn't want to sue toyota but he wanted toyota to just give him another car... however, he forgot to mention in the news that he has not been making payments on his toyota for months and he owes toyota money.

Sure a lot more reason to doubt his story after reading his financial issues and prior ethics problems.

More on the poor, frightened, and despondent "victim":
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento.html

@road, the article sums up what many of us have been saying already.

"@road, the article sums up what many of us have been saying already."

What's really sad is that almost every mainstream media reporter hasn't got the slightest idea how an automobile works. They accept ridiculous crap-like this idiot's story-at face value.

"Plus, let me point out that since Sikes we've had another Prius, a Camry, and two RAV4's wrecking, "

I would not be surprised if there had been 5000 to 10,000 accidents of one sort or another in the US since Sikes. They happen everywhere and everyday with every make. The difference is now the media takes great effort to locate everyone that may involve a Toyota.

Both my Dad and my father in law were RCMP officers and they will tell it is very common for people to blame the car (if they can't blame another driver).

Yep, it's always someone else's fault. Rarely does anyone stand up and just say, "My mistake. Sorry...how can I fix this?"