Runaway Prius: Toyota Says James Sikes' Story Is Inconsistent

by Yuliya Talmazan | March 15, 2010 at 02:46 pm

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The Mysterious Story of 'Runaway Prius'

The 'runaway Prius' incident that caused Toyota managers additional negative publicity could be a hoax. Today, Toyota released a statement questioning the evidence given by 'runaway Prius' driver James Sikes who claims he has lost control of his Toyota Prius while driving on San Diego highway on March 8.

After calling 911, Sikes had to be helped by police officers who instructed him to press his brakes to the floor and apply emergency brake while going uphill, which helped slow down his Prius. Sikes than turned off ignition to bring the car to a halt. Sikes said he would never drive his Prius again after the incident.

But, Toyota says its investigators found Sikes's account of the events inconsistent with the findings of the preliminary analysis. Toyota's investigators examined the car and found that the accelerator pedal was functioning normally with no mechanical binding or friction. However, the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating. Earlier this January Toyota recalled eights of its models over a faulty accelerator pedal. However, Prius was not one of the models recalled.

One of the most surprising Toyota findings was evidence of numerous, rapidly repeated on-and-off applications of both the accelerator and brake pedals. Sikes insisted he was pressing hard on the brakes to stop the car, so repeated application of the gas pedal does not seem to make sense, says Toyota.

Toyota's engineers also purposely overheated the brakes, but could safely stop the vehicle nonetheless.

Toyota's final verdict was that, "Toyota engineers believe that it would be extremely difficult for the Prius to be driven at a continuous high speed with more than light brake-pedal pressure, and that the assertion that the vehicle could not be stopped with the brakes is fundamentally inconsistent with basic vehicle design and the investigation observations."

Essentially, Toyota has publicly questioned the account of the events provided by Sikes. However, company's spokesperson Mike Michels said Toyota does not accuse the driver of lying.