Highway Patrol officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop
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From: Jeff Strickland on 9 Mar 2010 11:48 "Conscience" <nobama@g�v.com> wrote in message news:hn5qpm$5k6$1(a)news.albasani.net... > On 2010-03-09 07:36:51 -0800, TheTibetanMonkey > <comandante.banana(a)yahoo.com> said: > >> Another of these little MOWING MACHINES runs out of control. My take >> on the issue is that Toyota sends the engineers with the highest IQ to >> work at Lexus, while those with very low IQ are assigned to Toyota. > > It's looking like an even lower IQ is required to purchase a Prius. > > It "jumps" to 94 mph before this idiot figures out how to stop it, instead > wasting his time on the phone. > > Jumps, indeed. Incredible. > It didn't jump to 94, it jumped and kept going. Big difference. He's describing a downshift event -- the jump. This in itself would not be a problem, but when one lifts his foot off the gas, the downshift event should come to an end and the car's speed should level off or begin to slow -- depending on how far one lifts his foot. The cop reports that he could smell the brakes and he observed the brake lights going on as the driver tried to stop the car.
From: Ray O on 9 Mar 2010 12:40 "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:hn5u5l$vkh$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > > "Conscience" <nobama@g�v.com> wrote in message > news:hn5qpm$5k6$1(a)news.albasani.net... >> On 2010-03-09 07:36:51 -0800, TheTibetanMonkey >> <comandante.banana(a)yahoo.com> said: >> >>> Another of these little MOWING MACHINES runs out of control. My take >>> on the issue is that Toyota sends the engineers with the highest IQ to >>> work at Lexus, while those with very low IQ are assigned to Toyota. >> >> It's looking like an even lower IQ is required to purchase a Prius. >> >> It "jumps" to 94 mph before this idiot figures out how to stop it, >> instead wasting his time on the phone. >> >> Jumps, indeed. Incredible. >> > > It didn't jump to 94, it jumped and kept going. Big difference. > > He's describing a downshift event -- the jump. This in itself would not be > a problem, but when one lifts his foot off the gas, the downshift event > should come to an end and the car's speed should level off or begin to > slow -- depending on how far one lifts his foot. > > The cop reports that he could smell the brakes and he observed the brake > lights going on as the driver tried to stop the car. > The Prius has a continuously variable transmission so he should not be experiencing a downshift event. -- Ray O (correct punctuation to reply)
From: C. E. White on 9 Mar 2010 12:57 "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:hn5u5l$vkh$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > It didn't jump to 94, it jumped and kept going. Big difference. > > He's describing a downshift event -- the jump. This in itself would > not be a problem, but when one lifts his foot off the gas, the > downshift event should come to an end and the car's speed should > level off or begin to slow -- depending on how far one lifts his > foot. > > The cop reports that he could smell the brakes and he observed the > brake lights going on as the driver tried to stop the car. I've only been in a Prius once (the SO's Mother has one). But as I recall, it doesn't act like a conventional car when you "kick it down" to pass someone. It uses the electric motor to supply extra oomph via the CVT / electric motor / IC engine package. You don't get the sort of bang you might get when an automatic drops to a lower gear. At least for the one I was in, "kicking it into passing gear" was pretty non-exciting. Plus, the Prius has a completely different sort of engine control system (and I am sure software) than conventional Toyotas, so no matter what this is a different concern than for the other Toyotas. The media doesn't seem to differentiate between the two. A few things bothered me about what was reported (or not reported) - The guy claims he reached down and tried to pull the pedal up after it "stayed down" after he pressed it. The Prius, like many other cars, doesn't have a physical connection to the drive train. It is just a pedal moving a rheostat. I find it difficult to believe that the pedal was so tightly jammed in the down position that he could not pull it back up. However, if this is truly the case, then it seems to me the cause should be obvious - a simple mechanical failure. Sometimes things break. In the past there were plenty of cases where mechanical throttle linkages jammed. If this is just a broken pedal assembly, it is not a huge cause for alarm. - The guy said he had a recall notice. I assume this was for the brake system software fix. I believe this would be unrelated to any sort of stuck accelerator pedal or unintended acceleration. The author of the article should have made that clear. Prius's were not recalled for sudden acceleration problems (they were recalled for lack of sudden deceleration) - Why did the guy not press the stop/start button for 3 seconds? He had time to call for help. Surely he would have tried the button first. No one seems to have asked him this question. The article says he was able to turn the car off after the police crusier hlped him slow it to less than 50 mph. Why couldn't he turn it off sooner? Why doesn't moving the gear selector into neutral stop the car? - The article said this was a hilly section of road. Is it possible, this was really a braking problem and not an acceleration problem? - Was the cruise control engaged at any time? Ed
From: JoeSpareBedroom on 9 Mar 2010 13:08 "C. E. White" <cewhite3(a)mindspring.com> wrote in message news:hn6265$rmi$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > - Why did the guy not press the stop/start button for 3 seconds? 1) Panic. This points to the need to test drivers in situations which almost guarantee failure, especially after a certain age. Testing someone's signaling and parallel parking ability obviously proves nothing about how they'll handle terror. 2) At least 90% of drivers are not qualified to operate a spoon, much less a motor vehicle. Our testing procedures do nothing to filter out these people.
From: Mike Hunter on 9 Mar 2010 14:15
Incredible indeed. That must be a lie but out by the unions. Prius can not do 94 MPH unless it is going down a mountain. "Conscience" <nobama@g�v.com> wrote in message news:hn5qpm$5k6$1(a)news.albasani.net... > On 2010-03-09 07:36:51 -0800, TheTibetanMonkey > <comandante.banana(a)yahoo.com> said: > >> Another of these little MOWING MACHINES runs out of control. My take >> on the issue is that Toyota sends the engineers with the highest IQ to >> work at Lexus, while those with very low IQ are assigned to Toyota. > > It's looking like an even lower IQ is required to purchase a Prius. > > It "jumps" to 94 mph before this idiot figures out how to stop it, instead > wasting his time on the phone. > > Jumps, indeed. Incredible. > |