Toyota says no evidence 'runaway' Prius happened
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From: Ed White on 15 Mar 2010 18:12 http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100315/OEM/100319941/1143 Here is the most interesting paragraph: "Toyota said an examination of Sikes' Prius showed that the car was being driven with the brakes lightly and repeatedly applied -- some 250 times over a 30-mile stretch of highway." So now we know why the brakes were worn and smoking....deliberate abuse. Toyota said it takes "moderate" pressure to activate the throttle shutdown. Ed
From: dr_jeff on 15 Mar 2010 19:04 Ed White wrote: > http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100315/OEM/100319941/1143 > > Here is the most interesting paragraph: > > "Toyota said an examination of Sikes' Prius showed that the car was > being driven with the brakes lightly and repeatedly applied -- some > 250 times over a 30-mile stretch of highway." > > So now we know why the brakes were worn and smoking....deliberate > abuse. Toyota said it takes "moderate" pressure to activate the > throttle shutdown. > > Ed Could they have been smoking because the brakes were nearly continuously applied? The article said that the brakes were applied 250 times in 30 mi. At 90 mph, it takes 20 minutes to go 30 miles. So, they were applied 250 times in 20 minutes or more than 10 times a minutes. That's odd. If I were in a runaway car, I would think that I would be pushing the brakes just as hard as I could once, and holding it for a long time, rather than pumping the pedal 10 times a minute. Interestingly, according to the Toyota guy, the 9-1-1 dispatcher told the Sykes to hold the bottom for 3 second to shut off the engine. And the button worked just fine in Toyota's tests. And so did the neutral gear selector. The back brakes showed little wear. The plot thickens. What are the odds that there were two different failures occurred, when neither failure is well known in Prii with no floor mat: One preventing the car from going into neutral and one causing the accelerator pedal to get stuck yet magically get unstuck when the car stopped (the police had no problems and Sykes said that pedal was stuck down)? I am highly suspicious of Sykes's account. However, I will wait until I pass judgment for the report of the NHTSA. If, and only if, he is guilty of trying to pull a fast one, I hope the penalty of risking the lives of people on the highway and a CHP officer involves a home away from home. Jeff
From: J Antero on 15 Mar 2010 20:39 "Ed White" <ce.white3(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:061d944b-4e9f-457d-a6f1-85810f707511(a)g10g2000yqh.googlegroups.com... > http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100315/OEM/100319941/1143 > > Here is the most interesting paragraph: > > "Toyota said an examination of Sikes' Prius showed that the car was > being driven with the brakes lightly and repeatedly applied -- some > 250 times over a 30-mile stretch of highway." > > So now we know why the brakes were worn and smoking....deliberate > abuse. Toyota said it takes "moderate" pressure to activate the > throttle shutdown. > > Ed > When this "runaway" accelertor problem happens, can't the driver yank the gear shift to neutral, and/or turn the ignition off?
From: dr_jeff on 15 Mar 2010 20:50 J Antero wrote: > "Ed White" <ce.white3(a)gmail.com> wrote in message > news:061d944b-4e9f-457d-a6f1-85810f707511(a)g10g2000yqh.googlegroups.com... >> http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100315/OEM/100319941/1143 >> >> Here is the most interesting paragraph: >> >> "Toyota said an examination of Sikes' Prius showed that the car was >> being driven with the brakes lightly and repeatedly applied -- some >> 250 times over a 30-mile stretch of highway." >> >> So now we know why the brakes were worn and smoking....deliberate >> abuse. Toyota said it takes "moderate" pressure to activate the >> throttle shutdown. >> >> Ed >> > > When this "runaway" accelertor problem happens, can't the driver yank the > gear shift to neutral, and/or turn the ignition off? Yes. In fact, Mr. Sykes was told to do both of those things. He declined to do the ignition switch. He said he tried to put the car in neutral, but it didn't work. He did, however, press the brakes at least 250 times in the last 30 miles.
From: J Antero on 15 Mar 2010 21:13
"dbu''" <nospam(a)nobama.com.invalid> wrote in message news:4LednSrST467RAPWnZ2dnUVZ_h6dnZ2d(a)giganews.com... > In article <oIidnY2C-e_rTgPWnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d(a)earthlink.com>, > "J Antero" <abc(a)xyz.com> wrote: > >> "Ed White" <ce.white3(a)gmail.com> wrote in message >> news:061d944b-4e9f-457d-a6f1-85810f707511(a)g10g2000yqh.googlegroups.com... >> > http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100315/OEM/100319941/11 >> > 43 >> > >> > Here is the most interesting paragraph: >> > >> > "Toyota said an examination of Sikes' Prius showed that the car was >> > being driven with the brakes lightly and repeatedly applied -- some >> > 250 times over a 30-mile stretch of highway." >> > >> > So now we know why the brakes were worn and smoking....deliberate >> > abuse. Toyota said it takes "moderate" pressure to activate the >> > throttle shutdown. >> > >> > Ed >> > >> >> When this "runaway" accelertor problem happens, can't the driver yank the >> gear shift to neutral, and/or turn the ignition off? > > The Prius is unlike any conventional car. I don't believe it's quite > that simple. There is no conventional key, there might even be a delay > in time for ignition off due to the electronics involved. The shifting > system is not a mechanical linkage I don't beleive. It is an electronic > sensor such as that involving the throttle pedal. That said, it should > have a fail safe system of shutting down and coming to a safe stop, OFF > the freeway. Toyota innovations are getting ahead of operator > understanding of these vehicles. What about conventional vehicles? When this "runaway" accelertor problem happens, can't the driver yank the gear shift to neutral, and/or turn the ignition off? > -- > > |