Runaway Prius Needed Help to Stop: CHP



http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Runaway-Prius-Needs-Help-to-StopCHP-86965487.html

Little things thread for my RX8

Gas pedal that works as it should
Brakes that also work correctly.

Do they NOT know how to shift to neutral?!??!
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Someone ban the OP.

I fail to understand why the drivers of these so-called runaway vehicles don't simply turn off the ignition. It's even more amazing when you consider that some of these folks dig out their cellphone and dial their wife or 911 while driving 80 or 90 MPH, or more. The first order of business is to drive the vehicle, which includes shutting the thing off, not talking on the #@*%#%#! cellphone!

Some months ago, I asked my wife what she would do if our car started accelerating on its own. With out hesitation she replied, "I'd turn off the ignition."

-1.3L

I don't doubt this problem afflicts a small number of Priuses. That much seems clear. But gosh, I'm startin' to wonder if a bunch of Prius or Camry owners might be doing this on purpose, so they can sue Toyota and settle for a big pile of cash.

Nah… I'm sure it's my imagination.

A cynical New Yorker.
Now there's a thing.

(not saying that's bad)

^ LOL. I guess what worries me is, if some of them are, indeed, defective (and I'm pretty sure some of them are), what's to stop dishonest owners from faking the problem, running the car into a fence or the side of a building, (admittedly a risky thing to do anyway), and then claiming the car sped up by itself?

Actually, would make an interesting, amusing screenplay with some colorful characters (think it through and you can guess what ironically happens to the hero who successfully pulls off the scam), but the more I think about it, highly unlikely in real life.

I fail to understand why the drivers of these so-called runaway vehicles don't simply turn off the ignition. It's even more amazing when you consider that some of these folks dig out their cellphone and dial their wife or 911 while driving 80 or 90 MPH, or more. The first order of business is to drive the vehicle, which includes shutting the thing off, not talking on the #@*%#%#! cellphone!

Some months ago, I asked my wife what she would do if our car started accelerating on its own. With out hesitation she replied, "I'd turn off the ignition."

-1.3L

The guy claimed he attempted to do this (90mph blue one). The Prius had some push button ignition or something that would not kill the ignition for whatever reason. I'm not familiar w/ Prius's system so who knows but I'm sure if he was really in a do or die situation as claimed, he would have tried everything over that length of time.

Obviously it's easy to think calmly about these things when it's not your vehicle running away, but personally I can't imagine being unable to stop it. From what I've read, it seems like no owner has got beyond "step 1 - apply brakes". Why not... change into neutral, lift the accelerator pedal yourself, by hooking your foot under it, or kill the ignition? (If you have a push button start, toss your keys out of the window. You know what they say: you can't take them with you...)

The guy claimed he attempted to do this (90mph blue one). The Prius had some push button ignition or something that would not kill the ignition for whatever reason. I'm not familiar w/ Prius's system so who knows but I'm sure if he was really in a do or die situation as claimed, he would have tried everything over that length of time.

You might be correct. I was just chatting with a co-worker and he says that you must hold the ignition (or ON) button down for 3 seconds to shut down the engine. Also, he claims that there are "safety" overrides that prevent the driver from shutting off the engine while the vehicle is moving, or from selecting an incorrect gear for the speed (not sure this applies to the Prius). Even so, the 3 second thing seems silly, even dangerous. Should be the other way around - 3 seconds to start the engine, not stop engine. Also, are the brakes so darned weak that they cannot overpower the engine? I mean, we're not talking about a 7-liter 400 HP engine with 400+ ft/lbs. of torque.

-1.3L

How to stop a car safely, and how NOT to...
http://www.pr-inside.com/runaway-prius-media-can-help-r1766769.htm

Anyone with a Toyota who gets into an accident now will claim it was the gas pedal. A women got the gas pedal fixed, got into an accident, and is now claiming it was the gas pedal sticking that caused the accident. She was 70 yrs old lol.

You might be correct. I was just chatting with a co-worker and he says that you must hold the ignition (or ON) button down for 3 seconds to shut down the engine. Also, he claims that there are "safety" overrides that prevent the driver from shutting off the engine while the vehicle is moving, or from selecting an incorrect gear for the speed (not sure this applies to the Prius). Even so, the 3 second thing seems silly, even dangerous. Should be the other way around - 3 seconds to start the engine, not stop engine. Also, are the brakes so darned weak that they cannot overpower the engine? I mean, we're not talking about a 7-liter 400 HP engine with 400+ ft/lbs. of torque.

-1.3L

Agreed.

Anyone with a Toyota who gets into an accident now will claim it was the gas pedal. A women got the gas pedal fixed, got into an accident, and is now claiming it was the gas pedal sticking that caused the accident. She was 70 yrs old lol.

Also agreed.

How to stop a car safely, and how NOT to...
http://www.pr-inside.com/runaway-prius-media-can-help-r1766769.htm

(2) shift into neutral (or depress the clutch);

I know, right. Can't you shift a Prius into nuetral?

Theres lots of ways people stop cars, although it may not be the correct way.

1) Neutral and brake. The safest way.

2) Turn the key off. Life or death, who the fuck cares about the car. Toyota will have to fix everything under warranty as it is a safety issue and you could have died.

3) Slam it into Reverse or Park. Broken tranny and it will satisfy your "What if I" thoughts that I know you have had and Toyota again would be responsible to fix it.

4) Crash sooner :) I mean really. Don't let it get up to 90mph. Just pull an "Oh Shit" moment and crash into the first thing you see and hope you are buckled up.

I've seen people do #2 and #3 "by accident".

Even though Toyota is at fault with these problematic cars. However, I am so pissed off about how people just blames the company simply they just CANT drive properly. These people needs to get their license suspended until they learn how to drive. I just really hate the way people making huge &^$#&# fuss about this crap. I am not a toyota fanboy but seeing these people accussing toyota just simply cant drive disgusts me.

End of my rant.

It takes a typical car less than 150 feet to stop from 60 MHP. In order to equal that power from the engine, much less overpower it, one would need a car capable of accelerating 0-60 MPH in less than 150 feet. For a car like the Prius weighing roughly 3000 pounds, one would need a hell of a lot more power than what they've got. I would guess at least 500 bhp. The only way the brakes would fail to prevent a car from speeding up is if they are already in terrible condition, or if the car's electronics prevent full braking power when the throttle is open. (which would be a terrible design flaw btw.)

I don't get it....

From what I have heard the shifter doesn't directly move the valve body on the Prius, rather it's an elctrical imput to the trans computer which tells it to shift. The ignition is not directly connected to the engine it also go through the ecu.

I have heard that none of these things we're talking about do anything. When the electronic fail it seems the only imput they recognize is the accelerator imput but it fails in the wrong position, hence the problem.

Imagine, as a little "thought experiment", a federal investigator getting into a Camry and jamming down on the accelerator and brake at the same time.

If this experiment hasn't been done for real, what do we pay taxes for?

All of a sudden it appears that a Toyota is speeding out of control every other day. Why did this start in the last few months when the media went all out to get Toyota? Sure there were some cases reported before, but now every Prius, Camry, etc. is out of control. And this last guy, I saw him on TV doing an interview in front of the dealer. Looked like a real ass. It had just happened and he was saying how he can't get in touch with Toyota and no body is calling him back. This guy just did not appear ligit. I could be wrong, but I just have a wierd feeling.
One other thought, by applying the brakes on a Prius it uses the heat or whatever to recharge the hybrid battery, so wasn't he just going faster by adding more power to the electric motor? jk. But it does amaze me how these people can't think of anything else but to call some one. They can't control the car with two hands, but they can dial numbers.
Car and Driver has tested cars with the gas floored and they were always able to stop the car with the breaks. Something is not right. A witch hunt I say.

Toyota needs to start implementing the Throttle Over ride in the brake pedal. When the brakes are applied, it over rides the throttle even if "stuck" open. I have a good feeling that 90% of the recent Toyota accidents were driver related and not an issue with the car. Having a good scape goat will almost immediatly take the blame of you. Toyota is screwed for the next couple months. Besides, have you noticed all of the GM sales and commercials. I think the Government is forcing the Media to cover the Toyota Recall all day every day and then running constant GM ads to help improve sales. :) Can someone say conspiracy theory lol

The guy claimed he attempted to do this (90mph blue one). The Prius had some push button ignition or something that would not kill the ignition for whatever reason. I'm not familiar w/ Prius's system so who knows but I'm sure if he was really in a do or die situation as claimed, he would have tried everything over that length of time.

This was a big topic here at work (there are a lot of prius' here) and an employee went out and tested some methods... here are his findings:

I did some testing with my 2008 Prius today to determine what I could do inthe event of an uncommanded acceleration and found the following::


Case 1. While accelerating I flipped the shifter into Neutral.

Result: The car shifted into neutral and the engine did not rev at all (even with my foot on the accelerator)

Case 2. While driving at 25mph I held the power button for 3-4 seconds.

Result: The car shifted to Neutral, Beeped and the engine shut off.
The Brakes were usable, but required more pressure and the steering was harder to turn, but remained unlocked.

Case 3. While driving I pressed both the accelerator and the brake at the same time

Result: The car tried to accelerate, but the brakes were more than capable of stopping the car (I did not do this test at a high rate of speed and I only did it for a couple of seconds)

Case 4. (Not Done Today) While driving at 40mph I accidentally pressed the PARK button (oops)

Result: The car beeped at me and immediately went into Neutral, I was unaware of what was going on so I was pressing the accelerator to go faster, but the engine did nothing until I placed the shift lever back to drive.

Well, GM is government owned. So the government (GM) is putting Toyota on the hot seat. All the while the gov. and Toyota have known about this issue for a very long time. Before they owned GM the gov. didn't really care, they told Toyota to take care of it but didn't really enforce it. Now that they have a investment in GM they want Toyota, one the world's top automakers and some of their biggest competition, to look very, very bad.

Well, GM is government owned. So the government (GM) is putting Toyota on the hot seat. All the while the gov. and Toyota have known about this issue for a very long time. Before they owned GM the gov. didn't really care, they told Toyota to take care of it but didn't really enforce it. Now that they have a investment in GM they want Toyota, one the world's top automakers and some of their biggest competition, to look very, very bad.

GM = Government Motors

Don't forget that Toyota borrowed 3 Billion dollars from Japan Bank for International Cooperation, thanks to help from the Japanese government.

I thought this was funny.

Bankrupt Runaway Prius Driver Owns Adult Swinger Site
http://jalopnik.com/5491543/bankrupt-runaway-prius-driver-owns-adult-swinger-site

More proof these people are idiots: (NSFW Due to language)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4PtafRB9c&feature=player_embedded

lol what this guy said

Well, well, I just read that the guy in this Prius filed for bankruptcy in 2008 with $700,000 of debt. Including still owing $20,000 on this Prius.
Oh I just noticed that Dynamho found something also.

What does filing for bankrupcy have to do with being able to stop an "out of control" vehicle?

What does filing for bankrupcy have to do with being able to stop an "out of control" vehicle?


He has no money and sees dollar signs when he suddenly losses control of his Prius the day after "they told him it was fine"?

He has no money and sees dollar signs when he suddenly losses control of his Prius the day after "they told him it was fine"?

1) Every Toyota owner on the planet who gets into an accident is blaming Toyota's recalls. An eldery women crashed into her friends house when parking in the driveway. She said she put her foot on the break and it suddenly accelerated into the house. She was 70 years old and Toyota "fixed" her car already. She just so happened to hit the break and accelerate at the same exact time. Me thinks that wasn't the break. It is being investigated as we speak. The problem is, this is the norm now. A women got into 8 accidents and is blaming Toyota for all of them. I'm sorry, but if it takes you 8 accidents to go "Wait a minute, I think there is something wrong with my car" then you are a moron. This lady got into 8 accidents and found a scape goat.

2) This guy is showing you a video on how to stop the car if it is out of control. Don't really know why we need to know his background story.

Money is the root of all evil they say. It's been known to make people do crazier things then lie about a car accident.

"Mo money, Mo problems" However, it seems that the less money you have, the more ways you think of to get money. Most of which lead to problems.

Some people are just retarded, and the media is no better. It's just the sad state of affairs in the world we live in.

"Mo money, Mo problems" However, it seems that the less money you have, the more ways you think of to get money. Most of which lead to problems.

haha - very true

What does filing for bankrupcy have to do with being able to stop an "out of control" vehicle?

If you follow dynamho's link you'll see that he's quite the character.

2) This guy is showing you a video on how to stop the car if it is out of control. Don't really know why we need to know his background story.

It's not his (pissed off guy in the video showing you how to stop a car) background we're talking about. At least not who I was refering to. The older guy who claims that we accelerated to 94 mph on the highway is the one who filed for bankruptcy. You know, the one who's probably going to try and sue Toyota now? :evil_laug

toyota seems to be bias towards trying to suddenly accelerating for elderly too, man, crazy machine rebelling and trying to kill off our elders!

Update on Mr. Sikes and his lawyers. The techs at the Toyota dealer where the Prius is at and engineers from the NHTSA could not make the car take off out of control. When they floored the gas and pressed the breaks the car stopped. Everything they tested came back normal. But here is the best part, the lawyers. They claim that since the Cop that "helped" him slow the car down saw the brake lights come on and smelled the brakes, that proves Mr. Sikes story. Well I'll tell you what, give me any car and I'll make the brakes smell and the lights come on. All whille driving at 94mph. Way too many lawyers seeing $$$$$$$$.

It's not his (pissed off guy in the video showing you how to stop a car) background we're talking about. At least not who I was refering to. The older guy who claims that we accelerated to 94 mph on the highway is the one who filed for bankruptcy. You know, the one who's probably going to try and sue Toyota now? :evil_laug

It all makes sense now lol. You mean the guy they just did an investigation on and found that the brakes were not heavily applied as other "out of control" vehicles were and they could not reproduce the problem of the sticky accelerator pedal. Then they pointed out the fact that the breaks were moderatley applied for a short period of time and they have the skid marks to prove it lol.

Whenever an elderly person states "I stepped on the brakes but the car accelerated" you need to investigate. How many elderly people crashed by accidently stepping on the accelerator in the last year prior to this recall? Any one? I bet this number is amazingly high.

this is the best opportunity to bash toyota. you think they will let this go?

its just funny that when this first happened the media reported it like there is no tomorrow. but after that ...

Yeah, government is pushing really hard to get the Toyota stuff on TV, Radios, etc to tarnish the Toyota name. When you take Toyota out of the picture, GM looks kind of nice...... well to the average person anyone. Good thing I am no where close to average

There's one thing I am unsure about:

I don't own a Prius and probably will never own one unless it does 0-60 in 3 seconds...even then it's iffy.

The video above shows a couple aspects I'm curious about. First, the shifter. My previous experience with automatic transmissions was the shifter portion was cable driven. I imagine the newest vehicles now have an electronic connection in which the PCM issues shifting commands to the transmission?

Judging by the free-play in the Prius shifter it looks to me that it's totally electronic. The same can clearly be said by the push button ignition. Since there is no physical switching mechanism in the ignition and the transmission is controlled by electronic means it's probable that some kind of glitch in the PCM would prevent both from functioning.

So if your Prius is working correctly then your transmission would obey commands given via the shifter and also shut off by pressing and holding the ignition button. If there was a malfunction and those two items didn't respond to commands you could result in a runaway situation.

Thoughts?

It's a SCAM!

There's one thing I am unsure about:

I don't own a Prius and probably will never own one unless it does 0-60 in 3 seconds...even then it's iffy.

The video above shows a couple aspects I'm curious about. First, the shifter. My previous experience with automatic transmissions was the shifter portion was cable driven. I imagine the newest vehicles now have an electronic connection in which the PCM issues shifting commands to the transmission?

Judging by the free-play in the Prius shifter it looks to me that it's totally electronic. The same can clearly be said by the push button ignition. Since there is no physical switching mechanism in the ignition and the transmission is controlled by electronic means it's probable that some kind of glitch in the PCM would prevent both from functioning.

So if your Prius is working correctly then your transmission would obey commands given via the shifter and also shut off by pressing and holding the ignition button. If there was a malfunction and those two items didn't respond to commands you could result in a runaway situation.

Thoughts?

Prii (lol) only have one gear? :dunno:

I don't think the government is attacking toyota with strategic censorship. GM can, however, milk this cow for all she's worth!

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/23/local-police-agree-runaway-prius-in-ny-caused-by-driver-error/

Prii (lol) only have one gear? :dunno:

I don't think the government is attacking toyota with strategic censorship. GM can, however, milk this cow for all she's worth!

Did you forget that the U.S. Government owns 60% of GM. The worse Toyota does, the better GM does. With all of the bad rep that Toyota has gotten recently, GM has been doing great. The U.S. Government knew about this issue in 2008 and dismissed it at first but finally told Toyota to fix it. It wasn't until the Government owned 60% of GM that this info was released to the public and was being reported on every television station. Come one, it's just too coincidental.

VZZNR9O3xZM
Very interesting. I think this video sheds new insight for my opinion on the matter.