Highway Patrol officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop

The video is all over the news, not good for Toyota. There is nothing like a visual aid that counters a point one is trying to make. Wanna bet it will end up on "Cops" or "Worlds Worst?"

EL CAJON, Calif. ? A California Highway Patrol officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop on Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County freeway, the CHP said.

Prius driver James Sikes called 911 about 1:30 p.m. after accelerating to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 near La Posta and finding that he could not control his car, the CHP said.

"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny... it jumped and it just stuck there," the 61-year-old driver said at a news conference. "As it was going, I was trying the brakes...it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up," Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning he was pressing the pedal so hard.

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THE WISE TIBETAN MONKEY SAYS

"The monkey should be treated with the same respect as the lion"

The press always takes notice when people are killed, especially 54 of them. When water leaks into the trunk, not so much

30,000+ people died in car accidents last year. Feel free to post a breakdown by car manufacturer if you think Toyota is killing people. Otherwise, your focus on these particular 54 vs. the hundreds/thousands of others that died due to steering problems, airbag failures, poor crash protection, inability to operate the vehicle, blind spots, etc... seems a bit agenda based.

Knock down a half gallon of cheap box wine before lunch and you'll see things the way Hunter does.

We should instead thank Toyota for putting stupid old ladies to drive.

We are learning much about jsb and his habits.

Perhaps but not if it was a member of your family that was killed or injured because YOUR car went out of control.

Yet he wonders why we call him Joe$#itForBrains. LOL

Hmm, I always thought Joe drank Ripple with his bottle in a brown paper sack.

Or maybe he drinks Dr. Tichnor's. . . .

Charles Grozny

When my 1980 Corolla throttle stuck open my wife, who is not mechanically inclined at all, managed to control it and get it to a stop - then shut it off with the throttle wide open in neutral. Id dieselled like crazy, and the catalytic converter flashed white hot, burning the floormats and console out of it before she got the ignition back on, the car into drive with her foot hard on the brake, and then shut it off again.

Garden hose saved the car from total destruction

Could be a setup or staged and here is why I say this.

First off is driver negligence. You have brakes, and if they are at all maintained two feet on the breaks with parking brake applied will stop any vehicle I know even with the motor going. Brakes are stronger than motors. So did the driver not only forget to use them, were they maintained properly?

Second issue is there is always neutral. They teach that in drivers ed when I took it. Once in nuetral...problem is purely due care in pulling over and turning it off.

Third, there is the ignition. Turn it off long enough for it to stop and then to run (but not start) and coast. Works even without brakes!

So ask, why did it take this incopentat driver so long to do some basic steps?

Which makes me think this driver is carelessly gradstanding like OJ did.

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Might not be possible to set it back to run position with a pushbutton ignition. Know what I mean? But, you and I can only offer conjecture unless we've used a Prius or read the manual.

Because our system of testing drivers does not weed out the incompetent ones, who comprise almost 90% of drivers on the road.

That would be good to get a copy of. Then also rate it to how many sold so it is a probability of death index. Bet it would raise some eyebrows too.

This was obviously a OJ like situation. The driver could have:

- slammed the brakes on hard, brakes have more braking than engines have horsepawer.

- stuck it in neutral.

- turned it off.

Or any combination of above.

More likely the idiot was speeding and is using it as an excuse. Get some TV time.

"Canuck57" wrote

The news tonight had the recording of part of the 911 call: Operator: Did you try shifting to neutral? Driver: NO

He later said he was afraid to because he thought the car might flip. He should have his license revoked.

Nothing more need be said.

This is America, where we allow people to drive even if they're legally blind or clinically dead.

There are a lot of drivers and passengers killed every year in automobile accidents. That is very sad. Drunk drivers kill a lot of people. Road conidtions are factors in fatal accidents, Excessive speed causes wrecks that kill people. Weather is a factor, as well.

However, none of the above reasons I stated can be attributed to Toyota's lack of concern of safety.

Any of the above reasons I listed, Toyota could NOT have any control over.

BUT, the 54 people who died due to Toyota's lack of safety concerns can be pinned right on Toyota, the "King of Quality"!

These guys have major issues to deal with.

Are you saying that it is alright for auto manufacturers to produce dangerous vehicles because the driver should be able to overcome anthing that fails, weather if be faulty steering, sudden acceleration, or bad brakes, if the driver is paying attention???????????????????

Are you tying to say that the driver, who paid tens of thousands of dollars for a vechicle he should reasonably assume will steer WHERE he wants it to go, accelerate WHEN he wants to (and NOT accererate when he does NOT WANT IT TOO), and stop WHEN he wants it to, should reasonably expect all these things?????

Myself, I think if a person only paid 25 grand for a car, and it suddenly accelerated out of control or would not stop when the brakes were applied, it would HAVE to be the fault of the driver. After all, you only get what you pay for!!!!!!!!!!!

OTOH, I really think that:

One should not HAVE TO BE READY TO PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NUTREAL IN CASE THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATES OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!!

The car should not do so in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While a customer should not have to expect a car to rattle, or have a bad 'fit an finish" (lingo for the likes of Consumer Reports rap on the alleged "bad GM quality"), the same customer should expect his Toyota to STOP when he wants it to!!!!

Are you saying that it is alright for auto manufacturers to produce dangerous vehicles because the driver should be able to overcome anthing that fails, weather if be faulty steering, sudden acceleration, or bad brakes, if the driver is paying attention???????????????????

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I never said anything even remotely resembling what you want to believe I said.

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Are you tying to say that the driver, who paid tens of thousands of dollars for a vechicle he should reasonably assume will steer WHERE he wants it to go, accelerate WHEN he wants to (and NOT accererate when he does NOT WANT IT TOO), and stop WHEN he wants it to, should reasonably expect all these things?????

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I never said anything even remotely resembling what you want to believe I said.

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Myself, I think if a person only paid 25 grand for a car, and it suddenly accelerated out of control or would not stop when the brakes were applied, it would HAVE to be the fault of the driver. After all, you only get what you pay for!!!!!!!!!!!

OTOH, I really think that:

One should not HAVE TO BE READY TO PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NUTREAL IN CASE THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATES OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!!

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By saying that, you have proven that I am correct when I say that about 90% of drivers are and always will be unqualified to operate a motor vehicle of any kind. A driver must be ready for absolutely ANYTHING.