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

YA THINK?

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!!!!

Toyota's new optional accessory-an Anchor Eject device.

Cops don't yank licenses. Courts do.

True. Just not often enough.

Now, if we could just go after the motor vehicle departments of each state, and their obviously-lacking test requirements. It's too easy to get, and retain, a license. Period.

This is assuming there WAS a safety problem involved with all 54 deaths.. Even if it was only 24, it is too many - but even if it WAS 54, likely at least 50 could have been prevented if drivers knew how to drive .

Generally that the prerogative of the DMV after one is convicted, but Canuch57 is indeed wrong most of the time. ;)

DUH how about not have ones car run away in the first place?

Yes, but if the cop does not charge him, courts will never see him to make it permanent. And yes, in some places they can take your license for a time pending court.

I guess you could include me in the 90% of drivers unqualified to drive, even though in 35 years and about a million miles (knock on wood), I have never been involved in an accident. Been lucky a few times, but I consider myself to be both a skilled and safe driver.

However:

I can see a driver not being prepared when his car, for no apparent reason, suddenly fully accelerates.

I can see a driver not being prepard when his car, for no apparent reason, does not stop when he applies the brakes.

I can see a driver not being prepared when his car, for no apparent reason, does not steer in the direction in which he wants it to.

Especially in heavy traffic.

Even if he is keeping a 'safe' distance from other traffic.

Is this what we have come to expect from the "king of quality"????

Pay your 25 grand for our car, but be prepared in case it wont stop on it's own???

No one here is suggesting the cars should drive themselves, but gimme a break (not pun intended).

Like I said, I guess you get what you pay for.

"jr92" wrote

You do expect that any car will stop, go, turn when you want it to, however, I've had those things go wrong over the years on various cars I've driven. You have to have some modicum of training and ability to deal with those situations. Forget Toyota, it has happened with every brand of car at some point. Mechanical devices fail.

Just as you should have a flashlight and candles in the house for the inevitable power failure, you should be mentally prepared for mechanical defects that will occur. Toyota is still on the hook for the real problem, but most of the situations can be lessened by an attentive driver. Especially now that is has received so much publicity and the news media has shown what to do.

Once again our friend Canuck57 is telling us the sky is falling

The more stupid drivers on the road, the more Toyotas, and the more Toyotas, the more chances of accidents like this.

It sounds pretty accurate. Anyone can drive so the whole chain of predators gets fed. A good reason for most cars being automatic, so the drivers go into "automatic pilot."

Few people know that they should shift into neutral if that occurs. Most likely they'll jump out the window. ;)

They are kings of PR or BS, if you will. ;)

Uh, and the problem with that is?

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"Why didn't the driver simply throw the transmission into neutral as officers urged him to do?"

Maybe he doesn't like authority? Rather prove a 94MPH point? good thing it wasn't a corolla... this chase would have topped 110mph

I am still trading my ford in for a tacoma.

Ever since i had a ford ranger, my taste for ford has been downhill. Recent events in my F150 have topped the cake.

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Or a Lexus...140.

Funny how he was able to stop the car once a police car got in front of him.

Michael Fumento at forbes.com claims the incident was a hoax.

-- Ron