CNN: 2008 Toyota Prius takes man on a ride from hell

(CNN) -- The driver of a Toyota Prius says he was taken on a wild ride Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph on a winding, hilly portion of a southern California interstate.

It took the California Highway Patrol to bring the car safely to a stop.

The driver, Jim Sikes, said he was traveling east on Interstate 8 outside of the San Diego area when he attempted to pass a slower vehicle.

"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car, and it just did something kind of funny ... and it just stuck there," he said at a news conference outside a Highway Patrol office. "As I was going, I was trying the brakes ... and it just kept speeding up."

Sikes said he called 911 for help, and dispatchers talked him through instructions on how he might be able to stop the car. But nothing worked.

At one point, Sikes said he reached down to try to pull the accelerator up, but it "stayed right where it was."

Alerted by emergency dispatchers, a California Highway Patrol officer was able to catch up to Sikes' Prius and used the patrol car's public address system to instruct Sikes to apply the brakes and the emergency brake at the same time.

The tactic worked, and the car slowed to about 50 mph. Sikes said he was able to shut off the car, and it rolled to a stop. The responding officer, Todd Neibert, positioned his patrol car in front of the Prius as a precaution to prevent it from moving again.

Source: CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/08/california.runaway.prius/index.html?hpt=T2

Neutral.......come on already throw the thing out of gear.

The reason you can't turn off the key is . . .

Edit: Why am I suspecting that the driver is working to get a reality show?

Edit2: ASF has the better idea. Neutral is better for the first thing to try.

Neutral.......come on already throw the thing out of gear.

You shouldn't have to do that PERIOD. These Toyota cars are broken and need to fixed. What if it happens on a busy intersection and you kill someone, because putting the car in neutral and stopping the car was not fast enough? I have never driven a car EVER where I had a sticky gas pedal, or have to put the car in neutral

The real shock is an old geezer actually speeding up to pass another car.

I say turn in your Prius and drive an Escolade,Expedition or Navigator.

Do it for the kids.

You shouldn't have to do that PERIOD. These Toyota cars are broken and need to fixed. What if it happens on a busy intersection and you kill someone, because putting the car in neutral and stopping the car was not fast enough? I have never driven a car EVER where I had a sticky gas pedal, or have to put the car in neutral

When did I say that this should be normal? In driver's ed (many moons ago) we were taught emergency procedures for how to deal with a stuck accelerator. 1) apply the brake and emergency break if that doesn't work, 2) shift to neutral. The engine is sure to blow but it beats going off a cliff, plus my guess is that Toyota will buy you a new one.

When did I say that this should be normal? In driver's ed (many moons ago) we were taught emergency procedures for how to deal with a stuck accelerator. 1) apply the brake and emergency break if that doesn't work, 2) shift to neutral. The engine is sure to blow but it beats going off a cliff, plus my guess is that Toyota will buy you a new one.

Fair enough, point taken. On another note, I Have talked to several people where this has happened several times (now not as bad as this story, but enough to have you crap your pants). The problem is this happening way way too often and in some cases multiple times for owners of Toyota cars. This is going to plaque Toyota for a lonnnnng time.

When did I say that this should be normal? In driver's ed (many moons ago) we were taught emergency procedures for how to deal with a stuck accelerator. 1) apply the brake and emergency break if that doesn't work, 2) shift to neutral. The engine is sure to blow but it beats going off a cliff, plus my guess is that Toyota will buy you a new one.

Even folks who didn't take Driver's Ed (me) know that. I wonder if this car wouldn't do that?

The reason you can't turn off the key is . . .

I thought you can't do that unless you're in park?

Why did it take a patrol's car address system to tell him to use the emergency brake? I would think that the dispatchers would have said something.

Is this only happening in the US btw?

How dare you bring this up! As a partial owner of General Motors I question your integrity Sir! :mad:

I think he did try and put it in neutral and it eventually slowed down and he was able to shut the car off.

So a Prius that is out of control pedal stuck to the floor = 94mph?

(when i got back from Turkey and left my 78 Cutlas Salon at the beach the break lines rusted out and fell off.. i was able to coast to a stop and still had 210 heart beat)

I can just imagine an old guy freakin out.

It sure is weird how these things happen so often after the news is out.

The reason you can't turn off the key is . . .

Edit: Why am I suspecting that the driver is working to get a reality show?

Edit2: ASF has the better idea. Neutral is better for the first thing to try.

Don't have a key,they got a button:silly:

I wonder if throwing the transponder out the window would work?

I wonder if this will be the new excuse for speeders?

Durn thing just wouldn't stop officer.

The fact that he took the time and effort to call 911 raises a red flag for me. No reasonable person would do that... imo. Also, wouldn't a reasonable person try to jam it into neutral or apply the Emergency brake without having a State Patrol telling you to do it? Is he an UAW member, looking to further sully Toyota's name? Is he hoping to shake Toyota down for a little $$$? You can't discount these possibilities.

Neutral.......come on already throw the thing out of gear.

Neutral wouldn't get the guy a payday.

Its a good thing the Prius is such a ****ty car it can only hit 90! LOL!

Seriously, Priuses are the stupidest cars on the road, they only reason they get good mileage is because they are so underpowered. As proof, a BMW M3 is more fuel efficient than a Prius (and a HELL of a lot more fun to drive) on an actual track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTOyiKLARk

Another reason to buy an American car.

Bmw m5 ftw!!!

Its a good thing the Prius is such a ****ty car it can only hit 90! LOL!

Seriously, Priuses are the stupidest cars on the road, they only reason they get good mileage is because they are so underpowered. As proof, a BMW M3 is more fuel efficient than a Prius (and a HELL of a lot more fun to drive) on an actual track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTOyiKLARk

Didn't he mention that the Prius was going as fast as it could (17. something miles per gallon says I'm probably right)? I'd like to see the results of both at normal Prius speeds.

I thought you can't do that unless you're in park?

No, you can't remove the key unless you're in Park.

But then, you don't want to remove it, because that also locks the steering wheel. (Could be bad.)

However, a later post points out that it doesn't have a key, it's got a start button. And the suggestion before mine, of putting it in neutral, is a better idea, anyway. Shutting off the engine, if successful, also kills things like power brakes and power steering. Brakes and steering will still work, they're just harder to use, so, IMO, it's not a bad second option.

But putting it in neutral, while it will probably result in a destroyed engine, (pedal all the way down, and no load on the engine at all), will give you a car with no "go" power to the wheels, but functional power brakes and power steering.

Turn off the key after you've stopped. (Or if putting it in neutral doesn't work.)

I predict the following head line in the near future:

Man sues Toyota for $1 million for pain and suffering

Man sues Toyota after the accelerator to his Prius stuck to the floor. Toyota says man had it coming for buying a Prius in the first place!

Its a good thing the Prius is such a ****ty car it can only hit 90! LOL!

Seriously, Priuses are the stupidest cars on the road, they only reason they get good mileage is because they are so underpowered. As proof, a BMW M3 is more fuel efficient than a Prius (and a HELL of a lot more fun to drive) on an actual track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTOyiKLARk

I would REALLY love to see the total enviornemntal cost comparison between a Prius and, say, a new VW Golf TDI. When you include the enviornmental impacts of mining for battery material, producing the batteries and, eventually, disposing of them, I wonder who really has the lower TOTAL end enviornemental impact after, say, 10 years and 100,000 miles on the road. The Golf is more comfortable, much nicer, faster, more powerful and is actually more fuel effecient in all but the worst stop and go situations. I agree, hybrids in general are ****ing stupid.

I would REALLY love to see the total enviornemntal cost comparison between a Prius and, say, a new VW Golf TDI. When you include the enviornmental impacts of mining for battery material, producing the batteries and, eventually, disposing of them, I wonder who really has the lower TOTAL end enviornemental impact after, say, 10 years and 100,000 miles on the road. The Golf is more comfortable, much nicer, faster, more powerful and is actually more fuel effecient in all but the worst stop and go situations. I agree, hybrids in general are ****ing stupid.

Well, I have seen such a comparison between a Prius and a normal car (one that gets roughly 20mpg) and they said it took 100,000+ miles for the Prius to be more efficient than the regular car (a lot of the environmental cost comes from the fact that not only is the Nickel so toxic that it has destroyed the environment for miles and miles in all directions of the mine where they excavate it - in Canada I believe - but it is then shipped to China, then Japan, and then back to North America where the Nickel is processed, turned into batteries, and assembled with the engines, etc... and that is many more steps and much more shipping than an average car needs to be produced). Considering that a Golf TDI gets 31 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway, I'm sure that the Golf would absolutely destroy the Prius when it comes to environmental friendliness. Not to mention that a TDI is actually a proper car with proper performance there is no comparison. Bottom line is the Prius is total ****.

Edit: A Mini Cooper D puts out 110 HP and gets 61 mpg which is FAR better gas mileage than a Prius! LOL!