Another speeding Prius
An unintended 94 mphYesterday, a Southern California man claimed to have experienced sudden acceleration in his 2008 Toyota Prius. For some 30 miles James Sikes could not slow his 94 mph Prius.
After passing another car on the freeway, Sikes said the gas pedal stuck and the car just kept accelerating. Putting full pressure on the brakes did nothing to slow the Prius which "just kept accelerating". While unintentionally accelerating, Sikes drove the car with one hand while trying to remove the floor mat and even trying to work the gas pedal lose, but that didn't work either.
After a fruitless 911 call, a CHP officer pulled alongside the man and instructed him to put on the emergency brake while depressing the brakes, bringing the car's speed down to 55 mph, at which point the officer told Sikes to shut off the car.
In a later report, Sikes said he would have shut off the car earlier, but he was worried about losing the power steering.
Related: InsideLine calls Sikes story "BS"
Labels: recalls, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:10 AM
23 Comments:
At 94 mph this 61 year old man was able to drive with one hand while tugging at the gas pedal and playing with the floor mat?
I'm not calling him a liar, but it just seems a little hard to believe.
Interesting point, I'm gonna replicate in my car. Of course, at a much lower speed!
Still, if a true story, you can imagine the emotions this guy must have been feeling, so maybe he didn't recount the story in perfect accuracy.
This smells like a hoax. If so, it won't take more than a week or two for the truth to come out...
I'm going to sit back and wait a week or two before I believe this story.
No doubt the story seems "a little hard to believe".
I've read several reports, including police testimony, and some things don't fully add up. For instance, the cop saw the brake lights come on. So, he wasn't riding the brakes the whole time?
Likewise, he was more afraid of losing power steering than going an uncontrollable 94 mph?
Nonetheless, the whole story is still possible and we should probably give this man the benefit of the doubt for now.
If this was a staged hoax, however, would Toyota be able to conclusively prove that this man was riding the brakes and the accelerator?
I just checked out InsideLine and they have called this story "BS".
Not saying I agree. Obviously I agree that the story seems fishy based on the witness's statements, but that doesn't necessarily mean he lied, or that he might have been some how confused, or the incident happened as reported.
Check THIS out, and note the official police report at the end. The driver drove the car for 20 minutes, had time to call on his phone, and he turned the key off and the car rolled to a stop.
The police car did NOT stop the prius, they never touched until after the cars were stopped at the side of the road according to police, however, the media reports state that the police stopped the "runaway Toyota".
How runaway was it really?
See: http://www.cardealerreviews.org/?p=253071
Saw that.
Earlier he said he was afraid to shut off the car because of the hilly terrain and the loss of power steering after shutting down the vehicle.
I can understand that to an extent. Still, if the car is speeding out of control, how long do you think you can last? I think I'd find a straightaway and take my chances on a dead engine with no power brakes or steering versus a car accelerating wildly out of control.
Instead, he lasted 30+ minutes, during which he made telephone calls, drove the car with one hand while bending down to remove the floor mat, play with the gas pedal, etc. and wait for the state patrol because of a "rookie" 911 operator.
Again, that doesn't mean it didn't happen, but it is a little remarkable that this man was able to avoid injury, even death, based on his description of the events.
I mean, either this guy is an ex NASCAR driver, or he should play Wednesday's Powerball.
yep. agree. I smell a rat. He said he had two encounters with the same truck?
I woulda thought once he left that truck in the dust the first time , at 90+ mpg, he'd not see that truck again anytime soon...
I probably misunderstood but my visual of his body language put my antenna's up.
Whether this story is true or fake, it won't be the last suspect story. With billions now at stake, fraud is inevitable.
Damn. I shoulda never stopped clerking for that class action law firm. This woulda been a very good year for bonuses I bet!
He drove 30 miles at almost 100 MPH??? LOL....my God the bullshit continues.
Well...at least I'll get an even better deal on a Prius now.
Is James Sikes a friend of balloon boy's dad?
He said he didn't shift into neutral because he was afraid the car would flip. Liar, liar pants on fire!
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gc_pIFqke7WxQovY3MnhcyIYiLgwD9EBR7HG0
Even though the 911 operator told him to do so. He also said he wasn't really listening to the operator because he didn't feel safe to only have one hand on the steering wheel.
Yet, he felt safe enough to bend down, with only one hand on the wheel, and play with the floor mat and then to even grab the gas pedal as the car was racing out of control.
at a very low speed, i almost attempted to do this in my own car yesterday, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. nonetheless, it was obvious that grabbing the gas pedal at 90 mph with one hand on the wheel was an EXTREMELY risky move.
still, despite the oddities in this man's story, and there are a lot of them, it could still be true. sometimes the truth is weirder than fiction.
they need to look into the rest of this guy's lie and see if he is a straight arrow and a sketchy type.
If he's true-blue.. a regular guy who's not been involved in other funky stuff... then I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
but I wanna see the rest...
absolutely. i assume such an investigation is being
Definitely a lot of things dont quite make sense about this guy and his credibility. Regarding the braking: if any of you have accidently driven a car with parking/emergency brake on, you realize that the car is drivable, though with a bit more difficulty. I've done it and have smelled the brakes burning. How the combination of regular brakes with the parking/e brake was able to slow his car from 90 to 50 doesn't add up. And its rather convienent that once the CHP officer was present, then he was able to slow to that speed. As it had been pointed out, the CHP officer didn't even physically slow him down. Also, the CHP's comments were that he saw the brake lights flash, indicates that Sikes wasn't using them the entire time.
20 minutes at 90 mph? Theres no mention if he had to occaisonally swerve to the shoulder. There ought to be some witness' reports about the incident coming out of the woodwork by now. It seems like an awefully controlled 20 minutes to me.
In full disclosure, I own an 2010 Prius.
is there an emergency brake on the Prius?
how does it work?
what did this Sikes do with regard to that brake?
This post has been removed by the author.
He was probably waiting for the CHP to catch up with him in order to have a witness for his oh so dramatic odyssey. I believe he could have stoped his car at any time but did not really want to! Not only he brought others with real incidents in discredit but also people around the world are laughing about americans saying they are not only frivolous but also too stupid to drive.
well. if it turns out that he is the scum that he is starting to look like, I hope they rip him a new one ... on Larry King
A San Diego television station reported that this guy has filed 2 false police reports in the past regarding $59,000 of property that he "claimed" was stolen from his home. The police say that his claims were unsubstantiated. Considering he has filed for bankruptcy and that he possibly has state and federal liens against him, I would say that his story is B.S.
when I heard he was a real estate agent, in the san diego area, i couldn't help but wonder about his financial situation.
didn't want to say anything then, but now that this news has come out.
94 is only slightly over the speed limit of 80 in Utah. If you can't control a car at 94 with one hand while removing your floor mat, you should have your drivers license revoked.
I think the guy was lying alright. He passed a cop going 90 and decided he could concoct this story to get away with it.
Next thing you know this guy will have his own reality tv show.
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