The reporters are almost breathless over this one. Click to go to the Youtube video of the news report about the guy who claimed his Prius gas pedal got stuck and the California patrolman who had to stop it with his patrol car. Another report can be read at BusinessWeek.com.
Surely by now every Toyota owner has put the shifter in neutral while driving just to assure him/her self that that is a viable way to disengage the horsepower from the drive train in an emergency. The guy in this story had the wherewithal and agility to fiddle with the pedal with his hand, but for some reason he didn't put the shifter in neutral.
Maybe he just needed his 15 minutes of fame. But I'm wondering about something else. It's not that difficult to find an internet list of excuses police officers have heard for why a driver was speeding. So how long will it be before speeders in Toyotas start using the "unintended acceleration" excuse? Are has it started already?
I also wonder why he didn't just turn off the engine. Matt Laurer pointed out that the Prius doesn't have a regular key ignition -- it uses a push button instead -- as if that explained why he didn't employ that tactic, but there's obviously SOME way to kill the engine on a Prius, so I didn't understand the relevance of that fact.
Posted by: Eric | March 09, 2010 at 07:47 PM
Eric, that guy is a phenomenon. He was all over the news yesterday. And today's WSJ even has his picture on the front page.
I suspect that once Toyota and the NHTSA have concluded their investigations they will have found nothing wrong with the car. We'll see.
BTW, remember the Prius that ran into the hole in the street last Thanksgiving? Runaway!!!!
Posted by: Geo | March 10, 2010 at 06:20 AM
Yeah, he was one of the lead stories on NBC's and CBS's morning shows today.
I think there's another agenda at work here.
Posted by: Eric | March 10, 2010 at 08:43 AM
He'll have a nice scrapbook for the grand kids, Eric.
Posted by: Geo | March 10, 2010 at 09:20 AM