So it's not secret that Toyota's all over the global are running amok and killing people. Many more people are being taking on thrilling, death defying rides down highways in their Toyota or Lexus. All one has to do is turn on the nightly news and BAM! there's another Toyota story.
The most recent story to hit the news was from this past Monday when James Sikes, 61, reported to have been driving his 2008 Toyota Prius down a Interstate 8 near San Diego, California when he went to pass a car. He claims his vehicle magically accelerated up to 90mph and he could not stop it. He managed to call out the California Highway Patrol, you know those handsome looking chaps that ride motorcycles and concentrate on hitting on chicks instead of busting drug dealers?
There is some credibility to his story because it's backed up by the officers that arrived to see his speeding green machine cruising down the highway. However, I'm not so certain that Toyota's sticky accelerator is to be blamed on this one, especially after hearing the sound-bytes from his interview. The officer, Todd Neibert, that arrived on the scene shouted instructions to Sikes on how to stop the car and said Sikes was jumping on the brakes.
Here is something to consider though: Say Sikes was cruising down the freeway at 65mph, an average highway speed, but while he was busy doing everything but driving (talking on his mobile, fixing his hair, whatever) he didn't notice he was riding the brakes on his car. It's easy enough to do, especially if you have large feet and aren't paying attention. One might not even notice they are doing it. So the brake began to heat up, and I know Prius have some wonky regenerative braking system that make the brake do something strange. Combine that with presumably improperly maintained brakes and the awful OEM pads and of course your cars isn't going to stop very well...if at all.
Now say Sikes was driving with the cruise control on, which most of us do (OK I don't because I ordered a car without it for whatever reason). He went to pass someone and thought he was Michael Schumacher or something and got slightly rev happy. I mean I know it's a Prius and everything but occasionally everyone has a lead foot. Obviously when you hit the accelerator with cruise the car accelerates and then holds that speed until the brakes are applied. This could easily be seen as unintended acceleration.
Let's combine that with Sikes oversized feet and shot brakes. Trying to stop a car from this acceleration would be mighty difficult if not impossible. A run away Toyota isn't as far fetched as it might have seemed.
Now one might wonder why I assume the Sikes would be oblivious to this sort of stuff. Well one quote sort of did me in: "Neibert told Sikes after the CHP caught up with him to shift to neutral but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip."
Seriously? What sort of person thinks that a car will suddenly flip over if you shift into neutral. This is clearly a person that shouldn't be out driving a car because he doesn't know how to handle it during an emergency. I can't even comprehend the physics behind how a car might flip over if shifted into neutral, mainly because I shift my car into neutral all the time while in motion.
Don't get me wrong, this could have been an instance of unintended acceleration caused by a sticky accelerator. But the way the media latched on to it, it's the only explanation. And considering this was a guy who thought his vehicle would flip over I don't really can't see him as the sort of bloke who's really on the ball with driving. Also who thinks 90mph is "terrifyingly fast"? Maybe it's because I live in Michigan and people do 70 in a snow storm while bumper to bumper on I-696, I don't know. But 90mph on a motorway just doesn't seem like it would scare the bejesus out me.
I'm not here to defend Toyota. I'm not a hardcore fan of their products and I think they are all fairly dull, but I'm also not one of these anti-Toyota people who think they are some how the devil that's killed the American auto industry. What I am against is the fact the media takes whatever story, grandstands it, and then ruins major companies which employ thousands of Americans.
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