Runaway Prius in California....

[jms]

lol

http://toyotasimulator.com/

[cjolley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B2e6D484v8

[Brian Ellis]

Interesting media commentary at

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento.html

This affair is so over-hyped with at least 100 "experts" giving their learned opinions, all different!

[Sasq]

gag site, but sums up the situation nicely

http://graphjam.com/2010/03/09/toyota-sudden-acceleration-incidents/

[Kruzin]

I suspected from day 1 that this 'runaway Prius' was a hoax.
Dude's just lookin for some $$.
There's never been any case as severe as he claims, and it just so happens to take place right after the publicity...and while he's in financial dire straights...

As much as I'd like to see Toyota take responsibility for their issues, this kind of farce only works in their favor...

[jms]

http://jalopnik.com/5491101/did-bank...d-acceleration

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Toyota...39363.html?x=0

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/t...gs-155268.aspx

[cjolley]

There's more in USAToday:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/03/runaway-prius-case-could-become-toyotas-crisis-turning-point/1

It's been another miserable week for Toyota. Just when it thought it might turn the tide Monday by bashing ABC News for its demonstration of how a Toyota Avalon might be rigged to produce unintended acceleration, along comes the much-covered runaway Prius on a suburban San Diego Freeway.

But Toyota may get a lucky break.

That San Diego case against Toyota is starting to look shaky. As USA TODAY's Sharon Silke Carty reports, runaway driving victim James Sikes was having financial problems and the Associated Press says his Prius was equipped with an advanced pedal system designed to shut down the car. If it turns out that the Prius case is a phony, Toyota might be able to parlay it into getting everyone to accept the idea that its explanation for all its troubles surrounding unintended acceleration -- jamming pedals and sticky accelerators -- was right all along and that the cars' computers are not to blame.

The latest about why that San Diego case may be falling apart:

His Prius was equipped with a brake override system. It would have curtailed the acceleration if he pressed the accelerator and brake in a way that indicated he was confused or panicked.
He was deeply in debt and has retained a law firm, even though so far he says doesn't plan to sue Toyota.
His answer on why he didn't shift the car in neutral to stop the acceleration raised more questions. He told Carty he was afraid that would "flip the car." He also says, "I've since found out that's not possible, but I had no idea. Hopefully, I helped save five to 10 lives because people are now finding out" how to put a moving Prius into neutral.

We'll be watching. Toyota so needs to hit some sort of turning point to get out of this mess. Sure , there are other high-profile cases against Toyota, but the San Diego Prius has become the poster child. in the public's mind, if this one falls apart, the others could look shaky as well.

As to not putting it into neutral because he was afraid he would "flip the car", I read elsewhere that he is a member of the local Corvette owners club, making that explanation very suspicious...

[cjolley]

Oh now here's a surprise

http://jalopnik.com/5491101/

We received an email earlier today from an anonymous tipster who claims James (Jim) Sikes, the driver of the runaway Toyota Prius, was in financial trouble and even behind by five months on his payments for the Prius. If that's true, it's potential motivation for wanting to find an out — any out — on paying for the vehicle.

We did some public records searches (thanks to the help of Gawker's John Cook) and found Sikes and his wife Patty found themselves, like many in the California real estate business, on the bursting side of the real estate bubble last year. The two declared bankruptcy in June of 2008 and have a combined liability of over $700,000 dollars in debt.

Among the list of creditors holding secured claims is none other than Toyota Financial Services for a lease on a 2008 Toyota Prius with 7,200 miles on the odometer. Total value of the lease at the time of bankruptcy was $20,494.

...


UPDATE: We're now hearing rumors that Sikes has a history of items in his possession being stolen and him filing for insurance claims. We found at least one case of this in his bankruptcy documents, which we've included below. We're told we should know more about a second incident shortly.

[gt40]

Definetly NSFW:

Although this guy obviously may not know the depth of the problem, it's still funny to watch.

[gt40]

It's rare to see a vehicle with a single control system, ie the Engine/transmission control is seperate from the abs module, the cruise module, the general electronics module, etc,
but with everything being so integrated in a hybrid or electric vehicle, I can see where there would be a trend towards a centralized control sytem. And a redundant computer is not the same as redundant controls. If the controller is pooched, all the computers in the world won't make it work.

[Dr Mordrid]

Time to change practice then. IIRC the initial Volts have redundancy built into some of its systems, but dunno which ones. I'd bet dual computers, both the main and the separate battery controller.

[gt40]

I've never seen a vehicle with redundant electronics. Normally they just have a 'failsafe' or 'limp' mode in case of failure.
And the point about not being brakes I'm sure was meant to mean they are not brakes in the classical sense.

[Dr Mordrid]

You don't suppose the whole thing runs on one computer do you?
If so and it crashed everything would go haywire.

Single point of failure = bad

Usually, yes. Some cars have discrete control circuits and some don't, but often even with a local control module everything still goes back to the main black box for decision making.

[VJ]

A couple of point pertinent to this discussion:

First, this apparently from a Toyota Tech:

Plus, the brakes on a Prius aren't brakes

Am I the only one thinking: apparently not...

But seriously: if anything, it proves that the designs must be made more fault tolerant and tests more thorough. In aviation, it takes years of investigation and testing before new hardware is allowed. Case in point: a new airplane in the flying club: it has a new type of engine, which is rated well below the expected lifespan (as are specific components). After its currently rated hours it will go back for research and if enough units have been researched and it is deemed ok to lengthen the lifespan, it will get a longer rating (and then the whole story repeats itself). Of course, this explains why many small aircraft still resemble cars from the late 70s-early 80s, but safety above all...

[KRSESQ]

It is troubling that nobody seems to be able to figure out why some Toyotas suddenly go insane and try to kill their drivers/passengers. Perhaps the Rise of the Machines has begun.

Kevin