Prius With Stuck Accelerator Glides To Safe Stop

Are you referring to the 61 yr old driver in the Prius? I don't know, there were also some quotes by him in a news conference but he never mentioned if his Prius which was recalled in Nov was ever taken in to a Toyota dealer to comply with the recall.

Saw on the news this morning that a Toyota dealer told him two weeks ago that his vehicle was not in the recalled group. I'm not familiar with the Prius, but the news this noon said he had shut off his engine and that the car had slowed down before the highway patrol vehicle moved in front of him. I am assuming the Prius has to be in park or neutral to cut the engine, so that probably answers my question. Well, all but one of my new vehicles since 1977 have been Toyotas. I'm not going to worry about it, Toyota will find a fix.

The comment, "why didn't (the driver) put the car in neutral?", doesn't wash.

From what I've read, and I could be mistaken, if the shift lever is electronic, you're screwed. No mechanical linkage = doesn't matter if you put it in neutral, you're in for a ride.

Now, here is a true story: This Monday past (March 8, 2010), a fellow was driving to his civilian job at the State Highway Patrol office, just 8 miles from me. As he was pulling into the parking lot, his accelerator pedal stuck, taking him through to the back of the lot and over the curb, where he careened over 600 ft into a ravine below. He crawled out of his van, with his newly-broken leg, up the embankment to his rescue. Fortunately for him, the accident was heard by the state police, who helped him out of the ravine. This guy is ex-firefighter (and a good one, I'm told); there was no way he could manage to react quickly enough.

He was not driving a Toyota. He was driving a 1998 Plymouth Voyager.

This SUA, or UA (Sudden Unintended Acceleration, or Unintended Acceleration) problem is in the ECM, I'm tellin' ya. Has to be. Just has to be.

Toyota are disgracing themselves with their repeated denials that their UA problem is in their electronics. It's everyone's electronics. It's the electronics, period. Give the transistors to the astronauts, and leave us afraid-to-fly people alone with our cable linkages and carburetors, thank you very much.

The comment, "why didn't (the driver) put the car in neutral?", doesn't wash.

 

From what I've read, and I could be mistaken, if the shift lever is electronic, you're screwed. No mechanical linkage = doesn't matter if you put it in neutral, you're in for a ride.

Now, here is a true story: This Monday past (March 8, 2010), a fellow was driving to his civilian job at the State Highway Patrol office, just 8 miles from me. As he was pulling into the parking lot, his accelerator pedal stuck, taking him through to the back of the lot and over the curb, where he careened over 600 ft into a ravine below. He crawled out of his van, with his newly-broken leg, up the embankment to his rescue. Fortunately for him, the accident was heard by the state police, who helped him out of the ravine. This guy is ex-firefighter (and a good one, I'm told); there was no way he could manage to react quickly enough.

He was not driving a Toyota. He was driving a 1998 Plymouth Voyager.

This SUA, or UA (Sudden Unintended Acceleration, or Unintended Acceleration) problem is in the ECM, I'm tellin' ya. Has to be. Just has to be.

Toyota are disgracing themselves with their repeated denials that their UA problem is in their electronics. It's everyone's electronics. It's the electronics, period. Give the transistors to the astronauts, and leave us afraid-to-fly people alone with our cable linkages and carburetors, thank you very much. 

Not disagreeing with you about faulty ECMs and Toyota's denials, but that year Voyager has mechanical linkage, something got stuck.

 

 

The comment, "why didn't (the driver) put the car in neutral?", doesn't wash.

From what I've read, and I could be mistaken, if the shift lever is electronic, you're screwed. No mechanical linkage = doesn't matter if you put it in neutral, you're in for a ride.

Now, here is a true story: This Monday past (March 8, 2010), a fellow was driving to his civilian job at the State Highway Patrol office, just 8 miles from me. As he was pulling into the parking lot, his accelerator pedal stuck, taking him through to the back of the lot and over the curb, where he careened over 600 ft into a ravine below. He crawled out of his van, with his newly-broken leg, up the embankment to his rescue. Fortunately for him, the accident was heard by the state police, who helped him out of the ravine. This guy is ex-firefighter (and a good one, I'm told); there was no way he could manage to react quickly enough.

He was not driving a Toyota. He was driving a 1998 Plymouth Voyager.

This SUA, or UA (Sudden Unintended Acceleration, or Unintended Acceleration) problem is in the ECM, I'm tellin' ya. Has to be. Just has to be.

Toyota are disgracing themselves with their repeated denials that their UA problem is in their electronics. It's everyone's electronics. It's the electronics, period. Give the transistors to the astronauts, and leave us afraid-to-fly people alone with our cable linkages and carburetors, thank you very much.

Not disagreeing with you about faulty ECMs and Toyota's denials, but that year Voyager has mechanical linkage, something got stuck.

 

Yeah, I know. That's the thing about that story that kind of got me -- but the guy driving it is a no-bull kind of fellow, I'm told. Whatever happened, he went sailing! Faulty ECM? Maybe. Innards of the throttle body gummed up? Maybe. See, that's the rub: with all the electronics in question, can these UA incidents be sorted out in a way that we can be sure about why they happened? I think the causes will prove to be varied among vehicles with and without drive-by-wire systems. It won't be pretty.