Remember the runaway Prius guy from a few weeks ago?

[tiggger1]

The police did not bumper in front of him to stop the car. he finally talked him into putting the car into neutral. he refused to put the car into neutral before because he thought the car would flip over.

When I was in college, my car lost it brakes going down the 5 hills in Fall River ( if you know Fall River, MA you know what hill I am talking about)

I panicked!!! It happened so quick and I didn't think to put the emergency break on or put it in neutral. I just rode the brake till the bottom, Thankfully it was early and no one in front of me..I managed to stop in a parking lot and ended up getting towed home.

 

[LoraJ]

When I was in college, my car lost it brakes going down the 5 hills in Fall River ( if you know Fall River, MA you know what hill I am talking about)

I panicked!!! It happened so quick and I didn't think to put the emergency break on or put it in neutral. I just rode the brake till the bottom, Thankfully it was early and no one in front of me..I managed to stop in a parking lot and ended up getting towed home.

Yes, but it has been on the news a lot since the Lexus incident about what to do. Plus, this guy was a Corvette Enthusiast, meaning, from what I hear, he would know a thing or two about cars. The 911 operator told him it was safe and he still refused.

 

[Hillbeans]

Funny, I wasn't the only one who thought this sounded weird when this guy kept doing interviews and so forth.....if he faked it he should definitely get in big trouble.

 

[Green Tea]

It never occurred to me that it was a lie. I think I have been programmed by the news to fear Toyotas. I found yesterday on the interstate if I saw one in my rear view mirror my instinct was to get out of the way.

 

[Arielle22]

When I first saw this story I told my DH I thought it was a fake.

It seemed too close to the recall to be real.

When I was in my early twenties I had an old car which lost its brakes on the downward side of the Neponset River Bridge between Quincy and Dorchester, MA. This is a steep decline with a light at the end. I kept pumping the brakes, applied the emergency brake and shifted into neutral. I managed to stop after the lights and luckily no one was in front of me.

I don't understand him not going into neutral. How would disengaging the gears cause you to flip over? The point of being in neutral is you would still have power steering to maintain control.

 

[NotUrsula]

It wouldn't. Putting it into REVERSE at speed might flip it, but not neutral. Even doing it in reverse wouldn't be that likely; you would have to turn the wheel just right and probably hit a curb as a bonus.

I've been in runaway cars before; all cars have the potential to do it under the right failure circumstances. Stand on the brake (don't pump), get it in neutral, blow the horn continuously if you can, and be prepared to steer out of a spin as best you can. An automatic transmission will fight you if you leave it in gear; you have to disengage it. What you normally don't want to do in a modern car is kill the engine while you are still moving, because that will lock your steering and lose you the power-assist on your brakes.

 

[mnrose]

On my 2007 Prius, if it is in neutral you can not get the motor to go faster. It just idles. However, I have noticed that when the car is in motion, it is difficult to get it into neutral. The shift lever is spring loaded and snaps back into the rest position.

You have to hold it there for about a second, and then it pops into neutral. My husband IMMEDIATELY cried fake when he heard this story. Just isn't possible to be unable to stop Prius. And, note that NONE of the unintended acceleration reports from Toyotas involved a Prius before this nut job shows up. The Prius issue was braking, and floor mats.

In any event, after this report (on the off chance that this could happen in our Prius) my husband showed me how EASY it is to get it in neutral on our second generation 2008 Prius (same as old Jim's). I have since practiced it. Also, you could also push the park button (does the same thing...puts the engine in neutral) OR hold down the off switch. Old Jim did neither of these things. Seriously, would you not try this over the course of 24 minutes if (as he claims) he was desperately trying to stop the car? Of course you would!!!!

Scammer.

 

[Holly]

The reason this guy is being accused of being a fake because inspectors were unable to replicate the breaking problem.


I think it's worth mentioning that they haven't been able to replicate any of the incidents.


Some of the other drivers died- I don't think they were faking for publicity or money.

 

[SiAmCrAzY]

The reason this guy is being accused of being a fake because inspectors were unable to replicate the breaking problem.


I think it's worth mentioning that they haven't been able to replicate any of the incidents.


Some of the other drivers died- I don't think they were faking for publicity or money.

I agree, the whole thing is very scary, and it is sad to think someone would fake something so serious.

 

[mnrose]

The reason this guy is being accused of being a fake because inspectors were unable to replicate the breaking problem.


I think it's worth mentioning that they haven't been able to replicate any of the incidents.


Some of the other drivers died- I don't think they were faking for publicity or money.

Yes, but the Prius is a far different vehicle mechanically than, for example, the Lexus involved in the CA fatality. Prius owners were very skeptical from the get go on this one, given the override features and the easy shift into neutral that this guy failed to do EVEN AFTER BEING TOLD TO DO SO by the 911 operator.

 

[IDoDis]

Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake

The guy is a scammer and has past dishonest business practices including theft of customer files, etc... I didn't believe it when I first heard it. 80mph is not something to be huffing and puffing over, either. Many drivers go this fast on the freeway in CA every day. I cry fowl.

 

[momrek06]

When this happened last week, DH and I were watching Nighly News w/Brian Williams and it was "Breaking News" on our channels (being as we live in SD) about this man and his Prius. I felt horrible for the man. Now all this ...

 

[Green Tea]

The reason this guy is being accused of being a fake because inspectors were unable to replicate the breaking problem.


I think it's worth mentioning that they haven't been able to replicate any of the incidents.


Some of the other drivers died- I don't think they were faking for publicity or money.

That is how I feel about it. Asking Toyota for the truth seems delicate at best right now. Who knows if they replicated it or not. And the problem has always been sporatic; never a constant one.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

The reason this guy is being accused of being a fake because inspectors were unable to replicate the breaking problem.


I think it's worth mentioning that they haven't been able to replicate any of the incidents.


Some of the other drivers died- I don't think they were faking for publicity or money.

I think it's very suspect that the guy is 5 payments behind on his Prius. And the fact that he has "decided" not to sue makes me think he knows his little joyride would not hold up in court. I think that he is a scam artist and its sickening to take advantage of a situation where people died.

 

[KAMLEM]

The police did not bumper in front of him to stop the car. he finally talked him into putting the car into neutral. he refused to put the car into neutral before because he thought the car would flip over.

THat's not what was reported around here. Every report I heard said that the police stopped him by pulling in front of him and slowing down.

The reason this guy is being accused of being a fake because inspectors were unable to replicate the breaking problem.

That's not the only reason. They said that there was no sign of wear on the brakes that should be there if the story was true.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm still baffled as to how the CHP was able to find him in time.

And good call on the lack of a horn while driving.

My only problem with calling it a hoax--based on the inspectors being unable to replicate the problem...part of the problem is that the problem has been unable to be replicated.

There has been speculation for a while that the gas pedal problem may not have been mechanical. The solution though is a mechanical fix.

While it is probably a scam, I don't find the fact that the problem could not be replicated to be credible proof.

 

[LoraJ]

THat's not what was reported around here. Every report I heard said that the police stopped him by pulling in front of him and slowing down.

That's not the only reason. They said that there was no sign of wear on the brakes that should be there if the story was true.

Well the reports you read were not correct. The officer pulled alongside him and instructed him to put the car in neutral, which he finally did and pulled over to the side of the road. The officer then parked in front of him in case the car were to "take off" again. If you look at the pics, you will see both vehicles are unscathed. I doubt that would be the case if it had happened "as reported" originally.


Here is Toyota's investigation:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-offers-preliminary-findings-155268.aspx