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Toyota’s accelerator gets stuck; CHP pressed into action
by Jamie Anderson - March 9, 2010 - comments
Toyota owners have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. Monday’s incident adds to the growing tally of complaints.
California, March 9-- A fleeing Toyota Prius, which zoomed to a speed of 94 mph after its accelerator got jammed, was helped to a safe stop by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer.
At about 1:30 p.m. the Prius driver James Sikes accelerated his car to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 in San Diego County. When he realized that the accelerator had got stuck, he called 911 and sought help.
The harrowing experience
"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny... it jumped and it just stuck there," recalled the 61-year-old driver.
"As it was going, I was trying the brakes...it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up," recounted Sikes.
After Sikes’ SOS call to 911, a patrol car pulled up and flanked the Prius. Sikes did just what the CHP officers told him over the loudspeaker.
He was asked to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brake. The patrol vehicle maneuvered the Prius to a steep upgrade.
As a result the car slowed and decelerated to about 50 mph. Thereafter Sikes turned off the engine and slowing came to a halt. The patrol vehicle was then parked in front of the Prius as a precautionary block.
The harrowing experience for Sikes lasted 20 minutes.
"He was driving near the La Posta Indian Reservation when he called 911 and said his gas pedal was stuck. He was reaching speeds over 90 miles per hour," CHP Officer Larry Landeros said of the incident.
Unintentional acceleration continues to haunt Toyota
The episode put Toyota in the limelight, albeit again for the same wrong reason. Since 2004, there have been 56 fatal accidents reported in the U.S. wherein there was a sudden unintentional acceleration involving a Toyota vehicle.
The world's largest automaker has recalled close to 8.5 million vehicles worldwide and over 6 million in the nation as a result of these incidents.
The latest incident is not going to do any good to Toyota’s reputation.
"We're sending a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the car and find out what happened," said Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons.
"We won't be able to comment on what any possible problems with the car were until we take a look at the car," added Lyons.