There has to be some “piling on” efforts going on behind the scenes funded by the big 3. They are all too happy to get the public focus off them on onto Toyota. The fact that the two latest allegations have proven false brings into question the validity of others. No has yet offered an explanation as to why people who claimed un-controlled acceleration couldn’t simply turn off the ignition or take the car out of gear. Instead, they called 911. Stupidity?
Before dismissing these cases as driver error, investigators should intensively study incidents involving jet transport digital flight deck software faults. There are unknown unknowns out there. Is it conceivable that a transitory fault upstream of the event recorder circuitry could both cause a runaway accelation and then mask the event? Nothing about the physical findings in the Prius story seems to rule this out.
I drove my buddy’s Prius once…I could barely get it to accelerate on the highway (much less a driveway). I stepped on the gas and I swear I heard someone say, “You’re kidding, right?”
“Is it conceivable that a transitory fault upstream of the event recorder circuitry could both cause a runaway accelation and then mask the event?”
In 2003, Toyota’s engineers coded a backdoor into the black box system, knowing that in 2010 claims of “runaway acceleration” would embarrass company higher-ups thus necessitating retroactive hacking of the black box to fabricate event details. …they’re crazy smart engineers
If the software or a sensor is at fault then it might not register a brake sensors input!!! And never register it in the data recorder … That would be why it never slowed down!!
You’re all missing an important point here. Even if the accelerator pedal had been nailed to the floor the brakes would still stop the car. This is true of ANY car with functioning brakes. In the 80’s the Audi 5000 was accused of unintended acceleration and I remember at that time seeing a demo where a Hemi Plymouth Roadrunner (500+ horsepower) with small drum brakes could be stopped and held stopped with the throttle wide open. Audi was totally exonerated by the way. Driver error was to blame in every runaway Audi case.
The little toy motor in the Prius can barely overcome speed bumps on the street where I live. The Prius does in fact have excellent brakes as do all Toyotas.
BTW- removing the key from the ignition will lock the steering wheel. Not a great idea.
That is very true. I had a car by another company and it was broken constantly even though it was brand new. The car would just turn off while driving or stall. The dealership checked the computer which said it showed no faults but when they actually did a road test the car would die and the computer would still show no problems. After physically checking the parts they were able to find the problem after over 2 years. There very well could be an issue with the computer in the Prius too.
This is true of hydrolic brakes the prius uses a system of regenitive braking that recharges the battery by turning the electric motor into a genorator. Diffrent from the cars of the eighties otherwise this would be obvious.
Hi Skeptic- yes, the Prius has regenerative brakes that use the momentum of the vehicle to help recharge the batteries. The brakes are hydraulic just like on all other cars for decades and decades. They will in fact stop the car with the throttle wide open.
This is what I’ve been saying for weeks about this whole Toyota thing- it’s driver error!
There has to be some “piling on” efforts going on behind the scenes funded by the big 3. They are all too happy to get the public focus off them on onto Toyota. The fact that the two latest allegations have proven false brings into question the validity of others. No has yet offered an explanation as to why people who claimed un-controlled acceleration couldn’t simply turn off the ignition or take the car out of gear. Instead, they called 911. Stupidity?
Before dismissing these cases as driver error, investigators should intensively study incidents involving jet transport digital flight deck software faults. There are unknown unknowns out there. Is it conceivable that a transitory fault upstream of the event recorder circuitry could both cause a runaway accelation and then mask the event? Nothing about the physical findings in the Prius story seems to rule this out.
I might have to agree here. If the “throttle was fully open at the time of impact…” wouldn’t the car be traveling at more that 27 mph?
I still say it’s Bush, Obama, the Trilateral Commission and the little green men who cause the voices in my head.
How about that, the driver was responsible for the incident in this case. I didn’t think a Prius would accelerate to 35 in a driveway, either.
I drove my buddy’s Prius once…I could barely get it to accelerate on the highway (much less a driveway). I stepped on the gas and I swear I heard someone say, “You’re kidding, right?”
27 mph IS wide-open for a Prius. And some driveways in surburban NY have divided lanes and speed limits.
Now, everone back to work!
“Is it conceivable that a transitory fault upstream of the event recorder circuitry could both cause a runaway accelation and then mask the event?”
In 2003, Toyota’s engineers coded a backdoor into the black box system, knowing that in 2010 claims of “runaway acceleration” would embarrass company higher-ups thus necessitating retroactive hacking of the black box to fabricate event details. …they’re crazy smart engineers
If the software or a sensor is at fault then it might not register a brake sensors input!!! And never register it in the data recorder … That would be why it never slowed down!!
You’re all missing an important point here. Even if the accelerator pedal had been nailed to the floor the brakes would still stop the car. This is true of ANY car with functioning brakes. In the 80’s the Audi 5000 was accused of unintended acceleration and I remember at that time seeing a demo where a Hemi Plymouth Roadrunner (500+ horsepower) with small drum brakes could be stopped and held stopped with the throttle wide open. Audi was totally exonerated by the way. Driver error was to blame in every runaway Audi case.
The little toy motor in the Prius can barely overcome speed bumps on the street where I live. The Prius does in fact have excellent brakes as do all Toyotas.
BTW- removing the key from the ignition will lock the steering wheel. Not a great idea.
That is very true. I had a car by another company and it was broken constantly even though it was brand new. The car would just turn off while driving or stall. The dealership checked the computer which said it showed no faults but when they actually did a road test the car would die and the computer would still show no problems. After physically checking the parts they were able to find the problem after over 2 years. There very well could be an issue with the computer in the Prius too.
You said “unknown unknowns.” I can no longer read any of your opinions.
This is true of hydrolic brakes the prius uses a system of regenitive braking that recharges the battery by turning the electric motor into a genorator. Diffrent from the cars of the eighties otherwise this would be obvious.
Hi Skeptic- yes, the Prius has regenerative brakes that use the momentum of the vehicle to help recharge the batteries. The brakes are hydraulic just like on all other cars for decades and decades. They will in fact stop the car with the throttle wide open.