A Toyota Prius suddenly stalled, then unaccountably took off and smashed into the tow truck that had come to remove it. Toyota has warned Prius owners of a software glitch that can cause the hybrid cars to suddenly stall or shut down and federal safety regulators are looking into the problem.
The warning from Toyota did not carry a sense of urgency. The sudden stall, however, can be extremely dangerous and frightening when it occurs, as a ConsumerAffairs.com reader discovered.
Venu I. was driving along the Dumbarton Highway near Fremont, California, when his 2004 Prius suddenly shut down.
The Dumbarton at that point, Venu explains, is a bridge. Luckily I was in the slow lane, he writes. My car froze all of a sudden with four or five warning lights coming on. I couldn't turn the car off and could not drive it either.
Venu says that if he had been driving in one of the other fast lanes he might have been the cause of a serious accident or worse.
I would be dead by this time. The situation was real panicky. None of the controls worked. I left the car with emergency lights on.
Toyota explained in its warning to owners that the stalling problem may cause several of the warning lights in the vehicles to come on, prompting the Prius to enter a fail-safe mode that will cause the gasoline engine to stall.
Toyota also reassured drivers that the electric motor in the vehicles would have sufficient power to allow the driver to pull the vehicle over and away from traffic.
But Venu was unable to drive his Prius to safety.
Again I would like to reiterate that I left the car as is with all the warning indicators on as I couldn't do anything with them as all the controls froze. My car was towed to a nearby safe place.
Then something very strange happened which was not covered in the Toyota warning to Prius owners. The moment my car was detached from the tow truck, I saw the car moving forward and it hit the truck. My car was damaged on the front fender.
Venu is about to give up on his hybrid. I am now very scared and have totally lost confidence in this car.
The vehicles involved in the Toyota service notice to owners are from the 2004 and 2005 model years. Toyota sold 53,991 of the Prius in 2004 and more than 100,000 so far this year.
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) is compiling complaints about the 2004 and some 2005 Toyota Priuses that have shut down while driving. Several owners have told NHTSA that the car completely loses power at highway speeds.
