By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com
March 15, 2010
Last week, when a California Prius was involved in a highly publicized runaway car incident on the San Diego Freeway, Toyota found itself under more uncomfortable scrutiny. At the start of this week, the spotlight has shifted to the car's driver.
Numerous media reports say investigators for both the carmaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have tested the 2008 Prius driven by James Sikes in last week's incident and have been unable to duplicate the purported uncontrolled acceleration.
Sikes said his Prius suddenly accelerated as he was passing a car and he was unable to slow it down for 30 miles, despite standing on the brakes with both feet. The car was finally brought safely to a stop after a California Highway Patrol officer pulled alongside and advised Sikes to press on both the brakes and emergency brakes to slow the car.
The ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), asked investigators to allow a committee investigator to observe the tests on the vehicle and a memo by that investigators appears to question Sikes' veracity.
"On our test drive, the field technician tried to duplicate the same experience that Mr. Sikes experienced," the memo said, as reported by the Washington Post, which said it obtained a draft. "After about two hours of driving he was unsuccessful. Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down."
Company's perspective
The memo reveals that, in the California Prius case at least, investigators are looking at the problem from Toyota's point of view.
Toyota has consistently doubted stories of uncontrolled acceleration because it said the cars are designed to cut power to the wheels when both the brake and accelerator are pressed at the same time. Because Toyota steadfastly maintains the acceleration is caused by the gas pedal being physically trapped on the floorboard by a mat, the incident could not have happened the way Sikes described it.
But what if the sudden acceleration has nothing to do with the gas pedal, but is caused by a system failure in the computer or electronics system? Toyota has said this is not the case.
The Washington Post reports the committee investigator was allowed access to the tests under "pressure" from Issa, and a spokesman for the Congressman said "these findings certainly raise new questions surrounding the veracity of the sequence of events that has been reported by Mr. Sikes."
Since reporting the incident last week, Sikes has found himself embroiled in the Toyota controversy, though his attorney says his client is not seeking to profit from the incident in any way. Still, he has seen his personal life subject to scrutiny, with one media report pointing out he recently filed for bankruptcy.
Sikes has maintained from the beginning that he rode the brakes for all of the 30 mile ride, something Toyota has said was almost impossible. However, the inspection of his car, as reported in the investigator's memo, appears to give Sikes' version of events some added credibility.
"The investigators removed the front tires from the car and a handful of brake dust fell out," the memo reads. "Visually checking the brake pads and rotor it was clearly visible that there was nothing left."
