Calif. Prius Driver's Story Stirs Skeptics

(AP)  Investigators are confronted with a series of nagging questions as they try to unravel the case of a California real estate agent who said his Toyota Prius turned into a runaway death trap after the gas pedal became stuck.

Why didn't the driver simply throw the transmission into neutral as officers urged him to do? Why didn't a safety mechanism activate that was supposed to cut power to the engine in such situations? And could he have made the story up in pursuit of fame and money?

Each question is getting scrutiny from the Internet-consuming public as they question the motives of the driver, a 61-year-old real estate agent named James Sikes. Some skeptics have even invoked the infamous "balloon boy hoax" in expressing doubts about the story.

No evidence has emerged to suggest that Sikes was dishonest when he called 911 on Monday to report that the accelerator of his 2008 Prius was jammed during a trip home from his lawyer's office.

Listen to an excerpt of the 911 call

Sikes and his car emerged unscathed, but the incident has been another major headache for the Japanese automaker amid questions over the safety and reliability of its vehicles.

The California Highway Patrol has repeatedly said it has no reason to suspect a hoax. It does not plan to investigate the incident or perform a mechanical inspection because there were no injuries or property damage. Investigators from Toyota and the federal government are also looking into the incident.

"There is no factual information that I'm aware of, or the highway patrol is aware of, that would discredit his story," agency spokesman Brian Pennings said Friday.

Sikes spoke to throngs of reporters twice this week about his ordeal, but he has not sought out attention or talk show interviews like others have done during their 15 minutes of fame. Pennings said he urged Sikes to speak with reporters the first time, on Monday, after the white-knuckled journey down Interstate 8 to avoid getting besieged later by the media.

And a law firm representing Sikes during the investigation said its client does not intend to take legal action against the automaker.

Doubters have asked why Sikes didn't put the car in neutral as a California Highway Patrol dispatcher and an officer repeatedly urged him to do. Sikes said he considered going into neutral but worried he might go into reverse or flip.

"I had never played with this kind of transmission, especially when you're driving, and I was actually afraid to do that," he said Tuesday. "I was afraid to do anything out of the normal."

Toyota has said all Priuses are equipped with a computer system that cuts power to the wheels if the brake and gas pedals are depressed at the same time, as Sikes was doing.

"It's tough for us to say if we're skeptical. I'm mystified in how it could happen with the brake override system," Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, said Thursday.

Raj Rajkumar, an electrical and computer-engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh who studies auto electronics, said the Prius could still have acceleration malfunctions even with the fail-safe system.

Toyota says the fail-safe and the engine are controlled by a central computer that contains two independent microprocessors that communicate and must agree with each other. If there's a disagreement, power would be cut to the wheels.

But Rajkumar said the two engine control unit microprocessors could still receive common erroneous signals from sensors or experience software errors that could cause the throttle and the fail-safe mechanism to malfunction.

Sikes came to a stop after a Highway Patrol officer blared instructions from a loudspeaker, telling him to push the brake pedal to the floor while applying the emergency brake. Sikes apparently did this, allowing him to slow the car to 50 mph and shut off the engine.

At one point during the 911 call, the dispatcher asks if he can press the ignition button for five seconds and she gets no response. Sikes said later that he struggled to hold the phone and keep his hands on the wheel.

More on Toyota's Troubles:

Calif. Prosecutor Sues Toyota Over Defects
Prius Driver in NY Crash Was Dealer-Bound
Prius Panic Drives Fear, Real and Imagined
Toyota to Expand Tundra Pickup Recall
Out-of-Control Toyota Reports Multiplying
911 Call Reveals Prius Driver's Terror
Toyota's Prius Recall Coming "Soon"
Toyota Fires Away at Acceleration Theory
House Panel Seeks Details on Toyota Recall
New Reports of Post-Recall Toyota Troubles
No Fix? Trouble with Some Repaired Toyotas

Todd Neibert, the officer who gave instructions to Sikes over a loudspeaker, said he smelled burning brakes when he caught up with the Prius. He examined the car when it came to a stop.

"The brakes were definitely down to hardly any material," he told reporters. "There was a bunch of brake material on the ground and inside the wheels."

Sikes said afterward that he was "embarrassed" by the incident, suggesting that he wished he would have handled it differently. "I'm just embarrassed about that," he said. "You have to be there. That's all I can say."

Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Friday that investigators are best positioned to determine if there was a hoax, but no evidence has emerged.

A representative of Issa's office was at a California Toyota dealership when investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Toyota examined Sikes' blue Prius on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Where are these suggestions coming from?" he said. "It would be irresponsible to assert it's a hoax without having facts."

Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator, said Sikes' refusal to shift to neutral, is understandable.

"It's such a horrifying experience to be completely out of control," she said. "It's the kind of thing you dream about when you're really upset and you wake up in sweats."

The same firm handling Sikes' case also represents the family of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, which sued Toyota last week in San Diego Superior Court.

Saylor was killed in August along with his wife, her brother and the couple's daughter after their Lexus accelerator became trapped by a wrong-size floor mat on a freeway in La Mesa, near San Diego. Their loaner car hit a sport utility vehicle and burst into flames.

Representatives of the firm did not respond to phone messages seeking additional comment Friday.

Claybrook, the former federal administrator, noted that drivers often come under heavy scrutiny for reporting unintended acceleration.

"Attacking the driver has long been the answer that not just Toyota, but the entire industry, has had," she said. "Blaming the driver is old hat."

[interlopert02]

Here are some excerpts from the aritcle written by Jeremy Anwyl in the Washington Post dated 3-15-10 (monday):
"When we focused on the major automakers and limited our review to recent-model-year vehicles (2005 to present), the 52,000 complaints through September 2009 -- a fair stopping point, because it was before news reports erupted -- showed that every car company had incidents of sudden acceleration. This is not strictly a Toyota issue. NHTSA head David L. Strickland said as much when he told Congress recently that Toyota's rate of complaints was "unremarkable."

Here is another, and I think the most significant:
"The case for saving property and lives should be obvious. But there is another risk for consumers: Toyota's legal bill for unintended-acceleration cases will be in the billions. Soon enough, entrepreneurial lawyers will realize that other car companies are vulnerable. And who ends up covering this tab? Future car buyers -- in the form of higher prices."

Again, this is the link, please read for yourself: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031501693.html

[interlopert02]

The people who are participating in this frenzy dont realize that this is a pandora's box. Already the class action suit lawyers are counting their money. If this kind of irresponsible behavior becomes the norm in our society than we are in for big trouble.
Toyota employs over 15000 people in the US not to mention thousands more who directly and indirectly rely on Toyota products for their livelihood. There are over 20 million Toyota vehicles on the road in North America, yet statistics show that Toyota vehicles are not more prone to sudden acceleration than other auto makers. That's right, data shows that Toyota actually fares better than most auto makers in the reported/recorded cases of sudden acceleration. Even after all this Toyota bashing frenzy- the fact is Toyotas are still among the safest vehicles on the road.

BTW, the Japanese lost in the 2nd WW over 60 years ago- they are now one of the closest allies the US has in the world.

There is a very interesting article on the Wsshington Post. Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031501693.html

[lmartink]

When someone gets into a car, they are like the pilot of an airplane --- responsible for the safety of their passengers. I was in a 396 Chevrolet when the accelerator went to the floor years ago. And that was no Prius.

Practice putting the car into neutral at highway speeds. Guess what -- it works! Throw the electronic key out the window.

Do not blame someone else, or the car manufacturer. Are you stupid enough to believe they did this deliberately?

Grow up. Stop whining. Take responsibility. And practice safety techniques.

Do not pick up a cell phone. Any questions?

[interlopert02]

Rule of law, freedom of expression/speech/press, human rights, personal liberty are some of the fundamentals of any democratic society and the US is the very
symbol of that. In order to protect our rights and uphold the spirit of the constitution, each and every citizen has a resposibility to make an effort to be well informed about the issues that effect us all. Similarly, the press/media has the vital responsibilty of providing responsible and accurate information for the public at large.
It is worrisome to see that the media as a whole is moving away from responsible journalism and becoming more inclined towards sensationalism as has been demonstrated by this TOYOTA WITCHHUNT and this ridiculous Prius hoax clearly perpetrated by a con artist(SIKES).

I am deeply disappointed that the MASS MEDIA for it's part has not given enough coverage regarding the hoax(it's all over the internet)particularly since it(MASS MEDIA) so eagerly participated in reporting the purported runaway Prius story.

It's time we demand responsible journalism.

[cbsblogger]

Corporate America (and Japan and Wall Street) have demonstrated consistently that they are always above reproach and will always look out for the interests of their customers, the people and the nation first. They were Boy Scouts before they were profiteers, and to that they should be commended. We need only look at Goldman, AIG, Lehman, Enron, World Comm, Health South to understand that ethics is their heart and soul.

BTW Interloper if the Prius had a fail safe system as Toyota has stated that would prevent the accelerator and brakes from being applied simultaneously, would that not (if it was working properly) have prevented the scenario that happened in California where the car ran away for miles and the brakes were worn down to the nub in trying to stop it? The police officer and driver both testified to the extreme brake wear and the unmistakable burning brake odor.

[E.Cam]

Sikes thought he might flip over the handlebars if he put it in neutral. No wonder this scammer is $700,000.00 in dept and needs to sue, to stupid to make money selling homes!!

[HGOODGUY]

This guy is full of el-crappo all the way!!!

All he had to do was:

Put it in neutral
Put it in low
Put it in park--the hell with the transmission!

This story stinks so bad that the flys are dropping in mid-air!!!

[HGOODGUY]

WOULD YOU PLEASE GET THE HELL OFF OF THESE POSTS!!!

[Ordflyer]

I actually believe this guy's story - I'll tell you why...

The reason that pilots and flight crews repeatedly train for the same system failures is becuase when you are "distracted" by a system failure if your response is not automatic you will have trouble performing the simple task (flying the airplane/driving the Prius) while dealing with the problem (landing gear won't extend/ Prius won't stop accelerating).

It's very easy to solve a problem at home on the Lazy Boy but when you are operating something at a high rate of speed (and trying to stay alive)it becomes very challenging to troubleshoot.

[cbsblogger]

I agree with your logic. The guy's story is very credible.

I've driven a Prius (don't own one) and found the controls not at all intuitive. The controls operate differently and have a different look and feel to any person who has driven other cars for 45 years (as a 61yo would) and would be used to. In a panic type situation you could easily lose, what you might call your Lazy Boy common sense because of the unfamiliar control configuration.

Secondly and most important, Toyota categorically stated that the accelerator and brakes have an interlock that prevents the engine/throttle/accelerator from operating when the brakes are applied. That in itself demonstrates that this Prius had malfunctioned because the brakes were applied and the engine continued to power the car wearing down the brakes as verified by the worn brakes, smell and statements by both officer and driver. There is no way that the driver could have applied the accelerator and the brakes without immediately stopping the vehicle. Yet the vehicle went for miles in that condition.

[interlopert02]

It's been reported that Mr. James Sikes is a member of the CORVETTE owners club. So, now we are supposed to believe that he doesn't know how his PRIUS(for which he has not made payments on for 2 years) operates?!?! Also, it's important to note that the testing was conducted both by Toyota and the NHSTA. If Mr. Sikes is attempting to pull a fast one, it's
obvious he apparently rode on the brakes just enough so the brakes didn't actually stop the prius but had caused damage to the brakes. That's probably because he had his foot on the
accelerator as well?!?!

[lmartink]

Could this be another "balloon boy" incident? Another hoax?

[tokyo2nite]

"Sikes said he considered going into neutral but worried he might go into reverse or flip. . . .'I had never played with this kind of transmission, especially when you're driving, and I was actually afraid to do that,' he said Tuesday. 'I was afraid to do anything out of the normal.'"

This is why they shouldn't give drivers licenses to people with IQs of less than 100.