Toyota: Prius in NY Crash Yielding Data
Investigators from Toyota and the U.S. government inspected a crashed 2005 Prius in a suburb of New York City on Wednesday to see if its event data recorder or wreckage could point to problems with the brakes or accelerator.
The data recorder yielded information on engine speed and pedal position. Investigators were still downloading additional data, said Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Wade Hoyt.
A housekeeper who was driving the car told police that it sped up on its own as she eased forward down her employer's driveway on March 9 and hit a wall across the street. She was not hurt. Harrison Police Department Capt. Anthony Marraccini said driver error had not been ruled out or indicated.
A recent spate of accidents involving Toyota's Prius model has exacerbated scrutiny on the automaker, which has recalled more than 8 million cars since last fall because their gas pedals could become stuck or be held down by floor mats. The Prius hasn't been recalled for sticky accelerators. However, the wrecked Prius had been repaired for the floor mat problem.
The government is looking into complaints from at least 60 Toyota drivers who say they got their cars fixed and still had problems. Toyota is checking into those complaints as well.
Hoyt said Wednesday that Toyota will share the results of its investigation with local police. Marraccini said that any definitive information on the cause of the crash will be released to the public after that.
More on Toyota's Troubles:
Toyota Recall Spending Ranges in Billions
Toyota: Data Refutes Runaway Prius Story
NHTSA: We Can't Explain Runaway Prius
Doubts Persist on Runaway Prius Story
Calif. Prius Driver's Story Stirs Skeptics
Calif. Prosecutor Sues Toyota Over Defects
Prius Driver in NY Crash Was Dealer-Bound
Prius Panic Drives Fear, Real and Imagined
On Wednesday, six Toyota inspectors, two from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and other experts huddled around laptop computers as they examined the gray Prius under a tent outside the Harrison police headquarters. The car's front end was smashed in, its hood bent upward; it had a broken bumper and headlight, a flat tire and heavy scratches around its Toyota logo.
"This car was preserved well, and it's the best evidence so far, I believe, that anybody's had an opportunity to evaluate," Marraccini said.
The investigation follows Toyota's probe into the claims of a California driver who said he was unable to stop his runaway Prius on a freeway last week until a state trooper helped him. The company held a news conference Monday and said the driver's account was substantially different from its findings.
Toyota said tests on James Sikes' car showed its gas pedal, backup safety system and electronics were working fine. It was unable to replicate the stuck gas pedal that Sikes reported.
The automaker said Monday that it found owner James Sikes rapidly pressed the gas and brakes back and forth 250 times, the maximum amount of data that the car's self-diagnostic system can collect. That account appears to contradict Sikes' statements - backed by the California Highway Patrol - that he slammed the brakes, even lifting his buttocks off the seat.
Toyota officials said they believed Sikes hit the pedals lightly, which would have prevented a brake-override system from kicking in. Under the Prius design, engine power is cut if the brake pedal is pressed with moderate force.
Toyota stopped short of saying that Sikes fabricated his story.
NHTSA officials at the New York investigation site did not make themselves available to reporters.
The Prius' event data recorder was expected to contain "trouble codes," which show malfunctions, Hoyt said.
He said the Prius comes with a backup safety system for the brakes. The car's engine idles if a driver hits the accelerator and brake at the same time. "If that's all working, it should be impossible, really, for the car to take off on its own."
Dealers and experts have had trouble recreating episodes of sudden acceleration, and Toyota says tests have failed to find other problems beyond the sticking gas pedals and floor mats.