Tcc1999

The first thing my wife's brother told rookie F-14 pilots he was training was "The ground is NOT your friend!" Sadly, a few of them didn't heed this advice.

texas911

The Prius can be put in neutral 3 different ways while you have your foot on the gas; shift into neutral, but have to hold for 3 seconds, shift into reverse, it will instantly go to neutral, or push the park button and it will also shift into neutral. You can also turn the Prius off by pushing the start button for 3 seconds.

Sounds like this guy was just out for publicity.

alexb76

Totally... it's be 100times harder to control Prius at 90MPH than a 911... interesting he was so out of control and yet, called 9-1-1!!!

KeninBlaine

Exactly. I just think it is a sign of how our culture has lost the principle of self-reliance and personal responsibility. Many people want someone else to resolve their problems. The first instinct seems to be to pick up the phone and call 911. I'm surprised nobody has called Oprah yet during one of these incidents. I can see it now: someone texting to their Twitter friends "OMG like I'm totally out of control. My car won't stop. What should I do? I'm not LOL"

alexb76

What makes you think there is an engineering flaw with "single most basic item" in Toyotas? Based on ONE accident?

911s at 100K+ had issues with RMS, HPFP, etc...

Your reaction is exactly what people who wanna create panic are hoping. To scare people off based on scare tactics!

Da Hapa

And again... you're jumping to conclusions based on hyperbole and not facts.

The floormats that you keep harping on aren't a problem if they're installed correctly. Doesn't the consumer at some point in time assume some responsibility for piloting a 3,000 lb object down the highway at 65 mph?

It's a tragedy no matter what that the people in the picture you posted lost their lives. But there are dozens if not more of explanations as to what happened. We may never know. But jumping to conclusions and bashing Toyota based on assumptions is silly.

Master Deep

Having had a Prius loaner last month, I know that they use a ridiculously stupid shifter. (Sadly it seems all manufacturers are coming up with some stupid looking shifter instead of a traditional setup. Look at BMW, Jag, etc.)

I'm also going to assume 99% of driver's on the road are not enthusiasts. A car is simply a tool to get from point A to point B. Many of these people hate driving. It is a chore to them. They aren't the kind that tries to learn everything about their car. They probably don't EVER even open their car manual. Sadly, these same people don't even know some basic safety techniques.

Half the people don't even know what neutral is for because they never used it. I remember in Driver's Ed I learned that if the car starts accelerating, put the car into Neutral. The engine will rev and may be damaged, but the car won't speed up and you won't die. Of course people these days barely pass driver's ed and the driving test is a complete joke. Toyota should just give their owner's an education booklet on what to do in an emergency when owner's bring their cars in for the recall.

I worked for Toyota before too, and after working with them for 2 years I actually got turned off the brand. The cars look incredibly cheap. The exterior panels, the look and feel of the interior panels, the way the door sounds when you shut it, etc. I decided I didn't want a Toyota at that point. lol

savyboy

And therefore will experience a lesson in Darwinism...

Don't go walking alone at night in lion country- Seems a basic level of preparation served us well and kept us alive long enough to make it this far.

However, I could be easily convinced we have now entered the age of Idiocracy and begun devolution.

Minok

I'm glad he took his car back... unfortunately he should be banned form driving ANY car because he is too ignorant to be safe on the road. But thats what we get in America where $20 and a photo and answering 20 basic questions gets you a license to drive. We have some stooooopid people out there.

It would flip... I nearly blew a gasket when I heard him say that.

Of course, most of the issue is the news outlets that just latch onto this slight problem and have blown it way out of proportion. Why none of the reporters called him an idiot is beyond me, other than THEY themselves don't know how to stop a car.

camhabib

Whats worse, a surgeon who doesn't know how to perform an operation but does so anyways, or one who "does" know how to perform it but just kills the patient each time?

I may be not have as many years of life experience of some of the members on this board, but when a manufacture has to a) shave a gas pedal, b) zip tie something down, and c) recall 1M vehicles, something tells me that something wasn't properly engineered. Whether it was the floor mat itself, it's tethering mechanism, the length of the gas pedal, or something else, I don't really known and don't really care. Something that would have been BLATANTLY obvious to anyone who bothered to poke their head under the dash for three tenths of a second instead of singing off on it was missed. What else got overlooked?

Yes, consumers do have to take responsibility the second they step in the car and turn the key, but when you have 200 feet of freeway left and you notice you can't slow down and it's going to take you 500 feet to unjam / neutral / shut off / stand on the brake, you're looking at some trouble, caused by a lack of responsibility on the car makers part. It seems no one has
considered this point yet, that yes, there is lots you can do, what about the fact that there may not be enough time to do it, and the fact that you SHOULDN'T have to do it in the first place.

There is a reason some cars cost a little more then others, and it's usually the time that goes into them, including the time it takes to design and check these thing. Just like Dell computers, how do you think they can save so much money and make it cost effective to sell an item 2 or 3 x cheaper then everyone else? Corners have to be cut somewhere.

KeninBlaine

You hit the nail on the head. Most of the reporters out there today are more ignorant than their viewers. That is why they are so good at asking stupid uninformed questions. They assume you're as ignorant as they are.

Bring back the true news reporters like Walter Cronkite and get rid of the chatty pretty faces who aim to entertain rather than inform.

Alstoy

Am I the only one that becomes a bit nervous whenever a Prius drives close by.

Alan Smithee

There will never be a perfect machine. When a machine operator assumes that risk, he/she must take responsibility for its proper use ('neutral' being there specifically to take a vehicle out of gear if need be).

Unfortunately, our government and court system continues to protect and reward the incompetent.

911FM

Yeah. Dell=crap.


FM

Da Hapa

I get nervous. Not because of the car. Because the overwhelming majority of Prius drivers that I see here in S. CA are CRAP drivers.