Originally Posted by simsgw

Not to be harsh, but that was about the time I realized that whenever I heard a report from a journalist on an event or a subject I knew about personally, that report was wrong in at least one major respect and usually more. I did not conclude that reporters were always intentionally faking things as Rather did. I just decided to quit believing anything I heard on television and damn little I read if it was written by a journalist.

Gary

Originally Posted by Master Deep

I think it is ridiculous that people don't realize you can simply nudge your car into neutral if anything is wrong.

But for the record, in that fatal Lexus RX accident, the man was trying to use the brakes to stop and he was telling 911 that they weren't working or slowing him down. Then the expressway ended and he blew through an intersection and rolled his car several times before it burst into flames. So maybe sometimes the brakes fail too? lol I don't know.

But I know he could have thrown that RX into neutral even without brakes...

Originally Posted by Master Deep

I think it is ridiculous that people don't realize you can simply nudge your car into neutral if anything is wrong.

The Prius does not have a neutral in the traditional sense. The ICE and BOTH MGs, motor/generators, are ALWAYS mechanically coupled to the drive wheels. If the Prius' HSD control system was not paying attention to the brake light switch then what would make one think it would "acknowledge" the shifter's neutral position switch.

Be that as it may, I would (***) have certainly tried the neutral position but fully prepared to move it back into drive if the results were adverse.

Patently unfair of me since I am somewhat intimately aware of the workings of the Prius drive train, CVT/PSD operation.

But for the record, in that fatal Lexus RX accident, the man was trying to use the brakes to stop and he was telling 911 that they weren't working or slowing him down. Then the expressway ended and he blew through an intersection and rolled his car several times before it burst into flames. So maybe sometimes the brakes fail too? lol I don't know.

But I know he could have thrown that RX into neutral even without brakes...

Originally Posted by Edgy01

In the flying business we learned a long time ago that it's more important in an emergency to fly the aircraft than to call the ground and talk to someone about a problem, that they can do little about.

Originally Posted by larrytrk

For those who have not seen this, a simple way to handle the problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4Pt...ure=popt02us02

PS, get the kids out of the room :>)

Originally Posted by wwest

And when you have exhausted all efforts to get the landing gear down or even just to get the indicator light to show a down and locked condition....

Who do you call....??

We called the tower, did a low flyby, tower confirmed that the gear appeared to be down but was it locked down..?

Originally Posted by keninirvine

Another thing that amazes me is that people in this situation actually have the time and presence of mind to call 911 on a cell phone while apparently feeling their car is totally out of their control. Perhaps if their first instinct was not to pick up the phone, but to think of how to resolve their situation, they might be able to help themselves rather than expecting someone else so solve it for them while they're careening down the road at 90 mph.

So many people today believe that the minute anything happens to them, they have to pick up the cell and tell someone. I've been in the telecom business for most of my long career, and I can tell you that the phone would be the last thing I'd grab in a situation where my car seemed out of my control.

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by 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!

Originally Posted by wwest

That was an ES350 and had he thought to apply the e-brake he might have been able to slow down. The front brakes are always more robust because due to inertia they normally become the primary stopping force.

But in this case the engine was at WOT and DRIVING the front wheels. Since the braking force is biased toward the front more braking at the rear, the e-brake, might have helped.

Just as it apparently did with the Prius Monday.

Originally Posted by 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.

Simply shows a lack of knowledge on your part. Putting an HSD system in neutral with the drive system, ICE & both MGs, in a runaway state could result in an ADVERSE situation. Our first instinct would be to use the brakes, and ANYONE owning a Prius would know how the drive system should react to that.

When it doesn't react as expected then any future action must be questioned, of questionable results.

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.

Originally Posted by wwest

Even if the gas pedal was stuck in the fully depressed position, or even if the driver was holding it there, the brake light switch should have resulted in the HSD system entering regenerative braking mode.

The only possibility for Monday's Prius incident would be a flaw in the HSD firmware or some one HACKED that firmware.

Toyota has been saying that the HSD systems already have a BTO, Brake/Throttle Override. They base that on the "fact" that applying the brakes will ALWAYS (certainly SHOULD always) result in the system entering regenerative braking mode.

In Monday's case it quite clearly did NOT..!!

Originally Posted by Master Deep

Finally...about gd time.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/video-to...on-claims.html