OT: Runaway Prius news today...
 

Totally off topic (not 997 related), but I am just fed up with stupidity and the idiotic way news organization are covering Toyota gas pedal problems :banghead: .

It's all over the news that one guy's Prius gas pedal was stuck and he couldn't slow it down AT ALL, and had to call 911 and troopers to slow his car down... BY APPLYING THE HAND BRAKE!

COME ON! Even if the gas pedal stuck is true, put the car into NEUTRAL, let it slow down on its own, OR, slam on the brakes!

CNN just brought a PHD to explain the situation! :banghead:

Put the car in Neutral let the engine blow up. Thats exactly what I thought this guy must be a genius.
My daughter has a 2008 Toyota Corolla S we had the pedal fixed. Wife wouldn't let her drive till it got fixed She assumed a 17 yr old girl might panic.

I did not see the big deal so I took car out got speed up to 60mph to see if I could on propose put car in neutral. Of course I let up on gas to not over rev engine. Car went into Neutral no problem. I then tried to turn key off to stop engine. Engine stopped. Show her how to handle the car if something did happen.

Wow 17 yr female got it down pat. But this grown adult man is either a moron or trying to get some money from Toyota.

How about just turning the key..OFF.

The plot is the destruction of all non-government-owned, union controlled car companies.

I am now more and more thinking this could be the whole agenda and this guy WAS PAID to do this... it really pisses me off when CNN gives it credibility. Enough already, when someone's that stupid, say it how it is. The news anchors were talking about it like it's this incredible mystery.

I have MANY TIMES put my Dad's Lexus or other Automatic cars into Neutral to save gas, or while playing around as a teen. Its a matter of pressing down the lever.

Brakes must be applied HARD and QUICK to avoid glazing and subsequent fade, for this to work.
I agree with put the car in neutral. Turning the key off results in loss of power steering, whats left of power brakes and other critical systems, which requires very careful control.
No fun in any situation!!

What I'm curious about that still is only marginally talked about is this... IF the gas signal going to the ECU is full throttle, even if the pedal is not, what happens if you press the brake?

Put your foot on the gas and speed up to 20mph on an isolated parking lot and then put the left foot on the brake pedal and press. Does the ABS kick in but still allow you to stop, or does the ECU say "Gas and brake... I always choose gas"?

So you should be able to use the break in any case, to slow the car way down, then put it in neutral and when you are on the side of the road THEN shut down the engine (so you keep the power brakes and steering until the last minute).

The primary problem, as you have pointed out, is that too many americans don't know how to drive a car. They know how to operate a video game. (Its one of the reasons I so hate automatic transmissions... its like visual basic.. it allows folks with less competence to do things that can get them into trouble)

On Prius, if I recall, turning the car off is not mechanical but drive by wire - you have to hold the button down for a few seconds. Some things, like having an engine power cut switch should remain mechanical or simple.

While I read that this incident is supposedly caused by the floor mat / gas pedal interaction, I wonder down the road how many other car mis-haps may result from software automation (such as adaptive cruise control technologies)?

As an aviation buff I read an article some time ago on the Falcon 7X business jet, the first full fly by wire (per Dassault). The aircraft has several redundant flight computers, and various redundancy systems as the pilot's movement of the stick translate into computer commands that move flight surfaces. I can only imagine validating such a complex aircraft must be extremely intensive.

Maybe the auto industry hasn't yet fully internalized the risks associated with having computers take more and more control of cars' actions. It's one thing for the blue ray player to hiccup, another if cruise control goes nuts.

And yes, especially with the warnings and all the news, surprising the guy didn't have a better response. Calling the police but not thinking of putting it in neutral is suspicious, makes me wonder how many cranks are going to simulate an issue to try and get lawsuit money from Toyota.

Let's face it, anyone who drives a Prius is a puss anyway.

I certainly wouldn't expect them to have enough common sense
to know how to slow the vehicle down safely.

Prius drivers raise kids who wear helmets, knee pads, teeth guards,
and safety goggles while riding a bike and wonder why their kids turn out to be picked-on dweebs who end up working in a cubicle, driving a Prius, and not having the common sense to be able to slow down a car if the brakes are faulty.

My mother in-law has an affected Camry and would not believe me that you could stop a car with the brake, if the gas pedal was stuck down. So last Saturday I took her for a ride, we found a deserted stretch of highway and at 60 mph I floored the car and then stood on the brakes. It stoped. Then I made her do the same thing but from 30 mph so she could get used to the feeling.

I seem to recall the same stories and accounts many years ago when Audi's were accused of the same thing.

My new DD, a Lexus 250hs, was recalled for a brake software update. I haven't had any problems in my 2 months of ownership. I really like the car, it gets over 35 MPG on REGULAR gas. I filled it up tonight for 27.00! However, after watching the newsclip on that Prius this morning, I may want to get rid of the car. Anyway, the shifter in these cars is a little handle. I tried putting it in neutral(just in case) and it coasted just fine. Hopefully, I won't be in a newsclip about my car!

Just saw the guy on TV. He went back to the dealer (with about a dozen reporters in tow). 911 told him to put it into neutral. When asked why he did not put it in neutral he said that he was "unfamiliar with the transmission" and afraid that it would flip.

Priuses don't have handbrakes...

people are just dumb, we as a society have gotten to the point where we don't even know how a car works )but we drive them everyday)

put in N
turn off the car
use the ebrake slowly
swerve into a wall
call in the cops to drop a spike strip...lol

Where's Toyota on this anyway? One idiot a week goes on national TV and trashes their brand and they just let em' have at it. Surely they could find a polite way of saying that these drivers are morons of the highest order and that there ARE simple ways of bringing the car to a stop. A strong offense is the best defense and this company is just pitiful in the way it's defending the brand. If their lawyers are still getting paid they're the luckiest guys in the world imo.