Who would have guessed the Prius could hit 94 MPH

[Pontiacgt201]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100309/ap_on_...runaway_prius_4

heres the news video

http://news.yahoo.com/video/sandiego-chann...GhlbHBzZHJpdg--

EL CAJON, Calif. – A California Highway Patrol officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop on Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County freeway, the CHP said.

Prius driver James Sikes said that the incident Monday occurred just two weeks after he had taken the vehicle in to an El Cajon dealership for repairs after receiving a recall notice, but he was turned away.

"I gave them my recall notice and they handed it back and said I'm not on the recall list," Sikes said.

In a statement, Toyota said it has dispatched a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the incident.

Toyota has recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide — more than 6 million in the United States — since last fall because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius.

On Monday, Sikes called 911 about 1:30 p.m. after accelerating to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 near La Posta and finding that he could not control his car, the CHP said.

"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny ... it jumped and it just stuck there," the 61-year-old driver said at a news conference.

"As it was going, I was trying the brakes ... it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up," Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning he was pressing the pedal so hard.

A patrol car pulled alongside the Prius and officers told Sikes over a loudspeaker to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brake.

"They also got it going on a steep upgrade," said Officer Jesse Udovich. "Between those three things, they got it to slow down."

After the car decelerated to about 50 mph, Sikes turned off the engine and coasted to a halt.

The officer then maneuvered his car in front of the Prius as a precautionary block, Udovich said.

Toyota owners have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles since 2000.

One of the crashes claimed the life of a CHP officer in August.

Off-duty CHP Officer Mark Saylor was killed along with his wife, her brother and the couple's daughter after their Lexus' accelerator got stuck in La Mesa.

The Toyota-manufactured loaner vehicle slammed into a sport utility vehicle at about 100 mph, careened off the freeway, hit an embankment, overturned and burst into flames.

[notallthere]

I am glad I do not work at the Service Desk at El Cajon Toyota right now.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Saw this on the news while at the gym this morning.

I thoroughly lol'd.

[Ringo64]

I think some people are just after a law suit and to get some money from Toyota. Also any of these people think to just throw their car in neutral and turn the engine off then coast to the side of the road I guess that would be too logical and easy for Toyota customers though...

[coolmanvette75]

toyota, what a joke

[Sam]

a prius at 94 mph? damn he must have been going down a major slope with a hurricane force tail wind

[markpetersonii]

Wow, El Cajon? I'm there pretty often and I think BAMBAMM's bro lives there.

Pretty crazy though!

[kaymo]

i had the accelerator stick in my 96 buick roadmaster once. the mechanic who last worked on the cruise control had bolted the throttle cable bracket to the wrong hole, so when i stomped the throttle to go around some jerk that pulled in front of me and slowed down on an empty two lane, it stuck wide open.

the LT1 pulled me to 110 VERY fast, but is electronically limited. i was standing on the brakes with both feet and pulling on the steering wheel with both hands and STILL going 100 mph. i didnt cut the car off because i would have been stuck on a dark stretch of road with no tools, so i continued at an insane rate of speed toward the next patch of civilization. as i approached the intersection, i threw on my hazards, popped the trans in neutral and cut the ign. i ALMOST coasted thru the intersection when some asshole going the opposite way decided to run the yellow almost red light even tho my 18 foot white+ woody wagon with its flashers on was making a left in front of him. i had to stop to let him go around... but luckily i was on a slight incline still so after about 30 seconds i rolled the rest of the way thru the intersection and into a parking lot. if it had been any amount of uphill i would have been SCREWED!!!

mom brought my hand tools and i had the problem corrected in minutes, but i swore id never take my car to a mechanic ever again

[Roadwarrior]

i had the accelerator stick in my 96 buick roadmaster once. the mechanic who last worked on the cruise control had bolted the throttle cable bracket to the wrong hole, so when i stomped the throttle to go around some jerk that pulled in front of me and slowed down on an empty two lane, it stuck wide open.

the LT1 pulled me to 110 VERY fast, but is electronically limited. i was standing on the brakes with both feet and pulling on the steering wheel with both hands and STILL going 100 mph. i didnt cut the car off because i would have been stuck on a dark stretch of road with no tools, so i continued at an insane rate of speed toward the next patch of civilization. as i approached the intersection, i threw on my hazards, popped the trans in neutral and cut the ign. i ALMOST coasted thru the intersection when some asshole going the opposite way decided to run the yellow almost red light even tho my 18 foot white+ woody wagon with its flashers on was making a left in front of him. i had to stop to let him go around... but luckily i was on a slight incline still so after about 30 seconds i rolled the rest of the way thru the intersection and into a parking lot. if it had been any amount of uphill i would have been SCREWED!!!

mom brought my hand tools and i had the problem corrected in minutes, but i swore id never take my car to a mechanic ever again

I would have wanted to kick the living crap out of that mechanic

[danmccormick87]

I would have wanted to kick the living crap out of that mechanic

And Toyota deserves to be shut down since hiding problems with their whole line since early 2000 on up...

[oldmanvette1975]

As of tonight (Friday), the authorities are questioning the background of the guy making the claim. They say he has filed for bankruptcy and owes $860K and has a questionable background.

The Highway Patrol officer is backing the guy though saying he smelled the brakes burning as the guy tried to stop the Prius!?!?!?

[danmccormick87]

Who cares, it was witnessed publicly, and he was filmed from both a squad car and another camera, they are just trying their hardest to disprove this, as they F@#$ed up their reputation even further when this hit...