Toyota Prius: Doubts on Prius Runway speeding story
The runway speeding story reported by a Toyota Prius user may not have been 'feasibly possible', according to Toyota Motors. The company's technicians were not able to replicate the scenario, as per an internal memo.
AS PER Toyota Motors, the runway speeding story reported by a Toyota Prius user may not have been "feasibly possible". After several tests that Toyota Motors based technicians did on the Toyota Prius which reportedly had unintended acceleration issues, they could not replicate the problem, according to internal memo that a media organisation retrived recently.
The incident in question occcurred when a Toyota Prius user, James Sikes called up 911 and reported that his 2008 Toyota Prius' accelerator got stuck when he was on the California freeway. The driver on Monday required help to stop his speeding car, raising questions on why the safety mechanism promised in the car had not kicked in.
The report had come at the worst possible time for Toyota Motors, which has already issued a Toyota recall of eight million vehicles and is answering a federal investigation on its safety issues.
This internal memo says that both investigators from Toyota Motors and the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) could not replicate the runaway speeding and that the backup mechanism, which stops the engine whenever the brake and gas pedals are both pressed, did work.
The memo stated, “Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor, the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down. It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time.”
It also said, that this particular car's front brake pads, were found to be spent. “Visually checking the brake pads and rotor it was clearly visible that there was nothing left.” However, this wear and tear of the brakes did not tally with the one that should have occurred with brakes being applied at full force for a long period.
The findings have clearly questioned “the credibility of Mr Sikes' reporting of events”, as per Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for California Rep Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the oversight committee.
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