Imagine the terror if you stepped on the brake and instead of slowing down, your car sped up. In San Diego, a "runaway" Prius did just that. According to the LA Times:
James Sikes bought his Toyota Prius in 2008 and 53,000 miles later the car was driving fine. But on Monday afternoon, when he accelerated to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 east of San Diego, the car kept going.
The runaway Prius sped along for 30 miles, reaching 90 miles per hour before police were able to instruct Sikes how to stop the car. (As a side note, if you have the same problem, use your brakes, emergency brake, and try to wait for an uphill climb to slow your car. That's one way, at least, to stop a runaway Prius.)
Oddly, the car had been in the shop for a recall repair just two weeks ago. Could a shoddy repairman have caused the craziness? In all likelihood, it was a freak accident, and Toyota and government officials are investigating.
The runaway Prius story hasn't sparked yet another recall… yet. Toyota responded to rumors of a new Prius recall by saying:
Media reports, citing a Wall Street Journal article, have incorrectly reported that Toyota plans to announce a new recall for the 2004-2009 Prius to address the potential risk for floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals.There is no new recall being planned for the Prius to address this issue. To be clear, the 2004-2009 Prius was part of Toyota's November 2, 2009 announcement of a voluntary safety recall campaign to address floor mat entrapment.
Toyota has recalled over 6 million cars in the United States due to braking/acceleration problems. It seems that the runaway Prius wasn't covered by the recall (it was a 2008 model). We'll have to see what the investigation turns up before making a final judgment call on this situation.
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