I just watched the interview with Mr. James Sikes and he dodged the question of why he did not shift to neutral. I still say this is a classic case of someone staging an event. If the engineers at Toyota did, in fact, design a “shift by wire” system then I think they should all be shot at dawn. I, for one, will volunteer to be the first member of the firing squad. Something like that is akin to putting a ticking bomb in every new car.
This whole episode is suspicious. Mr. Sikes is either A. an incompetent driver B. ridiculously unfamiliar with his vehicle, or C. looking to cash in. It is awfully convenient that that this happened in the midst of the Toyota recall. Even if the pedal did stick, and the transmission wouldn’t go into neutral, one can simply hold the engine start/stop button down for few seconds and it will shut off, I don’t have a Prius and even I know that. The brakes should’ve been able to stop him regardless. They guy was able to call 911 and talk to them for a bit, but was somehow unable to do anything else, until a cop showed up on the scene and yelled instructions at him over the P.A. system in his cruiser. Also it’s curious that in this minutes long escapade, the Prius was doing just over 90 MPH. This car’s top speed is 104 MPH (governed), one would think that if the accelerator was stuck wide open, given the amount of time involved, the car would we bouncing off the speed limiter. Perhaps Mr. Sikes ran out of courage around the 90 MPH mark. Several things in his story simply don’t add up.
Why don’t you look it up and satisfy yourself instead of guessing. Are you an engineer?
‘. . .if the engineers at Toyota did, in fact design a “shift by wire” system . . .’
Would you consider the 1958 top level Edsel models with the pushbuttons for the transmission in the center of the wheel a “shift by wire” system?" These pushbuttons were electrical as opposed to Chrysler products and later AMC products where the pushbuttons were mechanical.
I wonder, how many people know that they can push that button on the dash, hold it for four seconds, and turn the engine OFF!? [If not a button, they have the ignition key to turn OFF.] WHEN will they learn?
Let’s see. four seconds at 90 mph, 528 ft. and you are still going 90 mph, just starting to slow down. Or, you are at or approaching a pedestrian filled intersection when your car takes off. If you have to rely on shutting your car off in an emergency, you are not driving a safe car. I would not ride in a “fly by wire” Toyota, much less own one. They are obviously having problems. Electronics, computer code, static electricity, whatever, they are not safe.
I would not consider them as dangerous because the operator of the Edsel (or AMC) had full control of the buttons. The Toyota “shift by wire” is computer controlled which renders the driver inoperable when the system goes haywire.
Missileman–Tridag is correct.
Sure, the driver of an Edsel had “full control of the buttons”, but if pushing those buttons did not result in anything, then the driver of an Edsel would be in the same situation as a driver of a modern car with a “shift by wire” system.
The transmission pushbuttons on the Edsels were located in the center of the steering wheel hub, and because of this odd location, the only connection to the transmission was an electrical one. And, sure enough, this became one of the problem areas on the Edsel.
The electrical connections to the shift solenoids located on the side of the transmission were subject to corrosion from road salt (and subject to gear selection problems as a result of that corrosion). While I don’t recall any reports of serious incidents resulting from this type of problem on the Edsel, the fact remains that this system was a very early application of electronic controls with no mechanical connection between the driver’s gear selector and the transmission.
The thing was, Mr. Sikes was able to carry on a converstation on the phone for more like four minutes. He had ample time to try a variety of techniques to get the car slowed.
One would think that someone who spent thousands of dollars on something would take the time to learn everything about it they could about the product.
OK. I will agree that the systems were somewhat similar and could be dangerous. You should agree that they were “less dangerous” because a computer was not in control. I had not thought of the Edsel but I did own an old Plymouth years ago with “push button” shifting on the dash. It was dangerous for many more reasons than the shifting system.
I think that problems are more apt to be in the signals sent to the computer or the devices operated by the computer. If the signal is sent from the onboard computer to shift the transmission to neutral, but the solenoid malfunctions, it is no different than the signal sent from the pushbutton in the middle of the steering column on the Edsel.
What if you turn off the key and then turn it right back on? Wouldn’t you be rebooting the computer? You would have power back to your steering and brakes. And if the engine were still racing, couldn’t you just turn the key to the power setting, and not restart the engine? Just a simple question from a “civilian,” but I know the experts on this site will be able to help me. I have several relatives with Toyotas, and they aren’t sure what to do if it happens to them. Thanks!
What about the people that never had “ample time to try” different things? Many are dead or in jail for vehicular homicide because they ran out of time trying a variety of things trying to stop a runaway car. Bottom line, these cars are not safe.
What to do is STAND ON THE BRAKES until the car slows to a stop. It’s that simple. If you can think to turn the switch off, do that too, and leave it off. It is really unlikely that “rebooting the computer” is going to fix anything. The computers in cars are nothing like a home PC. They are much simpler and more rugged. They don’t run 1000s of programs.
But, really, the brakes will stop the car, even at full throttle, you just have to keep on them as hard as possible.
Most of the people on this board don’t even know if they have an electronically controlled transmission, accelerator or engine stop circuit. Most are driving around with the floormats in the trunk saying “What’s the problem?”
If they stop the car it is doubtful it will stop safely, or in a reasonable amount of time. Heaven help anyone in front of you.
I don’t understand why the drivers of these cars can’t just put their cars in NEUTRAL and let the engine, not the car, race to its heart’s content?
Can anyone (Tom/Ray?) answer this for me? Why did a cop follow the guy in the Prius for 20 minutes and never suggest this???
“One would think that someone who spent thousands of dollars on something would take the time to learn everything about it they could about the product.”
Heck! If people don’t even know exactly what model of car they are driving, it is unlikely that they will spend any time learning about the features of that vehicle!
We constantly get posts from people asking about problems with their “LaSabra”, or their “Camary”, or their “Impressa”, or…my favorite–a “Toyota Accord”.
We get questions from people about some sort of control on the dashboard of their new car, despite the fact that this info is covered in their Owner’s Manual.
We get people asking about a problem with their “V-6”, despite the fact that the particular model that they are referring to has an I-6 or an H-6.
Last year, we had a woman who was adamant that no ordinary person could possibly comprehend the contents of an Owner’s Manual, despite the fact that these booklets are purposely written on an 8th grade reading level.
We get questions from people who are not even sure about the model year of their vehicle, despite the fact that this info appears on the vehicle’s registration.
Yesterday, we had someone who had entrusted the repair of her car to a mechanic who had no fixed address, and whose name she did not know.
I have come to the conclusion that there is a HUGE percentage of the population that blunders through each day without much thought process being involved in what they do–at least as regards their cars (and possibly much of their other daily activity).
I agree with you wholeheartedly, FoDaddy.
One would think that learning about one’s expensive car would be a priority for people.
It is a priority for you, and it is for me, and it apparently is for most of the regulars on this site.
But, as to the general population…?
One poster said that the Prius cannot be put into neutral while you are accelerating.