Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oh yeah, last weekend, my neighbor took his Prius out on the highway, got it up to 70mph, floored it, then moved the shifter to the left and held it there, selecting neutral. Whattaya know. The engine continued to bounce off the rev limiter while the transmission disengaged and the car began to slow *instantly.*
People unable or unwilling to be responsible for controlling their own vehicle should not be allowed to operate them. Shame Toyota is being crucified for this.
This Toyota thing is not a conspiracy at all. It's just rampant stupidity and scapegoatism. This latest guy can't figure out how to stop the car, but at 90mph, he's on the cell phone while reaching under the dash with one hand to try and pull the gas pedal up "in case it was stuck."
Words can't express how far beyond ignorant I find it that we hear this story and the focus isn't on how the guy probably had ZERO business operating a car, let alone a highly advanced piece of technology like the Prius.
All these safety and "convenience" features being added to cars are done to further remove drivers from the actual responsibility of controlling 4000lbs of stamped steel and plastic. The technology is being advanced and implemented to ultimately turn every vehicle on the road into a self-driving, personal appliance. Basically, the common city bus, but with only one person on it.
* Automatic Transmissions - So we don't have to shift.
* Cruise Control - So we don't have to keep track of our speed.
* Anti-Lock Brakes - So we don't have to know how to stop the car quickly.
* Traction Control - So we don't have to think about acceleration beyond "floor it."
* Adaptive Cruise Control - So we don't have to think about applying the brakes when we come upon a slower vehicle.
* In-Dash Navigation - So we don't have to know where we're going in our own home town.
* Back Up Sensors - So we don't have to look where we're going.
* Blind Spot Sensors - So we don't have to look where we're going.
* Park Assist - So we don't have to know how to park.
* Hybrids - So we don't have to worry about actually being environmentally responsible.
All these features add to the weight, the complexity, and the cost of new vehicles. At the same time, they imply a greater sense of security behind the wheel - a false sense of confidence if you will - that results in more aggressive driving by a population becoming less and less capable of actually controlling a vehicle.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
In a car with mechanical connections for the throttle, transmission, and brakes, there is no reason why anyone smarter than a tire shouldn't be able to stop it if the engine took off. but if all that connects the driver to these systems is a $30,000 Xbox controller, well, I guess natural selection will not go quietly into that good night. Idiocracy be damned.
Besides, as sad as it is that 50 people have died in "out-of-control" Toyotas since 2002, 3000 people die every YEAR in this country because someone is dicking around on a mobile phone. Where is the outcry over this more deadly behavior? Where are the politicians spouting rhetoric about how the evil cell phone companies need to implement features which prevent any mobile phone functionality in a moving vehicle?
Oh wait. I forgot. 90% of Americans are "better than average" drivers, right? We know what we're doing behind the wheel.
Just a shame that just about anything by actually driving.
Oh yeah, last weekend, my neighbor took his Prius out on the highway, got it up to 70mph, floored it, then moved the shifter to the left and held it there, selecting neutral. Whattaya know. The engine continued to bounce off the rev limiter while the transmission disengaged and the car began to slow *instantly.*
People unable or unwilling to be responsible for controlling their own vehicle should not be allowed to operate them. Shame Toyota is being crucified for this.
well they still have to fix it but it shows that people need to brush up on there driving skills I mean we did learn learn this stuff to get our driver license in the first place but I bet if more people drove standard this would not be as big as a problem
Yeah, the guy just imperilled his life by purposefully driving 91 mph, right? And the cops are in on the conspiracy too, right?
Guess what, people: the feds, Toyota folks, and a lot of electronics/auto experts are investigating this and probably crawling over every nanometer of that car. If it's a hoax, they could probably spot it pretty quickly and say so. Or do you also think that the out of work actor worked together with some top secret car mafiosos to figure out how to expertly sabotage his car?
Oh wai...don't tell me - the governmnent is in on the conspiracy, too!
Too many low IQ people on here...
why would the cops be in on it? It would be VERY easy to pull this off. Drive fast, drag the brakes for miles, call 911 and after a while stop the car. After, work up tears, a worried face and scream to the media how you could not stop it. No one has to be in the know except you.. Bingo, wait for the suits to work up a case and cash in. Keep swearing no matter what anyone says that you could not stop it.. You don't think that is (can) happen? If not your are delusional
This Toyota thing is not a conspiracy at all. It's just rampant stupidity and scapegoatism. This latest guy can't figure out how to stop the car, but at 90mph, he's on the cell phone while reaching under the dash with one hand to try and pull the gas pedal up "in case it was stuck."
Words can't express how far beyond ignorant I find it that we hear this story and the focus isn't on how the guy probably had ZERO business operating a car, let alone a highly advanced piece of technology like the Prius.
All these safety and "convenience" features being added to cars are done to further remove drivers from the actual responsibility of controlling 4000lbs of stamped steel and plastic. The technology is being advanced and implemented to ultimately turn every vehicle on the road into a self-driving, personal appliance. Basically, the common city bus, but with only one person on it.
* Automatic Transmissions - So we don't have to shift.
* Cruise Control - So we don't have to keep track of our speed.
* Anti-Lock Brakes - So we don't have to know how to stop the car quickly.
* Traction Control - So we don't have to think about acceleration beyond "floor it."
* Adaptive Cruise Control - So we don't have to think about applying the brakes when we come upon a slower vehicle.
* In-Dash Navigation - So we don't have to know where we're going in our own home town.
* Back Up Sensors - So we don't have to look where we're going.
* Blind Spot Sensors - So we don't have to look where we're going.
* Park Assist - So we don't have to know how to park.
* Hybrids - So we don't have to worry about actually being environmentally responsible.
All these features add to the weight, the complexity, and the cost of new vehicles. At the same time, they imply a greater sense of security behind the wheel - a false sense of confidence if you will - that results in more aggressive driving by a population becoming less and less capable of actually controlling a vehicle.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
In a car with mechanical connections for the throttle, transmission, and brakes, there is no reason why anyone smarter than a tire shouldn't be able to stop it if the engine took off. but if all that connects the driver to these systems is a $30,000 Xbox controller, well, I guess natural selection will not go quietly into that good night. Idiocracy be damned.
Besides, as sad as it is that 50 people have died in "out-of-control" Toyotas since 2002, 3000 people die every YEAR in this country because someone is dicking around on a mobile phone. Where is the outcry over this more deadly behavior? Where are the politicians spouting rhetoric about how the evil cell phone companies need to implement features which prevent any mobile phone functionality in a moving vehicle?
Oh wait. I forgot. 90% of Americans are "better than average" drivers, right? We know what we're doing behind the wheel.
Just a shame that just about anything by actually driving.
Many of these Toyota fraud cases will never surface or be proved, but I have a feeling this one will. Even if you believe in all other Toyota Sudden Acceleration cases this one stinks beyond belief. Fake and poor acting--no Academy Awards in this case.
A girl with no shoes on, in a Prius driven by two broads who cant drive for crap, in a car w/o technical faults, on a Prius-lovers chat room. Wow. Im impressed.
And would someone please tell that chick to get her nasty bunions taken care of, too, thats disgusting. Dang hippies.
Many of these Toyota fraud cases will never surface or be proved, but I have a feeling this one will. Even if you believe in all other Toyota Sudden Acceleration cases this one stinks beyond belief. Fake and poor acting--no Academy Awards in this case.
Why is everyone calling this guy a fraud? No one has any proof he is lying. The only ones on the net calling him a fraud are Prius bloggers and the right wing hysterics who are so desperate to link anything to a government conspiracy.
I've already seen someone post this guy committed insurance fraud in the past, yet a quick Google search reveals absolutely nothing to support that claim. Too much heresy, not enough evidence.
I have been doing some research on the Prius and it in fact uses a shift by wire system for shifting the transmission. There are absolutely no mechanical working parts for the shifter so it is possible that if there is a problem with the computer that it will not shift. The shifter also does not engage like the shifter in a real car. When the driver moves the shifter to whatever gear they are looking for it does not stay in that position but springs back to its original position with only the digital dash telling what gear the vehicle is in. The brakes and the throttle on this car are BOTH drive by wire with no mechanical linkages. Thank goodness Toyota did something intelligent with this car and made the parking brake a mechanical linkage.
The Prius also uses a keyless starting system. All one has to do is have a key on their person, enter the vehicle and push the start button on the dashboard while depressing the brake with the vehicle in park. I have not found a clear answer yet on how the button works. On a conventional ignition system with a key, the ignition switch works like an open circuit when off (not allowing current to go through) and closes the circuit when turned on (allowing current to go through). Of course, the switch works like a circuit breaker and mechanically opens or closes the circuit so the vehicle can be turned off easily at any time by turning the key to the "off" position.
I have not found anything that is clear on how the Prius button turns the vehicle on and off. I have found that in order to shut the vehicle off, the driver must push and hold the power button for five seconds. I would like to think that the button itself works the same as an ignition switch where it by itself opens and closes the circuit but the holding of the button for five seconds could mean that perhaps the button tells the computer to open and close the circuit with another "switch". Upon further research while writing this post I found that the Prius has an emergency shut off using the same power button in which the driver must hold the push button in for three seconds and then the vehicle will shut off.
Being that this vehicle shuts off when you are parked and hold the button for five seconds and shuts off after holding the button for three seconds while actually driving I am lead to believe that the switch itself is not acting as a circuit breaker but rather is telling the computer to open or close the circuit. If this is the case, then I believe that a computer error can possibly accelerate the vehicle, allow the brakes not to work, allow the driver to not be able to shift into neutral and not allow the vehicle to be shut off. This would be quite the computer glitch but it would be possible since all of these things are computer controlled.
I do not know about others reading this, but I personally think this car is junk and would never buy one. There is way too much computer control in this vehicle for my liking. Whether or not the vehicle being turned on or off is controlled by the computer I would not want a vehicle that has the throttle, brakes and the shifter all controlled by the computer. Are people really that lame that they can't put a key in a slot and turn it? Is it really that much more difficult to turn a key than it is to press a button? If this was the only car available for me to own, the first thing I would do is to add my own separate kill switch.
With all that I have written, I am not saying that the person this thread refers to is definitely not lying but I believe it does show that what he is claiming is possible with a major computer controlled problem.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
dead on, my man
