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The further this thread goes, the harder-core an old car guy I become....that's some shifter there rosecitywanderer! Clearly it's nothing more than a suggestion box to the computer network that actually controls the current gen Prius...
Yeah I was taken back by that myself. I assumed the Prius had a normal shifter--I am now second guessing some of my previous comments
Apparently the driver could not shift into neutral. The Prius has an electronic transmission.
More details are coming out saying the police cruiser pulled alongside the Prius used a loudspeaker to tell them to engage the parking brake, then use the regular brakes, and once it was below 50 mph the cruiser pulled ahead and physically slowed the vehicle down.
Other reports say once the police got the vehicle to slow to 50 mph after instructing the driver to engage the parking brake, the driver managed to shut off the engine and coast to a stop.
The official police report is still pending and will clear up the details.
i saw the officer on the local news last night. he said upon exiting his vehicle he noted a strong odor of "burning brakes"
I really wonder what the handbrake had to do with stopping the car - typically the handbrake is not very strong, it either actuates rear drum brakes (only) or frequently like in older Corvettes and at least E30 BMW cars, it actuates a mini drum brake that's an integral part of the rear disc brakes.
My *guess* is that the handbrake application "woke up" the Hal-like computer and caused it to back off?
I really wonder what the handbrake had to do with stopping the car - typically the handbrake is not very strong, it either actuates rear drum brakes (only) or frequently like in older Corvettes and at least E30 BMW cars, it actuates a mini drum brake that's an integral part of the rear disc brakes.
My *guess* is that the handbrake application "woke up" the Hal-like computer and caused it to back off?
hmm maybe.. I know its pretty puzzeling.. Rear disk brake cars have small drum type brakes for the parking brakes. All 3 of our cars have this.
Hell, if Toyota can't figure it out, how are we going to figure it out? I don't even have a Prius manual, much less a Prius, much less all the documentation for the engineering work (well, I guess they have documentation...maybe they are in the market for a Slick Willie 240V Shredder with Subpoena Turbo Speed?) so how can I figure it out.
Unfortunately another Prius today was out of control in NY State:
Another Prius speeds out of control, N.Y. police say | freep.com | Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/article/20100309/BUSINESS0104/100309064/1002/business/Another-Prius-speeds-out-of-control-N.Y.-police-say - broken link)
The guy on the local news (L.A.) showed how to shift a Prius into neutral and turn it off. It worked.
You are ignoring the fact that the electronic transmission uses a series of sensors to input the shifts. Whatever was going haywire in the computer with the acceleration was probably also affecting his ability to shift and shut the vehicle off.
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