Prius Runaway Acceleration Leads to 911 Call, Investigation

March 2010

Another Toyota incident is making its rounds in the news and drawing even more attention to the automaker. This time it's a Prius that's involved, and the driver says that the car accelerated to 90 mph on its own and was only stopped after a 911 call and police intervention.

Earlier this week, James Sikes of California was driving his 2008 Toyota Prius when he pressed on the gas pedal to pass another vehicle. According to Mr. Sikes, the gas pedal "jumped" and then got stuck, pushing the car to over 90 mph. After calling 911, an officer pulled up along Mr. Sikes, offering suggestions on how to slow the car down over a loudspeaker. By using the regular brake and the emergency brake at the same time, Mr. Sikes got the car down to 50 mph, eventually allowing him to stop the vehicle.

Though the Prius has been included in a recall for sliding floor mats, Mr. Sikes said that he checked the floor mat during the incident and it hadn't dislodged. Furthermore, a police inspection found that the car's floor mat was securely in place and hadn't interfered with the gas pedal.

Since Monday's incident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said it is sending representatives to investigate and Toyota has announced that it will look into Mr. Sikes' case.