Far be it from me to call bullshit on tragedy but the last few days have caused my skepticism meter to go into the red. Yesterday we heard about a gentleman by the name of Jim Sikes who claimed that his Toyota Prius took him on a 90 mph joy ride that almost ended up launching him over a cliff. Sikes said that when he attempted to pass a car on while traveling on Interstate 8 in San Diego, the accelerator pedal did something funny… meaning it was stuck to the floor.
Now we’re hearing of yet another incident involving a 2005 Prius, this time however it happened up in Harrison, NY. The driver stated that they were simply backing out of their driveway when the mishap occurred and just like the incident that was reported yesterday the claim was that the accelerator pedal stuck to the floor thus making the Prius run into a stone wall. No injuries were reported.
I hate to sound like a skeptic, but why now? I mean up until 2 months ago we never once heard of any problems with unintended acceleration from a Prius, but now all of a sudden we have two in two days… I don’t know. Listen, if these accounts are true then yes, Toyota must step up to the plate and rectify these issues immediately, but if they’re not and people are trying to cash in, then I truly hope they’ll receive the same public flogging as Toyota.
Source: CNN / Autoblog.com