Toyota takes aim at California runaway Prius story

   Toyota challenged a California driver's story of an out-of-control Prius at a press conference Monday afternoon in California.
   Executives from the automaker detailed preliminary findings of a joint investigation conducted by Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into an incident with an alleged out-of-control Prius.

Prius owner Jim Sikes made national headlines last week with claims that his car's accelerator got stuck as he sped up to pass a car while traveling on California's I-8 highway outside of San Diego and that he was unable to stop the car.

"As I was going, I was trying the brakes ... and it just kept speeding up," he said.
Sikes story is at odds with the findings of the investigation according to Toyota and to a draft congressional memo obtained by CNN.

"While a final report is not yet complete, there are strong indications that the driver's account of the event is inconsistent with the findings of the preliminary analysis," Toyota said in a prepared statement.
Sikes said he called 9-1-1 for help as he was traveling in excess of 90 mph on a winding, hilly portion of the interstate. He said dispatchers tried to talk him through ways to stop the car, but nothing helped.


Eventually, a California Highway Patrol officer was able to catch up to Sikes and used the patrol car's public address system to instruct Sikes to apply the brakes and the emergency brake at the same time. That tactic worked, and he was able to stop the car.

However, because driving a hybrid car like the Prius with both the gas pedal and the brakes simultaneously depressed would cause serious damage to the car's electric motor and, possibly other systems, Toyota says the Prius is designed to prevent that from happening.