http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...DNewsCollection
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that the Prius involved in a highly publicized acceleration incident on a California freeway along with many others will be the subject of a future recall to prevent floor mats from pinning down the gas pedal.
On Monday, James Sikes, 61 years old, called 911 for help after his 2008 Prius accelerated to more than 90 miles per hour near San Diego and he couldn't slow it down.
"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny ... it jumped and it just stuck there," Mr. Sikes said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press. "I was trying the brakes ... it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up,'' Mr. Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning.
James Sikes was driving his Toyota Prius when the accelerator stuck, he says.
A California Highway Patrol officer caught up to the Prius and advised the driver to apply both the brakes and emergency brake to slow the vehicle. Eventually, Mr. Sikes was able to shut the engine off and stop the vehicle. The patrolman pulled his car in front of the Prius as a precaution. Mr. Sikes was unhurt.
Toyota has recalled various model years of the Toyota Camry and Avalon sedans and the Lexus ES sedan to reshape the floor and gas pedals to prevent unsecured or ill-fitting floor mats from trapping the pedal in an open position.
Brian Lyons, a Toyota spokesman, said Toyota plans to recall Prius hybrids from the 2004 to 2009 model years to address the same issue. Mr. Sikes's car is a 2008 Prius.
The recall hasn't been issued yet because Toyota "hasn't developed the remedy yet," Mr. Lyons said.
Escalating Problem
The spokesman said Toyota had previously announced that the 2004 to 2009 Priuses will be subject to a recall.
Toyota is sending engineers look to look at Mr. Sikes's car, the company said Tuesday. The Transportation Department is also sending an investigator to inspect the vehicle and gather information on the incident.
The incident took place a few hours after the auto maker concluded a detailed media presentation intended to rebut critics who suggest electrical problems could be causing its vehicles to speed up without drivers depressing the accelerator.
Reports of unintended acceleration have prompted Toyota to recall more than six million vehicles in the U.S. The recalls fix floor mats and gas pedals that can get stuck—the cause, according to the company, of the sudden-acceleration complaints.
For weeks, Toyota has tried to tamp down concern about the safety of its vehicles and rebut suggestions it did not react quickly enough to reports of sudden acceleration, including some that involved fatalities. But news of new, unrelated recalls and tense testimony by Toyota executives before Congress last month have kept the company on the defense.
"Toyota learned of a report that a California Highway Patrol (CHP) unit was dispatched in response to a 911 call from a motorist driving a Prius on Interstate 8 in San Diego County who said the accelerator pedal was stuck," the company said in a brief statement.
Olivia Alair, a Transportation Department spokeswoman, said in a separate statement that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is flying an investigator to California to look for potential causes of the incident.
Write to Neal E. Boudette at [email protected] and Josh Mitchell at [email protected]
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that the Prius involved in a highly publicized acceleration incident on a California freeway along with many others will be the subject of a future recall to prevent floor mats from pinning down the gas pedal.
On Monday, James Sikes, 61 years old, called 911 for help after his 2008 Prius accelerated to more than 90 miles per hour near San Diego and he couldn't slow it down.
"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny ... it jumped and it just stuck there," Mr. Sikes said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press. "I was trying the brakes ... it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up,'' Mr. Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning.
James Sikes was driving his Toyota Prius when the accelerator stuck, he says.
A California Highway Patrol officer caught up to the Prius and advised the driver to apply both the brakes and emergency brake to slow the vehicle. Eventually, Mr. Sikes was able to shut the engine off and stop the vehicle. The patrolman pulled his car in front of the Prius as a precaution. Mr. Sikes was unhurt.
Toyota has recalled various model years of the Toyota Camry and Avalon sedans and the Lexus ES sedan to reshape the floor and gas pedals to prevent unsecured or ill-fitting floor mats from trapping the pedal in an open position.
Brian Lyons, a Toyota spokesman, said Toyota plans to recall Prius hybrids from the 2004 to 2009 model years to address the same issue. Mr. Sikes's car is a 2008 Prius.
The recall hasn't been issued yet because Toyota "hasn't developed the remedy yet," Mr. Lyons said.
Escalating Problem
The spokesman said Toyota had previously announced that the 2004 to 2009 Priuses will be subject to a recall.
Toyota is sending engineers look to look at Mr. Sikes's car, the company said Tuesday. The Transportation Department is also sending an investigator to inspect the vehicle and gather information on the incident.
The incident took place a few hours after the auto maker concluded a detailed media presentation intended to rebut critics who suggest electrical problems could be causing its vehicles to speed up without drivers depressing the accelerator.
Reports of unintended acceleration have prompted Toyota to recall more than six million vehicles in the U.S. The recalls fix floor mats and gas pedals that can get stuck—the cause, according to the company, of the sudden-acceleration complaints.
For weeks, Toyota has tried to tamp down concern about the safety of its vehicles and rebut suggestions it did not react quickly enough to reports of sudden acceleration, including some that involved fatalities. But news of new, unrelated recalls and tense testimony by Toyota executives before Congress last month have kept the company on the defense.
"Toyota learned of a report that a California Highway Patrol (CHP) unit was dispatched in response to a 911 call from a motorist driving a Prius on Interstate 8 in San Diego County who said the accelerator pedal was stuck," the company said in a brief statement.
Olivia Alair, a Transportation Department spokeswoman, said in a separate statement that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is flying an investigator to California to look for potential causes of the incident.
Write to Neal E. Boudette at [email protected] and Josh Mitchell at [email protected]
