Toyota Doubts Runaway Prius Driver's Story

9:35am UK

Tuesday March 16, 2010

Alison Chung

Sky News Online

Toyota says it has found no evidence to support a driver's claim that the accelerator pedal on his Prius jammed at 94mph, sparking a dramatic police chase.

The carmaker said its technicians found the car's accelerator pedal and back-up safety system were working correctly on the 2009 gas-electric hybrid vehicle.

A Toyota spokesman said 61-year-old James Sikes' account of racing out of control on a motorway in San Diego, California, did not correspond with a series of tests.

"We have no opinion on his account, what he's been saying, other than that the scenario is not consistent with the technical findings," Mike Michels said.

US safety investigators have also carried out separate tests but have failed to recreate the sudden, unintended acceleration that Mr Sikes said he encountered.

"We would caution people that our work continues and that we may never know exactly what happened with this car," said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The highway patrol said the initial findings of Toyota and NHTSA did not constitute sufficient grounds to re-open an inquiry into the incident.

We're not saying Mr Sikes is wrong or that he lied, we're saying that questions have arisen in the investigation.

Kurt Bardella, speaking about the US government's report into the incident

"Up until now, they've presented no physical evidence that's like a smoking gun to disprove Mr Sikes' statement," said spokesman Brian Pennings.

"We have to take Mr Sikes at his word until there's evidence to discount his statement."

Mr Pennings said that observations of the highway patrol officer who came to Mr Sikes' aid supported his claim.

When the state trooper caught up with Mr Sikes' Prius on the motorway, the car was travelling at break-neck speed with the smell of burning brakes in the air.

Mr Pennings added that even when Mr Sikes managed to slow the car by following the officer's instructions to apply the footbrakes and emergency brake, the driver appeared to be "literally standing on the brakes".

But Toyota said it had found no evidence that Mr Sikes had been applying the brake forcefully and said he should have been able to stop the Prius by doing so, or by shifting into neutral or turning off the electronic power switch.

The drama on March 8 added to the headaches for Toyota which has been struggling to reassure the public that it is dealing with safety issues that sparked a recall of 8.5 million vehicles.