Another speeding Prius

An unintended 94 mph

Yesterday, a Southern California man claimed to have experienced sudden acceleration in his 2008 Toyota Prius. For about 30 miles James Sikes could not slow down his Prius which accelerated to 94 mph.

After passing another car on the freeway, Sikes said the gas pedal stuck and the car just kept accelerating. Putting full pressure on the brakes did nothing to slow the Prius which “just kept accelerating”. While unintentionally accelerating, Sikes drove the car with one hand while trying to remove the floor mat and even trying to work the gas pedal lose, but that didn’t work either.

After a fruitless 911 call, a CHP officer pulled alongside the man and instructed him to put on the emergency brake while depressing the brakes, bringing the car’s speed down to 55 mph, at which point the officer told Sikes to shut off the car.

In a later report, Sikes said he would have shut off the car earlier, but he was worried about losing the power steering.