I need to state at the beginning of this article that I do not have the technical knowledge to understand what happened here--I trust the people who are reporting it. On Sunday, Jalopnik.com reported on their research into the runaway Prius incident in California last week. They have posted memos on their website regarding the incident which they feel show that the incident was staged. They are not the only skeptics.
Google.com posted an Associated Press story also expressing doubts as to how the incident actually happened and whether it was staged.
The reason for doubt on the part of the Jalopnik people is that the memos show that the patterns of brake wear are not consistent with the story being told. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal posted a story about the brake wear pattern, but you need to be a subscriber to access the full story.
Jalopnik also reported:
"According to Mr. David Justo, Toyota Motor Sales HQ, I was informed that he is Toyota's residential Hybrid expert, he stats "that if MG2 (gas pedal is to the floor, creating positive force) and the driver puts the brake MG1 (creating negative force) then the engine would shut down. If the engine does not shut down then the gears would be spinning pat their maximum revolutions per minute and completely seize the engine. So, in this case, knowing that we are able to push the car around the shop, it does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time"."
This may turn out to be the automotive equivalent of the balloon boy hoax. There may be an acceleration problem with some Toyotas, but faking an incident is not helpful to anyone.
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