anyone here still own a Prius?
in [Aussie Drivers]
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From: Milton on 9 Mar 2010 04:49 Oh dear! Mr Toyota must be shaking in his boots. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1025243/Toyota-Prius-in-runaway-drama-on-California-freeway A Toyota Prius has accelerated out of control on a busy California freeway before police intervened to bring the vehicle to a standstill, police said. James Sikes, 61, was driving on the busy Interstate 8 freeway outside San Diego when he noticed his car was starting to accelerate of its own accord, the California Highway Patrol said. The terrified motorist was helpless as the car hurtled out of control along the road at speeds more than 90 miles per hour. However Sikes was able to call police, and officers using a loudspeaker were talked the driver through the process of slowing down by using his emergency brake and then turning off the engine. Police then pulled in front of the car as it decelerated and rolled to a stop and put the rear bumper of the squad car against the front of the Prius. The incident came as Toyota staged a technical demonstration to attack allegations by a vocal critic that problems with its electronics may cause its cars to speed out of control. In recent months, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide due to acceleration issues. The latest incident in California was a chilling echo of the incident last August where off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor was killed along with his wife, her brother and the Saylors' 13-year-old daughter when the accelerator of the Lexus ES350 they were in got stuck. Minutes later, the Toyota-manufactured vehicle slammed into the back of a sport utility vehicle at about 100mph, veered off the freeway, overturned and burst into flames. All four family members died.
From: Jason James on 9 Mar 2010 16:22 "Milton" <millame23(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:4b9619b7$0$27789$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com... > Oh dear! Mr Toyota must be shaking in his boots. > > http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1025243/Toyota-Prius-in-runaway-drama-on-California-freeway > > A Toyota Prius has accelerated out of control on a busy California freeway > before police intervened to bring the vehicle to a standstill, police > said. > James Sikes, 61, was driving on the busy Interstate 8 freeway outside San > Diego when he noticed his car was starting to accelerate of its own > accord, the California Highway Patrol said. > The terrified motorist was helpless as the car hurtled out of control > along the road at speeds more than 90 miles per hour. > However Sikes was able to call police, and officers using a loudspeaker > were talked the driver through the process of slowing down by using his > emergency brake and then turning off the engine. > Police then pulled in front of the car as it decelerated and rolled to a > stop and put the rear bumper of the squad car against the front of the > Prius. > The incident came as Toyota staged a technical demonstration to attack > allegations by a vocal critic that problems with its electronics may cause > its cars to speed out of control. > In recent months, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles > worldwide due to acceleration issues. > The latest incident in California was a chilling echo of the incident last > August where off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor was > killed along with his wife, her brother and the Saylors' 13-year-old > daughter when the accelerator of the Lexus ES350 they were in got stuck. > Minutes later, the Toyota-manufactured vehicle slammed into the back of a > sport utility vehicle at about 100mph, veered off the freeway, overturned > and burst into flames. All four family members died. Is the throttle "fly by wire". On that issue alone, I wouldnt buy such a car. Jason
From: John Tserkezis on 9 Mar 2010 17:33 On 10/03/2010 9:08 AM, Jason James wrote: > Put another way, there are unofficially 3 standards of electronic design ie > retail, where you get a lucky-dip of design reliability, commercial, where > you get a batter std of design, and military, which is known also as "mil > spec"which is the most reliable where components as well as cct design is > paramount. Cars by their safety issues, should be the latter. Whether there > is any such undertaking, I dont know, on their part. There's more than that. Lots more. But to be clear, there is no clear line on "better" and "worse". It comes down to requirements on the particular group. Not all groups are clearly differentiated either. Some groups may share certain specifications and requirements, while other specs are vastly different. - Even though the device in question may serve the same/similar purpose in the industry. If you *had* to place automotive in your better/worse group, it would be better than commercial but not up to military. On average. Some specs are at MilSpec, some are below commercial, approaching your retail.
From: Diesel Damo on 9 Mar 2010 17:58 On Mar 9, 8:49 pm, "Milton" <millam...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > officers using a loudspeaker were talked the driver > through the process of slowing down by using his > emergency brake and then turning off the engine. What's the "emergency brake"? Is it the hand brake? And if simply turning off the engine was an option at any time, I'm disgusted that police were required to attend the scene to tell him to do that. You would think that any car manufacturer, after all these kinds of stories in recent times, would at least be considering never locking out the option of simply killing the engine with the key.
From: John Tserkezis on 9 Mar 2010 18:31
On 10/03/2010 9:58 AM, Diesel Damo wrote: > What's the "emergency brake"? Is it the hand brake?> Yes, in the US, "hand brake" is pronounced "emergency brake". > And if simply > turning off the engine was an option at any time, I'm disgusted that > police were required to attend the scene to tell him to do that. Never underestimate the power of stupid. After all, what requirements are there to getting a licence? > You would think that any car manufacturer, after all these kinds of > stories in recent times, would at least be considering never locking > out the option of simply killing the engine with the key. They don't. That's always an option. There are some "safety" features in modern vehicles that prevent you from going into certain gears, but this is more a self-preservation thing. Such as preventing the end user from going into Park or Reverse while the ECU is clearly being told you're hurtling down the freeway at 100Km/h. Also, there are electronic controls that prevent cranking the engine when you're in gear or Park. They also go to great pains (at least nowadays) that when you twist the key back, the engine WILL shut down. Routinely, they wind butterfly valves back as to seal the intake, intentionally starving the motor. Because you *have* to, if you want the motor to stop on your command anyway. Sure, there are faults that can occur that prevent this from happening, but it won't physically stop you from twisting the key back. In the case of the Prius, it appears to be all software related faults. When you're entirely drive-by-wire, if things go wrong, they could go wrong in a major way. Which is why there is dual and triple redundancy in theses systems to further insure against you losing control. Or at least, you would HOPE there is. Unless the accountant beancounters got hold of it. There's always the key though. Unless you're Chase Weir. |