Toyota Breaks
This morning the story of the California man whose Prius accelerated out of control has been on the major networks. I saw the story and wondered what the hell the guy’s problem was. I’m not saying the car didn’t do what he says it did, accelerate up to over 90 mph. He called 911 and a Highway Patrol officer was able to intervene, talk him through several steps and finally stop the car. Now, the CNN story says the emergency dispatcher tried to talk the man through possible solutions but doesn’t state what those steps might have been.
If you are driving a car that accelerates beyond your control (especially on more or less flat terrain, not going down hill like a bat out of hell) immediately put the transmission into neutral and apply the brakes. Once you get your car pulled over, shut off the engine. I can only wonder what the 911 dispatcher actually told the runaway James Sikes but it should have been, “put the transmission in neutral and pull the car over”. And that should have been it.
It all makes me wonder, “did you get that memo? I’ll make sure you get a copy of that memo”.
