Toyota casts doubts on runaway Prius claim トヨタは、プリウスが暴走したとの主張に疑いを投げかける
Carmaker: Accelerator, backup system were working in San Diego incident 自動車メーカー:サンディエゴ事件で プリウス車のアクセラレータ、バックアップシステムは、機能していたと明らかにした。
SAN DIEGO - Toyota cast doubt on a California man's claim that his Prius sped out of control, saying the driver's story is “inconsistent” with the findings of the company's preliminary investigation.
Toyota said the accelerator pedal in James Sikes' car was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system worked properly.
Earlier in the day, federal regulators said they were reviewing data from the gas-electric hybrid but so far had not found anything to explain the out-of-control acceleration reported by Sikes.
"We would caution people that our work continues and that we may never know exactly what happened with this car," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement.
Toyota spokesman John Hanson would not comment on what the company would say at the news conference, but said Toyota and investigators for NHTSA were able to pull data off the Prius' control computer.
"We have been able to download a fair amount of information that will help us," Hanson said, declining to give specifics.
The data, he said, should show whether the brake and gas pedals were depressed at the same time. Sikes has said the car sped up to 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. He said he jammed on the brakes trying to stop it.
Sikes called 911, and a highway patrol officer helped bring the vehicle to a safe stop. Though no one was injured, the episode quickly becoming a high-profile headache for Toyota, which like NHTSA sent in an engineering team to investigate.
"They have never been able to replicate an incident of sudden acceleration. Mr. Sikes never had a problem in the three years he owned this vehicle," he said Sunday.
But Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., suggested the failure to duplicate the stuck accelerator, and the presence of a backup system in the car, raised questions about Sikes' story.
Regulators said in a statement that Sikes' Prius was equipped with a backup safety device that reduces power to the wheels when the brakes and gas are pressed at the same time.