In my post from a few days ago, I suggested that something sounded 'fishy' about this latest 'runaway Prius' in San Diego.
The car got up to 94 miles an hour - 150 km/h; can a Prius actually GO that fast? - before the guy was able to bring it under control, ruining his brakes in the process.
And he refused to put it into Neutral as the cop driving alongside him suggested because he was afraid the car might 'flip'.
Are there really people that stupid out there?
Now, allegations are being bandied about that the entire thing was a hoax.
Balloon Boy redux.
I may have been (among) the first to have suspicions, but apparently not the last.
Subsequent investigation of the car shows the accelerator pedal was working fine, as were all the other car's systems.
I suppose it is within the realm of technical possibility that there was a simultaneous, complete and transient failure of several of the car's systems, that the incident left not the slightest trace in the car's amazingly complex computer systems, and that said incident can not be replicated after the fact.
It just isn't very likely.
It also turns out that if you DO shift a Prius into Neutral, which is the first thing you should do in ANY car if you experience rampant acceleration, the accelerator pedal is rendered inoperable.
Should you decide to switch the entire propulsion system off (again, not really recommended) remember it's like a Microsoft Windows computer - you shut it off by pressing and holding the Start button...
There is a very informative but very graphic - as in foul-mouthed and politically-incorrect in the EXTREME - video clip on YouTube which illustrates what to do in case your Prius 'runs away' with you.
If you are offended by the 'f-bomb', do not - I repeat DO NOT - paste this URL into your browser (I have given up trying to make hot links work in this blogging software).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4PtafRB9c&feature=player_embedded
Don't say I didn't warn you.
For a considerably more polite, technically similar but not pant-wettingly funny variant on the same theme by the well-regarded Edmunds.com folks, try this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqG4mZbM9rs&feature=PlayList&p=1759CC4DCB194FA3&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=77
Either one will prove that there is NO way a Prius can run away from you unless you're - well, check the videos...
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