Business News

Toyota to probe new Prius case after high speed rescue makes headlines (Roundup)

Mar 9, 2010, 22:48 GMT

A Toyota Prius is seen at the Chicago Auto Show in Chicago, Illinois, USA, 9 February, 2010. Toyota has announced the recall of about 436,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide, including its latest Prius model, to fix brake problems. EPA/KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI

San Diego, California - Toyota said on Tuesday that its investigators would look into a case in which Californian police had to come to the rescue of a Toyota Prius driver when his gas pedal became stuck at high speed on the freeway, local media reported.

But the Japanese auto giant denied a report in The Wall Street Journal that the high-profile incident on Monday had led it to issue a new recall for the model of Prius involved. The paper said that Toyota would issue a recall for the model years 2004 to 2009 to prevent the accelerator pedal from getting trapped, but Toyota pointed out that such a recall had already been in place for months.

The incident is the latest report of acceleration problems with Toyota vehicles, which have resulted in massive recalls. The Prius has also been subjected to a recall involving faulty brakes.

James Sikes, 61, told reporters that his car reached speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour as he battled to slow down.

'It just kept speeding up,' said Sikes, whose car finally stopped over 50 kilometres from where he originally dialled emergency services. 'The gas pedal stuck open all the way,' said Sikes, a real estate agent from San Diego.

'I was laying on the brakes, but it wasn't slowing down,' Sikes said at a press conference Tuesday outside a Toyota dealership.

A police driver equipped with a loud speaker coached him on how to slow down using the brakes and emergency brake to bring the speed down to around 80 kilometres per hour before finally switching off the ignition.

'When I saw him, I could smell the brakes,' said Officer Todd Niebert.

Toyota is recalling 8.5 million vehicles worldwide to deal with problems including sticking accelerator pedals, slipping floor mats and malfunctioning brakes. But Sikes was adamant that the floor mat was not interfering with the accelerator pedal. 'It was accelerating out of control, period,' he said.