Runaway history questioned01 Prius: 20 16/03/2010, Andrew Clark, automotive, business, guardian.co.uk, engine, news, road, Toyota, world news, Guardia

Runaway history questioned01 Prius: 20 16/03/2010, Andrew Clark, automotive, business, guardian.co.uk, engine, news, road, Toyota, world news, Guardian Unlimited

James Sikes made a panic call to emergency services, saying his Toyota Prius was speeding out of control on a highway in San Diego. Your account is now increasingly under scrutiny

It sounded like the worst nightmare of a conductor: a real estate agent in California, James Sikes, headlines around the world last week when he told how his Toyota Prius went out of control on a highway in San Diego, reaching speeds up 94 mph to a highway patrol officer took him to safety.

Account Sikes is now under scrutiny as experts puzzle over discrepancies and technicalities arising from their financial history of colors.

Sikes became the face of Toyota's security crisis as nervous, white-haired 61-year-old when she made her story public and posted a recording of his voice panic telling a dispatcher: "My car not slow down!

His ordeal appeared to be the latest, most dramatic in a series of incidents involving defective accelerators has led Toyota to recall more than 8 million cars worldwide. But after extensive testing, the U.S. government's National Road Administration traffic safety today revealed that he had found nothing wrong with the blue hybrid car in 2008.

"So far we have not been able to find anything to explain the incident that Mr. Sikes said," the agency said. "We caution people that our work continues and we may never know exactly what happened with this car."

Toyota has laid off Sikes story, saying its own tests found accelerator of the car and the security system backup job. He paused before saying Sikes had staged a hoax, but said yesterday that his account is inconsistent with a series of tests conducted on the gas-electric hybrids.

Toyota said its evidence had found Sikes quickly pressed the accelerator and brakes return of more than 250 times.

A spokesman Mike Michels said at a news conference: "We have no opinion on its account, which has been saying, that is not the scenario is not consistent with the technical results.

Meanwhile, public records revealed that Sikes has a history of financial problems. In 2006, he appeared on a television show called The Big Spin and won $ 55,000. But two years later filed for personal bankruptcy, citing debts of $ 115,000 on 16 credit cards.

Darrell Issa, a California congressman in the Oversight Committee of the House, expressed reservations about the incident and said that some cases of defective vehicles emerged from pilot error, while others could be perpetrated by people seeking "notoriety" . Issa said the test result of the government "does not mean it did not happen. But we understand, does not mean it happened."

After weaving around cars and trucks, high speed Sikes trip came to an end when an agent Highway Patrol guided him through an emergency braking procedure and then placed his patrol car in front of the Prius to Ashcroft.

Advocate Sikes, Juan Gomez, rejected the doubts, saying his client is suing Toyota and television appearances has decreased. Gomez added that the official highway patrol smell brakes burning and saw the brake light car.

"There's a ghost in the machine," Gomez told the Los Angeles Times, adding that Toyota has made little progress in tracing problems with other cars out of control. "Nobody is able to replicate or identify him."

Sikes' wife, Patty, pleaded with reporters to leave the couple alone, saying they had received death threats.

"Our careers are in ruins and the life is not good anymore," he said.

Toyota
Motor
Road transport
Automotive industry
Andrew Clark


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