Toyota Motor Corporation dismissed the story of a man who claimed his Prius sped out of control on the California freeway, saying Monday that tests found the car’s gas pedal and backup safety system were working just fine.
The automaker says James Sikes’ account of what happened with the car did not square with a series of tests it conducted on the gas-electric hybrid. Here’s an article from the Spokesman-Review. This article says that Toyota didn’t go so far as to call Sikes’ incident a ‘hoax,’ but Forbes Magazine isn’t being so diplomatic. This article from the magazine alleges that Sikes may not have done everything in his power to stop the car and that he may be less than a reputable person.
Read it and let me know what you think. On the one hand, I’ve thought all along that a lot of this might be media hysteria, but on the other hand I didn’t care because I’ve been looking for a Toyota for a long time that I can afford and couldn’t find one. This may change that.