A new safety device has been developed that will effectively stop runaway Toyotas. Sizing is dependent on vehicle size and road conditions: Tom
This picture was taken just seconds before this guy's run-away Prius (not in picture) smashed into the airplane (foreground).
No doubt that once the inevitable class action lawsuit settles, every owner of every car with a push-button starter, will receive a letter with a scary decal they will have to paste around the starter button. It will be worded like this, and probably have that yellow and black caution graphic around the border: "In an emergency, push and hold power button for at least 3 seconds to turn off motor. Doing so may result in loss of power steering and power brake assist, resulting in a crash. Not dong so may result in a crash. Just driving the car may result in a crash. You should have just stayed in bed this morning, which may also result in a crash"
I think the seat warmers on that jet should be recalled. The rear one (or are they both rear ones?) seems to be malfunctioning.
At least this jet didn't have those experimental downward ejection seats. If I recall, that design was abandoned after its first use, during a takeoff accident.
The solution is easy ... take your wire cutters and remove the troublesome software: That Prius will never 'run away' again! Bob Wilson
I was driving with my dad in the car yesterday and he brought up the runaway Toyota syndrome because he apparently saw the piece on ABC News. So, I demonstrated the 3 second hold of the Power button and told him "That's the piece of information that would have saved the life of the people in the Lexus." I also demonstrated shifting to N. I don't know how the shifter works in the Lexus, but if I had a runaway vehicle, I would shift to N and let the engine destroy itself, especially if it were a rental car. :madgrin:
