Legal news for product liability attorneys. A runway Prius that reached speed of 90 mph on I-8 was stopped safely by a CHP officer.
Product liability lawyers alert- A California Highway Patrol officer managed to stop a 2007 Prius that was experiencing sudden acceleration on Interstate 8.
San Diego, CA—Another case of sudden acceleration among Toyotas has arisen, in which the driver of a Toyota Prius called 911 when the accelerator got stuck. On Monday, March 8, 2010, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the call of a distressed motorist on Interstate 8 around 1:30 p.m., in San Diego County, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
James Sikes, 61, stated, “I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny… it jumped and it just stuck there…as it was going, I was trying the brakes… it wasn’t stopping.” Sikes was driving a blue 2007 Prius eastbound on I-8 near the La Posta Indian Reservation when the car suddenly accelerated. The responding CHP officer, Larry Landeros, stated the car “was reaching speeds over 90 miles per hour.” Landeros managed to catch up with the speeding car about 20 minutes later, where he used his loudspeaker to communicate with Sikes. Landeros told Sikes to apply his emergency brake at the same time as he pushed the brake pedal. When the car’s speed finally decelerated to nearly 50 mph, he turned off his engine and coasted to a stop. Sike’s Prius was included in the massive recall of over 4 million Toyota vehicles that were recalled in November. Toyota stated they would be sending a field technical specialist to examine the car.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for product liability lawyers.
