Let's be totally honest here. I can understand an 80 yr old getting confused in a parking lot and jabbing the gas instead of the brake. But a 61 yr old on an interstate who can call 911 and when told to shift to neutral replies that he can't do that and hold the phone at the same time. Gimme a break. I'm 60+ also and have driven for a long time, including a number of vehicles. In fact, I own a Toyota (albeit not a Prius). The first and most important thing anyone learns when beginning to drive is how to stop. You hit the brake, right. And if the brakes don't work for some reason (and in the old days they often didn't), you slowly (or even quickly as the case may dictate) pull up or step on the "emergency" brake (now called the parking brake). If that doesn't work, and if you haven't done so already, switch off the engine. Now, that means your power equipment will fail. Your windows won't roll down, your GPS may go blank, and your steering may be hard as the dickens. But there will be no more power to the drive train. Period!
Now one lady testifying before congress said she did all that, but her Prius kept accelerating. In fact, this lady said she did something that I don't believe. She said she put the car into reverse and nothing happened. Again, I don't know about this Prius, but most cars with automatic transmissions will not go into reverse while going 60 or 70 or 110 or whatever she claimed she was doing. There is a lock out mechanism. And if she managed to somehow override that and jammed that thing into reverse, either it would have a secondary fail safe mechanism that would have the same effect as putting it into neutral (no power to the drive train), or . . . she would go hurling through the windshield at the same velocity as the vehicle as the drive shaft twisted like a pretzel reversing direction.
But back to the 61 year old California man who can't talk on the cell phone and put the gear into neutral at the same time. When I first heard that story, I said to my wife: "I do not believe that for one second." And now, a lot of other people don't either. Hey, Toyota may have a problem with electronic peddles, and I surely don't want any vehicle that doesn't have mechanical gas and brake peddles (whose insane idea was that?), but they don't need people "piling on" and kicking them while they are down. The 61 year old California man who couldn't stop his car says he isn't going to sue Toyota, but he had a lawyer with him on TV, and lawyers only get involved in things like this for one reason, and it isn't public relations.
If Toyota has a problem, then they ought to fix it. If people have been hurt or killed, then Toyota ought to pay, if at fault. But if people are lying and making false claims for whatever reason, then they ought to be exposed and punished also.
Just who decided that dandylions are weeds? I've been down on my knees for three days digging these things out of my lawn before they bloom, and there are about a million left yet. If we just all decided that they are beautiful and very desirable, then we wouldn't have to waste all this time fighting them. Some folks go the poison route. That is more expensive and more harmful to the environment (but less harmful to the knees!). Some people eat the greens, I'm told. But I have neighborhood dogs who use my yard as their potty, so I think I'll pass on the salad, thank you. Now, where did I put that liniment?
