CHP Releases Report On Jim "Runaway Prius" Sikes Incident

The feds and Toyota say the physical evidence indicates what Jim Sikes said happened and what he did on a San Diego County freeway on March 8 don't match, but if you're expecting the California Highway Patrol, which was first on the scene of what Sikes says was an unintended acceleration incident with his 2008 Prius, to make it three for three, stop holding your breath.

The 7-page incident report (which does confirm that Sikes "appeared to be pumping the brakes") refuses to draw conclusions as to whether what Sikes told the CHP was true or not.  CHP spokesman Brian Pennings says the agency is not trying to settle the debate and has "no evidence...that will absolutely disprove Mr. Sikes' statement".

Discussion ongoing on the Prius Chat forums.

Toyota, Feds To Investigate New York Runaway Prius Claim Today

Toyota, fresh from tests that contradict the story of a "runaway Prius" driver in San Diego County, California, is in Harrison, New York today to inspect a Prius that, according to a 56 year old woman, sped up and rammed into a stone wall.

The company and federal investigators will be going over that car using the same methods as they did in San Diego...with a critical eye on how many times the driver hit the brakes and the accelerator.

Full story from the Associated Press here.

Prius owners are talking about it on the Prius Chat forums.

WATCH: Jim "Runaway Prius" Sikes' Least Favorite Video: Toyota Preliminary Findings On His Car

"It would seem that the account of the driver is inconsistent with the technical investigation."

That's Toyota's single-sentence sum-up of the teardown of Jim Sikes' car. Want to see them say it...and what happens to a speeding Prius when you do one of the several things that will stop it?

Just click play.




And don't think Toyota's going to go quietly. They dropped the nugget that the evidence suggests Sikes was on and off the brakes and gas 250 times during his wild ride...in contrast to his statement to police that he was standing on the brake.

And the news release has this solid punch of a sentence:

These findings suggest that there should be further examination of Mr. Sikes account of the events of March 8.

Read the complete news release from today's news conference here. 

Related link: The Prius chat board discusses the findings.