'I pushed the gas... it just stuck there'

By CHUCK BENNETT

Last Updated: 5:36 AM, March 10, 2010

Posted: 4:29 AM, March 10, 2010

Comments: 25

A stricken 61-year-old California man says his beloved Prius turned into the car from hell on a treacherous stretch of highway -- suddenly accelerating and careening out of control for 35 terrifying miles at speeds up to 94 mph.

"My car can't slow down!" panicked real-estate agent James Sikes told a 911 operator at around 1:30 p.m. Monday after he pressed his car's gas pedal to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 in San Diego County -- and it stuck.

The operator urged him to put the car in neutral, but the terrified driver could only manage to gasp: "I'm trying to control the car!" as he continued slamming on his brakes to no avail and grappling with the wheel to try to gain control.

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: Prius survivor James Sikes tells how California cop Todd Niebert (below) heroically moved in front of Sikes' runaway car and stopped it after 35 miles of terror.

Reuters

Sikes' horrifying saga began when "I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car, and it did something kind of funny . . . It jumped and just stuck there.

"As it was going, I was trying the brakes . . . It wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything, and it just kept speeding up," he said, adding that he could smell the brakes grinding as he pushed the pedal harder.

Highway Patrol trooper Todd Niebert -- alerted by Sikes' 911 call -- managed to pull up alongside Sikes and broadcast to him from his cruiser's public-address system.

Recalled Sikes: "I was standing on the pedal, standing on the brake pedal, looking out the window at him, and he said, 'Pull the emergency brake!' "

The stunned Niebert stayed alongside him.

"[Sikes] was physically trying to brake, and the vehicle was barely slowing down," the cop said. "Then I noticed it would accelerate again, and we were up to 90 mph."

At a steep embankment, Niebert pulled ahead of Sikes.

That's when the Prius "started to slow down. It was still revving up, but it was slowing down," Sikes said.

"I hit the button to turn the car off at about 55 mph. It did shut down," eventually rolling to a stop by gentling colliding with the cruiser's rear bumper. The nightmare ride had lasted more than 20 minutes.

"[Sikes] was visibly shaken. He seemed in shock," Niebert said. "The brakes were definitely down to hardly any material."

Red-faced Toyota officials dispatched three engineers to examine the Prius.

Sikes is one of slew of Toyota drivers who reported their vehicles speeding out of control.

Last August -- just 12 miles from Sikes' incident -- a California trooper and three family members were killed when the accelerator on their 2009 Lexus stuck.

Sikes' 2008 Prius is subject to a floor-mat recall. He said the pedal was jammed -- but it wasn't under the mat.

Comments (24)

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BrakObeyme

03/11/2010 10:34 AM

Toyotas operate the same way as Obammy....outta control!
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avaleigh

03/11/2010 6:06 AM

Its a little FISHY. There is something about that 15 minutes if fame and being all over the news and CNN!!! maybe it happened and maybe he is lying for the pay-off.Get rid of this car ,Jack and quit the publicity tour.it gets tired.
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newsday sux

03/10/2010 11:38 PM

Shodan,
what i read was that he took his car to the dealer after receiving a letter that his car was possibly recalled. The dealership "sent him away";either they told him it wasn't recalled or that they couldn't work on it that day, it wasn't clear. I do know that going full throttle for 35 miles at 1:30 in the afternoon, you WILL crash! And the only thing the cop witnessed was that he did see the car speeding and did smell brakes burning. Any car I've ever driven, the brakes have more stopping power than the engine has forward power. Finally, I'm sure toyota has been lying...
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manta64

03/10/2010 8:36 PM

is he a Rick Flair look alike!!!
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manta64

03/10/2010 8:36 PM

i smell scam !! no prius can do that!!
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jay65

03/10/2010 6:05 PM

He is either too stupid to drive -- what he can't shift into neutral or turn off ignition, or and pay close attention, he was trying to capitalize on the publicity to shake down Toyota. He figured he could let the car go, once the event happened, if it did, and evenutally pretend the car finally stopped -- with witnesses. How could he call 911 but he couldn't grap the stick and find neutral, or find the off switch! Or, is the car programmed never to turn off when running so as to preserve power steering? WHo know. It is fishy story.
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Harold Hansen

03/10/2010 5:51 PM

Prius, 94 mph this guy is a scam artist, put it in neutral you left wing fool
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B.Obama

03/10/2010 3:22 PM

Toyota drivers only allowed a 1/4 tank of gasoline at a time, just in case the only way to stop is to run out of fuel.