Local police agree, runaway Prius in NY caused by driver error
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/hybrids/" rel="tag">Hybrid</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/" rel="tag">Government/Legal</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/recalls-tsbs/" rel="tag">Recalls</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/safety/" rel="tag">Safety</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/tech/" rel="tag">Technology</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/hatchbacks/" rel="tag">Hatchback</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/toyota/" rel="tag">Toyota</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2010-toyota-prius-3/"><img hspace="0" border="1" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/03/232010toyotaprius.jpg" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><sma ll>2010 Toyota Prius - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
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Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported its initial findings on the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/10/report-another-prius-accelerates-unintentionally-in-new-york-an/">runaway Prius case in New York</a>. The <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/19/feds-suggest-driver-error-may-have-caused-runaway-prius-in-ny/">NHTSA disclosed information</a> regarding its belief that the 2005 <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/model/prius">Prius</a> involved in the suspected runaway case resulting in a head on crash into a stone wall was not caused by a manufacturing error on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/toyota/">Toyota's</a> behalf, but rather a driver error resulting from not applying the brakes during the incident.<br />
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The follow-up investigation <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2010/03/ny_police_confirm_feds_fi nding.html">conducted by the local Harrison police department</a> came to an identical conclusion. The police department was initially upset with the NHTSA investigation and believed that the agency had come to a conclusion too quickly. Upon conducting its own investigation, Harrison police believe that the overwhelming evidence appears to support the NHTSA findings that driver error was the cause of the crash. The findings point to an open throttle and lack of brake pedal application, causing the vehicle to accelerate and eventually crash. Toyota has released its statement regarding the Harrison, N.Y. incident, which can be read after the jump.<br />
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The findings of this investigation appear more conclusive than the one involving James Sikes and his <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/09/video-san-diego-runaway-prius-has-media-buzzing/">runaway Prius in California</a>, where the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/18/chp-report-seemingly-sides-with-sikes-on-case-of-the-runaway-pri/">California Highway Patrol</a> did not find enough evidence to agree with <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/15/official-investigation-of-runaway-prius-begins-to-answer-questio/">Toyota and NHTSA</a> that the car could've been stopped.<br />
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For Toyota, this is one more image boost during trying times for the company. Aside from the Prius <a href="http://green.autoblog.com/2010/03/20/2007-prius-rated-most-dependable-compact-car-in-j-d-power-surve/">winning a J.D Power award</a> a few days ago and a couple of other sparse good words, the automaker has faced nothing but struggles in the last two months.<br />
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<div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-toyota-prius-3/low/">2010 Toyota Prius</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-toyota-prius-3/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/01/01_2010_toyota_prius_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-toyota-prius-3/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/01/02_2010_toyota_prius_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-toyota-prius-3/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/01/03_2010_toyota_prius_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-toyota-prius-3/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/01/04_2010_toyota_prius_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-toyota-prius-3/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/01/05_2010_toyota_prius_thum bnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
[Source: <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2010/03/ny_police_confirm_feds_fi nding.html">Washington Post</a>, <a href="http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-statement-on-harrison-ny-155656.aspx">Toyota</a>]<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/23/local-police-agree-runaway-prius-in-ny-caused-by-driver-error/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Local police agree, runaway Prius in NY caused by driver error</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/23/local-police-agree-runaway-prius-in-ny-caused-by-driver-error/">Local police agree, runaway Prius in NY caused by driver error</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/23/local-police-agree-runaway-prius-in-ny-caused-by-driver-error/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19410242/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/23/local-police-agree-runaway-prius-in-ny-caused-by-driver-error/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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