The Daring Dufas wrote:
Doug Miller wrote:
"Gomez said the best evidence that his client was frantically
slamming the brakes is that a California Highway Patrol officer who
was giving Sikes instructions over a loudspeaker smelled burning
brakes and saw the lights on." http://www.foxnews.
com/leisure/2010/03/15/govt-explain-runaway-calif-prius-incident/

Brake lights on, brakes getting hot enough to stink, yet the car
isn't slowing down -- brakes clearly are *not* fully applied.

I wonder if there's some sort of problem that prevents the brakes
from being fully applied, no matter how much pressure is applied to
the pedal. That would be consistent with the multiple reports of
drivers "standing on the pedal" while the car continues to
accelerate.

Possible malfunction of the anti-lock braking system? The systems
are so reliable and have been around for so long, what could have
gone wrong with the brakes on such a new vehicle?

I've had a 2001 Toyota 4runner try to swerve me into the opposing traffic lane
when the "anti-skid" brakes decided I was in a skid and suddenly applied the
brakes on the left side during a wide right turn. I managed to keep on my side
of the road, but I was sure unhappy with the brake action. It was a total
surprise.

Turned out that one tire had low pressure in it. Apparently the brake system
computer didn't know how to respond to a low tire on a turn. The fact is, trying
to quantify all the parameters into a program is not necessarily going to handle
all conditions safely. I feel much safer driving a car without anti-skid brakes
since this incident.