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Toyota representatives said today that the automaker had found no evidence to support a claim by a California man that his Prius had sped out of control last week, reaching speeds over 90 miles per hour before he was able to bring it to a stop.


U.S. safety investigators said earlier today that they had found no evidence to support or disprove James Sikes' version of events regarding his 2008 Prius hybrid on March 8.


Sikes, 61, had reported in a call to 911-emergency operators that his Prius sped out of control - despite heavy braking - for some 20 minutes before he could bring the vehicle under control with the assistance of the California Highway Patrol.


But Toyota reps, speaking at a news conference in San Diego near the site of the alleged runaway Prius, said they had found no evidence that Sikes had been applying the brake forcefully throughout the episode as he had described.


Toyota declined to comment directly on Sikes or his account of events. "We will leave that to others," Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said.


The Sikes incident, involving a dramatic pursuit by a highway patrol car, came at a crucial time for Toyota. The automaker has been struggling to reassure a jittery public it has turned a corner in dealing with safety issues that sparked a recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide.
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Tags: Hybrid, Toyota, Accelerator, California, Investigation, James Sikes, Runaway, Toyota Brake Problem, Toyota Prius

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Toyota, Federal Investigators Cast Doubt on California Man's Runaway-Prius Claim was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.