Toyota casts doubt on runaway Prius tale

Embattled automaker Toyota Motor Corp. is casting doubt on a California man's story that his Prius car sped out of control, saying the company's internal investigation is inconsistent with the story as described.

On March 8, a California Highway Patrol officer helped to stop a Prius that had suddenly accelerated to 151 kilometres an hour after the accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County freeway.

The car's owner, James Sikes, called 911 after his car sped up. Police told him to push his brakes to the floor and pull on the emergency brake. After the car slowed to about 80 km/h, Sikes turned off the ignition and the car came to a halt. A police officer put his car in front of the Prius as a precautionary block.

After much testing, Toyota says the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system also worked properly.

"It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically, that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," a memo prepared for Congress by a Toyota official said.

The automaker says the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating but the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.

"We're not judging what did or did not happen in the car that day," Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said at a press conference on Tuesday. "We're just saying that all of the systems tested in the vehicle were working normally after the incident."

Toyota's findings Monday came as numerous U.S.-based websites reported on Sikes' own history on Monday.

Sikes and his wife declared bankruptcy in 2008, and Toyota Financial Services were among the creditors listed in that filing. "He does lease the vehicle with Toyota financial services but as a matter of policy we don't discuss financial terms," Michels said Monday.

Sikes has repeatedly denied he has any intentions of pursuing Toyota for damages in court.

U.S. government engineers separately tried for two hours to duplicate the problem, but were unable to do so, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday.

The NHTSA said, "we may never know exactly what happened with this car," and said it is continuing its investigation.

A lawyer for Sikes said the government agency's findings were not a surprise.

"They have never been able to replicate an incident of sudden acceleration. Mr. Sikes never had a problem in the three years he owned this vehicle," John Gomez said Sunday.

Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, said the NHTSA findings raise questions about Sikes's story.

"It doesn't mean it didn't happen, but let's understand, it doesn't mean it did happen," Issa said on CBS's Early Show.