Police Probe NY Prius Crash After Sudden Acceleration

(March 10) -- In another potential blow to Toyota, a 2005 Prius driven by a woman sped out of a driveway across a busy New York suburban street and smashed into a stone wall. Police said they are investigating what caused the unexpected acceleration.

The car's owner, Joseph Leff, told the Westchester County Journal News today that the driver, his family's housekeeper, suffered a knee injury in Tuesday's crash in Harrison, N.Y. She is out of the hospital, he said, declining to identify her.

The 56-year-old woman has driven the car many times, he said, and is "very competent" behind the wheel. "It was clearly the automobile and not anything else," Leff told the newspaper, adding that there have been no previous problems with the car.

A floor mat problem that Toyota has blamed on some cases of unexpected acceleration was not a factor because the mat was tied to the seat base with plastic ties, said Harrison's acting police chief, Anthony Marraccini.

The driver said the car suddenly accelerated as she traveled down the long, winding driveway. "She said she applied the brakes, but the vehicle wouldn't stop," Marraccini told AOL News.

He said police were investigating the cause of the crash, including the possibility of a stuck accelerator, although "she did not report a stuck pedal."

"It's hard for us to determine whether it was a stuck accelerator or whether or not the vehicle accelerated for some other reason," Marraccini told WCBS-TV.

Marraccini said the woman was about halfway down the driveway at about 7:45 a.m. when the Prius sped up. The car hit a small metal fence, jumped a curb and traveled across a busy two-lane road before hitting the wall. The crash, which caused the air bags to deploy, dislodged large boulders.

The impact "hurled the boulders 10 to 15 feet," he said.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide. In some cases, floor mats can cause the accelerator to stick.

The New York crash came a day after a California man said he couldn't slow his 2008 Prius after the accelerator got stuck. The vehicle eventually reached 94 mph before stopping with the help of a Highway Patrol officer. While Toyota dispatched a field team to investigate the case in Southern California, it was not clear whether the company would send one to New York.

Antoinette Arianna, a Toyota spokeswoman in the Northeast, said the company is investigating, but she declined further comment.

In the California incident, James Sikes, 61, called 911 Monday after he tried to loosen the accelerator with his hand. "My car can't slow down," he told the emergency dispatcher.

It took Sikes 23 minutes to bring the car to a halt. He got help from California Highway Patrol officer Todd Neibert, who gave instructions over a loudspeaker as they both traveled on Interstate 8 in San Diego County.

Neibert told Sikes to shift to neutral, but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip, according to The Associated Press.

Neibert said he then told Sikes to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brakes as the Prius neared 85 mph. The car slowed to about 55 mph, at which point Sikes turned off the ignition and the car came to a stop, according to the AP.

"The brakes were definitely down to hardly any material," Neibert told reporters Tuesday. "There was a bunch of brake material on the ground and inside the wheels."

The officer found the floor mat properly placed and the accelerator and brake pedals in the correct resting position.

Toyota spokesman John Hanson said the company wants to question Sikes.