Prius freeway drama amid Toyota damage control

A Toyota Prius has reportedly accelerated out of control on a California freeway, on the same day Toyota claimed it had no flaw with its throttle controls.

James Sikes, 61, was driving on the busy Interstate 8 freeway outside San Diego on Monday (local time) when he noticed his car was starting to accelerate of its own accord, the California Highway Patrol said.

Sikes, however, was able to call police as the car reached speeds of more than 145kmh, AFP reported.

Officers using a loudspeaker talked the driver through the process of slowing down by using his emergency brake and then turning off the engine.

Police then pulled in front of the car as it decelerated and rolled to a stop and put the rear bumper of the squad car against the front of the Prius.

'MISTAKEN CONCLUSIONS'

The freeway drama came as Toyota Motor Corp on Monday (local time) sought to discredit an outside study critical of its electronic safety systems at a news conference called in Washington.

The company is looking to reassure consumers it has safety issues under control amid a recall crisis that has tarnished its reputation.

Toyota called the event to discredit what it said were mistaken conclusions being drawn from a study of its accelerator controls by David Gilbert, an auto engineering expert at Southern Illinois University.

Toyota has recalled over 8 million vehicles worldwide for mechanical problems with its accelerator assembly that can cause sticking and for the risk that floormats could trap an accelerator.

Unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been linked to at least five US crash deaths since 2007. Authorities are investigating 47 other crash deaths over the past decade.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also said it is looking into more recent complaints from drivers who say they suffered acceleration problems even after their vehicles were fixed in the recent recall effort.

Those complaints have been seen by some as further evidence that Toyota could face a problem with vehicle electronics or software that could go beyond the mechanical fixes it has announced under its recalls.

But Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said the automaker had found that post-recall accelerator complaints appeared to reflect a small number of cases where repairs at dealerships had not been performed correctly.

"We're confident in our electronic throttle control systems," Michels said.

- Stuff and Reuters