Apple Co-Founder's Prius' Cruise Control Malfunctions - But That's Not Whole Story
By John O'Dell February 2, 2010Reports Linking Steve Wozniak's Complaint to Unintended Acceleration Seem Premature
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
As though Toyota didn't have enough woes, now comes a report that Seve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc., is having problems with the cruise control acceleration function on his 2010 Prius.
Cruise control lever on 2010 Prius steering wheel keeps car accelerating - after 83 mph - says Apple's co-founder.
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While 2004-2009 Priuses are involved in a recall for floormat problems that can lead to stuck accelerator pedals, Toyota's hybrids so far have not been involved in the massive recall for a worn accelerator pedal mechanism that can cause unintended acceleration - although there have been complaints filed with the National Traffic Safety Administration by Prius owners.
But Bloomberg News this afternoon dug up comments from Wozniak, who said that when he's using cruise control and is tapping the control lever to increase speed incrementally, it seems to work fine until about 83 mph, when it locks on and just keeps accelerating - up to 97 mph - unless he taps the brake pedal.
Well, that's what Wozniak said in his original post on the subject back in November.
Bloomberg shortened that and simply has Wozniak saying that his Prius can "unintentionally accelerate up to 97 mph when he uses cruise control to increase his speed."
Notice the difference?
The Bloomberg report results in screaming headlines that Toyota's Prius is now implicated in unintended acceleration - the inference being it takes off and goes with no rhyme or reason, and from any speed.
What Wozniak discovered points to a definite problem with his car and could result in a finding that other 2010 Prius models have the same issue. He also told Bloomberg that neither NHTSA nor Toyota has responded to his complaints.
"The reason that my case is important and urgent is that it is electronic. I can cause it totally under cruise control without a foot touching the accelerator pedal," Wozniak told Bloomberg. "Is my software bug also some code that is in the other Priuses and related to the deadly problem?"
Wozniak forgot, though, that while his feet are on the floor, his fingers are flicking the cruise control accelerator lever. He's a computer whiz, but he may be a little premature in deciding from his own unscientific experimentation that he and other 2010 Prius owners are faced with a deadly software problem.
Dan Edmunds, director of automotive testing for Edmunds.com, has been looking into NHTSA complaints involving unintended acceleration and says he's found a number that involve cruise control, but nothing that seems to link directly to what Wozniak refers to as "the deadly problem" of runaway acceleration.
Instead said Edmunds, "It's a low-volume background issue that I see on various cars. It's not unintended acceleration, really. It fits in another category. [Wozniak] calmly taps on the brake and the cruise cancels normally. Others report the same resolution by turning off the cruise with the switch."
It is a cruise-control problem that could involve software or hardware such as a switch, Edmunds said, "but it is not the smoking gun 'runaway acceleration' gremlin that everyone is speculating about."
We need to stop hyperventilating - there are enough real problems with Toyota's accelerators (and, yes, potentially with electronic controls and software, although the company continues to deny that possibility).
At the very least, the media owe it to the public to accurately report people's complaints so as not to increase anxiety level among affected vehicle owners.
Here's what Wozniak originally posted, way back on Nov. 4:
"My 2010 Prius has a package that includes parallel parking assist and cruise control distance limiter. In some fictional state (let's say 'private property') I tap my cruise control speed lever up and the car speed increases from 80 to 81. I tap this leve[r] again and again, up to 83 mph. Then I tap it again and the car takes off without speed limiting. Tapping this lever down has no effect. The car is shortly up to maybe 97 mph. I repeated this many times.
"One doesn't think of things like putting the car in neutral instantly.
"The natural braking action does disable this effect."
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