Cell Phones + Prius = Crash?

By Kurt Gensheimer

James Sikes is getting death threat letters. Why? Because he claims his 2008 Prius went completely out of control on a San Diego freeway, hit 95 miles an hour (thankfully the section of freeway was nearly 10 miles of uphill) and could only be slowed down by the aid of a CHP officer.

Many people are now calling Sikes a liar, a prankster, and stunt publicist. Even Toyota has said in euphemistic fashion that Sikes’ story is “inconsistent” with Toyota engineer findings, who tested Sikes’ car repeatedly and could not duplicate the unintended acceleration issue.

So just because Toyota can’t repeat the problem, does this mean Sikes is lying?

Just the other day I was talking to my friend Tim who owns a Verizon store in Los Gatos, California. Because we’re both autophiles, the story of James Sikes inevitably came up. Tim, who’s been selling cell phones for nearly 20 years, and never one to let his opinions go unannounced, shared with me his latest “theory” – electro-magnetic interference (EMI) from peoples’ cell phones are causing cars with electronic throttle controls to go haywire.

And to Tim, it’s not just a theory, he believes firmly that it’s the unadulterated truth. He’s seen this type of EMI many times in different scenarios with his customers, so why would a car’s electronic throttle system be any more immune? “Think about it,” he said, “Other than the drama with Audi in the ’80s – which was a smear campaign by 60 Minutes – we’ve never seen an unintended acceleration quagmire of this proportion until this drive-by-wire crap came along.”

He had a point. But you gotta know Tim. He’s more of a raconteur than electrical engineer, so initially I took his beliefs at face value. Then I thought a little more about it, did some research and came across an article addressing EMI and unintended acceleration recently published by the Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance – a U.K.-based philanthropic initiative founded to address complex global challenges.

The article brings up some very serious concerns, and even includes an NHTSA finding that introduced magnetic interference caused a 2007 Lexus ES-350 to slightly change engine RPM at idle. So if it can change RPM at idle, why couldn’t it under throttle?

This EMI issue is one which could bring Toyota, for a few weeks the biggest carmaker in the world, crumbling to its foundation after 30 years of tireless work building a reliable brand. The scent of blood is ripe in the nostrils of American trial attorneys, and they’re already on the warpath.

And all because of meddling technology. What was wrong with the throttle cable? Yeah, maybe it’s not as efficient at metering fuel, but it’s simple and it works. But for some reason, in our never-ending quest to make human life more complicated, Toyota had to abandon simplicity and what works. And a throttle cable has always worked just fine.

Good luck, Mr. Sikes.