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WASHINGTON: US investigators launched a probe Tuesday into a runaway Toyota Prius in California, a high-profile case that threatens to undermine the Japanese automaker's effort to repair its battered image.
James Sikes, 61, says he was driving his 2008 Prius on a busy freeway outside San Diego on Monday when he noticed his car starting to accelerate of its own accord.
The California Highway Patrol said the terrified motorist was helpless as the car raced along the road at speeds of more than 140 kilometers (90 miles) per hour.
Audio of his emergency 911 call depicted a panicked struggle.
"I'm trying to control the car," he told the operator, who asked him if his accelerator was stuck. "Yeah. I tried to pull it back," he replied.
Tragedy was only averted after officers using a loudspeaker talked Sikes through the process of slowing down by using his emergency brake and then turning off the engine.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "is gathering details on yesterday's incident involving a recalled Prius that accelerated out of control," a NHTSA official said Tuesday.
"Two investigators are flying out to California to examine the car and look for potential causes."
Toyota said it had sent technical specialists to San Diego "to investigate the report and offer assistance."
The car was among four million Toyota vehicles recalled in November because of reported acceleration problems. Sikes said he received a recall notice, but was told the car was not on the list when he brought it in for a service.
The drama had chilling echoes of a tragic accident last August when off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and three family members were killed when the accelerator of their Lexus ES350 became stuck.
"I was actually heading east on our Interstate 8 in San Diego, and I was pushing the gas, a little extra, in fact very hard, to pass a car that was coming on the freeway," Sikes told CNN.
"And as I did that, the gas pedal felt weird and it went all of the way to fast -- I was actually going around cars and came close to hitting one semi-truck and speeding up faster at that time.
"I was in the 80s (miles per hour) at that point and kept hitting the brakes and hitting the brake, and it was not slowing down at all. It was accelerating."
Officials gave no information about additional recalls. The 2004-2009 Prius was already subject to a recall for "pedal entrapment" in November, and the 2009-2010 Prius is subject to a recall over braking system problems.
Toyota responded to what it termed inaccurate reports about a new recall. A company spokesman said the confusion may have come from the fact that although the recall had been announced, some customers have not yet been notified.
"I can tell you that Toyota has not sent customer letters out for the Prius recall yet," spokesman Brian Lyons said.
"We have announced that it is included in the accelerator pedal entrapment recall but we have not sent letters to customers about the remedy for their specific vehicle."
The Japanese auto giant has recalled more than eight million cars and trucks worldwide, including six million in the US, to address potentially deadly defects blamed for incidents of sudden, unintended acceleration and other issues.
US officials say the problems have been linked to around 40 accidents and 52 highway traffic deaths.
US regulators said last week that they had received more than 60 complaints from Toyota owners reporting sudden, unintended acceleration despite having their recalled vehicle repaired by a Toyota dealer.
- AFP/yb
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