Asia-Pacific

Another runaway Toyota Prius reported

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-11 04:45

DETROIT – Federal regulators said they were looking into a report of another runaway Toyota Prius, this one in Westchester County, New York, where police said a woman pulling out of a driveway zoomed across a busy street and into a stone wall.

The 56-year-old driver sustained nonlife-threatening injuries on Tuesday when the 2005 Prius she was operating knocked some large boulders from the wall after the crash, said Capt. Anthony Marraccini, acting police chief in Harrison, New York, which is about 25 miles northeast of New York City.

"Toyota has expressed interest in taking the vehicle," Marraccini said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

Toyota Motor Corp officials could not immediately be reached for a comment.

It was the second straight day in which an incident of reported uncontrolled acceleration by a Prius attracted media attention, adding to product safety woes that have damaged the automaker's reputation and led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles.

On Monday, a California man said his 2008 Prius sped out of control on a California freeway. The man, 61, said his car accelerated beyond his control after he overtook another vehicle in San Diego County.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aware of the incident and is looking into the matter, said Olivia Alair, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The woman, who was not identified, was driving on a long, curving driveway when the Prius accelerated beyond her control, Marraccini said, adding that the two-lane road she sped across is a "fairly busy" street.

She traveled 150 to 200 feet, he said, before the Prius' front end struck the rock wall -- built with boulders weighing some 500 to 1,000 pounds -- with such force that it "hurled those boulders 10 or 15 feet away."

"The floor mat is not a contributing factor," Marraccini said, adding that it was firmly secured.

He said the car had previously been taken to a nearby Toyota dealership by the owner after the model was recalled.

Toyota recalled 2004-2009 Prius models last November as part of a wide-ranging safety recall to fix loose floor mats that can trap the accelerator and cause unintended acceleration.