(Undated) -- As Toyota faces more bad publicity over unintended acceleration in some Priuses, comes word of another incident. Police responded to a crash Tuesday morning of a 2005 Prius into a stone wall in Harrison, New York. The 56-year-old unidentified woman driver was hospitalized with what authorities call non life-threatening injuries. Harrison's acting police chief, Anthony Marraccini says floor mats weren't an issue in the crash, but that the car, quote, "probably traveled, accelerating, for over 100 feet, maybe even more than that."
A man whose 2008 Prius raced along 30 miles of Interstate in California at up to 94 miles an hour before police helped him stop it also insisted the floor mat was not interfering with the accelerator. The California man, James Sikes, was not injured. He was forced to call 9-1-1 on Monday after being unable to slow his Prius while driving east of San Diego. He eventually stopped the car by applying the emergency brake and brake pedal simultaneously, then turning off the engine, after a state trooper pulled alongside the Prius and gave him instructions by loudspeaker.
Toyota is recalling the popular hybrid car for the 2004 to 2009 model years, but only to fix a problem where a floor mat could trap the accelerator pedal. In a separate recall, Toyota is modifying accelerator pedals it says could stick in more than four-million vehicles.
