James Sikes and His Toyota Prius Acceleration Problem: Too Much Hollywood Script?

The latest California driver to loose control of his Prius seems just a little too media savvy and attention hungry.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article on BestCashCow that Toyota is entering a death spiral. I continue to think that Toyota's problems are real and are just beginning. Their refusal to address the sudden acceleration issue as an electronics problem - instead opting to satiate customers by moving the pedals around - is doing dramatic damage to the brand from which the company will never recover. To boot, Toyota was, as I predicted, poorly prepared in front of Congress two weeks ago. I drive a Lexus. My next car will be an Infiniti.

Putting the marketing damage aside, I am amazed by the parallels between this case and the Ford Pinto cases in the 1970s which led to the development of product liability tort law in the US. We give large product liability awards in the US in order to stop manufucturers from putting low values on human lives and producing products that may kill people. That gets manufacturers to fix problems rather than than treat them as inconsequential. A couple of large awards will take down Toyota. I am short Toyota stock and long very long-dated Toyota puts.

But this situation two nights ago with James Sikes and his Prius is really bugging me. It seems like the guy is piling on to a news story. He was too prepared to go straight to the media. He called 911 before trying to pull the emergency brake. Sikes, according to published reports, is a 61-year old real estate executive and longtime lottery player who won $55,000 and was selected in 2006 to appear on a California Lottery TV game show. This smells to me like a washed up Californian angling to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit or to be on the Amazing Race 18.

If it happened in Iowa or Kansas maybe I'd believe it, but these days anything coming out of California just seems scripted for Hollywood.

Jason Rodgers
Jason Rodgers: Jason Rodgers was an experienced research analyst for a major bank prior to retiring to run his own investment consultancy in beautiful Lihue, Hawaii. Jason contributed articles to BestCashCow from 2008 to 2014.

Comments

 
  • Barbara Ann

    March 12, 2010

    We lived near this scumbag in Bonita and voted him most likely to end up in Alcatraz.

  • B.J.

    March 12, 2010

    Another wannabe playing the ignorant MSM for fools.. Thank God for a savvy internet.

  • Sam H.

    March 12, 2010

    If this guy claims not to want any money why is he lawyered up so fast???? I know, the lawyer is probably a close friend from his many other scam attempts!!!

  • Nick 280

    March 12, 2010

    I always believed thre's a little good in everyone...now I'm not so sure.

  • Clueless in California

    March 12, 2010

    I am a very good judge of character and I'm sure James is being truthful. I was a neighbor of his in Bonita and he was always nice to my cats. He even offered to care for them when I was taken to the home.

  • Sylvia V.

    March 12, 2010

    The facts will speak for themselves as they did in Balloon Boy . The police know this guy's background but they want him to think they believe him so he'll continue to talk. He will probably try to cut a deal to avoid jail time for slander. If he trys to sue Toyota the charge would be much more serious..... extotion, which is a felony. Mr. Sikes is very familiar with the legal system and knows trying to get money out of Toyota would doom him at this point.

  • legal eagle

    March 12, 2010

    Understand this ...Mr. Sikes didn't simply file for bankruptcy protection where you cut a deal with your creditors and pay them a percentage of the debt...NO.. he filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy where you simply stiff EVERYBODY with no attempt to pay ANYTHING!!!! This Provision was enacted for the lowest form of mankind with no conscience or remorse.

  • Toyota family

    March 12, 2010

    I live in Georgetown, KY, home of the Camry plant, and have countless friends and family members employed directly and indirectly by Toyota. This government and media pile-on is so transparent. Sikes and his "event" led the nightly news. On NBC with Brian Williams, the story was the lead and lasted almost seven minutes (We are in two wars, congress is trying to pass the most expansive bill in history and this is the "big news"). When this obvious fraud is exposed will NBC devote a leading seven minute segment to that?
    Important to remember that Mr. Sikes' car has a brake override system not present on recalled Toyotas which works by giving preference to the braking system when it senses the accelerator and brake being applied at the same time. I think he produced brake smoke and smell by riding the parking brake. I hope Toyota nails Mr. Sikes to the wall.

  • Billy Bob McAllister

    March 12, 2010

    This boy needs to come on down to Shallow Creek Arkansas on a Fridasy night and see what real people are like. People who love their families, respect their elders,say yes Maam and no Sir, Salute their flag every morning and say their prayers every night and love this country. People who help each other in a time of need and cheer others succeess and greive in their failures. People who aren't afraid of hard work and aren't looking for a hand out or government entitlement.
    He's looking for treasures in all the wrong places.

  • Lois F.

    March 12, 2010

    I'm an elementary school teacher and watched Mr. Sikes interview on local news with my class. About half way thru the show one of my students blurted out "He's lying Ms Fenton" This from an 11 year old !!

    I assume the lamestream media will pick this up eventually but it's easy to see why people pull these stunts when there are no real journalist looking for the truth. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story.

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