Car-and-Safety.com
Toyota Prius Vehicle Speed Control Safety Report | June 10, 2012
Reported on June 10, 2012
| WE'VE BEEN HAVING A PROBLEM WITH THE DRCC (DYNAMIC RADAR CRUSE CONTROL) ON OUR 2011 PRIUS. THE DRCC LOCKS UP (FREEZES) -LOCKING ONTO A PHANTOM VEHICLE AHEAD AND ACTIVATING THE BEEPER/APPLYING THE BRAKES -¿ EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO VEHICLE IS AHEAD! THIS CREATES A SAFETY HAZARD AS THE CAR SUDDENLY DECELERATES AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS WITH NO WARNING TO VEHICLES BEHIND. WE HAVE HAD 7 OCCURRENCES OF THIS PROBLEM. A SEARCH OF THE HTSA DATABASE YIELDS TWO SIMILAR REPORTS (10448415 & 10421208). IN ALL CASES THIS HAS OCCURRED ON CLEAR SUNNY DAYS AS THE CAR WAS PASSING A SEMI TRACTOR-TRAILER ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WHEN OUR CAR WAS PASSING THE SEMI'S CAB. IN MOST CASES, THERE WAS NO VEHICLE IN FRONT (CAR IN CONSTANT SPEED MODE) - IT JUST SUDDENLY ACTED LIKE THERE WAS ONE! WHENEVER THIS OCCURS, THE CAR KEEPS BRAKING AND THE ONLY IMMEDIATE SOLUTION IS TO TURN DISENGAGE THE CRUSE CONTROL. WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS HIGH (ABOVE 90 DEGREES) WHEN WE RE-ENGAGE THE DRCC, THE UNIT IS STILL LOCKED UP! WHAT CLEARED THE LOCKED UP CONDITION WAS TURNING OFF THE CAR. ON ONE OCCASION, WHEN THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE HAD DROPPED BELOW 90 DEGREES THE DRCC CLEARED ITSELF. I HAVE A LOG OF ALL 7 OCCURRENCES OF THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE CONTACTED TOYOTA ABOUT THIS PROBLEM (CASE #S [XXX] & [XXX]) AND THEY HAD ME TAKE THE CAR TO MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER WHO USED THEIR TECHSCAN TOOL TO DOWNLOAD ANY SYSTEM GENERATED ERROR CODES - THEY FOUND NONE. (OF COURSE, IF THE SOFTWARE DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THAT MALFUNCTION HAS OCCURRED, NO ERROR CODE WILL BE GENERATED.) THE DEALER ALSO TOOK THE CAR OUT ON A COUPLE OF (SHORT) TEST DRIVES, BUT THE SYSTEM PERFORMED NORMALLY. *NOTE: A POSSIBLE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT, WHEN HOT, THE RADAR UNIT IS PICKING UP SIGNALS FROM THE TRUCK'S SATELLITE POSITION REPORTING SYSTEM. THERE ARE SEVERAL ELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING FAULTS THAT COULD LEAD TO THIS. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR | |
| Make: | Toyota |
| Model: | Prius |
| Manufactured by: | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Was a crash reported? | N |
| Was an injury reported? | 0 person(s) were injured. |
| Was a death reported? | 0 person(s) died. |
| Was a fire reported? | N |
| Location: | FAIRPORT NY |
| Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): | JTDKN3DU8B1 |
| Mileage: | 15100 miles. |
| Speed: | 72 MPH |
| Number of cylinders: | 4 |
| Vehicle type: | |
| Vehicle fuel: | HYBRID ELECTRIC |
| Was a police report filed? | N |
| Tire size: | |
| Dealer name and location: | |
| Previous Report:Vehicle Speed Control | Next Report:Steering |