VIDEO: Runaway Prius In Arizona: Driver Says He Was Standing On Brake, Toyota Says "Driver Error"

Chuck Schmeiser says he was a doubter when it came to unintended acceleration until two months ago, when he says he almost killed a parking attendant as his car lurched forward and he couldn't stop it.

He had it towed to a dealer, Toyota flew in an inspector who said it was driver error, and Chuck sold the car and bought a Honda (a new Insight, also a hybrid).


This story's only now coming out because the incident happened on private property, law enforcement wasn't involved and Schmeiser approached Phoenix NBC affiliate KPNX's consumer reporters. That's when the story made the wires and went national.

Full disclosure: My day job is with ABC affiliate KNXV (ABC15), which aired the video by reporter Eric English at the top of this story.

Worth reading: What's behind most fully-investigated cases of unintended acceleration.