Apple's Wozniak: Prius Accelerates on Its Own

If you ever needed a reliable source to tell you Toyota's nemesis, the renegade accelerator pedal, can also be found in the carmaker's hybrid, then here it is. Apple's co-founder, Steve "Woz" Wozniak, found out the hard way the Prius he owns has a mind of its own, as it accelerated to as much as 97 mph, while in cruise control and forced Wozniak to tap the brakes so that the vehicle would stop.

According to the LA Times, Wozniak tried not to make a big fuss about it and quietly went to both Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to tell them about his problem, only to find himself ignored.

So, Wozniak went public yesterday, giving several media interviews in which he told the world about his problem. Being so software literate, Wozniak gave what is perhaps the most pertinent explanation behind what Toyota calls a sticky accelerator problem:

"Since my foot never touches the pedal," Wozniak told ABC News, "the problem cannot be a sticky accelerator pedal.... There might be some bad software in there."

Later in the day, Wozniak softened his tone:

"The car will start to accelerate in cruise control. You can hit the brake to stop it," he told CNN. "Maybe it's scary for the first time for a couple of seconds, but once you know about it, it's not like I think it's life threatening."

In response, Toyota decided to offer to borrow the Prius for a whole week to conduct tests. This is the second Prius-related issue which surfaces today, after earlier reports began coming in saying some 100 complaints about the brakes in the Prius not functioning properly have been filed in the US and Japan.