Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has suggested that Toyota’s troubles with a defective accelerator pedal may have to do with software, after his Prius speeded up while in cruise control.
“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.”
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
He said the problem in his Prius might be related to the random acceleration issue that has forced Toyota into a massive recall of eight million vehicles worldwide and a halt to US sales and production of eight affected models.
The Prius, a best-selling hybrid, is not one of the vehicles under recall.
Wozniak, who founded Apple Computer – now Apple Inc – with Steve Jobs in the 1970s, said he tried unsuccessfully to get Toyota’s and US authorities’ attention after his 2010 Prius acceleration problems cropped up while he was in cruise control months ago.
Thanks to the media attention this week, however, Toyota has responded by offering to borrow Wozniak’s car for a week to diagnose the problem, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Wozniak told ABC his acceleration problem in his Prius can be brought under control by braking and by a radar system that regulates distance from other cars by slowing it down.
He also spoke to CNN about his car troubles, stressing that “I love this car” and downplaying his earlier comments to ABC about a possible broad Toyota software problem.
“It’s more like a radio button that doesn’t work all the time. The car will start to accelerate in cruise control. You can hit the brake to stop it,” Wozniak 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.”
