Second runaway Toyota Prius in two days, this time in upstate New York 1The second runaway Toyota Prius incident in two days has been reported, this time about 3,000 miles away from the first near catastrophe and in a hybrid model three years old than the initially reported out-of-control vehicle.The woman in the second incident has not been identified, but the 56-year-old driver sustained nonlife-threatening injuries when the 2005 Prius she was driving knocked some large boulders from the wall after the crash, said Capt. Anthony Marraccini, acting police chief in Harrison, New York, about 25 miles northeast of New York City. The woman was pulling out of a driveway when her care zoomed across a busy street and into the stone wall.

Second runaway Toyota Prius in two days, this time in upstate New York 2

The previous day, a California man said his 2008 Toyota Prius sped out of control on a California freeway. The man, 61, said his car accelerated beyond his control after he overtook another vehicle in San Diego County.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aware of both incidents and is investigating.

In the New York incident, the woman was driving on a long, curving driveway when the Prius accelerated beyond her control. She sped across a two-lane road, described as a “fairly busy” street.

She traveled 150 to 200 feet, he said, before the Prius’ front end struck the rock wall โ€”ย  built with boulders weighing 500 to 1,000 pounds โ€” with such force that it “hurled those boulders 10 or 15 feet away.”

Toyota recalled 2004-2009 Prius models last November as part of a wide-ranging safety recall to fix loose floor mats that can trap the accelerator and cause unintended acceleration. The New York woman had taken her car in for recall repairs.

Article Last Updated: March 10, 2010.

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