Thanks to a reader who sent me links to videos. I was in Denver this week and saw several interviews with Sikes one morning. Like the reader I was on the fence, but after reviewing the video again, several times there are some troubling aspects of his statements.
The driver of a Toyota Prius says he was taken on a wild ride Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph on a winding, hilly portion of a southern California...
Telling if someone is lying is not an exact science. In real life investigations you listen, then ask for clarification or confront on any inconsistencies.
Form a purely statement analysis perspective I would ask Sikes to clarify a couple of places and aspects of his statement:
Why were you looking for a straight away to turn off the car? (I can see the logic of this, if he turns off the car he may not have control of the steering,etc.)
Then he says, "nobody to protect me from behind." I find this odd. When you are going that fast you are not concerned with what is behind you, you are only concerned with what is in front of you. When you are going that fast you do not need protection from behind. If you shut off the car you would expect the other drivers to avoid your car as it slows down. Wouldn't that be an acceptable risk?
There is a place where he says, "I was standing on the pedals..." clearly the plural. This is a hot spot, while it clearly could be a slip of the tongue, it also could be exactly what happened, he could have been pushing both pedals.
At other times he says and does the right things, indicating honesty. Shrugs occurring at the right times. In another interview when asked, he simply states, "it was just stuck" with confidence and does not feel the need to elaborate; a very clear sign of honesty.
So it would not surprise me one way or the other. I would expect if he is lying, those who are close to him, both personally and professionally, would be able to tell. It takes a certain kind of personality to be able to pull a hoax on this grand scale, if they believe him without reservations it is likely he is telling the truth.◦
Sunday, March 14, 2010
James Sikes the Toyota Prius Owner Whose Pedal Stuck; is he telling the truth?
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5 comments:
When he made the statement "I was standing on the pedals ..." I took that to mean that he was standing on both the brake and emergency brake as instructed by the officer assisting him. If the emergency brake in his vehicle is a pedal on the floor this would make sense and would not be a hot spot.
-mike.
Thanks for the analysis! I think there's a hot spot at 1:30 of the video you posted, when Sikes half smiles and says, "once, early in the game..." Maybe that's just the way he speaks and a common figure of speech for him, but to refer to the situation as a "game" was interesting to me. The smile was interesting too.
But he does also have body language that fits his words, like with the shoulder shrugs you mention. I really don't know what to think about it.
Nice video John. I also think he's lying.
Like anonymous says it's contempt he's shows and shakes no in a way: 'get outta here' like it's nonsense. Also fear in his eyes sometimes. So he shows two feelings of a liar: contempt and fear (could be explained of course).
A lot of one shoulder shrugs, which are reliable signs someone is lying. He's a liar I think.
He John, I just saw this link on twitter: http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-nhtsa-prius-investigation?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl10|link5|http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-nhtsa-prius-investigation
That it might be a hoax. I think it's a hoax.
It is my understanding the parking brake is a button on the center console.
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