Mar 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) I am sure you have all heard the story by now, of the runaway Toyota Prius and the driver who had to call 911, and have the California Highway Patrol to drive beside him, at speeds up to 90 miles per hour, to help him stop. The man, James Sikes, was on the phone with the 911 operator for 24 minutes, and was obviously in a full blown panic situation in which it was difficult to concentrate. At times he seemed to not even hear the operator’s questions, and he seemed pretty much lost until the Patrol Officer driving alongside him started yelling instructions through a bull horn.

James Sikes bought the car in 2008, and only had 53,000 miles on it. He had previously received a recall notice for his car, but when he took it to the dealership, he was told it was not on the recall list, and so he took it back home. Monday afternoon, he pressed the gas petal so that he could pass another car, and it stuck, sending him speeding down Interstate 8 east of San Diego. This story has gotten a great deal of media coverage due to the recent Toyota recalls, however, it is causing some people to feel as though the media needs to change it’s priorities on what is published. Since no one was harmed in this incident, no damage done, it is being said that although it is a story that should have been told, it has received far too much coverage over stories that should have been told.

One story, for example, tells the story of Jacquelion Hampton, 35, Latoya Cathina, 28, Alicia Landon, 28 and Toccara Jones, 25, all residents of Chicago’s South Side. All four of these women died when the 2000 Pontiac Bonneville they were in crashed for unknown reasons. The police are said to be investigating the accident, but Steven Kerch, the assistant managing editor of “MarketWatch” wrote an article expressing his dislike of the media coverage of the Prius, yet none existed for these women. He has promised to keep the public updated.