1 - year - old ▁James ▁S ikes , ▁including ▁being ▁ ▁behind ▁in ▁his ▁Pri us ▁car ▁pay ments ▁and ▁with ▁ ▁in ▁accum ulated ▁deb t . ▁S ikes ▁stated ▁he ▁wanted ▁a ▁new ▁car ▁as ▁compens ation ▁for ▁the ▁incident . ▁Anal ys es ▁by ▁Edmund s . com ▁and ▁For bes ▁found ▁S ikes ' ▁acceleration ▁claims ▁and ▁fear s ▁of ▁sh ifting ▁to ▁neutral ▁imp laus ible , ▁with ▁Edmund s ▁con cluding ▁that ▁" in ▁other ▁words , ▁this ▁is ▁B S ", ▁and ▁Michael ▁F ument o ▁in ▁For bes ▁analyz ing ▁S ikes ' s ▁claims ▁related ▁to ▁the ▁mechan ics ▁of ▁his ▁Pri us ▁and ▁his ▁own ▁contradict ions , ▁such ▁as ▁saying ▁he ▁didn ' t ▁want ▁to ▁take ▁his ▁hands ▁off ▁the ▁ste ering ▁wheel ▁to ▁shift ▁into ▁neutral ▁even ▁though ▁he ▁held ▁a ▁cell ▁phone ▁in ▁his ▁hand ▁almost ▁the ▁entire ▁time , ▁comparing ▁it ▁to ▁the ▁bal lo on ▁boy ▁ho ax . ▁Further ▁government ▁investig ator ▁tests ▁on ▁S ikes ' s ▁Pri us ▁reported ly ▁showed ▁that ▁the ▁bra ke ▁wear ▁were ▁consistent ▁with ▁inter mitt ent ▁bra king , ▁not ▁constant ▁hard ▁bra king ▁as ▁he ▁claimed . ▁S ikes ▁also ▁reported ly ▁had ▁a ▁history ▁of ▁false ▁police ▁reports , ▁suspect ▁ins urance ▁claims , ▁the ft ▁and ▁fra ud ▁alleg ations , ▁and ▁television ▁asp ir ations . ▁These ▁find ings ▁raised ▁questions ▁about ▁" the ▁cred ibility ▁of ▁Mr . ▁S ikes ' ▁reporting