The other day when I was driving home, almost to the house, a kid jumped out in front of me chasing his baseball. I was in stealth mode at the time, and it wasn't too close, so I had time to stop. The kid, however, thought that I had stalled my car! So he says 'Mister, you stalled your car!' I then glided away.... You should have seen the look on his face!
Great One Dunkin Donuts Coffee (mine): $2.39 Cellphone (his): maybe $200.00? EV mod (Prius): $45.00 Scaring the beejeebers out of him as he nearly gets run over... PRICELESS.
The other day i was working my way down a ramp (parking garage for some people), and pulled up behind 4 kids walking out to their car... of course, they weren't on one side of the ramp, instead they were streatched out over the entire thing, making it impossible to pass them... i think thye all jsut about had heart attacks when i honked at them
I've had all these experiences with a gasoline powered car. Some can be just as silent at parking lot speeds. Even with a car that makes sound. (my Prius does), I still get these same reactions and close calls. I also get them with my Del Sol which is quite a noisy little car. This is an imagined problem. But when you look for a problem you tend to find one, real or not. To those who really believe that this is a problem, maybe you just need to pay more attention and not trust a pedestrian to get out of your way. In most cases the drivers is at fault no matter sound or not. This is pure hysteria about an imagined risk. It is reminiscent of when steam locomotives were invented and they tried to keep them from going over about 25 MPH since it was believed that going over that would cause instant death. These days they would make a law preventing progress due to the imagined risk as they have done in this case.
Sorry, just got my Prius and was looking for info on how to remove the sound when I found this thread. It is relevant since I think this year the sound is mandated.
It is them...not the car. Yesterday in Indy at a construction sight a worker was backed over by a huge tracked back hoe...and RIP, died. Tell me that it wasn't a bit louder than the Prius!
I playfully sneak up on people in parking lots, I like to see the look on their face when they see a car right behind them
I have done the same thing to friends in the parking lot To keep this six year old post alive: I have yet to even come close to hitting anyone because I am very aware of the fact that "they" may not be paying attention to the fact that I am behind them !!
I nearly got my own dumb nice person run over by a hybrid Camry in a parking lot . . . 'course it was before I was a Prius pilot.
Is it me? in 6 years of Prius driving I have not had this at all. People here seem to look before they cross the road, most likely because crossing the road is a school subject which is maintained throughout primary, secondary and tertiary education. You can get a doctorate in crossing the road if it is something that really grabs you. I have had some fun though, sneeking up quietly behind my son as he was walking home from school with his mates and hitting the horn! barrel of laughs!!ound:
For you guys that like to sneak up on people and scare the heck out of them....buy one of these train horns! Train Horns & Train Horn Kits: Loudest Horns Available vids...some language train horn utubes - Bing Videos
There are really two issues at play here. As noted, the pedestrian cannot hear the Prius. But the Prius driver's view is also notably diminished by the unusually wide "A" pillar. Taller drivers who sit further back will notice this more. My experience is in a Gen III.
lol. I guess Aussies are "street-smarter". I've had a woman cross and jumped (& screamed) back onto the kerb when she decided to look for traffic after she stepped off. I don't think I've ever seen anyone jump that high and far back from a road before. Funny as heck.
LOL not in my neck of the woods Tideland. I'm constantly watching out for pedestrian walking out in front of me without looking. Especially in car parks it's the worst.
I'm not convinced it's a case of people can't hear - I mean there is the lack of sound issue - but people, regardless of right of way, etc... Really don't care. The number of people I see walking in the middle of a parking lot regardless of the type of car (hybrid, non-hybrid) is astounding. People just don't care and are just not considerate of others in our out of a car. People these days are increasingly being self-entitled. Look at the number of people in a grocery store who actually pull their carts to the side to be considerate of others...
In my new area, there are no pedestrians! It's truck city and damn it if they had to walk to get groceries.
