I almost ran someone over today in the parking lot.

It's called natural selection. In 100 generations, nobody will ever be startled by a Prius!

 

plain and simple...some people are really stupid.


i park in a courthouse lot where two lanes of cars merge into one after ticket gates, then proceed straight down an aisle. well every morning there are the dummies that walk almost straight down the aisle blocking the incoming cars. some are even walking towards your car.
people are stupid

sometimes physics is plain and simple ...a 200lb man will not win over a 3,200lb car+two objects cannot occupy the same space.


**nws**..foul language
cow = people

 

I heard that was your states official bird. (NJ)

At least that is what one of your radio announcers said.

 

This why I don't get the back-up beep being "inside" the car! Then again I scared the crap out of someone walking into the parking lot I was driving into so the beep would not have been on.
People are just so self absorbed that they pay no attention to anything going on around them.

 

If you check this forum for a thread titled "My funny Prius story" you'll see that I had a similar near-miss about 2 weeks ago.

 

When my brother found out I got a Prius he sniffed and said he didn't like them because he couldn't hear them coming when he was out for a walk. Is he walking in the middle of the street? Are there Prius owners out to get him?

Let's all just pay attention - drivers and walkers!

 

I'm curious if you'd blame the pedestrian on this one:
"she was texting and walked smack dab into one of the concrete poles sticking out of the ground."

 

I ride a bicycle for most of the miles I travel.
I drive an EV the next most number of miles.
I drive a Prius for the rest.
Sometimes I even walk.
I live in a college town where there are literally thousands of distracted young, carefree adults who are plugged in and tuned out.

Though I've not come close to running anybody over, there have, of course, been many instances where I'm not heard. It is the responsibility of both parties to be safe. And adding to the noise pollution is NOT the answer here.

If that yellow pole mentioned above were beeping, would the texter not have run into it? If my EV were beeping would the pedestrian who was looking for his wife in the Safeway parkinglot not have walked directly into my door as I sat parked?

This discussion will go on forever. The fact is, we have stupid drivers and we have clueless pedestrians. People will get hurt no matter how we try to protect them. There comes a time when personal responsibility trumps all - this is one of those times. If you don't want to get run over, you pay attention when you are anywhere that a moving vehicle could be. If you don't want to run anybody over, you pay attention when you are anywhere that a pedestrian or cyclist could be.

Modern cars are insanely quiet, and super-insulated. Can't hear anything inside or outside. Want to be safe? Make others safe? Stop driving a multi-thousand pound car to move your 200 pound bag of protoplasm!

 

it was the poles fault


people don't get hurt by poles, poles hurt people



we should outlaw concrete poles

 

You are Number 1!

 

This is, unfortunately, the view of the litigious America. Afterall how is one to know that coffee is hot

 

Oh, yea, if you hit them, they would surely sue

 

Hahahaha!!! too true!

 

I asked my deaf friend about this. He said he hasn't heard a thing. :doh:

 

I learned very quickly that you have to be extra careful and watch for people. People are keyed into the sound of cars. It's very dangerous. You cannot bring your old parking lot/backup habits to a hybrid. And you can't get mad at people when you roll up right behind them and they don't move. They can't hear you!

 

This is simply (typically) not true. If they were listening for you, they could hear you. Folks with normal hearing, that is. When I'm riding my bike - even at 20 mph with all the rushing wind in my ears - I can pick out the hybrids coming up behind me on battery power just from their distinctive sound. I can hear our EV (quieter than the Prius) before it turns the corner into our neighborhood three houses away. I can hear bicyclists all around me when I ride, and they're quieter than my EV. Pedestrians CAN hear you. They just aren't listening for you.

I do agree that the woman who was texting couldn't hear the pole, however.

 

Please, you may want to reconsider this claim:

Regardless of car, a 3-4,000 lb car will always 'win' in a pedestrian accident. However, this is a claim that our cars are especially dangerous, made by the National Federation of the Blind, has yet to be confirmed by any experimental data. The irony is they have not also asked for a ban on: (1) pedestrians with iPods; (2) pedestrians walking with cell phone conversations; and (3) pedestrians walking while herding a gaggle of kids. Worse, testimony at the June 23, 2008 NHTSA hearing on the subject of "quiet cars" pointed out there is already a substantial amount of background automotive noise that already masks all cars.

Dr. Paul Goode and Les Blomberg both presented field measurements showing the problem of car noise in 'white noise' and existing cars 'masked in the noise.' We tend to 'tone it out,' but the effect is measurable and was documented in the June 23 hearing.

I think you may want to readdress "very dangerous" given what happens at slow speed impacts:

The source is Literture Review on Vehicle Travel Speeds and Pedestrian Injuries. There are ~4,700 pedestrian fatalities every year in our country and trying to focus on these slow speed incidents is looking 'at the mote in your neighbor's eye instead of the beam in your own.' We are standing in a pool of pedestrian blood and this nonsense is trying to ignore an annual 9/11 death toll for this 'quiet cars' nonsense.

Strangely, I'm finding the ZVW30 is noisier than expected:

• drive past a wall in EV - the inverter whine is distinctly heard
• turn on AC - walking around the car the compressor is distinctly heard

But even Prof. Rosenblum who conducted the NFB vehicle tests in 2007-08 reported that at about 25 mph, the tire and aerodynamic noise was equal for the Prius and ordinary engine cars. Then look back at the probability of injury as a function of speed. Add to that the pedestrian safety improvements.

The ZVW30 has added bumper, hood and quarter panel safety features to improve pedestrian safety. This resulted in a 5 star rating in the Euro NCAP ratings.

Everyone is welcome to their opinions but the facts and data are not sympathetic to the "quiet cars" claims.

Bob Wilson

 

Well, even in my FJ, with its factory burbly droning exhaust note, I damn near nailed a kid at a Wal Mart parking lot in Winnipeg. He just walked out from parked cars, a hoodie on, oblivious

I leaned on the horn and finally he turned around, then I noticed the earbuds and the glazed eyes. He slowly stumbled off to one side and I roared by

In hindsight, I should have hit the gas instead of the brakes

 

*Groan* You deserve to be smacked for that!

 

I can only assume, that by your postings, that you indeed are one of the mindless cattle the amble aimlessly in the parking lot d'jour just waiting to be run over.

The STUPID back up beep in the car is JUST PLAIN WRONG. It belongs on the outside, where the cattle may hear it, who knows if they will move. I too have had cattle incidents....I give them 10 seconds , if they notice me and move, great! If not they get a polite tap on the horn.... ignore me, full HORN, GTF out of the way!!!

Survival of the fittest seems to have gone by the wayside!!!

Too Bad!!!