I found an answer to my question on the Gen. II forum, wondering if anyone can confirm this is still the case in Gen III: If the shift switch is accidentally bumped into the Reverse position while driving, can it go into Reverse? In the Gen II forum, the answer is that it won't reverse when going over 8 mph. I am hoping this common sense safeguard is in place but not willing to do the experiment myself!
Since the Prius is just running the electric motor backwards and not shifting grears I don't see the problem. But, I am not about to try this in either my gen II or III.
Any bad shift, Reverse or Park, will cause a shift to Neutral. In fact, pressing the Park button is the fastest way to remove power in an emergency. Holding down Power or shifting to Neutral takes a couple of seconds. Pressing Park shifts immediately to Neutral. Tom
Been there done that. The car just goes backwards what's the big deal? Say you hit reverse going forewords 5 mph. The car just slowly decelerates going foreword as if you were braking gently and then starts going reverse. Nothing abrupt like shifting gears when your engine rev isn't matching your speed. Not like it explodes lol.
My main concern was what would happen "at speed," as in 35 mph or highway speeds. It's fine if I mess up in my driveway, just don't want to drop the "transmission" on the interstate!
Qbee already answered this. At 50, 60, and 70 mph, when the shift lever is pushed into Reverse, mine goes Neutral instantly, with a double-beep warning. I've practiced it dozens of times, to make it one of my reflexive responses in case the car ever suffers Sudden Unintended Acceleration. I haven't done the same with Park, but the many folks who have indicate that it does the same at highway speed.
What happens to us is our GPS falls off the dash suction cup and hits the shifter and puts us in B gear (and also turns on the windshield wipers). Seems OK if we just quickly move the setting back to D. Finally got a bean bag GPS base to stop the silliness.
I've had my car just about 3 months, and I haven't really had a chance to read up on these situations. I've always leaned on the side of cautiousness and tried to be careful to not bump the shifter. Unfortunately every so often, I have a drunk person in my car, and they always seem to have wandering fingers. Today I had a drunk girl in my car. it was her first time in a prius. First she spilled her drink on my bisque interior. Then, trying to adjust the temp/ radio, her hands wandered all over the instrument panel. Sure enough the innevitable "whats this" moment came when she groped the shifter into the "B" mode. I quickly brushed her hand away and set it into drive. At the time I was pretty sure that shifting into B wasn't a problem, but I still wanted to drop her at the next watering hole. I can't stand grabby drunk passengers who have never been in a prius before. Their like little kids that have to mess with everything they see. I mean, if she really needs to grab on to something.
I can sheepishly confirm that Park shifts to neutral also when at speed. I did this accidentally once while reaching for the nearby climate control "Auto" button on my Gen III, trying to keep my eyes on the road. I then noticed I had no power, and was in "N" and realized my finger was on "P" instead of the button I intended. I do wonder why Toyota persists in making "P" a button instead of a shifter position. Maybe they're assuming I'll be less likely to hit P when I'm slowing and mean reverse, and know they've built in this safeguard that P won't activate at higher speeds.
The shifting logic is clever - you could not make a mistake. The shiting conditions and procedures are explained in the diagram and table: Shift Operation which Causes Reject Function to Operate - Shift Position After Rejection The driver changes the shift position out of P without depressing the brake pedal - Held in P position While driving, the driver changes the shift position to P with the P position switch operation - Changed to N position While driving, the driver changes the shift position from D to R, or from R to D - Changed to N position The driver changes the shift position from P to B - Held in P position The driver changes the shift position from R to B - Changed to N position The driver changes the shift position from N to B - Held in N position and for the ZVW35 (PHV): The driver changes the shift position from P to any position other than P while the charge connector is connected - Held in P position
Wow, PaJa, thanks for all that info - I will print this out and add to my little collection of Prius info. I had assumed all along that they would not let such a simple mistake damage the car. Glad to see someone has worked through and engineered for all the possible scenarios. Perhaps that is one tremendous benefit of drive-by-wire switches rather than it really being a 20th-century gear shift. Thank you all for your responses to my question.
