Press Park button when moving - what happens?

Under about 3 MPH, you come to an abrupt and jarring stop, Above about 3 MPH you shift to N.
You never need to use P, ever. I use mine when I wish to power electrical devices while stationary. The battery never runs down if I am Ready in P

 

In the US, there is a law that an automatic has to have PRND in a clockwise order. As you move clockwise around the steering wheel , sure enough you see PRND. (Toyota is required to have a gear like B, but the law does not say where it must be)

 

I hit it by mistake a few times, a couple of beeps and I am in neutral, no damage.

 

someboy try it

 

I have.

At speed, it is the quickest way into N, as there is a 3 second delay if you try to move to N.

 

curious cat I am... tried it at both high and low speeds. car's fine.

 

Many of us personally tested this as a fast way to Neutral back during the Runaway Toyota Hysteria three years ago.

Shifting to Reverse at speed does the same thing, also with a double beep warning, no harm done. This is an advantage of computerized control compared to purely mechanical control.

 

???

Rick James, is that you?

 

So I guess you won't like this

I'll be installing this soon. The shifter is one of the only "beef" I have with my Prius.
Something about the old school shifters that gives a mechanical click makes me feel better. Since I don't get that from the Prius, it might as well be buttons

 

I always struggle to find it when parking in my garage with the headlights off, since the button isn't lit up.

 

i got a better question, what happens if you press the START button while driving? both high speeds and low speeds. someone do that for me

 

Notin. If you hold it for ~3 seconds, it will shutdown completely.

 

I don't see why anyone would purposely try to screw up their car by pushing various buttons...but was a bit nervous about doing that with the Park button, however, I haven't come close to it. The only mistake I ever have made is just shutting off the power and not placing it in park the first week I had the car. Turns out they must have planned on that.

 

All of these should be in the the operator's toolbox or knowledge base of emergency responses. There have been several high profile tragedies where these button pushes or gear shifts could have saved lives.

 

Really? This is driving a hybrid car, not flying a plane. Funny how you say that there have been several high profile tragedies with the Prius, yet if that were true, a lot of us would have never bought the car, nor would it have been so highly recommended in such publications as Consumer Reports. There is more talk on this board about fuel economy than saving lives.

 

I've intentionally done the above on my Gen 2. Shuts down indeed.

I tried all 3 experiments at Luscious Garage | Blog | Floor mat anxiety?  LG TV investigates… myself on my Gen 2 (which they happen to be driving as well).

 

Using a car (any car, the hybrid part is irrelevant) is very dangerous, and it really shows in the mortality statistics. Safety standards are much lower than aircraft safety standards.

Those bolded words are yours, not mine. I was referring to cars in general, not Prius specifically. But I have no reason to believe Prius is exempt from the problems of the general automotive world. Prius operators should operate with the same level of diligence that the operators of other vehicles should be using.