To my Prius Chat family... Last week I screwed up my baby! I had spent five hours washing and waxing my Prius one Wednesday. After I was done (and pretty tired) I was switching cars in my garage. I backed out the Pri and then pulled in the Honda. When I came out of the garage... the Prius was GONE! In my less-than-alert rush to get the job done I had left my car in reverse - with the car powered on. I don't know what happened with the parking brake - which I use religiously, but the car rolled out of the drive, across the street and in to the woods. I was heartbroken to see that beautiful, black car sitting in between the trees. In the end, there is $3,800 worth of cosmetic damage. So very sad! My black paint was stellar! Now it will need to be painted. The moral of this story? Don't turn off the damn reverse beeper!!! If it had been on I wouldn't have left it in gear. You can bet that it's on now.
UGH!! I've come close to doing that; I'll try to remember your advise. Good luck with the repair. What part of the Country did this happen? Please update your Profile.
Bummer! I've got to agree with leaving the reverse beeper on. I turned it off about a week after I got the car, then about a week after that I almost hit the car behind me in a parking lot because I thought the car was in drive when it was in reverse. Later that day I turned it back on, and left it.
Yikes! :blink: That sucks, but luckily it doesn't sound like anyone was hurt. I leave my reverse beeper on so that I can audibly know when I've taken it out of reverse. No beep means I'm at least in neutral!
So sorry to hear about your baby. But I can understand how it can happen. I have had Lola for almost a year now. About 2 weeks ago, I was hurrying to a wedding. Was running late, got lost once. Arrived on the dot of 3PM-ceremony time. Rushed in- and forgot to power off. After a year, you would think everything becomes instinctive. Not so when you are rushed or distracted.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tbstout2 @ Jul 4 2006, 10:22 AM) [snapback]280985[/snapback]</div> Must have learned to drive using a manual, eh? There's simply no need for religious use anymore. Most driving automatics only use it for hill parking. In a garage with virtually no chance of ever getting bumped or the influence of gravity, the brake was considered a waste. But now in this circumstance, it can be labeled as a problem instead. I suggest you just get in the habit of locking your car. It won't let you if it is still running. That's very hard not to notice and a good practice anyway. Sorry to hear about the damage.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narf @ Jul 4 2006, 10:37 AM) [snapback]280995[/snapback]</div> I wish there was a way to leave the beeper and just quiet it down a little !!!!!
sorry to hear about your car but imm, $3800 aint no where near enough money to put up with that beeping sound.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jul 4 2006, 09:07 AM) [snapback]281008[/snapback]</div> Maybe not for religious use, but occasional use will keep the rear brakes even.
I don't disagree that the reverse beep may/would have prevented your particular accident, it does absolutely no good for leaving the car in drive...if you'd have pulled forward into a parking place or even in your garage it would have driven forward. Also, there's a very distinctive beep/alert that sounds whenever you open the car door while the vehicle is in READY mode (and not in Park) that must've been ignored or not heard. So there are ways of alerting you to your error even with the Reverse beep off. My reverse beep is turned off inside the car and I installed an external reverse alert so that pedestrians can hear when I'm backing up in stealth/EV mode, this definately would have been helpful in your situation.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 4 2006, 02:43 PM) [snapback]281074[/snapback]</div> Ok, Doc.. you've asked for it Please, details on how you did this!!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vincent @ Jul 4 2006, 10:31 AM) [snapback]280988[/snapback]</div> Yes, a complete profile is absolutely essential for troubleshooting this problem. B)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 4 2006, 11:43 AM) [snapback]281074[/snapback]</div> Doc, The alarms don't come on when you are in reverse. Had it been in drive and ready there would have been lots of warning as soon as the door was opened. Think I will just leave my reverse beep alone.
tbstout2, I'm not one to cruelly make light of another's misfortune... BUT... I'm sure that you're aware, when all the dust has settled, that there is a comical aspect to what happened. Not to mention that you may be the only person on the planet who has experienced it. How many would have woods across the street for their reverse-stricken car to conveniently snuggle into? I'm almost tempted to re-enact it for America's Funniest Home Videos. But my Prius is, um, in the shop. Anyone else wanna let me borrow theirs? I just cannot imagine your thought process at that moment when you saw your baby was gone---and when you found it hiding on you. I got Coke in my nose. Seriously, glad you weren't hurt.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jul 4 2006, 09:07 AM) [snapback]281008[/snapback]</div> I learned to drive on an automatic, and I ALWAYS set the parking brake. I feel like if the car moves at all when you put it in park and let your foot off the brake that there's stress going SOMEWHERE that isn't good.
Guilty as charged: I always set the parking brake, and up until the Prius I only had manual transmissions. I can just imagine the feeling when that car disappeared. UGHH Surprising though, that the car did not move immediately. Expensive mistake, but luckily no one was hurt. In a couple of years it will be a great story!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jul 4 2006, 12:07 PM) [snapback]281008[/snapback]</div> Except that the manual in my HyCam recommends using the parking brake; so why not use it in the Prius? And, not to mention how it takes the strain of the 'transmission' so to speak.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tbstout2 @ Jul 4 2006, 08:22 AM) [snapback]280985[/snapback]</div> Don't bet on it. I was getting out of the car the other day and had left it in drive. Flat surface and no movement but it could have been me. Sometimes I think the car does too much for us. Thanks for letting us learn from your "oops".
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jul 4 2006, 09:07 AM) [snapback]281008[/snapback]</div> Ummm...how many of you have leaned against your rear bumper when the car is off and on the flat? I have. It moves. A LOT. And I do NOT weigh that much. I used to drive manuals, and then did get out of the habit of using the parking brake with my '91 Acura. (And I would even scold my son & husband, both of whom prefer manual transmissions, when they would drive my car and leave the parking brake on, automatically, as it were...) I am now back IN the habit with the Pri because if I can shift it as far as I can on a flat carpark, just leaning against it, I do not wish to think what gravity can do. Remember...gravity is not just a good idea--it's the law! <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Jul 4 2006, 11:15 AM) [snapback]281063[/snapback]</div> Finding out how to get rid of the beep was the first thing I did the morning after I got the car, and it was what led me to find PriusChat...so, in that sense--it was a GOOD thing. However, as for Dave, there is NOTHING that would make it worth my while to turn it back on. As to an outside audible one as mentioned by Doc Fusco--nope--that would annoy the neighbors and my dog as well as me. The other thing to really try to get in the habit of is hitting the PARK button every time you are stopping driving for any length of time (and even before hitting the POWER button when your know you are stopping for a long time--makes it more of an automatic action so you are less likely to forget)...like, say, you pull over to the side of the road to answer a cell phone call (which, believe it or not, I actually DO), PUSH THE PARK BUTTON. Going through a MickeyD's drive through and reaching out for your food? PUSH THE PARK BUTTON. At a drive by mail box? PUSH THE PARK BUTTON *BEFORE* REACHING OUT WITH THE LETTERS IN YOUR HAND. To summarize...stopping for much of anything other than stop sign or light PUSH THE PARK BUTTON!! There is a lot of discussion on this board about how we have to change our driving habits to take maximum advantage of the capabilities of the Prius. I suggest this is another habit that needs working on to take maximum advantage of that new system.
