"(Hybrids) are scary for a blind person"

Bottom line is that anyone with a white cane ALWAYS has the right-of-way. I think it's in every state's rules of the road. I drive along a road every day that seems to always have blind people walking along the sidewalks and crossing at the traffic lights. Its always the drivers responsibility to slow down and prepare to stop if there is a person with a white cane at the intersection, doesn't matter what color the light is. And they are only supposed to cross at an intersection, not in the middle of the block. But it's the driver's responsibility to be prepared for them to do anything. When in doubt, just give them a friendly beep from your Prius' toy horn.

 

Buffum is an idiot. Would he rather hear an 18 wheeler that just about to run him over. If he is blind, how does he know he is in a crosswalk? I had a 1991 Toyota Camry that was so quite that I was frequently asked if it was running when I paid tolls. What about deaf people? I know, we will be forced to put on strobe lights on the cars to warn them right before they are killed. Sorry for the rant but I'm tired of the stupidity. The whole country has been dumbed down over the past generation.

 

Last week I was driving near the UW-Milwaukee Campus. I came to a stop sign, and saw a visually impaired gent about 20 with a backpack and white cane stop at the curb in front of me and then enter the cross walk. Oh yeah, he also had a cell phone clamped to his face and he was yakking away. While I sat in my dead-silent Prius waiting for him to clear the cross-walk, it struck me that he's probably a bigger threat to himself than I am!

 

Well to add to the complaining bandwagon I think the spinning rims need to be outlawed as well! Every time I see a car with them and I see them spinning I still think the car is in motion and react as such! (seriously too! )

 

This is funny! What really makes it funny to me is my wife can hear the car when I pull up to her when she is at the Jewel. She sits on this bench in front of the store, and as I pull up she can hear it. The car makes a high pitched whining sound from the regen, but once it stops, dead silent. It also makes a high pitched whine when moving under electric.

 

The simplest solution would be, for all of us to toot our horns at regular intervals.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Nov 14 2007, 12:20 AM) [snapback]539322[/snapback]</div>

That's cool! Once they figure out how to make it say "you are driving too fast" just when you exceed the speed limit, we'll really have something.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ACD @ Nov 21 2007, 08:51 PM) [snapback]542792[/snapback]</div>

Actually . . . those of us who have dog-like hearing can attest to the fact that Prii make a whining sound whenever they are in the ready mode, even while parked and with no other electronics on.

 

Okay, we have all laughed about the blind people vs Prius things before, but it actually happened to me, a blind person walked into my car.

My wife and I were at an intersection, a blind person with a 'tapping stick' veered a bit off the crosswalk, tapped my car and walked right into it. He literally tapped and walked right into the front passenger side of my car. ('into' as in he hit it, not got in it) My wife didn't see him until he was almost laying onto the windshield in front of her and screemed because she thought someone was trying to rob us. Confused, he tapped my car some more while my wife continued screeming. He got his bearing straight and carefully walked around the front of the car. I checked my car for dents or scratches when we got to our destination and luckily didn't find any.

 

So if he had walked into a parked car, then should should argue that all parked cars should have a constant noise device on at all time.

Blind people sometimes walk into things. You know why? Cause their blind.

 

The only blind people in danger are the blinded by $UV leaders of companies that don't have hybrid or alternative power vehicles on the road NOW, not in 5-10 years, if then. The blind vs. Prius horse is still not dead. Lets beat it some more!

 

The thing with parked cars is that they aren't in the middle of the road. They are against the curb. My car was in its lane, an area that usually has cars with motors that make noise.

Still, I am with the majority here and I would rather risk having a blind person walk into my car again than have it make noise. I am just shocked it actually happened! I do live and work near the central business district where there is quite a concentration of blind people, and this occured only a few blocks from some blind-people assistance facility. But, it is almost comical it happened because a year ago I made fun of it so much after they made their complaint.

 

The problem is their white cane is an imprecise tool. In one of the mailing lists, several have reported having canes crushed or damaged beyond all belief. Sad to say, there are few independent observers and no one to count the times they 'tap' into a park bench, trash can or other silent object.

Bob Wilson