I Got My First "Freak Out!"

Yet another reason to have a dash mounted camera.

It's really fun to drive in a parking lot and see the heads turn as you drive by with out the ICE running.

 

What? Don't people always look before walking into a trafficway?

Actually, I'm quite familiar with that experience. I work on a college campus where pedestrians rarely look for oncoming traffic - they just assume it will stop while they cross the street. Inevitably, at least four times per year there are on-campus vehicle-versus-pedestrian accidents.

There are also people who listen for traffic instead of looking for it (I've caught myself doing this on occasion). Obviously with stealth mode, it is no longer safe to assume that all moving vehicles make noise. Several students, including groups of pedestrians, have stepped right in front of my quiet yet moving Prius and been surprised as I slam on the brakes to avoid hitting them.

Hopefully as the technology becomes more widespread, pedestrians will learn to break their bad habits...

 

Well... Two women chattering wouldn't hear a diesel truck coming!

On another note... the Prius does have a horn; a device that can make annoying noise at command.

 

... and most college students don't care if a diesel truck is coming because they think they're young and invincible!

This "horn" you speak of - what menu is that under? j/k

 

Speculation.

So, what happens when the majority of cars are hybrids or electric? I guess people will have to learn to be more attentive.

I installed a reverse beeper in my taillight exactly for this reason. My mother was watering the front yard as I was leaving and she freaked because she didn't hear my car coming. I had to install the beeper. All I heard after that was how I was going to run over a child who didn't hear me coming.

My Father still hasn't gone for a ride.

Neither have any interest in even driving it.

It's been 7 weeks.

 

Reverse beeper is great but it only works while reversing. I do have Reverse Parking Assist installed but it is more for parking purpose.

These type of accidents are not uncommon in carpark especially when you are in stealth mode. What I usually do is to roll down the windows and turn up the volume of CD/Radio.

Vincent

 

Yeah. Well, I'm drawing the line at having a warning beeper for going forward. My mother will just have to live with it.

 

This brings up an issue I've had in the past and expect again. Deer. I commute through a deer infested area and used to have a white Tercel. That car was like a magnet to deer! I hit 2 in as many years, but had many other close calls. Our theory was twofold; they couldn't see the little white car on the foggy mornings and couldn't hear it's tiny hamster engine. This theory held up when I replaced the tercel with a red V6. The deer situation calmed down quite a bit.

That's partly why I've ordered the Salsa Red rather one of the 'shades of silver'. I relish the idea of drifting silently through the countryside, but not having deer, dogs, cattle, humans, etc dart in front of me.

Can any country dwellers out there attest to whether there is an increase in road kill with the Prius?

 

There's no correlation that I'm aware of; I've seen deer dart in front of loaded semi trucks on I-70. Yeah, that makes a mess. Personally, I think they're just a depressed species prone to suicide. I haven't had the experience of running into one yet.

My thought: dogs, cats, etc. have better hearing than humans. Perhaps they'll be more likely to sense the approaching Prius?

 

I want to know the voice command...

There's a reason why motorcycles are louder than cars...maybe the car needs a speaker under the hood that goes "vroom vroom" when in "stealth" mode...could start a whole cottage industry in "downloadable engine tones..." I'd go for the "Speed Buggy" sound myself.

 

I might either get the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or the deck of cards in spokes "engine sound." I might also add the "I have a HEMI under there" sound just to annoy those people who think that having a vehicle with a HEMI makes them somehow more macho. And for when I'm in the mood to be really obnoxious, how about the "non-hushkitted JT8D at take-off thrust" (think DC-9, 727, early 737s etc.) engine sound, although I might have to install a 5000 Gigawattt amplifier to pull that one off. :mrgreen:

 

My wife and I have silently followed from 10 feet behind, a whole family (about 6 people) sauntering down the middle of a parking lot road. I didn't hit the horn as 1) I didn't want to scare the kids, and 2) I was curious just how oblivious these people were (VERY!) :roll:

My wife and I agreed at the time that some kind of a friendly, " I'm here!" noise that was quieter than the horn would be nice. Anyone up for a new mod? :mrgreen:

 

I like to listen to my music loud, so usually if I have the window down it's audible outside the car. If hubby is with me I have to roll up the windows and turn on the AC so then I get people wandering in front of the car at the grocery store.

I swear my husband burns 40% of his energy on producing body heat.

Anyway, I'm sure you could get some small noisemaker for the front of the car. Maybe some fun yet Prius-related song or noise?

 

I just Honk! Once, a light tap, and then a longer more obnoxious one if they insist on not noticing. And yes, I have it happen all the time in the parking lot.

My husband wants to mount something more lethal, but I won't let him.

I like the thought of a loud jet engine noise. That'll wake 'em up. :mrgreen:

Lisa

 

"I just Honk! Once, a light tap, and then a longer more obnoxious one if they insist on not noticing. And yes, I have it happen all the time in the parking lot."

Now, what fun is that?

If you're really looking for the ultimate "freak out," creep up behind a person/group and just _hammer_ the horn. Don't just do a little meep-meep, just let out the WHOOOOO HAAAAAA. That'll teach them from wandering in the street!

My parents have a dog that used to run around moving cars in the drive way. I got the dog stuck under the front bumper once. Now he never runs in front of the cars! Don't worry, the dog was fine - not a scratch on him.
Then again, the dog is probably smarter than most of the gen public.

 

How 'bout the sound of squealing tires in a panic stop? THAT should get their attention.

 

On top of that you'd have to get one of those fogging machines to give the illusion of smoke from the tires! That'd be great!