CNN - Boy hit by Prius - Couldn't hear it.

Most people don't actually look before walking into the street, they rely on hearing if a car is comming. I often have people walk right in front of me when driving through parking lots. They never look, they just listen and that technique does not work with a Prius.

 

It seems like there is momentum building to put some kind of noise generator on Hybrids. The people in this country and in congress can be convinced of anything once the media is focused on it. I'm very sorry to hear this because I think it will be misplaced legislation like a lot of other laws in this country.

If they do force something on us I hope it is smart. It would be reasonable if it only activates at low speed and is quiet enough that it can't be heard inside the car with the windows closed. I also hope they don't single out hybrids but rather focus on any car with a noise below a certain level. What about bicycles?!

I can see a state mandated sticker and fee coming for testing how quiet a car is, followed by a mandatory noise generator installation. What a way to mess up a good thing.

 

I love how the mother states that the quiet Prius was the problem. The vid CLEARLY states that the kid rode directly into the path of the Prius without looking. I'd say it was more of MOM'S fault for either not teaching her son to look before riding out into the street, or for not supervising him. It certainly wasn't the "quiet car".

Mr. Darwin ..... are you listening?

... Brad

 

Are you kidding me? The thing about Prius quietness is that it only occurs at very low speeds. If you look at the kid they interview in the video, the extent of his damages was that he rolled up the windshield, then scraped his knee.

Red alert! Red alert!

First, there's no indication that the kid who wasn't paying attention wouldn't have been hit by any other car, and second, the conclusion they propose is preposterous.

That report was an overreaction in total support of frivolous and unintelligent legislation. Even the Prius owner they interviewed appeared to support the legislation saying "it made total sense". It doesn't. I don't want an annoying sound playing every time my car slows/stops and the point is moot anyway because where you really need to help blind people is at crosswalks, where the Prius should be at a dead stop, or the blind person is foolishly jaywalking (in which case any car would be a risk).

I think Prius owners have more to fear from blind people whacking their car with their pole than anything else.

 

By the way, is anyone else annoyed by the beepers on crosswalks that let the blind know when to cross? I actually understand their necessity, but I sure the heck wouldn't want one of those on my car.

 

Christ, the nanny state is at work already -- legislation was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to require hybrids and electric cars to emit a certain level of noise...

kare11.com :: KARE 11 TV - Boy hit by hybrid car; mom says he didn't hear it coming

So, the mother admitted that he rode his bike out in front of the car, but still says it wasn't entirely his fault! The "big safety issue" here is shitty parenting.

When are people going to learn that you can't legislate stupidity out of existence?

 

The knobbies on my mountain bike make more noise on pavement than a slow-moving Prius. The road bike has an air horn that puts most car horns to shame. And if all else fails, I can always yell.

You mean their cane, don't you?

 

I agree with bac. It was the kids fault not the Prius. Maybe even the parents fault for not teaching or watching the child. I burried the Digg submission.

 

You never hear about a person getting hit by a bicycle because they didn't hear it. The Prius isn't dead silent for christ's sake. The news media is bias on everything.

 

No kidding. How many people have you heard of getting run over by electric golf carts?

 

So Fat Boys/crotch rocket/Mustang/F-150/Rice Rockets with their 110db exhausts are less of a hazard to the general public than my hybrid vehicle?

 

well if Im gonna be hitting people all the time like they say because my Pri is quiet; Im gonna want a cow-catcher mod!

Do they come in barcelona red? :attention:

 

I'm gonna put a cowbell on mine. Needs more cowbell.

 

Yeah...

So if somebody jumps in front of a bicyclist and is hit, is this because the bicycle is too quiet?

If somebody steps in front of a *regular* car and is hit because they didn't sense it in one way or another... is this because the regular car is too quiet? Pedestrians are hit by regular cars all the time. Do they need to be made even louder yet?

How did we survive before the internal combustion engine was introduced to make us all safer?

I'm getting pretty sick of this crap!

 

The problem is lack of personal responsibility and it is much more widespread than this. In this case, the mother admits that the kid rode out in front of the car, but then immediately starts minimizing his behavior by blaming it on the "silent" car. She is already laying out the case for contributory negligence on the part of the driver and Toyota.

Seriously, I bet you dollars to donuts that this woman already has retained a personal injury attorney and is in the process of filing a lawsuit. Some jury of slack-jawed yokels will fall for the theatrics of her personal injury attorney and probably award this kid millions, despite the fact that he admitted negligence.

When I was a kid, I was taught to look for traffic, not to listen for it. If I would have gotten hit, the first question out of my dad's mouth would have been, "Why the hell didn't you look before crossing the street?" The follow-up question would have been, "Did you learn your lesson?" If I didn't go to bed sore from going nice person-over-tea kettle onto the hood, I would have from the beat down my old man would have laid on me for being an idiot.

 

I understand the concern about this, but this would have happened with any car - a Prius is almost as loud at 30 mph as any other gasoline car. As someone else suggested in past threads, look at how many people get hit by buses - vehicles don't get much louder and bigger than that and lots of people still walk out in front of them.

For blind people - I believe they would cross paths with a Prius mainly in 1 of 2 places that I can think of - a parking lot or a crosswalk. If they are at a crosswalk, a Prius is just as loud as a gas car due to the road noise, and if they are in a parking lot, to my knowledge, they aren't allowed to drive, so they would be with someone else who can see, so I don't see where this is even a problem...

However, this bill appears to be making progress in congress. I would recommend people write your reps about this if you really don't want it, they are probably only hearing from people on the other side of the issue and the quietness is something that people really like about hybrids.

 

people get hit by trains - thats about the biggest, loudest object you can collide with.

that kid is lucky to be alive.
his mom should be telling him daily to stop and look before going out into the street - instead of blaming his stuipidy on something else.

 

Stupid people shouldn't breed, and this is obviously a product of the low end of the gene pool.

Whatever happened to "Look both ways before you cross?" Is it not being taught to our young anymore?

Another case of blame everyone else, except the one at fault!

 

I was going to say "blindy stick".