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

Yes, according to this account Lil' Sis was driving the car. She almost hits a parked car on the wrong side of the road and then blows through a stop.

 

Maybe my head is pounding from the drinking last night, or maybe from this lawsuit-crazy BULLS*** that has run us up on the rocks

I was raised like you, and actually one time I *did* get hit by a car in a grocery store parking lot. I was around 7-8, folks told me not to run ahead to the car, I did and a car backed out, and I slammed into the passenger door. No real damage to car or me, a scrape and some bruises on my legs

Get this: my folks very profusely *apologized* to the driver of that car, then tanned my nice person. Think I ever did anything dumb like that ever again?

Of course, now kids have "rights" so you can't punish them at all. Anything bad happens, such as a chemical dependancy or gang membership, it's automatically the fault of society.

What's scary is that we allow these people to vote and breed ...

Ok I need a few asa's. My head is *really* pounding now ....

 

CNN story, had CNN NOT been receiving tons of Volt ads from GM:

"Stupid kid, never taught by his parents, to look where (s)he's going runs into slow moving car".

 

This provides a great example of what America stands for today: Blame your stupidity and non-existing common sense on others before looking at your own actions.

This mother will probably go to school as well with the notion of: What my son got D's and C's? Impossible! It's all the teachers fault! He is a smart kid that never studies, but he's smart and should be getting straight A's. I'm going to sue your @@#%!!@@$.

 

This is why I gave up on watching tv news. The dumb kid deserves to be hit if he doesn't look both ways and just rides his bike in the middle of the street (ok, No he doesn't but I am just angry). Was he wearing a helmet? It didn't mention if he was or not.

 

Good thing the kid wasn't hit by a hybrid Yukon or Tahoe.

Joking aside, I DO agree that we need more cowbells...

 

What I find most unfortunate about this accident is that almost everyone gets sidetracked by the quietness issue.

I know that Prius drivers are already especially careful, but maybe this accident should serve us as a reminder of a few things:

1. Children are not miniature adults. No matter how well you teach them or punish them they will still make many mistakes.

2. Residential neighborhoods may contain children.

3. Sooner or later a child may - no, will run in front of your car.

4. Drive slowly enough that you can always stop before hitting the child.

As far as I know, it’s also possible that the car was going too fast.

 

There have been more times than I care to admit when I was lost in thought walking through a parking lot or across the street and nearly stepped into the path of an oncoming car or one that was backing up/turning a corner. These are conventional cars mind you. The fact of the matter is that for most people the normal operating sounds of cars generally fade into the background and get tuned out. Especially for someone like myself that tends to have a bit of wandering mind. While drivers need to be aware of this it's ultimately the pedestrian's (or bike rider's) responsibility to be aware of their surroundings (or I guess in this case teach their children to be properly aware and cautious).

 

Really? Isn't it the driver's responsibility to not hit pedestrians?

 

It's Darwinian theory at its finest. I work at a university, and I'm amazed daily by the number of students who jaywalk in front of cars, ride bikes the wrong way down the road, and either walk/ride while listening to iPods. At most 50% look both ways when crossing the street.

I do have to say, though, that Prius drivers are also subject to Darwinian theory. My fiance and I were crossing a road within a relatively quiet parking lot last year at dusk--we were 2/3 of the way across it when a Prius turned onto the left (wrong) side of the lane going approximately 5-10 MPH. We heard and saw the car and realized that it was coming directly at us. At this point, we were fully lit up by the car's lights and were approximately 5' from the car's front end--but it was evident that the driver neither saw us nor had any desire to stop; I suppose she was trying to hypermile. We jumped out of the way and yelled at the driver to be more careful, but her response was "Maybe you deserved to be hit!" I think that her car was so silent she thought she was invisible. <sigh> Certainly drove like it!

It makes me appreciate alert drivers and my Prius all the more...

 

"Luckily though, no one was seriously injured regardless of whether or not it was really due to hybrid silence."

If nobody was seriously injured, why was it a news item? I had a girl just open her car door, and jump out in front of me without looking. Being a bicyclist, I am sensitive to door openers from the curb. It wouldn't have mattered if I was in my Prius, or a Toyota F1 car, she would have still done it. Good thing there were no CNN camera crews around. No injury either, but I WAS driving a deadly quiet Prius!

 

I should've phrased that in a better manner. It is the driver's responsibility to always drive at a safe speed, back out slowly, be continuously aware of their surroundings, etc. In other words, do everything they can such that if they need to stop the car suddenly they can do so safely.

But the reality is that pedestrians also need to exercise the same caution for their own good. The fact of the matter is there are times when perfectly responsible drivers are going to be momentarily distracted or concentrating their attention on other aspects of driving (particularly while driving in major cities) and they won't see something that appears directly in front or in back of them until it's too late. To say nothing of the large number of irresponsible drivers out there who just can't be bothered with all these safe driving practices.

I see this all the time around here - San Francisco in particular. Pedestrians will just blithely step out into the street or traffic - even if they don't have a walk signal - and just trust that drivers will slow down or stop for them. The human mind and body - even one in its prime and paying full attention - can only react so fast.

No matter who's technically at fault, more likely than not it's going to be the pedestrian who comes off the worse in these types of situations.

 

Don't forget we are in a country where we can get sued (and lost!) by serving fresh coffee to customers who 'accidently' burned themselves. It always about shifting the blame to the other party, whether the mistake is conducted by own's self.

It's total bull the Prius is too silent on EV mode which can't be heard.
Some gas cars (like Toyota/Lexus, Euro), unless the muffler is broken/cracked, are as quiet in slow moving near idling-speed.

Yea, people (not just kids) should be (re)-educated on the basics 101 when doing street crossings. Too many 'protective' legislations in place simply make the public takes unnecessary risks for granted.

 

If the kid couldn't hear the Prius coming, it must mean that the car was going slow enough that the ICE was not engaged, probably no more than 35mph or so.

This boy was lucky. We have soccer moms driving SUVs like maniacs around our neighborhood while yapping on their cell phones - through school zones!

 

There were two things I was thinking reading the article.

First, I wonder how many kids on bikes were hit by non-hybrid cars that day.

Second, why is a kid getting tapped at low-speed and scraping his unpadded knees national news?

Shoddy reporting in support of silly legislation.

 

Anyone else feeling an urge to take their Prius out and sneak up on some unsuspecting children?

I'm bad like that.

 

My neighbor has asked me to!

 

Too quote other impactful legislation...
"When they outlaw silent cars, only outlaws will have silent cars..."

I, for one, will not put bells, whistles, flashing lights or dancing hula girls (well, maybe that one) on my car.
The day they enforce cars/motorcycles being too loud will be the day I care about legislation about my hybrid being too quiet.

 

Happens to me all the time...

I was delivering my daughter to her friends house and "stealthed" up towards a group of skaters practicing in the street. When I arrived, I honked, they jumped out of their skin and I chuckled onward.
After dropping her off, I left by the same route and they skaters were still there (15 minutes), I stealthed, I honked again, they jumped again and I laughed out loud as I drove by..."Fool me once, shame on you...Fool me twice, shame on me".