Folks, Something I have wondered about: While I am a passenger in a 3rd gen Prius, if the driver becomes suddenly incapacitated, what's the best way to bring the vehicle to a halt? Would pressing the on/off button be the right thing to do? Or switching the gear knob to reverse (R) if it would slow the car down and then hitting the Park button be better? Ramifications of any of these actions for the Prius components? Thanks.
Park button above 8-10 mph will put the car into N but still have steering. Pressing the power for about 3 secs will shutdown the car and lose power assist steering. I would think pressing Park would be the best.
It depends on what you mean by incapacitated....but yeah. Spidey brought some good points. Reverse won't work....and neither will Park. The "dial-O-matic" transmission is just a few push buttons on the center console. If I were in the Co-pilot seat and suddenly had to do the stick and rudder thing, I think I would grab the wheel and place the car in B until it slowed enough to place the vehicle in Park. That way at least you have some active braking, which you will not have if you place the car in N or turn it off. Unfortunately, Priuses don't have a proper hand brake so your slowing options may also have to be expanded to include things like hugging a barrier, riding along a warning strip, etc... Fortunately...this is a very rare thing to actually have to really worry about!
So, on a car traveling at say 65MPH, attempts to switch to "R" would be ignored by the computer? And same with Park? Has any one (not in their right mind of course ) tried this?
Yes, Park above 8-10mph will simply got to N with a couple of beeps, same with shifting to R. I concur with ETS that B would be good at higher speeds (engine braking).
B sounds like a good (in the circumstances) but limited option, in that situation, I've got to say, I wouldn't give a flying fork about damaging the car as long as it stopped in relative safety so a gentle, progressive kiss with the barriers may be an option.....
B wouldn't help if the driver's foot is on the go pedal pressing it. The Prius would still move as if in D in that case
No one having a health condition that would cause incapacitation should be driving a car. Nevertheless, unforeseen emergencies can happen to anybody at any time. I haven't noticed whether the steering wheel locks in the Prius when the power button is pressed and don't know if this would be different if the car is moving. That could change the power shut-down steps to follow. This scenario underscores an advantage of a hand emergency brake, between the front seats.
This happens more than you think. Some guy in my area drove his 750i into a pole. He had a heart attack while driving. EMS took him to the hospital and he survived.
Someone said it before but an emergency brake near the seat arm rest can be a life saver versus on the floor.
Just don't let your aging dad in the passenger seat use it as a hand grip, or as something to keep his restless hand occupied while he absentmindedly daydreams. I could see the situation setting up, and ordered him to move his hand off. He insisted he wouldn't pull it, but I have many decades of observation of what he can do when daydreaming. He relented only when I gave him the alternative choice of moving to the back seat.
When the run away Prius hoax came about i drove on I 75 to an unmentionable speed and when i put it in neutral it worked I then put held the power button and that also worked.
Bumping an old thread. I'm visiting my 90 year old mother and the topic of this thread came to mind while she was driving us around in her Gen 3. As far as we know she doesn't have any condition that would cause her to pass out, and her driving in town, at least, still seems to be acceptable. But 90, right? Anyway, I have a Gen 2 Prius and while there is a hump between the passenger and the driver I'm pretty sure I could lift a driver's limp leg off the gas pedal with my right hand while steering with my left and still be able to see over the dash. It would be much harder to do in the Gen 3, with the more substantial center console in between. Pretty sure I could not reach my right hand through the "tunnel" in the console to pick up a leg, and hold the wheel with my left, and still be able to see over the dash. The other option would be to go up and over the console, but that would put my right shoulder so far forward that I think the only way to grab the wheel would be to reach all the way around the driver with the left hand and grab it from the other side. Assuming the inert driver is still more or less vertical. My mother sits pretty close to the steering wheel, so climbing over and sitting in front of her wouldn't work. Anyway, all of this makes me think that new cars really should have an "incapacitated driver" button, or perhaps position on the shift lever, that would turn on the emergency flashers, disable the gas, use the brakes bring the car rapidly to a full stop, then set park and unlock the doors, and turn off. If the car had some sort of automatic steering system, that would be enabled. It would be primarily for a passenger to use, but one can imagine scenarios where a driver starts having chest pains, or feeling faint, and they could invoke this to stop knowing that they might lose consciousness. Since cars are just rolling computers these days this sort of mode would not be all that hard to build in. I'm thinking that "cancel", might consist of setting the transmission into some moving gear, or if the car had shut down all the way, just turning it back on again.
You could just shift the car into neutral by holding it in N for 1-2 sec or in a panic, shift to R or press P while travelling over 5-8mph will cause the car to shift to N. if you need to shut the car now, press and hold the POWER button. Note you will lose power steering.
If there's a dashcam installed, turning off the car will cut power to the dashcam. Better to stay in neutral (press P).
