You put your foot back on the brake before shifting out of Park. In addition, hill start assist on the Prius keeps the brake on for 2 seconds or until you have pressed the accelerator sufficiently so the car does not roll backward.
But that would only happen if there is no one stopped behind you, which certainly is a time when you should never put it in park. In fact the UK vehicle code quoted earlier by Colin Jones alludes to this: "once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again." Although I assume that the glare problem that they are trying to solve only occurs at night? Well I guess I could be flabbergasted that you are flabbergasted! Or I suppose I could be flabbergasted that people prefer to keep their foot pressing firmly on the brake pedal for three minutes when they know they won't be going anywhere, especially in a Prius when it's so easy to put it in Park with a single button push, then back into gear with a flick of the knob, with plenty of time to do so. But I'm not because I understand, most people do what they are used to and/or were taught. Also I suppose for some people that there is more of a feeling of control when holding the vehicle yourself instead of trusting the car to do so. It seems that semantics is used as an argument by many, that you should only put it in park when you are parking, as if the name "Park" settles the question indisputably. The same argument was made in another thread by those who felt that you should always engage the parking brake anytime you park, even in your flat enclosed garage, because after all it's called the parking brake so you should use it anytime you park, no matter the circumstances. Well if we get into semantics, to "brake" by definition means to slow a vehicle, or bring it to a stop. Once you are stopped you are no longer braking. So from a semantics argument we should stop using the brake pedal once we are done braking, to do otherwise is to use it for a purpose that it wasn't intended, at least judging by the name. Even though being stopped at a light is not the normal definition of being "parked", you are certainly closer to being parked than braking when you are stopped at a light. All in jest of course, to each his own, as long as done safely.
There is one particular case where I actually choose sometimes to put the car in park when stopped at a red light. It is when traffic is very heavily congested and I end up too close to the car in front of me, or too close to a crosswalk with lots of people are crossing just in front of the car, to stop that infernal loud beeping that won't stop until car in front moves or people stop crossing. Granted, that might not be a condition many of you face, but I live in New York City, so heavy and sometimes gridlock traffic conditions is part of the experience, and getting too close to your neighbors happens quite a bit. As an aside, regarding that safety beeping feature, it is important and should be there and therefore I leave the feature on, but I wish it would not beep if car is not moving and foot is on the brake.
My Prius does not have park distance control (PDC), but my other car with it has a button to disable it when necessary. Maybe Prius does not have a disable switch?
