I almost ran someone over today in the parking lot.

We almost ran over someone tonight in the parking lot after leaving from dinner. We got in, started up, backed out, started driving, abeit running on battery(the car's choice not mine per se'). We weren't going very fast but we were running silent. My wife said to watch that lady...which I was...I had my foot on the brake. She kept walking on out in the parking lot. I kept my eye on her and about 5 feet away - she turned and looked. At that time I had stopped but it was quite obvious she couldn't hear us.

I chuckled to myself just knowing that I had to have scared the crap out of her. Talk about running stealthy.

Well - all was ok and we all moved on.

--Mickey

A similar incident happened to me at Target a few weeks ago. I was backing out, saw a lady walking up and she clearly didn't hear my car. I braked and waited for her to walk by. She turned to her left, saw me, got startled and froze in her tracks. All the while the Reverse Beeps were blazing in my car.

More caution is definitely needed. I followed a family in a parking lot yesterday for a good 30 or 40 seconds before they noticed me. They were just walking hand in hand right down the center of the row totally oblivious to me being right behind them.

Michael

I don't think that this is very funny or something to "chuckle" about. You should of heard the "beeper" in reverse on your new vehicle. To blame the "silent mode" is just an excuse. Chuckle? Maybe, the chuckle belongs to you.

Isn't this so funny! Maybe, you could get a good "chuckle" also.

What exactly has you so upset about these two incidents?

It appears both owners were driving cautiously and were quite well aware of the pedestrians in the area. They were not stalking people with the intent of scaring them. Would it have been better to honk the horn and scare them that way?

I understand it isn't funny to purposely scare people, but I don't see that's what has happened here.

1 Don't pedestrians look at the "backup" lights on a vehicle? They do activate when you shift into reverse.

2 How much noise does a non-hybrid vehicle make when just starting the engine and shifting into reverse? Negligible, to say the least.

Pedestrians with their head up their ass that don't pay attention can get run over, with or without a hybrid vehicle backing out.

I don't think this situation is unique to hybrid cars.

... INside your car, where only you hear it. Don't forget that it is not an outside beeper such as found on heavy equipment.

Better luck tomorrow. You will get better with practice. It took me about 2 weeks before I got one but now I get my limit almost every day. Biggest was a 320 pounder. Boy he sure looks great over my fireplace.

Same thing with me today...at Target no less...a guy and his daughter were walking down the middle of the aisle...I followed them down the aisle and the daughter walked to their car and the guy went to put the cart away...there was lots of space between them so I started to go and the guy did a 180 and almost stepped into my car...he gave me a lame "hey bro" wave and walked in front of my car....I was kind of annoyed....

Not sure what to do...people take honking as rude, but the car makes no noise in a parking lot...can't rev the engine or anything like that...

Remember, a pedestrian talking on a cellphone (or sometimes listening to an iPod) typically has an I.Q. of zero when it comes to awareness of objects around him/her. These days it doesn't seem to matter if one is driving a Prius or a Porsche - a large percentage of pedestrians have a very limited awareness of anything around themselves.

A couple of years ago when I was working in downtown San Francisco, I saw a guy walking on the sidewalk while using his cell phone. He hit a light post head-on. The light post won.

Keith

I was pulling out of my driveway with my truck. I checked in my mirrors nothing behind me so I started to back out. I glanced a couple times in the mirrors and all of a sudden in my rear view mirror I see a guy with his dog walking right across in the path of me backing up. I don't know what he was thinking. When I noticed them, I slammed on my brakes. I didn't hit them but I was a little shook up. That is the closest I came to hitting someone backing up. Lesson learned keep glancing in those mirrors when backing up and not just once or twice.

I experienced that excatly same story myself on several occasions but I always considered that pedestrian has priority over cars in a parking lot. So I drive carefully and slowly.

The worst "near miss" I had so far was with a dog in a street that did'nt hear me and decided to cross without looking before. I braked and let it go! Hard to stop and try to educate this poor thing !

By the way, I don't know if it is the same for you but I see more and more people walking or riding their bike with i-pod or mp3, listening music with ear phones.

They are in their world, completely disconnected with their environment.

I think car drivers are not the only one to blame if something happens.

I don't just look in my mirrors when reversing out of my driveway, I look up and down the footpath to make sure I give way to any and all pedestrians.

I seem to have missed the humour in the first couple of posts in this thread and just saw the whole thing as ammo for the "bell the hybrid" crew. Lets hope they don't find this thread.

Is it time to start a "Bell the light pole" campaign?

I don't think this problem is limited to hybrids.

I see plenty of people in parking lots who just walk across driving lanes without looking to see if there is any traffic approaching them. They just march as if they own the road. They are totally oblivious to their surroundings. Their attitude appears to be that they have the right of way so drivers better look out for them.

There are many rights worth dying for. The right of way isn't one of them.

In another thread, about the responsibilities of Pedestrians/Prius Drivers and the reality of driving a quiet car, I have posted that I think pedestrians today seem to be more oblvious to their surroundings. Sometimes there are no Cell Phones, Ipods, or MP3 players involved, sometimes as for me now, there are no Prius involved. My current 1993 Honda is far from a "stealth" vehicle when running and I still have people stepping out infront of it, behind it, IMO irresponsibly and without regard to personal safety.

Outside of installing one of those 1970's "novelty" horns that play a chorus of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" loudly, I don't know what you do. If you are in a parking lot, backing out, and you start with just sounding your regular horn that seems to distract and upset people.

Yesterday, there was a post where several people were indicating a potential symptom/problem where The Prius brakes were overly agressively grabbing at slow speed in reverse. Couple that with a silent car, with admittedly hampered rear visibilty and the potential for disaster is increased.

I don't think anyone responding to this post, or the original poster has any malice or evil intent, but low self awareness for pedestrians or not, it always becomes the driver who needs to take maxium responsibility for watching for pedestrians.

We can joke about, share close call stories but IF it became "I ran someone over today in the parking lot" instead of "I ALMOST ran someone over today in the parking lot" then it all changes.

I do think drivers and Prius drivers more than perhaps the rest need, to pay more attention to pedestrians. All cars have become quieter, modern tech cell phones and the like, have also increased the possibility that pedestrians are less aware.

I tend to agree with some people that have said Toyota should make the back-up camera "standard" across the board for The Prius. I know people without back-up camera's have driven Prius for years without incident, but I look at it like Dynamic Force Braking, it's an extra you may not have to use, may not want to use, but if it helps you spot one person, one time, it's well worth it.

I try to be extra careful when driving in parking lots and other situations where the car is running silently. This is a consideration that drivers of hybrid vehicles need to be aware of and adjust to. Thanks for the reminder---it might well serve to prevent an accident.