It should have Rolled.

Uhhhh. Stop right there. 8 miles over the speed limit. 17 year old with parent in car.

What is wrong with this picture?

Yer lucky to both be alive.

 

I can't add to the Doc's comment except to say Wth?

My daughter lost control on an uphill patch of ice on a two lane road. She managed to parallel park our van on the opposite side of the road, 180 degrees from the direction we had been traveling. The slide packed so much gravel into the tire bead that I had a flat tire the next day.

Ah, kids and driving.

Tom

 

Wouldn't be so quick to judge. Speed limit on some roads is 70, even 75 in some spots. I know in Florida there are roads that go up to 75. So she could have been driving on 3 over, or even 2 under. We don't know, that information wasn't provided.

 

Nick, your points are well taken. You all were extremely fortunate, and it's comforting to think that the Prius had something to do with your safety. By the same token, I think the situation was a learning experience for both father and daughter!

 

About a decade ago, and then I didn't know the speed limit on that road. I realize I am an exception in that I actually follow traffic laws, even the ones I don't like and find inconvenient.

The Wth wasn't for the speed, it was for allowing a student driver to get into that situation. I don't blame the student, I blame the instructor. There is no reason to risk the life of a student and the lives of other drivers nearby by allowing a student to attempt a maneuver for which he or she isn't ready. The abrupt pull back onto the road clearly demonstrates that the student driver wasn't ready for this sort of driving.

I understand that the experience was scary, but you have no one to blame but yourself. It's good that the Prius stayed on the ground.

Tom

 

It's not like it was a planned practice test for the student driver. They didn't go on the road that day planning on running off the road. If the student driver does not know how to drive on the highway, or heavy traffic road, as I suppose this is, then how will they ever learn?

The point I'm trying to make here is that it's not like Nick planned this to happen to see what his daughter would do, it was an accident, they happen to everyone. When you say "allowing a student to attempt a maneuver for which he or she isn't ready" NO ONE is ready for their first "think-on-your feet" moment when you're driving, especially a student driver. And yes, perhaps it wasn't handled with the best actions but the important thing is that they're both ok.

To sum up, I'm glad you're both okay. It's a lesson. Life's all about lessons.

Moral: She knows what to do next time, hopefully there won't be a next time, but at least she knows how to handle it.

 

Okay... let's just let by-gones be by-gones. Important thing is you're both okay!!!

 

Jeez that sounded really frightening. Very lucky! That usually results in a multi multi car wreck down here in the land of I can't drive to good so I keep my left turn signal on all the time and drive really really fast. Do that on I-75 here and you'll get run over by 3 tractor trailers doing 85.

I wonder how our cars would do on a roll over. I don't want to find out though. Not so good I bet. Lots of airbags for regular impact but all bets are off when your rolling. Man that would really hurt.
Your post did make me immed. think of that part in planes-trains-automobiles where they ended up going on the wrong side of the road. Where they look at each other and see skeletons.

Glad your both ok.

BTW, down here in Florida off the highways there's lots of swamps and deep drainage ditches. I got me one of those window breaking hammers in the car for just this episode: End up upside down in the water....car dead...windows up..door won't open.....need to break window.

You never think it can happen to you.

 

VSC was designed to keep the car pointed forward as best as possible. That is probably what kept you from rolling.

 

it sounds like VSC saved your life.. or the life of your car.. and your wallet

vehicle skid control watches the direction of the cars rotation according to wheel rotation and re adjusts according to driver input... so if you're trying to turn in gravel at high speeds.. the system wacks out and turns too sharp every time.. making the car skid sidewards most of the time (i've tested this)

... it's hard to get a prius to roll... i'll leave it at that.. i would almost go to say it's pretty impossible for what 99% of prius owners will put their car though.

 

Whew!!

From experience, I'll say that you can be told how to react and what to do and you can know what to do. There are very few adults who can get to the point of knowledge without experience. Teenagers simply can't do it. When I was 17 I had a similar incident, though I was driving across a bridge under construction -- no nearby traffic. Leaving the foot off of the brake was the right thing to do -- except that a brief tap may have been enough to disengage cruise control. The typical driver will not allow the car to slow down enough before trying to get back on to the main pavement. I thought I knew how to handle it when I was 17! I ended up doing a 360 spin all within the single-lane construction zone. Just a bit more over correction and I would have gone into the river.

I am glad you are sharing this so we can learn about the real safety features of the Prius and its VSC. I know you have lost enough sleep, hair and months off of your lifespan, so I won't try to pile on any blame. Still, I would hope most people will not let young drivers get into such situations. Your daughter appears to have had more training and driving experience than most 17-year-olds. Even so, she is a teenager and does not have enough experience to be passing a big rig at such speeds and on cruise control.

I am VERY glad you both survived this experience with greater knowledge and very little damage to the car -- and no damage or injury elsewhere. Great news!

OK, I'll confess I'm also an obeyer of laws and I don't speed. I obey the speed limits because of safety, economy and . . . the fact that speed limits are the law.

OK, OK. Further confession: Yes, I will go over the posted limit if I am going down a hill. I won't use the brake to bleed speed if it happens to take me up to 60 in a 55.

I feel better now.:focus:

 

Just reading it ... Oh my gosh!!!

When I was 17 years old, a high school junior driving our International Harvester Travellall at ~80 mph (Kansas Turnpike in 1967,) with the family, the right, front tire blew-out. I just pushed in the clutch and continued to steer and let the speed bleed off until I could pull onto the shoulder. Mom was a little anxious and everyone was pretty happy I didn't touch the brakes.

Since I have four younger brothers, the tire changing exercise was a team effort and accomplished quite quickly. Of course back in those days, even seat belts were optional. How did we ever survive? (Many other drivers didn't!)

Bob Wilson

 

Glad you are both safe and well, but the important thing is did anyone video it?

I'm kinda of disappointed to hear that it went into 3 successive sideways slides - is that because the Cruise control was set on? (My Prius is the first car I've owned with Cruise control, so I'm not familar with how they behave).

 

Glad to hear you are both OK and I think the SCCA driving school is an excellent idea. Man I wish my parents had sent me to this school.

Keep the sunnyside up.

Wildkow

 

See pages 3 and 4 of the attached document for a description of the VSC system.