1st experience being viewed as a smug prius owner

Got a little trigger happy on an earlier response - think I get the intent.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Jan 30 2007, 05:38 PM) [snapback]383007[/snapback]</div>

Almost everything electronic can discharge, IN THEORY. Heck, are we gona have to disconect the battery on a regular ICE car?

How about STATIC electricity? THAT's a much greater risk than cell phones. There's a YOUTUBE video of a woman putting the pump on auto, getting back in the car (which is the easiest way to build up a static charge) ~ back to the pump, pulling it out then BOOM !!! without disengaging the pump she throws it on the ground ... flames everywhere (it looks like the pump disengaged itself about that time) ... flames coming from her gas tank ... and the pump ... what a mess.

 

A simple fix would be not to allow the gas cap flap cover to release if the engine is running. This would pretty much eliminate fuelling a running vehicle.

 

There's two kinds of people that puzzle me:

1. The ones that insist on filling up the tank with the engine running.

and

2. The ones that insist on always backing into a parking spot.

Are these precious seconds you are saving really worth the risk or the extra time it takes you to pull up and back in?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Jan 31 2007, 06:29 PM) [snapback]383526[/snapback]</div>

Um, I back in sometimes depending on curb height. It seems the rear has a little more clearance than the front.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Jan 31 2007, 07:29 PM) [snapback]383526[/snapback]</div>

1- I agree

2- Who cares and it is easier to pull out than to back out. As a former PD person, you wer usuall in a hurry getting awa from a parking place so you see lots of police backing in.

Back to OP, sort of, I was at a station once using the hold open latch ( persons using hold open latches must remain at vehicle) and had to walk to the next island to get a window squeegee....came back and attendant had shut off my pump. hey are serious about their rules when they are sitting on thousands of gallons of flammable liquid

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Schmika @ Jan 31 2007, 04:34 PM) [snapback]383529[/snapback]</div>

Backing in actually saved me from a collision.

My workplace is on the corner of a major residential intersection. There is also a couple of liquor stores a block away (may or may not have something to do with the reckless drive I'm to mention).

I got into my car a couple of hours after normal quitting time. Some reckless idiot cut thru the parking lot at 30mph to get around a red light....to wait at a red light anyway. :angry: The only reason she did not hit me was I was facing forward and could see her flying.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Jan 31 2007, 05:29 PM) [snapback]383526[/snapback]</div>

Count me among those who back in.

Let me re-phrase your question.

When you come back to your space and there's a Suburban on each side of you, and you can't see squat as you back out into traffic, are those precious seconds you saved by not backing in worth it?

 

The behavior that puzzles me: The folks who, when making a right-hand turn from a major street, they have a green light, and/or it's a one way street, or other such factors that indicate it's OK to make right hand turn still insist on coming to a complete stop before making their right-hand turn.

In my pre-Prius days it never bothered me but alway puzzled me. Now it bothers me because I can literally see what it does to my MPG.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ Jan 29 2007, 06:01 PM) [snapback]382582[/snapback]</div>

And speaking of smug...

The best way to get over the problem of "a car that doesn't make any sound when just sitting" is to drive one like mine that doesn't make any sound when just DRIVING. It also solves the problem of idiots at the gas station... since that's one place you never have to take your EV.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusPaul @ Jan 30 2007, 08:12 AM) [snapback]382805[/snapback]</div>

I like to pull into gas stations with my EV and start yelling, "Hey! Where the hell do I put the gas? I've driven this thing 40,000 miles, and have yet to put any gas in it. I'm getting a bit worried!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Jan 31 2007, 02:29 PM) [snapback]383526[/snapback]</div>

Puzzle no more! There are plenty of logical, practical reasons for backing in. I won't list them however. I'll just mention that you have to back in OR back out of most parking spaces... so what's the difference?

 

The difference for me is I get to choose when and where I back in and how many idiots are zipping around when I do. If I have to back out I have fewer choises.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmatic @ Jan 29 2007, 03:14 PM) [snapback]382510[/snapback]</div>

The Feds did a study on cell phones and fuel. No problema.

The real fire problem is caused by static buildup when people slide across car seats while exiting a car.

Regards
JohnG

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Jan 31 2007, 05:29 PM) [snapback]383526[/snapback]</div>

As others here have suggested, backing in is safer than backing out. Visibility during backing out, especially side-to-side beyond adjacent vehicles, is considerably less than when pulling forward. There are many moving objects crossing your path that need to see you and be seen, pedestrians and cars. When backing in, you can thoroughly survey the area around the space before committing to park. When the rear of the car reaches the threshold of the parking space, there is a much lower chance of pedestrians unexpectedly walking across your path, and NO chance of a car moving across it.

 

<_< Another vote for "BACKING IN." Frequently, I have to park either next to or between HUGE SUV's, HUMMERS or PICKUP TRUCKS... so my vision is highly limited when exiting my parking place. Even though the Prius rearward visibility is somewhat limited [even with the backup camera I have], it is still safer to exit forward.

My 2¢ worth. [GEEZ.. What will happen if the U.S. decides to eliminate the penny? Will it become "My 5¢ worth?"]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Feb 1 2007, 01:24 PM) [snapback]384092[/snapback]</div>

My guess is that it'll just be "worthless."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid @ Jan 31 2007, 02:55 AM) [snapback]383199[/snapback]</div>

This is exactly it!

Somehow the general ignorance about how radios work (cell phone as a radio transmitter) and the practice of getting back into your car to make a cell phone call while filling up, which can easily cause you to become charged up from rubbing against the cloth upholstery, got combined into the myth "cell phones can cause gas pump fires".

The problem is that when your door is already open and you get in and out, you don't touch the metal door which would ordinarily discharge you with a nice hearty SNAP! Now that you're good and charged up (literally thousands of volts), when you touch the pump handle, the discharge causes a spark right where the gas vapors are most concentrated. That part is NOT a myth. I have seen the horrific surveillance camera videos of this occurring.

So standing outside your car and talking on the phone won't cause a problem as long as you've already been discharged. It's not about what the cell phone is doing, but what YOU do when you get in and out of the car.

Here in New Jersey, they don't let us pump our own gas, so the risk is, for all practical purposes, non-existent. And since they made it illegal for us to talk on our phones while driving, why, we HAVE to do it at the gas station (unless we have the Prius Bluetooth hands-free option and a Bluetooth phone!!!) since it essential that we always be talking on the cell phone.

- Doug

 

i got into the habit of backing into parking spots about the time we moved to our current residence... where our parking spots are right off the main thoroughfare through the complex and people go flying through at 30-35 mph (in a parking lot!)

plus, the neighbors park their explorer next to the prius.

 

A number of members have chimed in to point out backing in is just as much a defensive driving issue as saving another drop of gas.

 

okay, I"m always the one to ask the stupid questions, so here goes. I recall when there used to be metal all around the place in gas stations, but no more. I used to take care to touch the side or front of the pump, when it was made of metal, just to discharge the static electricity I may have picked up by sliding in and out of my car. But, now what can I touch for this purpose? Somebody mentioned touching the car door, but does that work, when the car is on rubber tires?