CNN - Boy hit by Prius - Couldn't hear it.

Bingo.

... Brad

 

We've known for a while that, after electricity and gasoline, hybrids are powered by the crushed souls of the blind. Old news. That is until the hybrids go after our children. At least that's what the fearmongers at CNN would have you believe. The real story seems to be that a kid, not paying attention, turned in front of an oncoming Prius and slightly bruised himself. Just to round out the story they interviewed a hybrid driver that didn't hit anyone, but in order to make the story easier to follow for the average cable news viewer identified him as the man who ran into the kid. All hybrid owners look alike, right?

Toyota Prius: The Silent Killer Strikes Again

 

Oh MY GOD. I could have gone all day without knowing this existed.

Yes, please let's forward this video to the law makers who want to add noise makers to quiet cars. I repeat.

OH MY GOD.

And I don't even HAVE a god.

 

This is stupid. Most of the time, the Prius is running on the gas engine. And at low speeds, you can't hear MOST new cars until it's on top of you.:glare:

 

Actually, what is truly amazing is to read the comments that accompany any story that involves the Prius. The misconceptions are astounding.

 

Or maybe just remind them that they passed legislation to outlaw this just a couple of years ago:

From the California Motor Vehicle Code

 

Two please.

 

When I get my Prius I will have to honk at all pedestrians and bikers.

 

I'm horrified to learn that my car could be killing blind people and children when I don't want it to. I once snuck up on a squirrel sitting in the middle of the street who had his back turned, and when he realized I was behind him, he jumped 5 feet in the air. I shouldn't have laughed, but I did.

To resolve this potential tragedy, whenever I see a blind person or am near children, such as in a school zone or by homes that could have children in them, I will honk my horn until I'm out of the vicinity. That should please everybody.

 

The part that cracks me up? In EVERY one of the clips of the Prius in teh news clip, I could hear the damn thing!

One thing that I'm convinced of - and that I've not heard mentioned:

It isn't the sound of an ICE that alerts us to a car being there - it is the FEEL of the ICE thumping away. As many point out, modern cars are VERY quiet. Yet for some reason, you can sense them even if you don't think you can hear them. You guys have to understand that I'm around EVs every day. It is just a part of a my life, and we all realize that nobody can hear them coming. But I swear that it isn't really "hearing" them that is missing - it is feeling them.

Crazy? Yeah probably. But I'm serious.

 

Ah, I get it!!!

Then a nice 12" subwoofer would do the trick...

 

Where can you buy those wooden clothes line clips and I guess I'll be going through allot of baseball cards. Now I just have to figure out how to to attach them to the wheels so the they make that funny buzzing noise.

 

The kid was OBVIOUSLY not paying attention and didn't bother to look before darting out into the street. He said so himself, saying "I didn't hear anything" but never said anything about actually LOOKING where he was going. And what about his idiot mother? Why hasn't she taught her son by now to look both ways before going into the street?

But of course, no one can actually be responsible for their own behaviour in this idiot country- they always have to blame their foibles on someone else.

 

Forget about whose fault it is...in a time when hybrids should be getting good press for providing one solution to reducing high gasoline consumption, it seems like people are looking for a reason to single them out and make them look bad. Maybe this was just an accident. The media can be really idiotic sometimes.

 

Actually, I do enjoy the surprised expressions from the people slowly walking down the middle of a parking lot aisle when they turn around and see me "sneaking up" on them (slowly, and at a safe distance, of course). I like to think that when this happens, they'll get a clue about walking down the middle of passageway for cars...but they probably don't. There's an astounding amount of stupidity out there....

 

Sometimes?

 

The real question is: How did CNN find out about this? There wasn't an accident report. This shouldn't even have been on the local news for all that happened. Did the mother get on the phone to them as soon as she saw her 15 minutes of fame passing her by?

 

Probably the stupidest question ever, but....

If the blind people are complaining they didn't hear the Prius.... how did they know a car was there in the first place? And how do they know it was a Prius?

 

i have to agree that the parent is at fault, shes obviously not watching her child, and trying to give a excuse that the car is too quiet.

 

Good point and I especially agree with your last comment