How do I turn off invisibility mode?

You're not alone

 

Good thing you didn't sound the horn because that just makes them laugh!

 

I use my headlights a lot.

 

You don't slow down.

 

it's the shape, like a stealth bomber. so aerodynamic, people can't see you!

 

Grill block and face shields:


Bob Wilson

 

I also noticed that if you drive slower than the traffic flow, people tend to cut in front of you more and aggressively.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=-qvXbIenivk

Watch this video ... you won't feel like it's just you anymore!
Just cringe & enjoy,
Bart in SoCAL.

 

It's blind drivers. They can't hear you because you are driving a hybrid.

Tom

 

I haven't experienced this, and I've been driving Mustangs since 1990. Drive it like a normal car and you shouldn't have this problem.

 

Yeah, I agree it is something like this. I find that I still drive as fast (i.e. at least as fast as the traffic flow, and usually well over the speed limit) but with the Prius I tend to accelerate more slowly and leave more space in front of me so I can decelerate more slowly and use as much regenerative braking as possible. Leaving all this extra space, and accelerating slowly seems to be a "honey pot" for a$$ ho$$$. I get cut off a lot these days; much more than I used to. It isn't that they don't see me, it's that they just don't care. Of course, it is Washington where 90% of the folks just don't know how to drive.

 

+1, works for me

 

Drive your Prius with always the headlights ON - soon obligatory in several countries of Europe.

 

That'll be it!
I always leave a decent gap so I can avoid stop-go driving (even before the Prius) and I am forever having other drivers fill the gap for me. Even if there is a bigger gap behind me, they still go for the smaller gap in front of me. Doesn't matter what car I am driving.

 

Your invisible until you pass someone ... then for some strange reason because your driving a Prius/Hybrid some folks seems to get all bent out of shape and have to speed by you???? Mind boggling!

We've had ours now for a month and out side of taking my foot off the gas and then reapplying it slightly to do this P&G sorta thing I drive the Prius pretty much the same as I always have driven.

Which for me means that I do leave a far amount of space in front of me. I have alway believed that when you want to stop you put your foot on the brakes, BUT when you want to slow down you take you foot off the gas I see way too much brake stomping when I drive, people will zoom pass you pull in front and then have to apply their brakes to slow down. The other day we are going up a hill and the car in front of us has it's brakes on half the time???

Sorry small rant, better now Lights do help, here in Canada daytime running lights are the law. I think another factor not so much for other vehicles put for pedestrians is that the Prius is soooo quiet you have to watch out that they don't just walk out in front of you.

Superb car though.

 

Certainly paying attention to pedestrians is always important but noise is no defense as the USA has seen a steady decline in pedestrian accidents in spite of more Prius on the roads. The accident data shows pickup trucks and SUVs are disproportinate in pedestrian accidents.

IMHO, we really need universal, automatic, accident avoidance systems, not just a top-end option in Prius but especially the vehicles that keep running into pedestrians and other vehicles.

BTW, the ZVW30 Prius meets the European standards for pedestrian safety. The hood, quarter panels and bumper are designed to minimize injury to pedestrians. This is not something found in many other vehicles in North America.

Bob Wilson

 

I have heard or read somewhere that the Prius has a slightly above average for pedestrian collisions. Now this could be argued that this occurs because it's quiet, but my view is that the Prius is a city car, and as such lives in a city and you are probably more likely to hit someone there. Once Prius become more mainstream, and start to appear all over, then I believe their stats will fall back to normal. I'm sure the same will apply to the Leaf and other electric cars as and when they appear.

Of course this is my totally uneducated view on the matter.

 

Yes, that should work. For you, at least. Not everyone has headlights like yours.