How do I turn off invisibility mode?

Could it be that when deciding to drive it like a normal car, you're inadvertently driving in their blind spots which would not have otherwise occurred (because you're going the same speed as everyone else instead of them passing you)?

Try to speed up or slow down so that you're not riding in their blind spots.

 

Just hyper sensitive new car observations. It will pass.

 

Hi Bob ... valid points and I certainly agree that the Prius is actually build to be "pedestrian friendly" with the way the front end has been designed.

My reference to it almost being too quiet was more of an observation. I was moving out of a parking lot the other day and saw a man with his back to the car and I just had a feeling that he wasn't going to look my way before stepping out and he didn't. I just stopped and as he finally did turn and saw me he jumped, didn't hear me. No excuse for not looking but it happens, used to happen sometime even in my old car, people just not paying attention.

My wife and I walk a fair amount and in one of the parks we walk there is some vehicle traffic allowed single lane one direction only. We usually walk facing traffic, but not alway. When we do walk with traffic I can always hear a car approaching, but now I'm realizing that is not necessarily the case with a Prius.

I'm not totally sure about all Prius drives, but I would hazard to guess that a lot/most (certainly not all) are more aware of their surrounding ... other vehicles and or pedestrians then the drivers of most "normal" cars.

 

And at the same time, the A-pillar blind spots, "low hanging" rear-view mirror, and a general inability to see the front of the hood increase the chance of hitting them.

 

We were downtown on the main street in our small city and as we were pulling away a pedestrian continued crossing the road in front of us.

The pedestrian excused themselves by saying "No noise". I don't think they even apologized.

Never mind that they were taking the hypotenuse across the road instead of walking to a crossing (which would have crossed to a point on the path they took, not made them go out of their way).

Never mind that they were staring at the ground as they crossed instead of watching for traffic. And it was a one-way street so they wouldn't even have to look both ways.

Never mind that you see pedestrians in parking lots every day who are completely oblivious, failing to watch for back-up lights or movement as they pass by vehicles whose drivers obviously won't be able to see past the neighboring behemoths.

Never mind that driver often don't look before making a maneuver.

Never mind that quiet is a desirable goal.

No, electric motors are too quiet and pose a danger to the public.

 

Oh, not to mention, the dumb-nice person pedestrians could not hear your Prius because, heaven forbid, they would not want to interrupt their TXT of Phone Call while they look down while crossing a busy, uncontrolled intersection.

 

Thanks for the video. It helped me get through a terrific grad class tonight!

 

but it's NOT a normal car!:cheer2:

 

I bike a lot, and I can always hear a Prius approaching from behind. There's a distinctive whine from the inverter, and a hint of smugness in the air...

However, I can't really tell the difference between a Prius and a Lexus hybrid; they sound the same. Various other hybrids do too, for the most part.

 

lol

I especially liked the white school bus shot. All OK he didn't hit any cars - wouldn't have liked to have been a passenger on his bus though!

 

Crazy. I noticed a number of the labeled clips were from So Cal. Hmm... (Went to college myself in LA and sometimes visit... lots of crazy, weird, illegal stuff on the road down there.)

For the ones where someone comes barreling through multiple lanes of stopped cars, one really has to wonder what was up with that driver? Totally inattentive? Yapping on the phone? Drunk? I mean... even if you don't see the red light, you gotta see all those other stopped cars, right? Guess not...

 

Hi Dan,

My problem with addressing noise is the "mote in eye while ignorning the beam in the observer's eye." My fear is "bell the hybrid" and we'll continue to have the same 4,000 dead pedestrians and ~60,000 injuries every year thereafter. It becomes 'eyewash' so we don't have to address the 1,000 times worse problem:

Ok, here is a challenge:

• replace your turn signals or fog lights with 'beeping' lights

There are backup lights that have built-in beepers. Cost vary but anything from $10-50. Do the experiment.

Now we know our cars have a 'relay click' in the cabin that helps drivers remember to center the turn indicator. I would have no problem if the 'relay click' were co-located with turn signal lights for all cars. But it needs to be universal.

I have no problem with improved driver training (especially in the USA) that happens at drivers license renewal. Also, starting at age 60+, eye examination and reaction time monitoring. But everyone should, based upon age and vehicle profile, read a listing of the most likely fatal accidents of their group. Say 15-30 minutes while 'waiting in line' and filling out a page-mark answer sheet. But there are limits to what human training can accomplish.

Ultimately, I would like to see automated accident systems become more common. Not only to save lives, injuries and reduce insurance costs but also because it will handle an aging population of drivers who need this extra edge.

Bob Wilson

 

How do you turn off invisibility mode in a Prius?
.
You do this to it:
.

.
Now I have to figure out if my car looks more like the Buckaroo
Banzai jet-truck or a rolling Jersey barrier. Either way, if it
makes people stay the hell away from it, that's the whole point.
I did the bumblebee tape today, as touched on in the other thread --
28 feet of it, down both sides and a slap across the back and that
was about the end of the roll. 2-inch fits perfectly along the door
crease right under the windows, and a fairly non-complex angle heads
down to end under the headlight. And a little more trailer-tape
went in along the bottom. Now, *this* is the way to cruise on a
warm Friday night...
.
Now I gotta ask, why would *anyone* want to tailgate something
like this?
.

.
They try to anyway, but it's too early to tell if the "enhanced
bling" from today's efforts makes any net difference long-term.
[Some of you north-boston-burbs folks might actually recognize
what lot I'm in here.]
.
_H*

 

[ame=http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7cb_1271966660]LiveLeak.com - Compilation of Chinese Traffic Accidents on Campus[/ame]

 

There's a simple solution to the invisibility cloak that's quite effective in parking lots: turn up the stereo. You might get a few odd looks if your taste in music doesn't happen to match your age and ethnicity...

 

NPR is always a safe bet, no matter your age or ethnicity. Nobody would be shocked by a Prius driver listening to public radio.

They might be shocked if it's cranked loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, though...

 

Amusing vindication today: tooling slowly through a local park
where people were out enjoying the late afternoon, and hearing a
kid across the street stop in the middle of their ball game and
yell out "look at that car!"
.
_H*

 

"ON CAMPUS" . . . ? ? Is That The College Of Bad Drivers ? Or a Driving School ? Very Amusing. What does this say about Oriental-Chinese Drivers ? Or do they leave STOP signs off all their intersections On Purpose !

 

Call me weird, but I actually like the way that the car looks, esp. at night. Looks like a construction vehicle + spaceship all in one. Maybe I watched too much Star Trek when young.