Prius vs. Pedestrian: car saved my life.

I've been wondering whether I should post this, as it is quite upsetting for me. I finally decided to do so, in order to praise the safety of the Prius. This only happened a week ago today, so it's still very hard to even type about it. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since then.

Here is a link to the news story on it. I'm not going to go into details, just on how well the Prius did. Read the story first, then read about the Prius.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/14/me.../?news-breaking

First, keep in mind that it was raining quite hard that night. The median was about 40 feet wide, with a guard rail in the middle. The median is basically a shallow ditch, and there was about 8-12 inches of water at the very bottom. It was raining, so speeds were well below the 70 mph limit. The interstate was also quite crowded.

Anyway, I swerved hard to the left as soon as I saw them. The Prius swerved hard onto the shoulder and then the grass median. Because it was so wet, I slid for quite some distance, but I did not spin out or loose control. The entire time, while the situation was out of control, the car was not. It never felt as though it was going to spin or anything. I eventually came to a stop in the grass about 6 feet from the guard rail. You could see the tracks through the tall grass were quite straight. The traction control, ABS, and stability control all performed exemplary, especially considering the terrible conditions.

As far as I am concerned, these things probably saved my life. In fact, I was completely uninjured. I know that if I had been driving my previous car, an SUV with no such technologies, I probably would not be typing this now.

The damage is fairly extensive, but it is localized to the extreme right side of the car. I may not even need a new hood. the only thing I'm concerned about are the dents along the frame of the car above the doors. Don't know it's structural or not. The passenger side door does not open any more. The airbags did not go off, as you would expect from an offset impact. I don't know about damage to the internals, and I could not see the suspension to see if there was any damage there, but I doubt it. The headlight and fog light were still operational. I only got my car back from the State Troopers today, so I haven't spent much time going over it.

Hopefully I can get her fixed up soon, and have her back to normal.

BTW, if this seems very analytical and impersonal, it's because it helps me deal with it all. I tell myself there was nothing else I could do (no charges for any of the drivers involved), but it is still hard. It doesn't just go away that easily. If it weren't for my family and friends I'd probably be a complete mess.

Anyway, that's all. We should all feel good about driving such a safe car.

 

Thank you everyone, for your words of support. I really, really appreciate it.

I don't mind what catgic posted. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I know and most of you can easily figure out that his words have no foundation. They don't bother me.

He did ask a valid question though, "Why post here?" I actually want to answer that:

First, this is public knowledge. It was in all the local papers. It was on all the local news channels. It was posted on all the local news websites. It even made the news in Pennsylvania, where one girl was from. It's out there. While it might seem nice to just crawl into a dark place and hide, that won't help anything.

Second, keeping all these thoughts and emotions bottled up is not going to do me any good. Letting strong emotions fester without an outlet is self destructive, and I don't want or need that. This situation is bad enough already, no need to let it ruin my life or family as well by letting it affect me too much. Talking about it helps. Talking about it in a semi-anonymous way like this forum is much easier than speaking to a person about. I seemed fine the first few days. When a friend would call about the story or something, I was able to talk about it easily. Almost too easily. Then on Monday I was talking to a Professor that I consider a friend of mine, and it was too much. It was like the reality of the situation hit me. Regardless of the fact that there was nothing I could do, I hit two girls with my car and they're dead. It didn't matter that it wasn't my fault, it hurt. A lot. But since then, it has gotten better. Tuesday was better than Monday, and today was better than Tuesday. Hopefully this continues.

Finally, why post here. Where better to write about this incident. Where else can I express the gratitude I have for my car, that it kept me from injury. This forum is full of people who appreciate it as much as I do. PriusChat is full of great people whose opinions I value and respect, people who will understand not just the car, but the situation in general. People I would readily consider friends if we met in real life. Talking to these people helps. I see this as a form of group therapy.

So thanks everyone. I try not to dwell on it, but around every corner there it is. The scene keeps replaying over and over.

My one biggest relief, the first thing thought I had, was that the kids were not with me. It's tough enough for me, at least they were spared.