Rear Window

Mary,

Post this in the Main Forum. You'll get more answers there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Sep 6 2006, 08:17 PM) [snapback]315504[/snapback]</div>

Hi Mary,

Here's a thread that discusses one way to solve a bit of the problem. I have one in my car as well. It seems to help a lot in some circumstances.

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=9478

Cheers,

-- Ian

 

Tideland Prius mentions the technique, but I will promote the concept of backing into a space. I always try to park so that I can pull out rather than have to back out. It's safer. Visibility during backing out, especially side-to-side beyond adjacent vehicles, is considerably less than when pulling forward. And there are many moving objects crossing your path that need to see you and be seen, both 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.

If you set your outside rear view mirrors correctly and make it a habit to use them, backing becomes quite easy. To enhance visibility both during backing and during normal driving, I have attached small convex "blind spot" mirrors to both of my outside mirrors. This eliminates having to tilt them down as Tideland Prius describes.

Some precautions: As you approach an empty space, you need to watch for vehicles coming up behind you. If they're too close or coming at you too fast, you may find they're right on your bumper (or pulling into your space!) as you're ready to begin backing. You shouldn't expect them to back up and let you in, so plan on finding another space. As you back in, you still have to watch for adjacent parked vehicles beginning to move, or their occupants unexpectedly opening doors in your path. (Practice defensive driving: Always expect other drivers to do something dumb.) And finally, you need to have a good sense of where the rear bumper of the car is (or have a good view on the RV camera, which I don't have) so you don't back into another vehicle, light pole, etc. For this, the small section of the rear hatch glass is great.

Of course this means I often can't get into the one empty space right in front of the Wal-Mart, and I have to park what seems like a mile away. But I prefer a more distant space with fewer or no adjacent cars anyway, to minimize the risk of door dings. (So far so good. I've had the car almost 9 months and no dings or scratches yet.) And the exercise can't hurt!

Jim

 

<_< I haven't had real problems backing out of a parking space driving my Prius. I find that the rearward view is better than average due to the lower window in the hatch. I have set my exterior rearview mirrors per the suggestions of the "Defensive Driving" course which also provides a very wide view of traffic in the lanes both right and left of the lane in which I'm driving. This setting also helps in the rearward views when backing. PM me if you would like a detailed explanation of the exterior mirror settings.

I have had issues with pedestrians when backing due to the SILENCE of the backing Prius and am considering purchase of the "buzzing" backup light bulbs. Would that Prius enabled a "backup horn" for the Prius somewhat like that of a backhoe, frontloader or other commercial vehicles. I have also had problems when parked adjacent to those HUMONGEOUS SUVs... can't see around them, can't see through them... thus can't see oncoming traffic in the lane into which I'm backing - but that's quite another subject.

 

Just go ahead and back out as you normally would. If you hear someone scream or hear a loud crunching noise stop and go the other way. If you honk first sometimes they get out of your way too.