Letters to the Editor
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Old School Prius
I have a 2003 Prius (mid windshield gauges), and just yesterday I came up on a pair of Seniors walking in the middle of the street. I wasn't in a hurry, so I just slowed down and let them go.
They finally noticed me and moved over to the sidewalk, but not before glaring at me. Maybe it wasn't that I was using the street to drive on, maybe it was the Obama sticker...either way next time I see them, I'm going all sorts of Deathrace 2000 on them.
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@ncarey -- the blind should buy receivers on their own?
A lot of blind people live on disability checks. If you're buying a Prius, then you're much more well off than anyone who lives on disability.
It doesn't sound very fair to make people who live on disability pay for a special device to protect them from the cars of people who are much more well off.
I think that the public has an inherent right to walk the public sidewalks safely that supersedes the right of car owners to drive the quietest car they can find.
The public should not have to purchase special devices to keep them safe from the people who drive.
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Gauge placement
I have a 2006 Prius and the gauges are behind the steering wheel, like on every other car.
"Like on every other car?" Smug much?
Center-mounted gauge placement started with the Echo, and has now infected the Yaris, the Matrix, the Scion (which I LOVED and nearly bought, except for the gauge placement which made me insane), and the Prius -- three of which models I drove, and since I wasn't on mushrooms at the time I can say with some assurance that I didn't hallucinate the center control placement. Maybe they moved it on the Prius for the '06 model.
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@jamartinjr
As I wrote below, I think that the public has an inherent right to walk the public sidewalks safely that supersedes the right of car owners to drive the quietest car they can find.
And by the way -- what makes you so sure that Obama doesn't have a senior demographic?
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KitchenGirl
Smug?
Why do you use this word? I do not think it means what you think it means.
I'm just saying I've never seen a car with center placed gauges.
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Bikes and Prii
One difference between bikes and Priuses is that when you are approaching someone who seems to not be aware of you on a bike, you can actually use your voice to alert them. Or a bell, or a toot on a horn. All of these are sounds that are appropriate to the noise level of the activity. They aren't sudden, loud sounds coming out of nowhere, like a car horn is.
I think that when most of the cars on the road are electric, there won't be a problem hearing them. There is the sound of the rubber meeting the road. There are sound "holes" when a Prius passes. But right now, we don't have a continuous sound that can help one judge position, distance, and speed.
My idea for what to do to provide this is what mountain drivers use for deer. The mount an inconspicuous whistle that uses the force of air passing by it to make sound.
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@ Lynx, if you haven't seen it it doesn't exist?
What you said was that the Prius, "like every other car", had gauges placed behind the steering wheel. Toyota places their gauges above the center column on at least four of their models. So I guess it's "every other car" minus the four you've never seen.
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KitchenGirl
No, if I haven't seen it I have no evidence that it exists. When you made your statement you didn't say it was only for certain model years, ones I haven't seen. Every model year I've seen of the Prius had the gauges behind the steering wheel. Apparently there was one or more that weren't, but I've never heard of such a thing except from you. And that goes for the Scion too, when I test drove one with a friend, the gauges were behind the steering wheel.
If you have an example of something that is a rare exception, you should expect people to be skeptical. If you had links to images, it'd help greatly.
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@silenced
A lot of blind people live on disability checks. If you're buying a Prius, then you're much more well off than anyone who lives on disability.
First off...source. I've met a few blind people over the years, and they were all employed. Hardly representative, I realise, but blindness can be overcome, so I'd like to know if you could point me in the direction of exactly how many blind people live off disability.
On a second note - people with disabilities often need special equipment. Limb prosthetics, hearing aids, hand controls in vehicles. Blind people need either a cane or a seeing eye dog...a reciever is no different. You'll note that my proposed solution is simple, and cheap as a result. Disability programs normally subsidise equipment for managing the disability anyway, so those who do live off disability would not likely be paying out of pocket.
I think that the public has an inherent right to walk the public sidewalks safely that supersedes the right of car owners to drive the quietest car they can find.
My thinking was actually about noise levels had nothing to do with the drivers. I commute daily on foot, and so, short of having a disability, am probably amongst the higher risk groups from quiet cars. Yet, I consider traffic noise to be the larger problem. What I proposed seems like an excellent compromise between quieter streets and providing audible warning to those who can't see.
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The Blind are right to worry
I know several blind people who have had close calls with hybrids. They are trained to listen for the telltale sound of an appraoching car, and rely on engine noise, among other cues, to let them know before they step off the curb. The hybrids are -just- quiet enough to pose a serious risk to a population who literally can't catch something out of the corner of their eye in the last moment to stop themselves.