why dont they just put it in Nuetral?

[txdon]

I never could understand why so many people hit deer on the roads. If you watch where you are going, pay attention and look out I don't see how you can hit a deer. Must be just stupid, untrained drivers that just don't know how to control a car when they see a deer. They must just panic because they have never been trained on how to drive around deer. Just watch out, steer your car, use the brakes and pay attention and theres no way in heck that all these deer-car collisions should be happening.

The drivers aren't stupid, the deer are. Why else would they run full bast into the side of a Prius. They never have to be in your headlights if they are running fast enough. It's kind of like they play dodgeball with their bodies at your vehicle. Oh by the way Prius @ 35mph + deer = $2,000.

 

[Baucom]

The only deer I've ever hit actually hit me. I was driving down the road and he ran out of a corn field straight into my driver's side door. I never saw him. The window exploded all over me; that deer took hit right behind the front wheel and took out the entire driver's side of my S-10. $1500 later I had a new front fender, bed side, door, and paint job. It's mighty hard to do anything to avoid them when they run into you.

The drivers aren't stupid, the deer are. Why else would they run full bast into the side of a Prius. They never have to be in your headlights if they are running fast enough. It's kind of like they play dodgeball with their bodies at your vehicle. Oh by the way Prius @ 35mph + deer = $2,000.

 

[PILOON]

"I never could understand why so many people hit deer on the roads. "

Well I thought the same way until I collided with one!

The deer. really very young one, actual jumped a snowbank at the exact time I passed him and he landed exactly in front of my bumper.
This was in an area where the young forest was literally touching the edge of the pavement, so there was absolutely no way to see him coming.

The only luck was the fact that the roadbed was very icy and the deer's legs splayed and he landed on his belly just as I ran over him.
My only damage was a front plastic bumper skirt.
Might add that due to the icy roads I was doing perhaps a mere 20 MPH and still no time for me to do much reaction, my foot did hit the peddle, but too late.

 

[aczlan]

When I press a button, I expect it to take that action, not pause or refuse because it thought it was time to check for automatic windows updates or something stupid

So, lets try a couple of scenarios to show why the "Stupid Toyota Engineers" might have a delay on the shutoff button:

Scenario 1: You are driving your [insert car with a pushbutton on-off system here] around a curve on the way up a mountain in traffic at night. You are going 65 in the LH lane and it is starting to get chilly. You go to change the climate control and as you lean over, the car hits a pothole, causing you to accidentally hit the power button which shuts the car right off. Now, you are driving without lights, engine, power brakes or power steering. You realize what you have done and hit the power button again. On the third try, you hit the button and the car starts back up just as the car behind you comes around the curve and rear ends you because they couldn't see you (you are driving a dark car and it is dirty, rendering the lights not very reflective).

Scenario 2: Your 17 year old daughter is driving your [insert car with a pushbutton on-off system here] on I-75 through spagetti junction in Atlanta. She is doing 70 in the RH lane and is getting passed like she is standing still. She reaches over blindly to turn on the AC and accidentally taps the power button for the engine without realising it. All that she knows is that the car just shut off, she is gliding to a stop with no lights and the traffic passing her is doing 70-80mph. How long before she gets hit by someone?

See any problems there? Any possible PR issues?
That is probably the reason why Toyota has a delay on engine shutoff. I dont know if 3 seconds is the right timing, but I dont think it is a good idea to have a "Shutoff NOW" button on the dash without a protective cover over it to keep you from accidentally hitting it.

Pulling out uphill in snow from a side road to cross a couple lanes of traffic and hitting the bit of slush piled up between lanes yields and instant 5mph crawl and no gas pedal. Slam it a few times, no-go. A little spin and it would have cleared the slush and crossed the road. Good thing no accident there.

I agree. I have a friend who has a Gen 1 Prius and he has had similar issues with the "slip limiting system".


Aaron Z

 

[RobertN]

Dunno the answer. I guess it is a symbolic position these days, unfortunately.

Yeah I'm sure your probably right, wonder how much the actual profit is that goes back to the parent company, probably not all that much, 10% of the toatl cost? It's more a symbolic position.

 

[carpenter383]

I have an idea for an alternative to the "power on/off button" How about a rotating switch on the right side of the steering column that's out of the way of any other "gadgets"? My idea is relatively simple, if turned clockwise it would turn the power on, turning further against light spring pressure would engage the starter, after the engine has started simply release the rotating switch. If one wanted to turn the engine off, simply turn the switch counter clockwise. This should aid in a panic situation because there is no need to hold the switch for 3 secs or anything, it's either on or off.
Sooo, what do you guys think?

 

[XterraJohn]

I have an idea for an alternative to the "power on/off button" How about a rotating switch on the right side of the steering column that's out of the way of any other "gadgets"? My idea is relatively simple, if turned clockwise it would turn the power on, turning further against light spring pressure would engage the starter, after the engine has started simply release the rotating switch. If one wanted to turn the engine off, simply turn the switch counter clockwise. This should aid in a panic situation because there is no need to hold the switch for 3 secs or anything, it's either on or off.
Sooo, what do you guys think?

Excellent!:thumbsup:

 

[aczlan]

I have an idea for an alternative to the "power on/off button" How about a rotating switch on the right side of the steering column that's out of the way of any other "gadgets"? My idea is relatively simple, if turned clockwise it would turn the power on, turning further against light spring pressure would engage the starter, after the engine has started simply release the rotating switch. If one wanted to turn the engine off, simply turn the switch counter clockwise. This should aid in a panic situation because there is no need to hold the switch for 3 secs or anything, it's either on or off.
Sooo, what do you guys think?

Naw, that will never catch on, why anyone who wanted to could just turn it and drive the vehicle away.
Now, if you were to add a unique thingamabob that would only work in that switch (to prevent people from using other people's cars) you might be getting somewhere.

Aaron Z

 

[mjarrels]

I smell a rat! Latest Ca. crash. Heard on the news yesterday that he is $700.000 in debt and was 5 months behind in car payments!

mark

 

[wkpoor]

I was just joking the other day how anyone caught speeding in a Toyota can just plead stuck throttle and then I read an article about how there may be a rash of that going on for various reasons like this guy. If you listen to the 911 tape you'll here what sounds like a moron that shouldn't be allowed to hold a drivers license.