I think MS helped save clueless neighbor and his dog Live on narrow hillside, twisty street. Parking on one side. Often cars parked and little visibility. Room for only one car to pass at a time. Despite this, most people drive like maniacs on the street except "some" of us who live here and know better. Okay, coming around turn on way home, cars parked causing no visibility to left side down slight slope. Neighbor has dog off leash and decides to saunter across the street to the hillside not paying attention to car coming (headlights folks?) and no visibility. "OMG". Stopped in the nick of time. I have a hard time thinking I could have stopped the Prius that fast. Love that strong regen.
If the car was going fast enough for the car to be a danger, which it obviously was considering the panic braking, the tires were making plenty of noise. He could and would have heard it coming if he was playing the slightest bit of attention to his surroundings.
Hard to say because this guy is generally not the most "alert" person in my experience observing him walking his dog regularly. Lately he has taken to having his face buried in his cell phone and not looking where he is walking. I suspect that contributed more to the problem than the quiet car. I notice that the tires DO make some noise and in a very quiet time (like it was) I would think most people would have heard it. What I couldn't tell was whether the dog was simply in the middle of the street and, upon noticing my car approaching , (either hearing it or seeing headlights) the man rushed out from behind the parked cars to try to wrangle the dog back at the last second or if he was just strolling with the dog with the face in the cell phone as per usual.
Have you talked to him about his reckless behavior? How is he and his dog still alive with all the reckless drivers going through the street?
Different primary languages create communication barrier. Several neighbors have tried to speak to him (about other things) and he just kind of grunts at them in disgust. How they are alive is a mystery...dumb luck? Angel on shoulder? I hope he will learn from this "gift". This is the first time I've seen him/dog out at this time of night in the street. I digress, but... probably decided to use cover of darkness to deposit his dog's "gifts" because got tired of neighbors telling him to knock it off in the daylight hours.
I'm sorry, I'm confused by this. This sounds like you were driving like a maniac around a blind corner and almost killed someone... why don't you just drive slower? especially if you already know it's a dangerous curve?
Ahem. Of the vehicles tested by Consumer Reports, the worst vehicles in terms of braking distance are at Best Safety Performance | Avoidance | Braking - Consumer Reports. But... I guess neither are (passenger) "cars" as one is a "light truck" and the other is a "medium duty truck" by govt ratings. FWIW, if you have a Consumer Reports online subscription and visit Log In - Consumer Reports, you can sort by 60 to 0 mph braking distances. There are 303 entries in that table. The current gen Prius is in position 111 w/133 ft distance but is tied with 14 other vehicles w/the same distance, starting at position 107. Here's all of them listed w/that same distance: Chevrolet Camaro 2LT (V6) Ford Escape SE (1.6T) Volkswagen GTI Infiniti FX (V6) Toyota Prius Four Mazda CX-5 Touring (2.5L) Hyundai Santa Fe GLS (V6) Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE Lexus CT 200h Mazda CX-5 Sport (2.0L) Volkswagen CC (2.0T) BMW X1 xDrive28i (2.0T) Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Nissan Altima 3.5 SL (V6) Volvo C70 So, I guess all of the above must have "some of the worst of any car" brakes too. And, since the Prius isn't anywhere near the bottom, there are 182 vehicles w/worse braking distances. Just for kicks, I've listed ones w/134 to 137 foot distances. So, by extension, all 182 of those vehicles (including these below) must have REALLY horrible brakes. Chevrolet Cruze Turbo Diesel Fiat 500 Sport Audi A5 2.0T Buick Regal (turbo) Hyundai Elantra GT Ford Mustang GT Convertible Dodge Charger (V6) Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V6) Audi A3 Hyundai Accent GLS Volvo S60 T5 Ford Escape Titanium (2.0T) Hyundai Sonata GLS (2.4) Chrysler 300 C Ford Fiesta hatchback Ford Mustang (V6) Porsche Cayenne (V6) Toyota Sienna XLE (FWD) Ford Edge (AWD, 3.5 V6) Hyundai Genesis (V6) Infiniti G37 Base Kia Sportage SX (2.0 T) Cadillac SRX Volkswagen Eos Mini Cooper Countryman S Toyota RAV4 XLE Toyota Prius C Two Chevrolet Malibu 1LT (2.5) Kia Sorento EX (V6) Volkswagen Touareg TDI Nissan Xterra Ford Explorer Ford Taurus Limited (V6) Lexus RX 450h Volvo XC70 Acura ILX 2.0L Hyundai Accent SE Nissan Leaf Lexus GX 460 Scion xD (AT) Scion xD (MT) Honda Fit Sport Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTec Hyundai Genesis (V8) Acura MDX Tech Honda Accord LX (4-cyl.) Volkswagen Passat SE (5-cyl.) Nissan Murano Chevrolet Volt Honda Civic EX Volvo XC90 Honda Insight EX Hyundai Sonata Limited (2.0T) Toyota Corolla Base (MT) Toyota Corolla LE Honda Odyssey EX-L Hyundai Elantra GLS Kia Rio EX hatchback Toyota Camry XLE (V6) Lexus RX 350 Mazda CX-9 Nissan Rogue SV Lincoln MKS (3.7) Nissan Pathfinder SL (3.5) Lexus GS 350 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited BMW 535i Mazda2 Sport Chrysler 300 Limited (V6) Infiniti QX60 3.5 Suzuki Grand Vitara Buick LaCrosse (V6) Ford Focus SE Toyota Yaris LE Kia Sportage LX (2.4) Toyota Venza (V6) Mini Cooper Hatchback S Scion xB Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen 2.5 Not surprisingly, most of the worst performers (well beyond the above vehicles I listed) are of "light truck" class (e.g. SUVs and trucks). FWIW, I've glanced thru some of the list and here are a few example cars that do worse than a 137 feet on that test. Acura TSX - 138 feet Honda Accord EX-L (V6) - 139 feet Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI - 139 feet Nissan Altima 2.5 S (4-cyl.) - 140 feet Audi A4 - 140 feet Volkswagen Jetta SE (5-cyl.) - 144 feet ----------- Side note: The 85 kwh Model S they tested did get a pretty good 128 feet which is in position 33 on the list, which tied it w/a few other vehicles, starting at position 29.
Sorry I did not explain it well enough. NO, I was NOT driving like a maniac. I did not say "saved them from death". If I was driving like a maniac, they would be dead. Probably saved them from injury. Perhaps it WAS more a function of NOT driving too fast than a function of the car and perhaps I shouldn't have been as impressed by the stopping prowess going at such relatively low speed given that I have had plenty of morons turn in front of me, pull U-turn in front of me, etc, at much greater speeds, but when there is a living being, person, animal, whatever, even if not in danger of being killed, but perhaps injured, I'm saying I felt the difference. No squishy brakes, no hesitation, just immediate and authoritative stop and I was glad for it. Take it or leave it but please do not introduce alternate/incorrect facts. All I was saying is that low percentage situations can present themselves no matter how safe you try to drive, such as somebody/something suddenly coming out from behind a parked car or some other obstruction at the last second. Forget curves...can happen anywhere, a parking lot for example, suddenly a clueless person, not paying attention, just steps out when you are ALREADY RIGHT THERE and, anticipate it as much as you can, there are times it still requires ultra fast response. Mod - please consider deleting the thread since I'm done with the j/a lawyering attitudes.
is that a compliment or blaming... just kidding.. when the leaf came out in the market. I remember reading article that blind people can't hear car coming. Nissan said they will install some kind of artificial noise generating device for the blind people to make out car is approaching.
All Leafs ship w/a pedestrian noisemaker. Nissan Leaf VSP Vechicle Sound for Pedestrians - YouTube is on the development of the sound. On '12+ Leafs, the switch to disable the noisemaker was removed.
I'm kind of curious to see the 1-33 slots, but I can see why you might not want to post it. - - - Updated - - - Easy there, birdie. No need to take the ball and go home because some folks upset you. I'm glad you shared the story, and bummed you feel the need to ask for it to be pulled.
In order, they are these... However, many of them have the same distances (CR only lists whole numbers) but I haven't grouped them at all. Cadillac XTS thru Nissan Maxima all got 128 feet in that test. Porsche Boxster (Base) Mercedes-Benz SLK250 Porsche Panamera S Chevrolet Camaro Convertible 2SS BMW 135i Nissan 370Z Audi TT Chevrolet Corvette Z06 BMW Z4 sDrive28i Mazda MX-5 Miata Ford Focus ST Subaru Impreza STi Lincoln MKZ 2.0 EcoBoost Cadillac ATS (turbo) Mini Cooper Hatchback Base Fiat 500 Abarth Subaru Impreza WRX Audi A8 Scion FR-S Subaru BRZ Infiniti G37 Journey Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR BMW 750Li Buick Encore Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium Subaru Impreza Sport Premium Dodge Dart SXT (2.0L) Hyundai Elantra Touring Cadillac XTS Honda CR-V EX Mini Cooper Clubman Kia Forte LX (1.8) Tesla Model S (base, 85kWh) Jaguar XK Chevrolet Malibu 2LTZ (2.0T) Acura RLX Fisker Karma Chevrolet Sonic LT (1.8) Infiniti M37 Mazda3 Mazdaspeed Mini Cooper Convertible S Nissan Maxima ---------- The best couple performers are at Best Safety Performance | Avoidance | Braking - Consumer Reports.
I have to say that when I'm out on my Vectrix (e-moto (electric motorcycle)) whenever I see a pedestrian ahead who is either on their phone or otherwise obviously distracted or just walking with their back to me I always give them the benefit of a momentary honk of the horn. Some might find it mildly irritating but I'd rather risk that than have them jump out in front of me at the last moment! It would be nice to have a dual-mode horn - if you are doing less than 30 mph, say, a momentary horn press gives a short, relatively low volume (maybe completely different) warning sound. Press and hold the horn button for more than 0.3-0.5 seconds or so and you get the full volume version... MW
Very interesting! Cool! But I think that the Model S should also be improved from this point of view. What would have happened if you didn't notice your neighbour and his dog? So I think that the Model S should get a pedestrians and obstacles detection system like Volvo cars have. I think that this is a very important item!
I understood it correctly. I understood that you were driving safely. I think that you shouldn't worry of being misunderstood. Actually you rose a legittimate item. Sometimes it doesn't matter if you are driving safely because an emergency situation can happen also if you are very careful while driving. That's why I think that a pedestrians and obstacles detection system actioning the brakes automatically in case of danger should be installed on the Model S.