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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Japanese_Flag_30x22.jpg Toyota deploys several new tech tools in third-generation car. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30769280/)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/074_2010_Prius.jpgDan Carney - MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com) - May 18, 2009

It is great to see this tech come within reach of more mainstream consumers! --Ed.

Instead of calling its hybrid the “Prius,” Latin for “first,” a change in strategy at Toyota could be summarized by renaming the car “Plurimus,” for “most,” because Toyota’s new plan is to make the 2010 Prius the company’s technology flagship car, equipped with all the gadgetry the company can muster.

Time was when all the Prius had to do to stand apart from other new cars was to show up. Launched in Japan in 1997 and the United States in 2000 as a 2001 model, it was the first practical car with a fuel-sipping hybrid electric drivetrain.

Yes, Honda’s original Insight was also available back then, but that model was a claustrophobic two-seater that felt more like a contender in a collegiate fuel economy contest than a real, everyday car. But hybrid technology is so widespread now that it spans the market from frugal fuel misers to the massive Cadillac Escalade NBA image-mobile. Having been first a decade ago doesn’t really matter anymore.

Recognizing that first-ness is a perishable commodity, Toyota has deployed an array of new technologies in its latest third-generation Prius aimed at cementing its appeal to the electron-heads who comprise a core constituency of the car’s fan base.

Some of these features ought to do it. How about automatic steering? The Prius can not only... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30769280/

Some amusing twisted logic at the beginning of the article. First trumpets that "Prius" means "first". Then it acknowledges that the Insight was actually first, but dismisses it because it was too small. Then it says it doesn't matter anymore because it was all ten whole years ago. Ohhh-kayyy.

My favorite new-tech feature on the P-III is the optional solar roof that keeps the car cooled and ventilated while parked in the sun. I would expect this to become a popular feature, even on non-hybrid cars, in the near future.

And while I approve of safety features that might actually save lives, like the Lane Departure Warning and of course stability control, I'm less thrilled with mere conveniences like Intelligent Parking Assist or Lane Keeping Assist that will only serve to further isolate distracted, disengaged Americans from the act of driving. Thanks to last year's higher fuel prices and the down economy, we have finally reached the point where "only" twelve times as many Americans were killed by cars last year as were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Now we start seeing more crap like this to push us back to our long-term equilibrium point of 40,000 deaths per year.

In my fantasy world, car buyers who spend $500 on Intelligent Parking Assist receive, instead of some new some gizmo on their car, a visit from an instructor who spends half a day teaching them how to drive a car.

Yeah there sure are a lot of people that die from retards trying to parallel park. Isn't the whole point of lane assist to keep accidents from happening?

No it doesn't kill a lot of people by itself, but it contributes to the general problem that people are disconnected from the act of driving because their cars do too much of it for them already.

Lane Assist won't really keep accidents from happening. It just keeps you from swerving within your lane. Lane Departure Warning, on the other hand, will save lives by waking up people who doze off while driving. I fully support Lane Departure Warning.

If only the forward-looking radar were rigged to simply not let
a driver get within 3 seconds of another vehicle ahead.
.
_H*

No it doesn't kill a lot of people by itself, but it contributes to the general problem that people are disconnected from the act of driving because their cars do too much of it for them already.

Lane Assist won't really keep accidents from happening. It just keeps you from swerving within your lane. Lane Departure Warning, on the other hand, will save lives by waking up people who doze off while driving. I fully support Lane Departure Warning.

I don't think people are disconnected enough from driving.

I look forward to the day when people are no longer controlling their cars, but rather a computer which makes logical decisions.