After the McCarthy family’s recent vacation to their cabin on Lake Tahoe, it’s obvious humans aren’t the only species that enjoys driving the Toyota Prius. Mid-vacation, the family awoke to the sound of their honking Prius. The source of the commotion, was unlikely, to say the least. With “fuzzy arms flailing,” a black bear somehow got locked inside the Toyota Prius.
The bear then got the car into neutral, “and off he went down the family’s driveway, across a street, and finally into a neighbor’s deck. He only traveled less than 80 feet in all, but the damage he did during his adventure was massive.” And if the bear hadn’t caused enough trouble, it then proceeded to eat the gorgeous interior of the prized-family Prius.
“It totally ripped every recognizable piece of the interior out,” their son Dylan McCarthy told the Sierra Sun. “It was not even recognizable as a vehicle.”
It was probably unbearable to watch. Pun-intended. But I also would like to point out that this is clearly the hybrid that nature loves the most. I mean black bears are breaking into Prius just to get a test drive. Besides being popular with the bear population, the Toyota Prius is the number one selling Prius among the human population as well, with almost 1/3 of the hybrid market share. Why wouldn’t nature and bears everywhere love the 51-mpg fuel economy?
Sans the occasional bear attack, safety isn’t sacrificed in the name of miles per gallon in the Prius; Toyota has found a way to have both. Seven airbags are standard, including a driver knee bag. So are anti-lock brakes, traction and stability control, and tire pressure monitors. Safety options include radar cruise control, a lane-departure warning system, a rearview camera, and a “Safety Connect” system that alerts emergency crews after a crash. Safety ratings have been respectable—including top ‘good’ ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in frontal, rear, and side impact, along with a mix of four- and five-star results in now-outdated federal tests.
Oak Park Prius vehicles are available for humans only at Midtown Toyota. For the sake of Oak Park, Rav4 vehicles on the lot are kept locked to prevent bear attacks.
