Some people will have been surprised to learn that the braking problem Toyota has identified in the Prius has only caused two accidents, neither of them fatal. Not me. No one who actually owns one of these hybrids ever takes it for a spin. It’s a “show car”, a vehicle people park prominently outside their homes in order to advertise how environmentally conscious they are before hopping into the SUV they’ve got parked out back to pick up the kids from school.
I discovered this when I was living in Los Angeles in 2004. I was interviewing a supermodel for a glossy magazine and when I showed up at her house I noticed a black, supercharged, S-type Jaguar sitting in the driveway. “Nice wheels,” I said when she opened the door. “Oh no,” she protested. “That belongs to my maid.” She then pointed to a white Toyota parked alongside it. “I drive a Prius.” (To read more, click here.)
