This isa funny little story I found while surfing the Internet this evening. With the recent snowfall in Las vegas piling up a staggering 2 inches in town and up to 6 inches in outlying areas, some Prius owners were no doubt questioning the wisdom of theirpurchase. The following is an excerpt from a report on theCNN web site...

Annette Miller lives in the southernmost part of the Las Vegas valley in a collection of neighborhoods that is home to thousands. She drove home from work thinking she could make it, but her Toyota Prius disagreed. The typically 15-minute trip took six hours, and when she finally arrived at her street, her Prius got stuck in the snow. Her husband, also driving home from work in his Prius, got stuck nearby. [sm=boohoo.gif]

Mr. and Mrs. Miller... May I suggest something a little more rugged?... Something capable of traversing snow in excess of 2 inches in depth?... [sm=smiley36.gif]

Well, not content to stop there, I decided to do a little search to find actual pictures of the Prius stuck in snow. It didn't take long. Apparently ConsumerAffairs.com has already reported on the Prius having a problem with its traction control program. This little glitch was reported on ConsumerAffairs.com back in January of 2008. It seems as though the traction control stops all power to the front drive wheels whenever there is the slightest loss of traction.

One Oregon driver reported having to use chains to get his car up a 6% grade in 2 inches of snow. A Washingtondriverreported their Prius stopped totally on a medium uphill approach toher driveway and garage resulting in the car falling offthe driveway into a ravine of trees.

Image courtesy of 4driversonly.com

Here is whatToyota spokesperson Bill Kwon had to say about this obvious design flaw in the Prius:

Afairly steep gradecombined with snow would cause a loss of traction which will activate the traction control system and therefore reduce or cut power. A vehicle without TRAC in those conditions would probably just start spinning in place and eventually spin out of control. In my opinion, it is better to have the vehicle stop then to have the wheels spinning and out of control.

Hmmm... Well Bill, if you say so... Still, Iprobably won'tbe rushing out to buy one just yet.