I don’t object to driver’s ed teaching on a Prius. But I also agree that everybody should learn on a stick, which is not available on the Prius.

And for a local government to consider purchasing Prius for it’s driver training courses, I think that’s a good idea. There ARE Prius taxicabs and police cars (community relations officers). It’s a great car for heavy stop/go driving. In fact, I’m curious as to why the Postal Service doesn’t employ them!

I don’t think Toyota gave us any guidelines; there’s nothing in my owner’s manual on proper spelling of the plural.

But I kind of like “Priora.” It has a nice sound; much better than “Prium” or “Pria” or the absolute worst, “Priuses”….

Drivers Education in TX is sad. It shows, too. I don’t really care what my future kid/chilren learn in (assuming that it’s a relatively safe vehicle, of course) as long as they LEARN. Needless to say, I’ll probably be teaching my kid/s on my own.

As far as the electric nannies go, as much as I might disagree with learning in such a situation, at least the safety systems protect the freshman drivers. Also, this will be mandatory in just a few years anyway – NOT to say that people shouldn’t learn to drive without the assistance, but it is a relief to know that the setup they will learn on will be used in the future.

Of course, the car I taught myself to drive in correctly happens to be a RWD 5sp 80’s 300ZX with no ABS – best way to learn in my book.

In all seriousness, they are lucky they aren’t learning on something like the Aveo. Yes the Prius is a hybrid, but it’s still a car, right? Four wheels, engine, steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, etc.

The fact that the folks in Leon County are using a Prius — well, there certainly is a whiff of political correctness about it, which is funny because Northern Florida is not much known as a hotbed of leftism. And it’s also true that some of the finer points of listening to your engine idle, or driving without the traction control nanny, may be lost when training on such a vehicle. But considering the amount of stop-and-go driving that a training car must endure each year, is there not perhaps a legitimate cost justification for using a ~50 mpg car? And can you not concede that all of the important driving basics can be taught on a Prius — i.e. how to avoid careless driving and skid entry in the first place?

If a serious defensive driving course — one aimed at police, bodyguards and serious laymen — did its instruction on a Prius instead of a RWD Panther platform, I’d be scratching my head. But teaching the basics to a bunch of high school kids? I’m not worried. I’ve driven the occasional rental Prius here and there (first and second generation, actually), and I don’t see a problem with using it this way.

But what about the parent’s that can’t, won’t, or don’t? They’re on the roads, too.

Prius or not – good for them.