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Had an interesting conversation with my sister this weekend as a result of this thread - she's got the Camry hybrid, with push-button start/stop.
I related this recall tale and asked if she knew how to deal with her car in a situation like this if she needed to.
She's already had a near incident (probably would have been minor if it hadn't only been "near") as a result of the push-button hybrid start: in any other car, in rapid fire succesion she twists the key, applies brake, puts it in gear, releases the brake, and goes. Twist, apply brake, shift, release brake, go! Lickety split! Literally don't even think about it, right? You've done it thousands of times.
In her hybrid, you have to wait a couple of seconds for the car to "boot up" before you actually get power from it. (Says she & husband.)
Twice, she has applied this rapid fire pattern to the hybrid: push start button, apply brake, shift, release brake... car starts rolling, unpowered, in the UNEXPECTED direction on a slight grade! No vacuum reserve because it's been parked for a long time. No power steering. Heart leaps to throat. Arms work furiously. Leg jumps to brake ... push really hard. Incident averted. But she found it alarming to say the least.
Old habits applied to new situations where they don't fit.
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