is an internet slang term originating from Japan in the 2010s. The term is used in Japan to describe the

Toyota Prius The is a Compact car, compact/small family car, small family liftback (supermini/subcompact sedan (car), sedan until 2003) produced by Toyota. The Prius has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combined with an internal combustion ...

as a "missile", as it is driven by older drivers who have been involved in traffic accidents and crashed into buildings. The slang term is thought to have emerged from the prevalence of Japanese news reports showing images of the Prius involved in traffic accidents caused by

sudden unintended acceleration Sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) is the unintended, unexpected, uncontrolled acceleration of a vehicle, often accompanied by an apparent loss of braking effectiveness. It may be caused by some combination of driver error (such as pedal misap ...

, such as the

Higashi-Ikebukuro runaway car crash The Higashi-Ikebukuro runaway car crash was a Transport accidents, traffic crash that occurred on April 19, 2019, in Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, resulting in 2 deaths and 9 injuries. The crash occurred when an 87-year-old passenger car dr ...

in 2019.

Origin

The slang term originated in Japan towards the end of the 2010s at a time when an increase in car accidents caused by older drivers accidentally accelerating received wider attention. The internet compared the incidents of cars suddenly accelerating into buildings and crashing to that of a

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

. Due to the anecdotal observation that many of the drivers involved in such accidents were driving the brand and make of the

, that slang evolved to incorporate the Prius with an image of a missile. The

in 2019 was one notable example of an incident that received coverage. According to the

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法

, the accident rate of the Prius does not differ from other vehicles. Subsequent investigation of the cause of the Higashi-Ikebukuro runaway crash found that it was not caused by the failure of the 2nd Prius model. Japanese journalist reported that the viral spread of the internet slang term and the creation of the Prius's public image as a crash-prone car is thought to be caused by several different factors, including large numbers of Prius vehicles in use in Japan, the car's popularity with older drivers, older drivers usually being overconfident in their driving skills, and the Prius's significance as a well-known car model.

Impact and prevention

The slang went viral after the Higashi-Ikebukuro runaway car crash in April 2019, as the number of

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

searches skyrocketed in that month.

Hashtags A hashtag is a Tag (metadata), metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the Number sign, hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo sharing, photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a fo ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, like #プリウスミサイル (Prius Missile) and #今日のプリウス (Today's Prius) were seen due to the frequency of the vehicle's appearance during car crashes involving older drivers. Toyota executive told shareholders in June 2019 that the company was cooperating with police investigations into the accidents and that he was personally committed to promoting a safe car society. In July 2020, the

Toyota Prius PHV The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid (often abbreviated as the Prius and known as the Prius Prime in North America, South Korea, and New Zealand from 2016 to 2024) is a plug-in hybrid liftback manufactured by Toyota . The first-generation model was ...

was equipped with features to prevent sudden acceleration. The 5th-generation Prius in 2022 also had changes in shift levers and pedals to prevent sudden accelerations.

References

{{reflist Japanese internet slang Car culture Internet memes introduced from Japan Internet memes introduced in 2019