Another A$$hole On The Road (AAOTR)

Snork.

I do not know why, maybe it's the funny split rear window, but I am acutely conscious of being tailgated more often in the Prius. I usually drive on the freeway in CC unless traffic is manky. I (mea culpa) tend to be in the left-lane top 5% by speed, and yet people feel a need to climb up my a$$, even though there is no hope to go much faster, because my speed is limited by the guys in front of me. I will yield to the right when the chance arises, and the offending DB will gain a car's length. I think that I am rewarding brat behavior when I do that.

 

I set the cruise control to 55 to 60 MPH while driving on the 3-lane Interstate-540 with a posted speed limit of 65 MPH. In Raleigh, NC, most drivers switch lanes ahead of time if they see a Prius doing 5-10 mph under the speed limit. It also helps to stay in the center lane to allow for the drivers behind you to pass on the left or right. Try driving UNDER the speed limit.

 

Cops around here will pull people over for doing 10 MPH below the limit. For operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner, impeding traffic flow, or something like that. It is probable cause for pulling someone over to see if they are drunk or high.

Personally, I will go with the flow whenever I can. Do not need to stimulate more hate for the Prius crowd, or have a friendly conversation with my local constable on the side of the road.

 

I try to drive carefully and considerately and sanely. Occasionally I inadvertantly do something assholic, occasionally someone does something to me. If I were a bumper-sticker kind of guy, I'd apply one with big letters that says:

CAUTION: I DRIVE LIKE YOU DO

Richard

 

In my past 6 years of driving in the Triangle area in NC, I set the cruise control at 5-10 mph under the speed limit on the local NC and Interstate highways, and hundreds of Wake County Sheriff / NC Highway Patrol / Raleigh City Police vehicles have safely passed my vehicle on the left or right lanes. I have never received a traffic ticket/citation/warning, nor have I been pulled over by law enforcement officers.

My driving habit is reinforced by my experience of observing the Wake County Administrative Traffic Court, which processes the NC Uniformed Traffic Citation from the NC Highway Patrol, Wake County Sheriff Department, NCSU Campus Police, and municipal police departments. When I wrote a 20-page research paper for a PS 309 Criminal Justice course, I wrote a section of the paper based on the an analysis of the cases processed by the Wake County Administrative Traffic Court, the vast majority of which are speed-related.

A link to recent traffic cases in Wake County, NC — an overwhelming majority of the defendants were cited for speeding.

Driving 5-10 mph under the speed limit safely with cruise control on a multi-lane highway does not establish probable cause for a traffic stop as NC does not have a minimum speed limit. The evidence is clear, it is far more likely for law enforcement officers to initiate a traffic stop and issue a citation for a speeding driver than a non-speeding driver. Personally, I decide set the cruise control to 5-10 mph under the speed limit to allow for safe margins for errors of the speedometer, gravity for going downhill, and reduce the likelihood of drivers following my vehicle too closely.

Drive safely and obey all traffic laws. As an added benefit, the Prius returns higher MPG when driving ≤ 55 mph

 

I grew up just North of Exit 36 of the LIE, on Long Island. Left to move to the Boston area and then the Army as soon as I turned 18, in the late '70s. The LIE was really bad then, I can't imagine what it is like to drive it now on a daily basis.

The aggression of Montreal drivers, however, makes LIE drivers look like well-fed house cats... just sayin

 

Only in Texas? That certainly is not the situation here, outside of the 'fast lane'.

NO! NO! NO! I speak from firsthand experience back in the 20th Century. There are several trucks drivers out there (all with out-of-state plates) that have absolutely zero qualms about half-passing the offending car, who has the audacity to flash brake lights while going only the speed limit in the slow lane, and then using their rearmost trailer tire to physically shove the offending car sideways off the road. Scraping some paint on to their rubber doesn't bother them a bit.

I find better results with this item:

 

I get more of that in the south than i did in the north.

 

The Maine drivers handbook recommends that you wait until the driver has an opportunity to pass and then gradually slow down to encourage them to pass.

There's also a keep right law, but that obviously wouldn't apply when you're trying to move.

So, that's about right.

 

Like I said, they are not out to ticket slow drivers. They are looking for an excuse to pull someone over and check for intoxication. A lot of drunks slow down. When they find that you are perfectly sober, usually a verbal warning is issued for impeding traffic as the probable cause to initiate a stop, to cover their butts.

The practice in your neck of woods might be different. Just because something is perfectly legal, if it is out of the ordinary, it does not mean that it won't attract law enforcement's attention. Not that I have anything to hide, but I do not enjoy an unscheduled road side conference with the local constable.

Another thing to consider is, if say a truck has to slow down catching up to you, switch lane, accelerate again, it would probably waste more fuel than what you are saving for the moment, then repeat this a few times over, you get the picture. Yes, it is not your fuel, but he CO2 still goes into the same air.

Finally I do not want to re-enforce the Prius rolling road blocks stereotype. But hey, it is a free country.

 

If you are going to drive 10mph UNDER the posted speed limit GET IN THE RIGHT LANE. The right lane is the slow lane NOT the center lane.

 

Whether police officers decide to initiate a traffic stop and conduct a search of the vehicle depends on a myriad of factors. With speeding being the top reason to establish reasonable suspicion and probable cause for a traffic stop, I would strongly recommend drivers to drive at/under the speed limit and to obey all traffic laws.

With regard to driving under the speed limit on a highway, law enforcement officers in Wake County, NC are known to engage in racial profiling when initiating traffic stops. In Wake County, the suspicion of DWI as a probable cause for pulling over slower vehicles tend to be used against Blacks or Hispanic drivers by law enforcement officers who otherwise find no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to initiate the traffic stop in the first place.

In North Carolina, being a southern state with evident racial profiling practices by law enforcement agencies, driving over the speed limit is not advisable for those who fit the racial profile to be stopped by law enforcement officers due to the fact that speeding is the top reason to establish probable cause for a traffic stop. In Wake County, NC, race is a significant factor on whether police officers decide to initiate a traffic stop and the likelihood of a search of the vehicle. In some cases, traffic stops and searches involving Blacks and Hispanics drivers in NC have been initiated without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. These racial profiling practices are clearly illegal and in violation of the equal protection clause, but they are almost impossible to prove in a court of law.

An excerpt from a paper by Ian Mance, a JD candidate from UNC School of Law, Racial Profiling in North Carolina: Racial Disparities in Traffic Stops, 2000 to 2011:

• Black drivers are more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers. The data shows significant disparities in treatment once these motorists are in police control. The numbers are even worse for Hispanics.
• Statewide, blacks are 77 percent more likely than whites to be searched for identical offenses, while Hispanics are 96 percent more likely to be searched.

It is unfortunate that in the 21st century, more than 50 years since the Civil Rights movement, race remains a significant factor in law enforcement officers' decision to initiate a traffic stop in North Carolina. In North Carolina, the decision to drive at or under the speed limit might very well be a carefully calculated decision based on one's race.

 

And let people criticise me for doing what I think is the safe thing to do? Haha, alright let me take some heat off of you and get people picking at me.

I was driving north on i880 through San Leandro in morning rush hour traffic. I was in the far right lane of a 4 lane highway and have been for the past 25 miles. Speeds finally began to pick up as we pass the 238 overpass. I was in in golf cart mode at the moment and was about to step on it to fire up the ICE. Just then, I noticed a brown Nissan Xterra SUV flash its lights and honk at me as it rides my tail. I assume it was unhappy with the rather large opening growing in front of me. Instead of speeding up as I planned to, I decided to antagonize this driver and piss him off. The lane to the left of us was wide open. They call the lane I am the slow lane for a reason. I let my foot off the gas and remained in golf cart mode. Other cars were now going about 40 mph. I was going about 30 mph. The Xterra eventually made its exit off the freeway and rides parallel to my lane. He rolls his windows down to yell obscenities at me. I had the urge to turn my head, smile, and wave at him but ahead of me speeds slowed back to a crawl. I think I heard something like, "Just because you drive a Prius doesn't mean you have to drive so slow."

Alright, have at it and call me a hypocrite.

 

Oh right, just to stave off those that would say 10 mph differential is highly unsafe. This is the Nimitz freeway through Oakland. There is a wall of brake lights less than a quarter mile in front of me. It'll be like speeding up to a red light. The only reason speeds were picking up was that we were going past a choke point with the 238 merge. But it's bumper to bumper from here to the bay bridge. If I had my hypermiling druthers, I would golf cart the whole way but I try to be courteous to other courteous slow drivers behind me.

 

Just rude drivers on the LIE.

Hitting the brakes, even if its just to piss off the guy behind you, is bad behavior. Not rocket science here. Tailgating -> Brakes-> Road rage.
+1

And it helps establish that prius drivers are bad drivers.

I don't find that to be true. Here in Austin, we have bad drivers, but much fewer rude drivers. You almost always see someone wave a thanks here when they cut you off. One of my friends living in philly, was entertained by it. Here on the two lane highways, people will often pull to the shoulder to let a faster car pass, in NY they slow down instead. California the left lane seems to mean go slower, here its for passing.

Well you know what you did was wrong, and you enjoyed making other people mad, and furthering the bad reputation of prius drivers. Not much of an excuse for shoplifting, or slowing down way below the speed limit just because you don't like the store or the guy behind you. Its a minor offense, but all the little hate adds up.

 

Driving in traffic involves compromise for responsible motorists. You have expectations and needs and so do each of the other drivers that share the roadways with you. Sometimes I have the luxury of a slow, fuel-saving, drive and sometimes I don't. I guess that you drive faster when you're in a hurry and, during some of these moments, you have probably been frustrated by slower traffic ahead. Perhaps one of those slower cars was me. Your schedule and mine won't always coincide, so, as responsible stewards of the shared highway, we both need to compromise for the sake of the other. Next time you're in a hurry and I'm not, I'll do my best to quickly get out of your way. I hope you'll be a responsible driver and do the same for me.

 

Agreed, as long as I am the sole impasse to your rate of speed. If there are open lanes of traffic, I'm less inclined to oblige. I've never honked at anyone in the slow lane. It makes more sense for me to pass.

Thanks for the positive outlook. But to be completely honest, if this situation occurred again. I'd do exactly the same thing. I only had 4 options.
1. Change lanes - I'm in the slow lane. Changing to a faster lane is replacing one upset driver with another.
2. Tap my brake lights - Well, we have a disagreement on this thread about what is the proper and safe thing to do. I'm on the no tapping brakes camp.
3. Speed up - It really doesn't matter what speed I go at, I'm still in his way. He'll tailgate me all the way to his exit. I could argue this is a more dangerous situation because had I needed to brake, then he would be slamming into me at a higher speed.
4. Maintain current speed
The only thing wrong, as I see it, is that I took enjoyment out of someone else's frustration. I'd be happy to entertain alternatives I didn't think of. I encounter this sort of thing on a nearly daily basis in my 3 hour round trip commutes.

 

The friendly response is to speed up, as you had planned to if he was not there. Don't speed up enough that you think you will need to slam on the brakes. That way he's the ahole not you. 880 is full of bad traffic, and if you let the gap get to large, people will pass then get in front and slam on their brakes. I don't miss bay area traffic at all.

I don't judge your schadenfreude. We have all been there. I know I get a sense when a tailgater passes, then you seem him pulled over for speeding. I don't envy your 3 hour commute.