Why Prius gets tailgated? I found an unexpected answer!

Hey, every Prius needs to come with that option.

 

I'm with you on that one!

 

This thread may explain why I have seen cars or trucks pull up behind me on my commute to work and get right on my rear bumper, even though we may be the only two cars on a stretch of four-lane highway. More times than not it is a younger adult in a higher mpg car or truck.

I have had to wave my arm at them or either change lanes to get them off my tail. Then they will speed up and pass me.

 

OK

 

^ Selfish and dangerous as well!

A friend of mine usta carry a pocket full of lug nuts when he went for a motorcycle ride.
He never got tailgated vary much...

I don't get tailgated enough to really worry about it. As far as the legality issues....some states have not only defined tailgating but there are machines that LEOs can use to accurately measure (and photo record) miscreants that don't know how to share the roads. In some states the fines are pretty nasty.
Down here our county boys (I think they have some girls too ) usually park on some of the two lane blacktops and on the interstates to look for aggressive drivers. It's not rocket science. They usually stick out like a turd in a punch bowl - that or truck drivers will call the *SHP number on their phones.

Truck drivers HATE drafters!! I know...since I have to drive a Prius everyday, and you know what a Prius looks like to them????
Riiiight. They look like a Prius!
I've had several OTR drivers go active on me about those "Gawd Dang %$#@! Prius drivers...."
So....yeah. If you "draft" I'm going to call you stupid, selfish, and a few other things...
Most truck drivers don't really care if some idiot bounces off of their ICC bars except for the fact that many large companies (including mine) are self-insured. If some idiot (and tailgater are....) whams into the back of my G3 then not only do I have to worry about the fact that a Prius has the structural rigidity of a Coors can....I'll also have an accident on my company driving record.
Whether the accident was my fault or not only determines whether it's a big black mark or a little black mark.
(I currently have none, and want to keep it that way )

Two very good reasons for me to use "drafter" and "a$$hole" interchangeably.
Want a third?
It's like drunk drivers. (drink drivers on the other side of the pond) They usually don't hurt themselves, they usually get some innocent third party hurt.
I regard tailgaters with more hatred than I do drunk drivers, since tailgaters usually make an unimpaired decision to drive dangerously and selfishly!

My strategy for idiot tailgaters is to come off the throttle until they either pass me, back off, or we both roll to a stop. It's never failed!
I gat paid by the hour.....

 

Guys.... easy, sheesh! I don't draft on their tale, I am typically about 4-5 car lengths behind them. It's far enough away to maintain a relatively safe distance but close enough for the vehicle in front to deflect the wind.

 

At 4 to 5 car lengths I would think you're are more likely to be siting in turbulent air thereby creating the exact opposite affect to the one you're looking for.

 

Surprisingly no. When I settle into this spot, I instantly see the mpg gauge rise significantly. Unless the gauge is inaccurate, I don't really know.

 

Strange eh but if it works then fair enough.

Or could it be that you drive up to a position you wish to be behind say a truck in front and then you back off to match that trucks speed thereby increasing your mpg?

 

Turbulent, yes. But more important, this air also has a significant average speed in the same direction as the truck. I.e. the average airspeed of the car is reduced. It is airspeed that causes mpg to fall as speed increases.

But swich2mac is fooling himself into thinking that 4 to 5 car lengths is safe. The minimum legal following distance here at 60 mph is 8 Prius lengths (Gen3 liftback), the 2 Second Rule taught in driver education demands 12 Prius lengths. I realize this is impractical on many crowded urban areas, but folks shouldn't fool themselves into thinking that the common shorter distances are safe.

When using a truck as a screen against higher speed cars on rural interstates, I prefer 20 to 30 car lengths.

 

There was

on Mythbusters. The quality of the video is crap though.

 

As an aside, I have noticed a change in semi trailers in the last year. They are now adopting skirts below the trailer to deflect air around the rear axles. (Being manly men they prefer to call them wings or blades, but that is just machismo)

Today 95% of them are white, but I suspect they are prime advertizing space.

As usual the CARB is driving this change, they are trying to raise semi fuel mileage by 7%
How Does CARB Affect Long Haul Trucking? | Freight Wing

semi trailer skirts - Google Search

 

I was tailgated, passed, given the finger, all in a school zone. Guy stopped in the entrance to the subdivision and got out to yell at me. So did I. Unfortunately, I'm a 6ft tall bodybuilder, so he got back into his car. Think he was hoping for the stereotypical Prius driver. Never happened when I owned a F150.

 

Don't you just love it when people make assumptions that backfire lol

 

It is too bad they did not test at the 150 feet everyone agreed would be safe, but theater won over practicality.