Prius attracts police

Haven't been targeted, but coming home on New Year's Eve we did thread the gauntlet of 3 different police jurisdictions with officers looking at traffic and did not get stopped.

I did get eyeballed though by an officer directing traffic around a head-on collision earlier in the afternoon while gliding by slowly in EV.

 

I have owned 3 Prius's, 2007, 2010, and 2014 and never been pulled over for anything. I usually however drive fast and keep up with the traffic on interstate routes. Plus one of the three was red which is supposed to attract the cops attention, at least so I have heard. I don't believe in poking in a prius as was said before the mileage difference is minimal and my time especially on long trips is worth more to me then another mile per gallon.

 

Never stopped in either of ours when we owned them.
Many things other than the car you drive can attract police attention.
Floating to side to side in your lane, apparent inattentiveness, traveling faster or slower than surrounding traffic, etc.

 

Only ever been pulled over to be given a warning for a burned-out taillight... twice... in the same town... within 5 minutes...

 

Never in 9 years have I been pulled over.
I think most states have drive in right lane, left lane to pass.

 

I have owned the Prius for about 5 months around 18,500 miles. I was pulled over at 2 am, the officer stated that I gave my turn indicator at a stop sign where there was no turn (I did give my indicator, but I didn't even come close to turning when I saw there was no turn allowed). He was very nice though because I had just lost my : license, registration, insurance. All I had with me was my passport as a ID and he took the passport and came back after around 10 mins and said "drive safely", not even a warning. Only one pull over in The past 5 months. This is in California btw

 

No Prii hate here…. Both Prii are kept moving with the flow of traffic, I have however, experienced some of those other Prii drivers that someone here mentioned earlier on in the post…. All I could do was pass them by and SMH…. really…

There are times when slower traffic keep right truly does mean get out of the way...

 

If in left lane and driving slow you deserve a ticket!

 

Sadly, I would have to agree with the OP.
I hadn't received a speeding ticket in over 10 years...or more.
In less than a year since getting my Prius? Two speeding tickets. And come on...The Prius isn't the fastest vehicle I've owned in that time.
In the case of one of the two speeding tickets...which happened to be as I was driving through a small coastal Oregon city The officer wasn't too subtle. He seemed to take a little extra "pride" in the fact that he was ticketing "one of them Prius".

Police Officers are just humans. But if you get somebody with preconceived ideas about Prius or Prius Owners? Yeah, I think they can look to be more aggressive about ticketing you.

My "Speeding Ticket" was absolutely minor. Nobody around. The guy could of been "cool" about it. But I could tell just talking to him, he was HAPPY it was a Prius he was ticketing.

I would have to say...it's a potential thorn in the side of owning a Prius.

 

Prius owners have a reputation, deserved or not, of being holier-than-thou eco-freaks, who look down their noses at those disgusting gas guzzlers. This even applies in the liberal San Francisco Bay Area. And when we PiP owners get the HOV decals, it adds on to it. It seems similar to me to the protests in San Fransisco by the poorer residents complaining of "gentrification" (resulting in evictions and higher rents) caused by the influx of high tech workers. Google operates shuttle buses between San Francisco and the Google offices down the peninsula, and these buses have been physically attacked by protesters.

 

So you're saying maybe I shouldn't of yelled "Bite Me! Gas Guzzling Pig!" as I drove past the speed trap?

 

Not if you're driving the speed limit...

 

If you are impeding traffic, you can be ticketed, even if that means the drivers behind you want to exceed the speed limit. If they have to move to the right to pass, you are impeding. The cell phone incident mentioned by the OP sounds ridiculous.

 

Is that the same for every state?

 

Speaking legally, the speed rules aren't different for different lanes the signs, on most california highways say "maximum speed limit 65" so that means that the fastest you are legally allowed to drive is 65 but most people are going 75-85 mph legally our speedometers are required to be accurate within ( +-)3mph so legally speaking a office can cite you for going 68mph but they usually don't. One of my friends did get cited for going 59mph in a 55mph zone. No California law states that the "left" lane has a higher speed limit. By slower traffic keep right it means trafic going slower than 65, as it is a maximum speed limit not a minimum. DMV hand book says if trafic is going 70mph in 65 mph zone.

For your exclamation mark!!!

 

I had heard that some lady in a state on the East Coast did get a ticket for going about the speed limit in the left lane but I thought I later read it didn't hold up in court.

I'm not actually saying going 65 in the left lane is a good idea, considering it's rude to other drivers and dangerous to have people riding up behind, but I just didn't think you get actually get a ticket for it in California. I guess it's a little different on 2 lane highways than 5 lane freeways. Tickets are just so insanely expensive in CA that it's not worth it to speed excessively in my opinion.

 

Driving at or just below the limit in the "fast lane" is a pain in the nice person imo and drivers should be ticketed. If you want to drive slow(er) than others, sit in the slow lane. Same issue here in Ireland (just opposite lanes). People just sit in whichever lane they want and tbh, I;m not reallt sure if they know the difference between the two.

Drivers in Spain and a few other European countries are much better at lane management.

 

Yes, they will give you a ticket even if going speed limit. If they say you are impeding traffic. So get in the right lane unless passing. (In most states)

 

It's not rocket science. If you're moving along at the speed limit on a multilane highway, stay to the right. Why would you want to hang out in the left lane and create a moving roadblock? The police enforce traffic laws. It's not our place to do so.

 

If there are only two lanes in each direction on freeway, you often have the choice of going faster than you would like in the left hand lane, or dealing with slow merging traffic in the right lane, requiring hitting the brakes a lot. I really prefer to drive in the right lane, but it annoys my wife to no end. Also, since at least in my state, trucks are required to keep to the right lanes, those lanes are often a pot hole hazard due to the wear from the heavy vehicles.