Misadventures driving Ms. Prius C...

Rude drivers aren't just limited to BMW drivers....

 

If you go the speedlimit, I don't know why you don't expect to be the target of the race car slalom course.

 

At 55 MPH I always drive all the way to the right so people can past me easily on the left.

 

I've had similar incidents a few times. I don't flip them off. I just wave and smile, really pisses them off. Additionally I've come to the conclusion that the old saying "you can't fix stupid" applies to a small number of drivers we must share the road with.

 

you can't drive the beltway in the right lane, that's taking your life in your hands. i drive the speed limit in the next lane over, and you're right. there is a lot of frustrated thrashing going on out there. and elsewhere. it's a sick society, in need of healing.

 

+1
It doesn't matter what car you drive. It doesn't even matter if you drive a motorcycle, a trailer or bus could get away with it but if you are holding back traffic by driving the speed limit, you should expect to be it cut off by angry drivers, eco or not.

I get really irritated by speed limit drivers in any lane other than the right. I drive in the right lane at speed limit or slower so when I move to other lanes, I expect to go faster.

 

the right lane on the beltway disappears after each entrance. it's a difficult place to try and remain.

 

There are rude and crazy drivers everywhere. I don't think they are targeting you, or C owners in general. And I suspect that, despite your experience, electric and hybrid drivers are less likely to be among them. But there are always exceptions and we all have our bad days when we need to get somewhere quicker than usual.

As for driving 55 (speed limit) in one of the middle lanes - that should normally be fine in most situations. But it's all variable. My rule of thumb is to find the lane where cars are currently going the speed I want to drive, and get in it. At 55mph, that might not always be a middle lane, and of course it might not stay the same lane for my whole drive, as I eventually will run into someone who is "out of step" and going too slow for that lane. Then I will use a faster lane, making sure to get up to the speed of the other cars in that lane, to go around the slower car.

 

These days nothing surprises me on the roads. I find you have to watch every car around you and try to read the drivers minds as to what they may do next as it probably won't be what you would expect them to do. I think we all see some mad driving on every trip no matter how short it is.

Not quite the same thing but, I picked up my new Prius C iTech model here in Australia on the 15th April. 2 days later I found it had been side swiped in a car park with no note or message left for me. It took a chunk of paint off the rear bumper. The car had done less than 100km at the time. It doesn't matter if you car it moving or parked there seems to be little or no respect for other peoples property

 

Yep, driving in busy urban areas does bring out the crazy out of people. Once or twice a week I leave the genteel Shenandoah Valley to participate in the "Beltway Babylon", and it does feel like a different planet, and not in a good way.

And then, of course, there is always Boston MA

 

Yep - you're spot on.

I live on an island and people speed and weave in and out of traffic. For what? Can't get anywhere quicker by speeding "through" traffic - the traffic here is horrendous.

These people don't understand that they may feel like they are saving time but the most they might gain is a few seconds. Then again - as you mentioned - I watch some drivers pass me three times in 5 or 10 miles. They fly by me and get caught in traffic then end up behind me again and pass me again and again. A bus driver friend once explained to me that keeping pace with traffic is the most efficient time wise - speeding and weaving through traffic is pointless. He was not a slow driver but he did not speed and change lanes constantly.

I always keep up with the traffic - the C will keep up even if I have to push it sometimes.

Don't get me started on the people talking on cell phones or the worst - texting while driving. People looking down as they drive and text - suicidal!

 

It's hard to believe that in the midst of morning rush hour traffic with people trying to get to work on time and drop off kids that so many folks were taking time off to pick on you.
I think that perhaps you were driving a little more carefully in this car than you were in your usta-car, and some of the extra protectiveness that you have for your new car combined with your relative unfamiliarity with the C-type are expressing themselves as elevated anxiety.

I'd recommend transitioning from four wheels to two for a few weeks, and after that I promise you that you'll have different personal boundaries when you're surrounded by a ton and a half of metal and glass.
That.....or the battle scars from a few months of parking lot combat will correct your over sense of over-protectiveness for the car.

You have to remember that there isn't a lot of overhang on these cars.
People in the adult Prius forum are always whining and crying about being tailgated and other forms of "Prius Hate."
In fact....when I had to start driving mine it felt like people were butt-munching me all of the time until one of my technicians parked behind me one day while I was still in the car.
From what I saw in the rear-view mirror, I would have bet that I didn't have room to open the hatch but I discovered that there was much more room behind my car that I appreciated from the inside of the car.
Priuses are shaped like a door-stop.
That means that there isn't an extra 2-3 feet of car behind the glass.
Your hood is pretty small too, what there is of it.
This means that despite what it says on your passenger side mirror, objects are not as close as they appear!

There might be a little automotive Scrappy-Do complex going on here judging from your OP.

Relax!
If you're having to answer a PTSD evaluation questionnaire from your morning and evening commutes, then you're doing it wrong.
You're giving other people the power to push YOUR buttons.

 

ETC(SS):
You're correct. My experience is that you see the same behavior while driving other vehicles but may be more aware in a smaller car.

I've had the same experience when I drove my Ford truck and my beloved '69 Barracuda (both long gone).

YMMV