Road bullies

Same answer as before.

The G3 is shaped like a door stop.
That means that when you're looking in the rear-view mirror, cars sometimes look closer than they are because there's not three feet of trunk behind the rear glass.
This leads some Prius drivers to presume that they're being followed more closely than they really are.

There's also an automotive Napoleonic Complex thing going with some of the drivers....or what I call the Chihuahua effect.
Little car.
Big Attitude.

Lastly, many people get to playing around with their HSI trying to join the 800-mile-per-tank club and forgetting about the fact that 99.9999999 percent of the driving public is just trying to get from point A to point Next.

So.....Do Priuses get bullied?
Yeah.
It happens occasionally, but so does everybody else.

It happens because people get a lot more brave or assertive when they are surrounded by 3200 (or more) pounds of plastic, metal, and glass....and there's ALWAYS going to be somebody out there who wants to be the Alpha Dog in the pack.

If you think you're being excessively bullied, stop and consider which side of the windshield the problem is REALLY occurring.


Good Luck!

 

attractive women in pick up trucks are the usual culprits.

 

You get all the luck!

I never get bullied that way......

 

yes, you can find many threads here about it. it's real, and a sad commentary on our society.

 

1) Be in an appropriate lane on a freeway. Going slow in the left lanes will not win friends. I do one MPH over the limit in the right hand lane and have no issues because the Semis I am sharing the lane with are also doing 1 MPH over the limit and I fit right in.

2) Choose a sane speed. On a two lane road I strive to pass as many vehicles, as pass me. That is about 60 in a 55 for my area, it will vary by area. If you count for a couple of weeks you will find that 50/50 speed.

3) Response to hybrids will vary by area. Sadly, many in Michigan will react badly to a car Detroit can't build; blaming you rather than the domestic automakers. Here in Mississippi, anything that is not a pickup gets that treatment, so a Prius is in no better or worse shape than a Suburban.

4) It is not all about you. Most drivers are trying to get to Work/Home/Bars. If you are in the way of that, you are the enemy. If you drive so that you are not blocking them, they will happily ignore you.

(The type of women I prefer are also interested in men who are kind and value cooperation and planning. If you want women who want adventure and dominance, perhaps it is not to late to trade up to a Jeep Wrangler Also keep a lot of ones, pole dancers like men who have cash.)

 

People are too, too busy texting while driving!

DBCassidy

 

I'm not that psychic, but have this feeling the OP is going to start a thread about Prius driver's sexual orientation, politics, or both.

 

Move to the PacNW. It's reverse bullying in some places here....the Prius drivers are the ones with the "own the road" attitude

 

that's my attitude as well stay to the right, do the speed limit, i own that lane.

 

i vote for this one. It's a common error of a newbe prius driver to try to milk as much EV as possible to the detriment of MPG, MPH, and all those drivers behind the prius.

 

Do Prius get bullied or harassed on the road more than other vehicles?
This is a repeated topic, sometimes attached to specific stories.

I'm sure it happens.

But I don't want to believe it's really a problem. Because I'd like to have more faith in the intelligence of humanity.

In 3 years, I've had ONE incidence where a "nut case" was for some reason following me and screaming at me on the highway. Very Dangerous.
Was it because I was driving a Prius?
I don't really know.
I suspect this person was mentally unbalanced regardless of what I happened to be driving. Did the Prius simply be the lure that drew him to my vehicle? I can only say "maybe". I wasn't really interested in interviewing the person to determine their fantasy motivation for insanity on the road.

Much more common is my driving with the flow of traffic, at or above posted highway speeds, and suddenly getting some vehicle just screaming past me "like" I was creeping along, when I wasn't.

Again? Because I'm driving a Prius, and they are just assuming or attaching the idea I'm going too slow?
Maybe. Who knows.

But I've decided I'm NOT going to embrace the role or imagery of being the abused or persecuted Prius Driver/Owner.

People get harassed, and passed while driving regardless of what they may be driving.

I'm going to give the majority of humanity the benefit of the doubt in terms of having the intelligence and grace to understand that a Prius is simply a machine, and that it being a hybrid doesn't automatically mean it's not going at or above the speed limit or that the vehicle needs to be passed aggressively and immediately.

And if someone still wants to zoom past me? More power to them.

 

I get it!!!!!
"More power to them...."

 

It happens when I drive my big 4x4 pickup. Some people follow too close.

Some come up real close, and then realize that my rear bumper is in perfect alignment alignment with their forehead, and back off.

jp

 

i don't have that much faith in humanity, nor in th intelligence of some of the driving public. have you ever asked yourself, why are there so many accidents, and i never get in one? it would just ruin my day, if i got killed on the highway, or wound up in the hospital from speeding, weaving, texting, talking or tail gating.

 

If you're driving a sports car, people expect you to be aggressive and get out of your way. If you're driving a Prius, people expect you to be slow and will become the aggressors.

I really like the 50/50 pass/passed rule posted above. Remember that this counts to your acceleration at a dead stop too. If you're holding up traffic accelerating away from stop lights, you should accelerate harder at the expense of gas mileage because otherwise, you just made about 6-10 people behind you angry.