As Much As I Love My Car, I'm Starting To Hate It!!

Prius drivers probably get more grief because there are more (not all!) smug Prius drivers than most models. All Prius drivers pay a price for the self-righteous owners...like it or not. And it wouldn't surprise me if it's more acute in SoCal, where cars are a big part of the identify of many owners.

 

I don't think you started seeing this more often because you drive a prius. I suspect you see more of it because you changed your driving habits.
Take a Cavelier out and drive it the same way you drive the Prius and I bet you will see close to the same behavior.
Yes, there will be the occasional jerk out there that wants to 'pick' on the prius, but on average, I bet it is the same.
When you say things like 'I gave him a dirty look' or 'I had to say something' it is an indication that it wasn't JUST the other guy. It will be better for your blood pressure if you don't get agrivated to the level of escalating the issue.

 

I glad to say that I have not yet experienced anything like that with my Prius, although I've only had it for 9 days. Prius drivers in my area are hardly the slowest or clogging traffic. That honor belongs to the gardeners/landscapers.

The story does remind me of when I got a Mustang GT back in 1986. It was a hot car and the first one delivered in New England. For a while mine was the only one on the road and it was a constant target of Camero drivers (maybe more morons buy Chevy's?). It got to the point where guys would throw rocks and bricks at me as I drove by! It had nothing to do with driving style, but more with me having a better car. Fortunately, it cooled off after 6 months or so.

In the case of the Prius, I know the "foreign" car thing can be a hot button for some people. But it's just too difficult trying to figure out what's going on between the ears of those idiots, so I wouldn't waste too much time on it. Just be careful, they can be dangerous!!!

 

I have had my car over 96mph with someone chasing me I'm not being tailgated I'm having someone who doesn't like our cars messing with me. There was a car in front of me so i had no where to go but they still were tailgating me at that speed.

 

I also think the smallish size of the Prius makes people more likely to tailgate. When you can see over or around a car, it isn't as intimidating to ride right behind it.

Tom

 

I don't have other drivers reacting to me and my Prius differently than other cars.

There are so many Pri's here in the SF Bay Area, one would go nuts trying to diss every Prius out there.

There's the occasional idiot driver out there, but all one can do is avoid AMAP.

Experience in street motorcycling helps with defensive driving.

 

post deleted.

 

Oh, I had always assumed that aggressive drivers were chest cutters on their way to emergency operations. Sure are a lot of them ;->.

 

Maybe that is why I haven't noticed any problem with my Prius. It has a far larger cross section than the Honda it replaced, and even very slightly larger than my Subaru.

Only the Honda ever suffered an attack of the OP's sort. But as a much older car, it also had to most opportunity to receive a random attack.

 

Hey Tony, Let's blame this one on Starbucks... Assume that this other driver had a LARGE cup of coffee a half hour before he (or she) met you at the traffic light. It was nothing personal against you, they just needed to find a bathroom. It is absolutely amazing how a person's values change when he (or she) has to find a bathroom.....

Keith

 

By chance you wouldn't have an Obama 08 bumper sticker would you. Just checking...

 

For some people, they have so little going on in their lives, they take every chance to bully so called incompetent drivers. You know, if you got into the wrong right turn only lane, they won't let you get back on the correct lane. When the light turns green and you are a little bit late coming up to speed, they honk. They pass you just to slow down and exit. These people get their jollys out of seeing other people suffer and they think it is justified because they are "in the right" so to speak. They blame all the other people for their problems. If the jerk in front wasn't so slow, I would have not been late, etc.

They also obey a funny rule of the road. The guy with the hummer, expensive sports car, beautiful people in a Farrari etc is given more respect. That's because they are afraid these people will "put them in their place" by stepping on the gas. The guy in the economy car (maybe a Prius), driving aggressively is does not know his place in life and should be put in their place - best by smoking them when the light turns green. The guy/gal in the economy car driving too slow should also be put in his/her place. So you can't win in an economy car.

Don't mess with these people. They have had a brutal life and it shows. Whether someone cut you off in traffic is of no consequence in the long run.

 

"- An image of a stick-man blowing his brains out with a gas hose"

Cool, where did you get that one? I think someone on here has that as their avatar.

 

No, it does not automatically mean -- as your wording suggests -- that "we" are driving too slowly. It usually does mean, however, that the person doing the tailgating is either in too much of a hurry OR can't seem to grasp the concept of simply looking ahead an entire 100 feet or so / of simply planning ahead an entire 2-3 seconds or so and change lanes accordingly BEFORE endangering everybody in the vicinity!

As for me, except when passing, I'm always in the "slow" lane on multi-lane highways and ONLY pass when I truly intend to do so; meaning ... I speed up to get around and ONLY at such times that I will NOT be impeding anyone behind me.

 

I think people here are just more sensitized to these kinds of things after reading about all the Prius envy. Most people out there are not "out to get" you.

And, to be honest about it, I have been driving more in line with the speed limit ever since I got the Prius, simply to increase my you know what.

 

You mean you DON'T have a bumper sticker -- pertaining to the 3rd item above -- that reads: "If you can't read this ... you're not close enough!"