man, they love to tailgate a prius

i believe it, but i would like to have been in court when the kid challenged the ticket. i don't think i have ever read a case where a judge upheld a policeman's arrest or ticket or whatever for NOT breaking the law. that, would be interesting!

 

He didn't get a ticket for not breaking the law, he got a ticket for obstructing traffic or creating a hazard or something along those lines. probably hogging the fast lane.

 

People carry loaded pistols in their cars, just saw it in the local paper where the police stopped someone, and found a loaded pistol. Owner said he forgot. I no longer enjoy driving, and not just with Prius, because of the illogical aggression on the streets. When people hate the Prius it may be because they feel the Prius owners are teaching they save gas, and there is no way 90% of people will listen to what anyone tells them. So they drive 90 in a Suburban like none of it matters, to teach you it doesn't matter. My suggestions are a $5/gal. gas tax for a few years to clear the tax debt and the Suburbarans away, and real driver tests and training before a license to kill is given.

 

Some people simply refuse to live in the real world.

Today (Saturday) I got high-beamed by a soccer mom in an SUV upset with me going 50 in a 60 with two lanes to the left of me that she could EASILY passed me with - i.e. she simply hated what I was doing.

Next part is speculation: It's Dallas and she is probably GOP - I drive a Insight (virtual Prius for all intents and purposes to her) so I'm a "socialist".

The public roads get only about half the funding from the taxes at the pump - the rest is subsidized directly by taxpayers....ethanol is losing money as they are begging to sell E15. Every year we borrow $600-700B from the Chinese to buy oil from countries that largely hate us, yet the typical Republican leans towards the guzzler and loathes the Prius.

I'm about as "socialist" as James Woolsey, who drives a PHEV Prius - yet there is something demonic about the Prius that makes me (and presumably Woolsey) damned socialists anyway in the common sense-deprived minds of Republicans today.


Guess my problem is I'm too logical and need to "think" a lot more narcissisticly and with a lot more BS....can anyone teach me how?

 

You know, I own a Honda Fit and when I first got it...I really felt I was getting tailgated a LOT more...I chucked up to the "small" hatchback.....

Someone suggested to me that perhaps it was that I simply was not use to the hatchback view...not having much of a bumper and little distance created between the rear glass and the open street....in a car with a trunk...or even a large SUV you will have more distance...

Well to be honest, maybe I've just adjusted...I might be tail gated more...but I'm not sure that a lot of my initial reaction was simply adjusting to the view with a hatchback...if you've never owned one before it just is different.

 

What gets me are the large tractor trailers that ride three feet from your tail. They don't just do it to priuses. I've seen them do it to anybody who isn't going as fast as they would like,regardless of traffic conditions or which lane you're in. It can be quite terrifying especially if you're sandwiched between two of them.

 

If someone is tailgating me, I tell myself they're drafting, then it doesn't bother me!

 

If I saw someone is tailgating me, I press the gas pedal till it reaches 80+ MPH to show him that Prius is not abnormal.
I probably wasted $0.5 but it is worth to educate them IMO.

 

I discovered this "Prius Hate" in the 1st month of my Prius ownership when I "had" to baby the gas paddle during the rough-in for the engine. Being tailgated was often and the least of my concern.

I was rear-ended once, although the damage was a pea-sized chip in the bumper; I was angrily stared at from the car driver beside me in front of the red light; Pebbles or coins were thrown at the glass of my Prius; I was challenged to red light racing by a Ford Mustang driver who zoom-zoomed his engine idling; I was angrily long-horned and swerved to the opposite traffic to cut me off with black smoke blown in my face from a beat-up Ford Free-Star. (what's wrong with Ford drivers?)

I've had enough. Now I drive exclusively in PWR mode winning 80=90% of red-light starts; I zoom to traffic speed (20% over speed limite) ASAP in the extreme right-end red zone of the Hybrid Synergy Display; then I set it to cruise control even if it's a short distance before the next red light; I look far far ahead for stoppage and glide a loooong distance before the traffic stop (still at reasonable speed since my normal speed is at the fast end of the traffic, a lot of times before my Prius slowed to a halt the light turned green and I zoomed pass everybody when there was a free lane making them eat my dust).

There might still be a lot of hatred towards my Prius (or not) but I don't know and I don't care, cause I can't see them from far away in my rear-view mirror. I'm still averaging 57mpg in the summer and 52 mpg in the winter cause I glide a lot. Gliding at 70 km/hr is much more fun than snail-crawling along at 50ish km/hr.

Overall I'm a happy Prius camper. I feel like I'm having the cake and eating it too. Why don't you give it a try, people? (disclamer: don't blame me if you get a speeding ticket, but I seldom see the cops giving out speeding tickets in busy traffic unless you're grossly over-speeding like doing 80-100 in a 60 zone. They mostly set up speeding traps on top of a hill or behind a curve of the road where you can't see them radaring you. They're there for the money, not for the traffic safty.)

 

Narcissism, that is a good word to describe bullying behavior like tailgating. My soon to be ex- inlaws all have large suv's, all are extremely narcissistic, and all tailgate and speed like mad. Tell them it is wrong, they will do it more forever. There is no educating them by display or logic, they are focused on themselves, not others. They also complain about gas prices and think the government should spend less but do more for them at the same time. They hate that I bought a Prius. It's gutless, the batteries go bad, it looks awful, it can't carry anything, it looks like a lawnmower, all I have heard.

 

I don't know if this is the place to post but I love the fact that most of the time these days when somone is behind me with lights on, their head lights are pefectly covered by the horizontal section that seperates the rear glass. Not Blinding me. Little things like this are soooo cool. I drive the speed limit in the right lane and smirk if/when they pass me. The satisfaction knowing I am getting at least 50 MPG's. Na Na

 

How about a netbook with an external webcam on a cord and velcro to secure it but removeable to show the passing driver...:rockon:

 

[QUOTE=bisco;1214927]:flame:the speed limit is the speed limit and the police should enforce it no matter what time of day it is. what would society be like if we disrespected all of our laws in this way?[/QUOTE]

Ah....... this place your referring to is called Tampa ,Florida.

 

Hmm.. your post says he stopped...in front of you? In the middle of the road he just stops?
To goad you into fighting or get out of your car? What happened to cause that?

 

In the US, that's a crime. You shouldve gotten their license plate and reported it to the police.

 

I never them tailgate me. I put it in power mode and zoom it goes. Why did I buy the Prius then???

 

Regardless of what you are driving there are just some folks that will always be in a hurry...when I drive the Explorer, the Suburban or prior to the Prius the BMW...I drive the speed limit to make sure that I can maximize my fuel efficiency. They can go around me and I try not to travel in the high speed lane to the left. I laugh when I pull up next to them at the stop light and realize that all of their tailgating and they are no further ahead of me than a few minutes ago. I see it all the time at the pumps...as I continue to hit seven to ten days in between my fill ups and maintain that 56 mpg.

 

I started a Thread on this a month or so back. I was so frustrated after about 14-15 months of driving my Prius and the frequent tailgating, being cut off, given the finger, sworn at.
I'm in the mental health field and they push my buttons though I know they shouldn't (I guess it’s the frequency). I think we're dealing with a real "me first" attitude as well as the unwillingness to accept the 21st Century realities.
As long as this remains a "political" issue I wouldn't be surprised if we won't see more and more of this. The police don't enforce tailgating laws; yes I know they're busy. I hope no one has to get killed to get the attention of the authorities, but I suspect that's happened already.

 

Turn the game around:

• use large vehicles as cover - by following large vehicles, the tailgaters will modify their behavior.
• use better routes - when possible, choose routes that avoid areas prone to tailgaters.
• drive 'rear view mirror aware' - evaluate traffic in front and rear and adjust. I'll often pull into the left lane and let the tailgaters pass me on the right . . . confident that I'll catch them at the next light or exit.

My only exception, perhaps unique to Alabama where there are no annual vehicle inspections, are smoking vehicles or those with obviously failed, emissions. Those vehicles stink and they can make it nauseous to follow. The option, burn some gas or breath bad air . . .

Bob Wilson