This is clearly a case of Prius Envy, closely related to Penis Envy, evidenced by the huge Escalade that is obviously overcompentating for inadequacies elsewhere... These people are jealous of the fuel savings we are enjoying, but are too concerned about status within their very limited social circles. Because of their ignorance and simple mindedness they lash out with obscenties and aggressive behavior because they are at a total loss as to what a civilized individual would do... Like grow a set, ditch the gas guzzler, and rejoin the human race!
Well, it was a bit of sarcasm, bit in reality. I just keep doing what I'm doing and let them make the next move. It's kinda fun to watch them choose among the various tools of frustration i.e flipping the bird, flashing lights, weaving back and forth, passsing in the inside lane. I know full well that they will not under any circustances do anything to so much as scratch their prized little posession. Now when they do come by, it's really fun to slide down in the seat, purse my lips, put my hat if I am wearing one over my ears and look as senile and as mentally deviant as I possibly can making sure I can just barely see over the steering wheel with my chin resting between my two thumbs on top of the steering wheel. That gets'em the heck out of there in a hurry
I'm now thinking that any purported hatred has nothing to do so much with a Prius as it has to do with the smaller, economical cars. Just the other day in Los Angeles, a woman got her back window shot out. She was driving a Smart car. Mike
I was on 146 south( for those in mass) heading towards millbury and it was about 12 midnight and this white escalade comes flying up behind me and tailgates...there is not a single car in sight but the two of us. He flashes his lights and is literally a foot from the bumper. I keep cool and stay my course. Mind you im going 65 in a 50. He then proceeds to fly around me get in front of me and slow down to 40ish mph then punch the gas and repeats. However, this time he decides to throw a beer can(i swerved and missed) and a gatorade bottle(didnt miss but no damage). I was furious!!!! I however, let it go and didnt retaliate. Stupid freaking people.
We need a name for this kind of sub-human troglodyte. I propose, a Dyson because their handheld sucks 5 times as much as a regular vac. Oh yeah, here's a little one, for their "handheld:"
A similar thing happened to me actually, but in a Mini. I was driving around and some 16 year old moron with several of his friends were in a Tahoe was tailing me and he was flicking his brights on and off at me. I tried to ignore it but it's difficult when there's high beams going on and off in your rear view mirror. I looked back and they were all laughing like idiots. What I did to lose them was to slow down to a snail's pace a few feet before a light, waited for it to turn yellow and then sped up and left them stuck with a red. They honked at me and I laughed.
Thats a good trick to get em off your nice person. O I forgot to mention. The 3rd week I moved here to Mass. A guy at a gas station called me a Pu$$y for driving a prius. Meanwhile he is driving a mid 80s looking F150 pick up with rust all over it. I mean seriously? People catch me at the worse times with this stuff. I just happened to be late for a meeting and couldnt focus on this fool.
well for what its worth, dealing with yahoo's is tough but i found that having the event camera on board is some satisfaction. keep your head, make sure you get it all on the camera and call the police, explain and hand him the sd card with the fools actions. that will make me laugh and helps dilute the anger. and who knows, you may save someones life down the road.
I used to take this stuff way to serious. In South Carolina people are not that bad really, just as long as you stay out of the way. I have even pulled into a drive way to let people pass me. Now I do work in North Carolina a lot and is is interesting how much more aggressive people are up there. I used to let road rage get the best of me, but these days it's safer to be passive and show no aggressive moves on the highway. About 3 months a go I was driving home from Charlotte. I was driving my Honda CRV (previous car) in the center lane at about 80MPH. This idiot come up from behind and gets right on my nice person. So I started to slow down thinking he would just go around. Well he did. He flies around me and almost hits the front of my car because he cut in front of me way to soon. Then he slams on his breaks. Now we are going about 70MPH during rush hour, cars on both sides of me. I looks in the rear view mirror and cars are swerving in every direction trying to avoid crashing into each other. Needless to say I was very pissed and ended up acting just as stupid as him. I got home from work that day and decided that it's just not worth it and that I was very lucky to be alive. So yeah, I now show no reaction at all to stupid drivers and try to not get in anyones way. Especially now that I'm driving a Prius I have to admit I didn't really care about wrecking the CRV, but my Prius is a work of art.
Too often, the next 'lane' to the right has only a couple feet of pavement width and is filled with obstacles such as road markers posts, guardrails, and culvert dropoffs.
The closer someone tailgates me, the more I increase my safety buffer distance in front; so I have room/time to brake when necessary without the idiot behind me slamming into me. I also increase my visibility with red reflector tape. One long strip along the leading edge of the spoiler, which also protects a little from bumps on a garage door. And a couple strips on the back corners. To top it off, I have a scrolling LED license plate frame from Pep Boys: "SLOW DOWN... Save gas... SAFETY FIRST... Don't Tailgate..." If all else fails, I put on my emergency flashers, run my windshield washers to spray on him, and slow down gradually until he passes. (Try not to acknowledge juvenile gestures.)
+1 This seems like overkill. Also, I don't think I am understanding you correctly. Do you mean you attempt to create more space between you and the tailgater? In this case usually they just speed up and get closer...
No, he means that he creates more open space in front of his own car. This larger buffer allows for slower changes in speed, meaning less chance that the tailgater will be surprised and run into him. Tom
well Mendel an event camera is a neat devise. I found one after i was almost run off the road and talking to the police did no good since its his word against mine. So instead of getting mad and stupid, I got techy. I researched those cameras on google and found out there are a few out there. Now I have one installed for $299 and if it happens again, while i might still get pissed, now i can direct all my anger to providing the police with video evidence, which by the way includes time stamp, mph and gps location. So now when they pull him over or visit him at home, they will have my signed statement and video evidence. Per my friends in the police dept, thats the best way to handle the situation and I will not feel helpless. here are a few links, I am sure others will find more but this is a good start. This first one is the one i bought, it works great. Advanced Car Camera | Vehicle Black Box Car Camera | GPS Data Logger | G-Force Sensor they have another one on that site but not as good. This next one is pretty good and for those with a Costco membersship can save another $50. BLACK BOX CAMERA SYSTEM | RVS-300 | REARVIEWSAFETY.COM Car Black Box Camera | Record Angry COP In Action | Car Video Recorder this last one is really cool, check out the videos it has on its website. GoPro Official Store: Wearable Digital Cameras for Sports enjoy and pm me with any questions. I can tell ya what i have learned so far. be ready and be safe
That's exactly what I figured, I never move faster when I am being tailgated. Just being retarded I guess.
Hi All, The location of the emergency flasher button is about the only positive of the new center console design. Its easy to just stab at it and hit it, after getting a reference by the shifter. About 2/3's of the tailgaiters I get suddenly brake when I turn on the hazard flashers. I gotta think, they think they are doing something wrong, and if they get in an accident at that point, they would be negligant, how quick their reaction is. The hazards do a good job of lighting up their license plates, too....
Personally, I think the insurance companies should give a discount to all those have a good dash-cam and DVR installed... Great for evidence when the moron does something dumb...