Had my Prius c for about a week now and think I ran into my first "I hate Prii" person. I've had a few other tailgates but this one was the worst one just because of how long it lasted. I was driving back home on a two lane road easily doing the speed limit when I had this Chevy Colbalt behind me about two car lengths which was fine. About one mile later he creeps to about half a car length behind me, so I figured he was going to pass. Nope stays close to me for about another mile with more than enough time to pass, so I give him a quick tail light flash, doesn't back off or pass. Four more miles pass and still no passing or backing off the half car length behind me. Half a mile later I see hes now ready to pass, since I was "happy" with this person I turned off Eco mode and punched it as he attempted to pass. He failed at his ability to out accelerate the Prius and went back to tailgating. Finally making it to the light where I was making a left turn (which just turned red) and "Colbalt" was going straight, I figured he was going to pull up next to me and say something, but to my surprise he stop at my rear bumper in the other lane. Once the light went green as I waited for the oncoming traffic to clear (a whopping 3 cars) the Cobalt creeps past me and gives an disgusted look and says something (unable to make out what it was) to me and I looked at him and laughed thinking your driving a Chevrolet Colbalt (sedan) IMO one of the ugliest cars made plus those cars weren't all that great (better than a Cavalier, but that's not saying much). Should I have let him pass, yeah but IMO he had more than enough opportunities to pass and no reason to tailgate. Tell what you think, open to opinions good or bad or if others have experience something like this too.
Are you sure he was a hater and not just a bad driver? Your attempt to race him when he went to pass likely escalated things which is why he didn't want to pull up next to you at the light. I've been in plenty of road rage fights and sometimes I wonder if it was my actions that caused things to escalate due my misinterpreting the actions of the other driver.
I'm probably going to jinx it now, but I've yet to have anyone particularly obnoxious tail me or try any other shenanigans. That said, I find I drive the c more to please my own mindset rather than make a statement to anyone else, and for me that also includes not really needing to match wits or bravado with any jerks out there who'd want to provoke me. In general I'm content to play right along with anyone who pokes fun at my relatively low powered vehicle, and quietly enjoy that I still get a fun car that's cheap to drive.
I see this as a chance to kill two birds with one stone. If the person behind me is being a douche in one way or another (and the scenario described here would easily qualify), then I see this as a guilt-free pass to full Pulse & Glide driving until they go away. On a 70 km/h road I will pulse to 70, glide to 50 and repeat. I get great mileage until they go away. Not my problem at all. The one and only time I've ever wanted to deliberately take-off and block another driver unfortunately I was turning... in that case it was a young guy on P plates (don't know if you guys have such a thing - here Learner drivers display L plates and when they pass their driving test they go onto a Provisional P1 licence and display red P plates for 12 months before passing a computer-based test to get onto P2, where they display greeen P plates for another 24 months before a final computer-based test to get onto a full licence. There are various restrictions that go with the levels - especially for younger drivers) - once he'd realised I was a Prius there was all kinds of silly carry-on happening on a standard suburban street - one driving lane each way and parked cars either side. We came to a light and he pulled up next to me with the obvious intention of taking off on the green to get across the intersection before me and swerve in front before the next parked car. It was at that point that I realised half of this whole act was him clearly trying to puff his chest for the benefit of the girl with him in the car. It was soooooooo tempting to lurch across the intersection and give him an experience he would never live down, because I knew the c was easily capable of holding its own across to the other side (even without the element of surprise), but I just couldn't be bothered going out of my way for it.
It's less likely it's the car, and more likely you simply came upon another jack-wad driver. If you had a Cobalt [non SS] you'd me miserable and hate the world too. That said, provoking the person by drag racing him is a textbook d-bag move and typical Michigan bad attitude/entitlement. Next time please take the high road and be the better person.
Yeah, no points for you, sorry. You came across just as bad in that story, if not worse, than the other drive. I would have just moved myself over to the left lane once it became clear he wasn't going to pass on his own.
That's where your status took a nose dive, unfortunately. You got caught up in his game. AFAIK, it's actually illegal to do that. You're endangering him, yourself, anyone oncoming. Slowing down when he attempts to pass will get everything back to normal much quicker.
Thanks for everyone's comments and stories. Yeah I've in just the past week that I got the car I have notice I've been improving my driving and not as much being the "a hole" on the road. That is another reason why I like this car and the fact it doesn't have to be fast to enjoy driving it. On a side note I think the Prius c handles better than my 88 Trans Am with the WS6 package . Tho the TA currently doesn't have the correct tires on it (215 65 16 instead of the 245 50 16), but will have to check that out in the spring when it comes out of storage.
I have only been a Prius driver for 6 months and I definitely see and feel the difference from when I drove my big truck. Where I live, entitled d-bag drivers are dime a dozen. I just ignore and save myself the stress. Unfortunately, what I have also been experiencing is other Prius drivers who spot me, feel compelled to speed up and pass me, or try and race off the red light; kind of a bummer. At first I thought it's a coincidence or maybe it's my driving. But I always drive the speed limit and resist reacting to bad drivers. I dont get it, maybe it's just where I live. Overall, I love the Prius people I have met; great community. Anyway back to the topic at hand, I have to agree with the others. As hard as it may be some times, we have to avoid road rage. Either way, thanks for sharing your experience. It serves as a good reminder to be conscious of our own actions and get home safely.
My 2005 Prius and my 2012 Prius with lowering springs and 17s handled better than my 2000 Trans Am with lowering springs and WS6 17s. lol
I did that for a while when I had my 08 and the 11 but have chilled out now since everyone where I live drives a lifted truck or some type of luxury car and feels entitled to the road. Had a guy in an M5 try to pass me on a merge and ended up hitting the curb with his right front tire then tailgating my the whole way home. I didnt speed up or slow down to block him, he just came up from 20 lengths back to pass the slow Prius before a 25mph zone. SMH. There will always be haters and bad drivers but dont feed them. And FYI, Slobalt SS drivers think they drive race cars down here until they get spanked. Your turbo and FWD layout will not beat a mildly built Evo or WRX...
With the prius C the first week I had it I was getting tailgated and passed for no reason only to have the person slow down to a regular speed in front of me, big d-bag trucks flooring it as they pass to sound like the jack@$$ that they are, people blowing smoke etc. etc. - same crap I dealt with in the liftback. Then I removed the PriusC badge from the back and literally within a day this all stopped. People did not know it was a prius, so all of their stupid political and ideological ideals did not apply. Remove the Prius badge, save the stress, seriously others have noted this as well. Its just a car.
Since I have recently become a driving instructor and knowing that I need to set an example for all of my students and also knowing that any driving infraction in my personal car or a work car could result in me loosing my job, I now take driving with the mindset of "what do I need to do to get to my destination alive?". Knowing that road rage could result in either me or the other person crashing or the other person pulling a gun on me, I have realized that getting out of the persons way is soooo much easier than standing my ground (even if I know that I am doing the correct thing). For example, I live on a street that has a speed limit of 30MPH (which no one else wants to do), when someone is tailgating me, I will just pull over into the two-way turn bay and let them go past even though I know I was doing nothing wrong. To everyone, please keep in mind that it just isn't worth it to try and prove to someone you don't even know that you are right and they are wrong. Just pull over and let them go by.
I sometimes find that difficult - I went for a drive on Wednesday (also a holiday here), heading out on the freeway and coming back via the old highways and historic towns. The towns are now all 50 km/h zones (31 mph) and none of the locals or pretty much anyone can handle it, even with double demerit points in place for the holiday season. Every town I'd get tailgated as I slowed on entry, so I'd pull over into the empty parking lane. EVERY time the following driver would then freak out and hover blocking me alongside my rear wheels. I'd have to brake hard to lose them, then off they would roar as I pulled in behind them. It gets tiresome.
I have owned a 2003 and 2010 Prius and most recently a 2012 Prius C4. These cars are great for mileage, but they would not out handle anything.
