I have a friend who drives like this. She has never "coasted" to stop in her life. I am always amazed that she has never rear ended anyone. My friends are likewise relaxed in my car and I believe that the driving habit changes help with that. I hit 80's much less frequently since getting the Cranberry, it's just too difficult with that MFD in front of you.....
The woman I mentioned above gave me her reason for the way she stopped. She's paid for the anti-lock brakes, and she's sure as hell going to use them. Good lord.
I have a 45 mile drive each way through LA traffic. I used to drive my Subaru Impreza every day, and got 25-27 mpg, driving as fast as I could get away with, some days, not much! I hated the drive and the job is not that exciting either. Now, with the Prius, the drive is the best part of my day..seriously. I still find myself seeing the occasional 80 on the speedo, but its more fun running up big mpg numbers. I always thought driving should be an enjoyable sport, but now I have a different method of keeping score. I do think I will get a ticket in the Prius sooner than I would get in the Impreza (never, so far), because it is so quiet and smooth, and deceptivly quick. In the Subaru, you feel every mph, and it is kind of self-regulating. Also I'm used to shifting my own gears. I thought I would miss that...not so far. I miss the awd on slippery days, but the TC isn't too bad, considering the EV torque it has to manage. The brakes feel better in the Prius than the Impreza. I tell people that the Prius is "fun" to drive, and they think I'm nuts. My friend with two A4 Audis says the Prius is ugly. I tell him it gets more beautiful each time I put gas in it. B)
I would have to say that the prius has absolutley changed the way I drive! I used to be a leadfoot I got 3 tickets in 10 days before but after I got my Prius I finally saw the price you pay (not only in tickets) for speeding. And I started to be a much safer driver and now my wife fusses at me for driving too slow.
Ah! This cracks me up! I use to use *almost* the same line for a different vehicle that folks typically found ugly at first. And I admit I was one of them. It sure grew on me though. My answer: "It gets more beautiful each time I don't put gas in it!" The EV1: http://www.darelldd.com/ev/ev1.htm RIP.
I used to drive on the left lane all the time and never left home without a radar detector. Now, I drive on the right lane all the time and forgot where I'd put my radar
Trust me, Radar detectors don't work anyway, but that's another thread. <_< I know I've changed my driving behavior a lot. At first I could really see it when first got my Prius and had to switch between it and my patrol car. Now, I drive my patrol car much more like I drive my Prius which works pretty well most of the time (exceptfor pursuit driving. )