Okay, I confess. While I've been a good, law-abiding citizen all my life (well, mostly anyway), since I've been driving my Prius, I find myself straying a bit from the straight and narrow. It generally happens when I'm stealthing along the coast at night time at a nice legal speed of about 20-25 mph, nobody around and (argh!), there's that stupid stop sign ahead (and there are several of them a few blocks apart). I slow down, look around and wheee!...go right through the stop sign. :twisted: I've *never* run stop signs before! In fact, I've never even done rolling stops at stop signs before. Also (if that wasn't enough), in California you are obliged to come to a schreeching halt as soon as someone steps off of the curb to cross the street. I have always obliged, even when I've thought the person could easily have waited for me to pass before they started their cross. NOW, if the person is able bodied, and the curb is far enough away and I'm stealthing, I just let *them* wait for me, instead of the other way around! Aaack...what's next? (Aside from a ticket) Another thing--not illegal, but paradoxical-- I sometimes find myself driving past my destination (engine just warming up) and back again just to increase my mpg. What's with that? Am I alone in this aberant/abhorent behavior? Say it isn't so.
Confusion? Yes, your mpg is higher for the trip, but since you went farther than you needed to, you used more gas to get there. I sure hope so!
I'm thinking perhaps residential picketing, bid-rigging, and/or possibly some sort of building code violation. Seriously, though, you're not alone. This car has changed my driving habits pretty much for good. Although I don't coast through stop signs, I "lust in my heart" to do so and have developed an intense hatred of those stepping off curbs while looking nowhere other than directly in front of them.
Code: Another thing--not illegal, but paradoxical-- I sometimes find myself driving past my destination (engine just warming up) and back again just to increase my mpg. What's with that? Am I alone in this aberant/abhorent behavior? Say it isn't so.[php] Well, you're not alone in the feeling, that's for sure. I have often felt tempted to take a frivolous drive along slower-speed road just to improve my stats. I have managed to resist the temptation so far, but it's hard!
I think this particular behaviour might be a bit obsessive, and certainly downright odd... On the other hand, even though I don't actually OWN a Prius yet, I find that my research into both the Prius, and the mechanics of getting better mileage in general, have definitely altered my driving habits...
I don't get it! Why do you suddenly want to cut off pedestrians now that you have a Prius? You really don't lose much by stopping, because you now have regenerative braking. I just slam on the brakes and watch the green regeneration leaves pile up.
As much as I like watching the piling of green leaves... ...it is still less efficient to give up kinetic energy, change it to potential (battery) energy, and then convert it back again during acceleration. Or at least that's what I told the poor old woman with a cane after running her over. ~Andrew
