Anti-Prius Motorists

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusH8R @ Mar 2 2007, 12:54 PM) [snapback]399220[/snapback]</div>

So that we can get earlier to the next red light?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(quagmire0 @ Feb 28 2007, 11:20 AM) [snapback]397838[/snapback]</div>

OK, guys, please let me say this. And I do so as I become a Prius driver myself in a couple of weeks.

STOP PLAYING THE DASHBOARD VIDEO GAME AND START DRIVING AND PAYING ATTENTION TO TRAFFIC AROUND YOU. YOU DON'T EXIST IN A VACUUM.

Seriously. Play the dashboard video game on your own time, with no traffic around. Don't impede traffic just because you're trying to get the arrows to all go green at any cost.

It's even worse if you're playing the game in rush-hour traffic. I have places to go, and would very much like to go the speed limit and drive smartly in order to catch that light up there green. Yeah, that's right--the world is a much healthier and greener place if that line of people weren't stuck behind you and your dashboard video game, and could instead get to and through the next light.

It's the dashboard-video-game-playing drivers that get the attitude aimed at them. I guarantee it. Prius drivers who accept the fact that they are IN TRAFFIC and behave accordingly do not get that attitude from the other drivers.

My promise to the driving world: I will turn off the dashboard video game, and not pay one whit of attention to it. The car is smart enough to handle things all by itself to a very large degree. I don't need to impede traffic, and cause others to idle and not get where they're going, just to eke that last half percent of whatever out of the system.

My eking out that last half percent is actually causing bigger problems outside my car. What's that they say--think globally, act locally? Well, act locally and cause global improvement. Don't force the other guys to idle around longer just so you can see the video game play out.

 

It bears mentioning that truly efficient driving involves a great deal of concentration on what's going on **outside** the car. Simply making the arrows go one direction doesn't do it. It's about minimizing your energy losses, and that can be done without distrupting traffic. I'll give some examples:

Loss #1: Braking. Even regenerative braking involves energy losses. In other words, if you could brake regeneratively from 30mph to zero you don't put enough energy in the battery to get you back up to 30mph. Clearly, you have to live with that. But you can minimize braking by paying attention to what's in front of you and just taking your foot off of the accelerator early. The safety benefit: people following you can deal with a slow deceleration a whole lot better than a rapid stop. This reduces your odds of being rear-ended.

Loss #2: Excessive speed. This is where things get touchy. How fast is too fast? How slow is too slow? Generally speaking your fuel economy will decrease as aerodynamic drag increasis, which goes up sharply with a rise in speed. But also keep in mind that some fuel will be wasted every time people have to hit the brakes to change lanes around you (see #1). If that happens all the time then odds are your fuel economy increase is far ought-weighed by the little bits of wasted energy incurred by the other vehicles. My personal rule of thumb, take it or leave it, is to keep up with the slowest lane of traffic. You get your fuel economy benefit while fitting in with the established traffic pattern. The safety benefits of this strategy are obvious: a smooth traffic flow is ALWAYS preferable to a "lumpy" one caused by a patch of slow movers.

Loss #3: Inefficient acceleration. Note that I didn't simply say "aggressive acceleration." There are two sides to this. The obvious loss occurs when you floor the accelerator and let the engine wind out toward red line. The valve profile changes at higher RPM, reducing the efficiency with which you generate power. But ultra-slow acceleration doesn't do you any good, either. I often hear about people trying to accelerate under electric power only for as long as possible, running the pack down close to the bottom. But this doesn't make sense, either. The Prius recharges the pack through regerative braking and through its process of diverting some power to the battery in order to help the engine stay at an efficient load level. But there are limits to that power. If you take that energy out faster than it is replenished, the engine will have to burn extra fuel specifically to keep the battery charged. That's a lossy path to take. Ideally, you want to let the engine do most of the work (above the 10mph at which the engine normally starts up) without sounding like it's straining. Again, you get your fuel economy but the "Prius haters" behind you don't have to wait ten minutes to get to a reasonable cruising speed.

Long story short, it doesn't have to be efficiency or satisfying safety and courtesy concerns. Those goals can be completely compatible.

 

It appears this thread has turned into newbies putting Prius and other hybrid drivers on trial. They are smart enough to understand I let others easily pass and don't let the dash distract me. Others have said the same. If they continue with this, it's obvious what their game is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adam1991 @ Mar 4 2007, 04:56 PM) [snapback]400037[/snapback]</div>

I wish I could tell what the hell you were talking about.

 

Brick, that's a great post - very interesting. I think it's a very thoughtful response to Adam1991's equally interesting point regarding the net negative effect that an obsessive-compulsive Prius driver can create by disrupting traffic patterns around him. Food for thought, for sure.

I think I agree with Brick: mileage-optimising driving actually consists of sticking to the Golden Mean - neither accelerating too slow nor too fast, not braking too much or too little, etc. And this is exactly the type of driving that is least likely to disrupt the other drivers around him.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brick @ Mar 4 2007, 05:20 PM) [snapback]400063[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Display Name @ Mar 4 2007, 11:12 PM) [snapback]400139[/snapback]</div>

http://hybridcars.com/gas-saving-tips/maxi...yota-prius.html

That's just too fanatic--but too many people apparently are too busy watching the display and playing the game to bother to know what's going on in traffic around them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adam1991 @ Mar 4 2007, 11:56 PM) [snapback]400037[/snapback]</div>

I think most drivers (of all makes) must have a dashboard video game. This must be a console because there seems to be lots of different titles. I believe Electronic Arts brought out the "Ignore Traffic Signs" game while Atari's "Lets not be ready to move when the lights change" seems very popular.

 

Tailgating experiences

had the car less than a month.

1) woman in SUV with child in childseat, drinking coffee, on cellphone (illegal in NY) tailgaiting me in a school zone (true story!)

2) minding my own business at 55 on a state highway, nobody in front or behind me in sight, prius pulls out in front of my prius - I have to drop down to 30mph to avoid hitting them - then drive for miles behind them at 45 - 10 under the speed limit.

It's the passive-aggressive jerks like this second person who give us a bad name !

 

When I'm driving my Prius, I'm at the speed limit, or above. Usually I'm 5 over the limit.

Stereotyping all Prius drivers as driving too slow is wrong factually and morally. It's simply not true.

Now if you really want to get me to agree, complain about the woman in the fast lane poking along in her SUV, 10 mph under prevailing speeds, entranced in a conversation with her girlfriend, cell phone stuck in her ear, completely oblivious to everything outside her car. Why can't she drive in the right lane, where she belongs? Why does she stubbornly insist on driving in the left lane, where she has no business being?

Bashing some erroneous stereotype of Prius drivers is simply wrong.

Harry

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adam1991 @ Mar 5 2007, 04:53 AM) [snapback]400231[/snapback]</div>

Wow, well that IS fanatic if people are paying more attention to the display than the road. I certainly don't, and haven't seen it myself. On the other hand, I have seen dozens of examples of people expanding their social circles on the phone while driving their cars at the expense of their attention to the road. If humans can't talk and drive at the same time, we surely cannot futz with dash controls and drive at the same time. Lack of attention to the road is definitely not limited to prius drivers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Display Name @ Mar 3 2007, 09:03 PM) [snapback]399742[/snapback]</div>

Reckless... there you go. oops. thanks for the correction. If you are in my rearview I promise to get out of your way. Thanks for driving like everyone else. and that is one of my points, like you said you are already getting great gas mileage so don't be afraid to go with the flow of traffic or greater than. Thanks again for understanding. You are right too about the SUV's or whoever is in the fast lane driving slow. As far as I know it is also illegal to drive in the fast lane at the same speed as the car next to you in the slow lane. I hate that. One other thing I hate is people who stop in the middle of the frickin road when they hear a siren. You are supposed to pull to the right people. If everyone just stopped where they were, then it will create gridlock and how is the emergency vehicle gonna go anywhere. Pull to the right. right? Why do people do this? Sorry that had nothing to do with you or this thread but had to get it out. Thanks again. Take care!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Balt @ Mar 3 2007, 01:45 AM) [snapback]399444[/snapback]</div>

Good stuff bro! Keep up the good work!

Take care!

 

I got flipped off and cut-off on a Sunday morning. I was on the far right lane trying to maximize my MPGs and this lady in a BMW got upset. I was going 60-65 mph.

I just don't understand the people out here in SOCAL. Many people are always in a hurry out here. Too much road rage! I've read reports where people get shot on the freeway. Crazy!

 

I have the solution. Everyone should agree that speeding causes accidents but, in the big cities anyway, almost everyone speeds. The technology is there to catch speeders -- by camera if nothing else -- so lets fine every speeder $25 a pop -- that way it doesn't discourage the habituals and they can keep paying. The extra money could go to wind or solar power (if you get fined 30 times or so you get your name on a wind turbine). I drive to Omaha and Kansas City quite often, doing the speed limit of 75 or 70, but when I hit the city the limit goes to 60 and cars start steaming around me. The thinking must be it's safer to go fast in heavy traffic because the police can't pull them over.
Anyway after a few months of getting caught everytime one ventures over the speed limit, drivers would either slow down a bit or we could fund a bunch of wind power.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrbogie @ Mar 12 2007, 03:36 PM) [snapback]404365[/snapback]</div>

I'm fine with this idea.

 

The first day I had my Prius, I found myself in the back of a line of cars traveling at ten miles an hour below the posted speed limit. And at the very front was a Prius. Who finally pulled to the side after 10 miles of holding up traffic - twenty cars were ahead of me, and even more behind. And I find this pretty common up here in the wine country of Northern California.

Maybe that's why some Prius drivers feel eyes on the back of their necks. There are many ways of conserving energy, regenerating, and cutting back on gas usage.

My wife, however, does generate some interesting macho responses in her HCH...as she will blast past muscle cars, and then get "chased" until they can pass her and restore their self-image.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrbogie @ Mar 12 2007, 02:36 PM) [snapback]404365[/snapback]</div>

Actually, most of the studies for accidents related to speed show that it is not the speed involved, but the relative differential in velocity - accidents occur when there is a difference between on (or more) vehicles and the majority of vehicles traveling in that same area - Someone traveling fast and weaving thru traffic, or someone moving slow in comparison to the surrounding traffic.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bitmage @ Mar 4 2007, 02:42 PM) [snapback]399995[/snapback]</div>

Hey, I am truely sorry that happened to you. Teenagers will be teenagers. They were obviously looking for someone to harass. They are just little punks, not even respecting the fact that there is a lady in the car is wrong too. Someone needs to kick those lil bastards asses real good. As I stated before, despite my screen name I do not hate the car itself. I hate the way some people drive them. Sorry about my rusty grammar, as I am a victim of modern technology (spell check) also been hit in the head too many times. I do not take the time to do a spell check or check my grammar. So please excuse my poor grammar, run on sentences and all. I registered here and took part in this toppic because it applies to me as we share the same road. I selected the "other non-hybrid" option during registration because I do not have a hybrid. This is the only thread on priuschat I have participated in. So if I do not belong here tell the moderators to kick me and I will not come back. This topic applies to anyone on the road. Sorry I came into your little sheltered bubble here to give my opinion. I am not wasting my time, or maybe I am, maybe you are too. Like I said before I am sorry that I registered a hateful name and for being insulting initially. I am only human. I came here to vent on the subject. I don't care what the car looks like. There are much uglier cars on the road. I came here to let prius drivers know one of the reasons people get pissed at them, because you guys are so far off. Some think it is the way the car looks, some think because you get good gas mileage, some think because you get to use the HOV lane, some think because others are jealous, etc. I do not like the way some people drive prius's. That is all I stated, over and over. While you guys are over here guessing why people harass you. I am trying to tell you. Probably because they have had a bad experience with one of your fellow prius owners. Or maybe they are jealous or whatever. I can not speak for everyone else on the road. so here it is again in case you still do not understand, I DO NOT LIKE THE WAY SOME PEOPLE DRIVE HYBRIDS. That is why I am here. I came to tell you why. Funny thing is that I have not had a negative prius experience since I've participated here. Is everyone reading this or suntin? I use to have at least 1 a day. Well I am sorry for any initial insults on this BB because I came in angry looking to vent. Why? safer here than on the road and I do not want to go to jail for getting into a road rage incident as I am considered a deadly weapon due to my martial arts training. Seriously though I am not trying to sound tough it is a fact. I also avoid road rage also because people carry guns too. I doubt anyone in a prius drives around with one but you never know. If anyone ever challenges me to a fight, these days I will only fight if they come into the dojo and sign a release. Well have fun correcting my spelling professor prius. Sorry again about those teenagers, I do not condone any prius bashing on the road. take care!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Mar 4 2007, 03:01 PM) [snapback]400002[/snapback]</div>

Thank you cwerdna. I will stay out of Seattle. Maybe that is contributing to Seattle's high suicide rate. It is true though there does seem to be different driving habits or styles in different areas. Take care.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Mar 4 2007, 03:13 PM) [snapback]400008[/snapback]</div>

Well there are many crappy drivers on the road and they are not all in hybrids. Sorry about the generalization.

Sorry to single out the Prius. You can almost blame it on Toyota's outstanding marketing. Just like a Q-tip is actually a cotton swab but everone will call it a Q-tip. The Prius is branded and marketed so well I singled it out as the only hybrid initially. Please strike all previous references to Prius and Replace it with hybrids. I see your point though as I have made a prime example of such.

Well here is one for you on that note. Once I was behind this Lexus SUV the lite was red and we were both gonna turn right. The Lexus in front of me is sitting in the middle of the crosswalk with the right blinker on and there were several opportunities to make a safe right turn. I am thinking Wth is wrong with this person and I looked closer and it was a hybrid. I thought to myself "oh, its a hybrid".

Take care!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusH8R @ Mar 12 2007, 05:06 PM) [snapback]404384[/snapback]</div>

Based upon what you've written (and how), it appears to me that the three best years of your life were the fifth grade.

So you don't like the way some Prii are driven? Who cares? I'm sure the same is true about any vehicle.