Anti-Prius Motorists

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Mar 4 2007, 04:05 PM) [snapback]400025[/snapback]</div>

Just would love to see some faster hybrid drivers is what I meant. But if I take off at a light, It is not because I want to see you at the next one. Most of our lights are in sync here in Los Angeles so chances are if you are not driving below the speed limit in front of me in the fast lane I can make the next light and miss the rest of the red lights that you will be sitting at with a bunch of other pissed off people behind you.

Well it is nice to see that some people are making an effort to drive hybrids faster. Example below.

http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_2664/article.html

Even though it makes no sense I give an A+ for effort and for making an attempt to improve the hybrid.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brick @ Mar 4 2007, 06:20 PM) [snapback]400063[/snapback]</div>

Hey Brick, I appreciate your effort but this is the whole problem. Hybrid owners should just drive like everyone else and not be so concious of fuel consumption, battery pack etc. Just drive like everyone else. This is the issue right here that you outlined above, not what the car looks like, the mpg, etc. It is the way hybrid drivers drive for maximum fuel economy. I do not agree with your solution 100% but I applaud you for recognizing the real problem.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(steve in Arizona @ Mar 1 2007, 11:34 PM) [snapback]398857[/snapback]</div>

Thalnks Steve,but what do you do if you have to make a left turn a few blocks ahead?





<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(opus17 @ Mar 2 2007, 04:04 AM) [snapback]398960[/snapback]</div>

Right on Rockafella, you're a good guy/

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusH8R @ Mar 12 2007, 04:34 PM) [snapback]404444[/snapback]</div>

And that is why I have stopped driving with my dash screen on TRIP INFO. It is too distracting and takes me away from driving NORMALLY as I get tempted with checking my mpg. It's a car, just drive it and be done with it.

 

So with this whole argument, I bring in my opinion that those who drive white cars are all terrible drivers because everytime I've been in a near accident [such as this morning, in fact] it's from a white car [van, really] cutting me off or failing to check their blind spot before changing lanes. Yeah, probably not going to fly.

All cars have drivers that are irritating. I'd actually say that this forum represents a minority of Prius owners--the ones [like my parents or most older people] wouldn't bother to discover, much less try, any tricks to increase gas mileage. Not that everyone here is an obnoxious Prius driver [which I've never encountered, by the way], but we're the ones discussing the tricks and the most efficent driving techniques.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Mar 12 2007, 03:08 PM) [snapback]404419[/snapback]</div>

I appologized to the guy for a road rage incident that did not even involve me. Why do you choose to insult me? Am I the face of everyone who has flipped you off or suntin? Does my bad grammar have anything to do with the thread subject? Some people here choose to insult me rather than debate the issue at hand because they are unable to find an argument to the fact that some (some is actually an understatement its actually more like most) hybrid drivers are overly concious of fuel consumption to the point that it is unsafe and they annoy other drivers. There is definately a pattern of unsafe driving by hybrid drivers and I think that this thread is proof of such.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eucalyptic @ Mar 12 2007, 03:50 PM) [snapback]404456[/snapback]</div>

Thanks eucalyptic! I appreciate that you do not pay attention to the trip info and for making the point here on the BB. Thanks for the reply. Take care!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rainydysandmondys @ Mar 12 2007, 04:06 PM) [snapback]404465[/snapback]</div>

You just don't get it. It is the way most hybrid drivers drive for maximum fuel economy that is the problem.

However in support of your argument: Most white vans are work vans and do not have side windows and a larger blind spot. It is possible that is why. Also alot of company cars are white and maybe people are more careless in them for that reason, who knows. Event though you were more than likely trying to be a smart nice person, it is actually possible. But like I said this is about people driving hybrids unsafely for maximum fuel economy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusH8R @ Mar 12 2007, 03:20 PM) [snapback]404431[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I am quite familiar with traffic light synchronization. The traffic engineers usually set them for traffic moving at 30 mph. On my regular route to work and back home, I generally make just about every green light, and greatly improve my mpg in the process, while the jackrabbits wait for me to catch up with them while stopped at a red light that is about to change to green as I approach.

 

I don't understand this at all. Like I said, I've never noticed poor driving by a hybrid owner [and I'm not biased--I just got mine Thursday].

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Mar 4 2007, 08:30 PM) [snapback]400065[/snapback]</div>

Reminder

It's more obvious now.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zqfmbg @ Mar 1 2007, 09:14 PM) [snapback]398815[/snapback]</div>

We each think we are individual and independent people. But when you watch a fast-motion movie of a highway it is obvious that we're like corpuscles traveling in a vein. Not individuals at all. That's what makes it work, we all follow the same rules. I don't mean the rules written by the politicians who got the most votes, I mean laws like conservation of energy and force of gravity and coefficient of friction. And of course human response time.

That "tenth of a second" IS important if it makes the difference between the other driver having to brake (turning kinetic energy into brake heat, then burning extra gasoline to regain his speed). We need to remember that saving fuel means saving it for the other guy as well.

Changing lanes takes very ittle time and almost no fuel. If it helps someone, then do it. And when a driver shows you the same courtesy, smile and wave. Particularly at the truckers.

Regarding the many comments that refer to speed limit, I suggest that the legal limit has nothing to do with it. If one car is going 20 and the other is going 25 (in fog, for instance) then the 20 guy is the slower car and belongs in the right lane. Likewise if the two cars are doing 85 and 90, the slow car belongs in the right lane. In general, if you aren't passing anyone, get out of the passing lane.

And if you differ with me, I suggest you consider why the steering wheel is on the left side of US cars, while the brits are opposite. There's a reason, folks.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusH8R @ Mar 12 2007, 07:34 PM) [snapback]404444[/snapback]</div>

We're engaging in rational conversation, which is good. I, too, am glad that we are able to get that far.

To continue, I think that there is one fundamental flaw with this debate, and that is the form of the "solution." Your statement is "Hybrid owners should just drive like everyone else." But what does that mean? I will tell you that I drive faster than some, slower than others, all while keeping fuel economy in mind (after safety). Some people pass me angrily and others impede my progress on the same road while I drive at my usual speed. So who's right at any given time? In your eyes, I'm wrong for driving at a speed that doesn't make sense to you. In my eyes, you are wrong for driving at a higher speed than makes sense to me. We aren't going to agree on a "perfect" speed or rate of acceleration, so I don't see any point in trying. Instead I think it's important to build some understanding. That means both parties making some allowances for the other.

For example, those of us who wish to drive slower need to stay to the right. Period. There is no excuse for holding up traffic in the left lane. You, in return, should use the open lanes for your higher speed travels. There are cases, as on my daily commute, where only one lane is available. Some want to go faster, some want to go slower. If I were driving for absolute maximum fuel economy I would probably P&G between 25 and 35mph on a 35mph road, but that would drive followers insane. I've found that even driving the limit will make people crazy, which I won't to pretend to understand. But I do my best: if I'm all alone I wil take that opportunity to drive however I please because nobody is there to be impeded. When I have traffic behind me, as I do most days, I consciously keep my speed between the limit and the limit +5, which is the fastest I'm willing to go. Is 40 in a 35 good enough for everybody? Hell no. This morning I was passed and flipped off in a school zone by some kid who wanted to go 50+ in what was, technically, a 25. All I'm asking is for the faster crowd to do as I do: When nobody's around, drive however the heck you please. When there are others on the road with a different idea, accept the middle ground and don't be tha angry kid who felt like going out of his way to to send whatever he message he wanted to send.

Is that so unreasonable? And I'm asking both sides of the argument, here: can't there be some kind of middle ground, and a certain degree of professionalism when things aren't going exactly the way you want, whatever that happens to be? Maybe the idea of mutual understanding is too difficult or unconventional for modern America. I don't know. But if that's the case, then this is a pretty sad state of affairs.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zqfmbg @ Mar 1 2007, 07:14 PM) [snapback]398815[/snapback]</div>

So what you're saying is, you'd rather plant yourself in the lane you believe you're entitled to, and create a dangerous situation, rather than move to the right and allow traffic to flow safely around you. The reality is, people want to drive at different speeds, and driving in the appropriate lane is the best way to for all of these drivers to safely coexist. By your own admission, you choose to ignore this reality and creating a more dangerous situation by your need to be a traffic cop.

For you own sake, you should seriously rethink your driving habits. If not, one of these days you're going to get punched in the face, or worse, by someone who has little tolerance for drivers like you.

When I'm in the fast lane passing somebody, and I see a car coming up at high speed behind me, I put on my right signal to let them know I am going to move to the right as soon as I pass the car beside me. As a teen learning to drive I learned that this was how people drove on the Autobahn (where you might be passing at 200kph but someone comes up from behind at 260kph), and I've been doing it ever since. Even aggressive drivers appreciate knowing that I will move back to the proper lane as soon as I can, and usually giving me plenty of time to make the pass without tailgating.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusH8R)</div>

I Wish! I had 1 drop of gas in my tank on March 2, but now I am down to 3/4 of a drop, and I am afraid I may not make it to the end of March before I have to buy another drop.

 

Thalnks Steve,but what do you do if you have to make a left turn a few blocks ahead?

You move into the left lane. And courteous drivers in the left lane will let you in. A driver in the left lane who won't let you in is not only discourteous but deserves to have a slow driver in front of him.

All I am suggesting is basic courtesy as a driving exercise. I sometimes drive fast and tend to drive in the left lanes when I do; I sometimes take my time and then I stay to the right. When two lanes merge I try to follow the alternating car rule; when a driver needs to come into my lane I wave him/her in and when someone lets me in I wave thanks in my rear window. All basic courtesy in my opinion.

I have been driving in the car pool lane for a couple of weeks now and it is interesting that there are some drivers that I consider rude in that they drive so slowly that there can be as much as 3/4 of a mile between them and the cars in front of them. But not one has been a hybrid driver. I have seen trucks doing this, volvos, regular sedans, etc. So I think, at least on my highway, that Prius drivers may be getting a bum rap.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ Mar 12 2007, 07:55 PM) [snapback]404534[/snapback]</div>

No, you are misunderstanding when I say "way out of my way".

If you're going in a straight line, then for crying out loud, yes, stay in the lane that's appropriate for the speed you're going in. If you have to make a left turn, though, don't go cutting people off. With that in mind there should be no reason for you to have to suddenly stomp on the gas and bump your speed up to match that of the lane you are briefly wandering into. Sure, if there's a huge jam, you might have to slow down and perhaps annoy people behind you, but that's not a problem limited to drivers of hybrids.

The discussion was for people looking to make left turns at intersections, not hog left lanes on freeways.

 

I'd say it's far more an anti-conservative-driving-style issue than an anti-Prius one. Relative size may also factor into it -- the bigger, the more aggressive, typically.

I've driven a '92 Toyota Paseo for more than six years. My preferred driving style is pretty conservative for the area I live in -- I'm typically somewhere between the speed limit and +10. Being tailgated, passed, and cut off is very much the norm for me. I try to not get all worked up about it, which I admit isn't easy on those occasions where another driver does something extra stupid and scares the heck out of me!

Definitely another factor is the "new car" syndrome -- being hyper-sensitive about your surroundings since you want to protect your new car from anything that could harm it. It's perfectly normal -- heck, I'm already feeling it and I won't pick up my Prius until tomorrow! Consequently, I would argue that most (if not all) of the behaviors are the same as they used to be and that you're simply more aware of it.

On the flipside, I do think that the Prius' reputation plays some role in it. Unlike the "own the road" reputations of most models, the Prius has the "hybrid" stigma. (Yes, I know, a case of mis-perception as reality; it is what it is.)

I like the "drive courteously" advice. It won't make much difference with the "suicidal" drivers (as I tend to think of them), but at least it will smooth your interactions with the more considerate drivers.

Smile and have a great day. It's your life, so enjoy it!

- Justifyd

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zqfmbg @ Mar 15 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]406490[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, but I disagree with you. You just stated you expect other drivers in other lanes to adjust to YOUR speed.

If another driver has to slow down to let you in, why not just wait and go behind them instead of in front of them? If traffic is too heavy to allow this, then you need to adjust your speed to match the flow in that lane, not the other way around. You're preaching courtesy, but in my opinion, you are the one who is uncourteous.

 

I'm curious about your opinion on the HOV/carpool lane. I tend to go at or slightly above the limit in the HOV, but there are people that think it's their personal speed lane. My opinion is that the #1 lane should be the fast lane and the HOV is the safe and sane lane.

 

I have little desire for the HOV lane, because I'm not going to go the speed the others desire. Instead, I weave on and off the access road and rightmost freeway lane at times.

 

I found out a long time ago, no matter how fast I drive, someone is always faster. So I just learned to relax. Also I hope a SUV gets ahead of me, I like to park next to them - they provide shade. Particularly the Hummers, Escalades, Expeditions, etc..