Prius victim mentality

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(natureboy9 @ May 29 2007, 12:20 PM) [snapback]451468[/snapback]</div>

What are you basing your figures on?
Can you prove this?
Check with Polk Automotive Research - they don't agree with your figures.

 

^^ either trying to be funny, or is being a real smartass.

 

Do people really think this way???

"Man, I cant stand people who drive the speed limit...I mean they make me so mad that I have to just run up on them and try to force them off the road! Why just the other day someone was going the speed limit and I had to slow down cause I could not pass them, no matter how hard I pushed from behind I just couldn't get them to go faster!
So I taught them a lesson, when I did get past them I slammed on my breaks to "show em" but cause they were going the speed limit they were able to slow down and compensate. So since I was ahead anyway I just sped off and left them behind. And wouldn't ya know it, at a light a few miles down this horrible person was right behind me again! Following me obviously wanting to do me some wrong...so when the light turned green I lost them again. and never saw them again. I am glad I was able to get away from that mad man going the speed limit.


It does not matter the car or type because people always get upset when in convinced. There is a mind set that people get when driving. A feeling of power. And if anyone disrupts that watch out! See "road rage"

I had someone throw coffee at me from there SUV because I was going the speed limit once. But I was not in a Prius. I was in a Corvette. Some lady was tail gating me so I sped up, they still tailgated me so I slowed back down too the speed limit, she would not pass despite the double lanes. When I slowed down, I did time it at the exact moment she was taking a sip from her coffee....and I slowed down hard...and most of her coffee went all over her. She did pull aside me and attempted to trow the rest on me but could not toss it effectively and the rest went all over the inside of her SUV and only a few drops came out the outside. None got me. WOW what a face, and thank god for the light and trafic and a quick right turn. Besides the lesson....I doubt this person ever learned.


I have managed to piss off al ot of people in my Prius as well, but again its cause I am going the speed limit and using cruse control. Maybe piss off is not the right word. but defiantly annoy, but this would be the case in any car. I had the same thing happen in a Festiva.

I for some reason managed to really piss off a lot of people when driving around with a sicker that said "powered by Iraqi Blood" on the back, But I put a line though Iraqi Blood and put an E85 Sticker under it.
Along with a "I swapped my addiction...Why don't you!"

I got mixed reactions from it, some people honked with a thumbs Up. Others screamed and got angry and shook fists. One person even vandalized the E85 converted Festiva for it...

people....what can ya do!

 

I've been driving since I was 15 years old. I'm 45 now. I've had everything from pickups to vans to luxury vehicles to motorcycles to economy cars (ie, Geo Prism). Yes, I get tailgated more in the Prius. Yes, I get cut off and challenged for lane position more in the Prius. My wife has experienced the same. We simply drive more defensively and are more cautious.

I defy the OP to prove me wrong.

 

What a stupid post. I'm sorry I wasted my time reading it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BexarWolf @ May 29 2007, 03:10 PM) [snapback]451598[/snapback]</div>

I do, too.

The Prius is an affront to SUV-lovin' America.

At least that's how many of them take it. We might as well just enjoy it.

Harry

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(subarutoo @ May 29 2007, 03:17 PM) [snapback]451603[/snapback]</div>

I couldn't agree more..I want the five minutes of my life back!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ May 29 2007, 11:53 AM) [snapback]451493[/snapback]</div>

I'm sorry you're assuming that I have a "victim mentality" for posting about an experience I've never had before; I've only driven Toyotas and I've never been directly insulted before driving my Prius, so I felt it proper to share my experience. I'm not whining about anything per se, but rather find it interesting that the Prius made me a target twice on a single road trip.

Where's the victim mentality in a statement of fact? I thought this was a Prius forum, also... :huh:

Anyways, I respect your opinion but that doesn't necessarily mean I agree with it, just as you'll likely not change your mind after this post.

Cheers.

 

I had a Beetle and folks used to let me in front of them in traffic - all of the time. They did not do this in my Mercedes, I can assure you. It was not my "imagination".


I do not feel a "victim" in a Prius. I do know that people react in a funny, weird, not so friendly manner towards the car. They cut me off, pull in front of, and scowl. I havev no bumper stickers.

I have had a few people (but much less) react positively.

I am going to put a bumber sticker that says "My other car is an SUV, So GET OFF MY nice person!




I don't drive any slower because I am getting 42 mpg no matter how I drive the Prius.

 

I agree with some of the victim mentality stuff. I find it difficult to read where somebody just KNOWS what the driver of another car is thinking, and KNOWS the message being given when that driver does something stupid (like tail-gating, cutting off, whatever). But how about this little stat?

Lots of posts. Check
Drives Prius MORE aggressively than the other vehicle in the stable. Check
Has heard, "F&*K you AND your Prius" from a driver stuck in traffic next to me, who then spent the next couple of minutes swerving over at me pretending to hit my car. Gosh, what fun!

I'm thinking that this particular driver DOES have an issue with me driving a Prius for some reason. I hear it far more often in the EV, but have certainly seen and heard Prius-specific crap as well. It happens. Probably not as much as it is discussed here, but it happens.

 

It's not "victim mentality"

I rode a motorcycle for 20 years, and I was frequently tailgated, much more so than in any 4- wheel vehicle I have ever driven. There were lots of theories tossed about, and only two seem to have had had any real thought behind them.
First, most drivers would close on any vehicle that was not SUBCONSCIOUSLY perceived as a threat, i.e. bikes were small, not a threat.
Second, there was a theory that the smaller license plate prompted drivers to close until the plate was "the normal size"
I have driven the same commute for 5 years, about 70 miles each way through Houston rush hour traffic.
I moved from a pickup, to a small SUV, to a Infiniti sedan in my attempts to save gas. I am not a liberal, or much of an environmentalist, just trying to save a buck. I also drive well over the posted limit, so that is not the issue.

I DO get tailgated much more in the Prius. Period.
It was an occasional problem in the other cars, but it is a huge problem in the Prius. I have people tailgating me more or less constantly. It doesn't matter what lane I am in, or how fast I am driving. If I pull over to let the tailgater pass, they slow down after passing me.
I think some of these people are just jerks, "having fun with the guy in the econo-car"
Others...
I have come to believe drivers are subconsciously closing to read/see the in dash display. It is not a GPS map or a movie, so I think there is a desire to see "what that thing is" on some basic instinctual level. I stood behind my own car once when checking the tail light and brakes, and was surprised to see just how visible the display is from behind the car.
Also, it is amazing how often the tailagating is done by someone talking on the phone, so I think that instinct is a bigger part of their driving, as their attention is divided.

Mac

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 29 2007, 12:57 PM) [snapback]451625[/snapback]</div>

Yeah well... They ARE trolls! I've seen pictures.

 

You know, some of the "green" movement people have been known to slap annoying bumper stickers on SUV's. Not only is this an act of vandalism, it by proxy gives a bad name to anyone that drives a hybrid. Sure, there are some jerks out that that resent hybrids, but some of the aggression we are seeing is a result of our own actions.

Here are a couple of tips:

1. If someone comes up behind you in the passing lane, merge to the right. I don't care if you are going 50 MPH or 150 MPH. If faster traffic is approaching from the rear, you need to get over.

2. Don't practice your hypermiling technique on a congested roadway. There is a time and place for everything.

3. Don't feel like a victim. You are actually ahead of the curve. Everyone is going to be driving somekind of a hybrid eventually.

4. Don't flaunt your MPG in everyone's face. You are driving a Prius. People know it gets better MPG than what they are driving without you telling them.

5. Finally, the Prius is a car -- not a statement.

 

Come to think of it I am actualy guilty of tailgating other Prii in my Prius....damn.

But it was rather annoying to be behind someone practicing hyper miling when I was not needing too.

When I run E85 and get the HP boost from it and drive like an nice person I never get cut off or tail gated.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ May 29 2007, 10:18 AM) [snapback]451520[/snapback]</div>

1 out of 2 ain't bad.


I remember being "younger" and racing around in my Trans Am, or 550rwhp 4x4 truck and stereotyping other drivers. It happens. I understand where Marlin is coming from though.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ May 29 2007, 09:53 AM) [snapback]451493[/snapback]</div>

My take on this is that the whiners were always bad drivers, and getting tailgated, cut-off, honked at, and flipped-off before they had their Prius. What's different now is that there is a online community built around a car that seems to have an unusually high percentage of slow/meek/nervous/marginally-skilled/whiny drivers behind the wheel, where they can come and air their complaints. Before they had no one else to listen to them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 29 2007, 01:57 PM) [snapback]451625[/snapback]</div>

BOHL ( Big Ole Honkin Laugh) :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: now thats funny I don't care who you are that is funnnnny

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ May 29 2007, 11:32 AM) [snapback]451475[/snapback]</div>

No I can say it's a completely new form of aggression. I swear I'm not paranoid- but everybody's out to get me. :blink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mac1 @ May 29 2007, 03:09 PM) [snapback]451638[/snapback]</div>

See Mac's from Texas. I seriously think if you East & West Coast folks would spend several weeks here you'd see what I mean. I've lived all over and everthangs bigger in Texas including the jerks. But I'm sure this happens everywhere to some extent.