I live in downtown Chicago and drive to work every day. I experienced my very first Prius great driving experience without being the driver of the car. I am not picking on the cab drivers, in particular , however I have been close (victimized) in many traffic mishaps because of their reckless behavior scooping up fares. Last week a cabbie driving Prius south on Clark Street appeared to be hypermiing, not racing or cutting off other drivers, nor swirving two lanes at a time to race to the customer. He stayed in his lane, drove the speed limit and seemed to be looking for fares in a relaxed way without placing every other driver on the street or pedestrians in harms way. I followed him for about 3 blocks. He was hypermiling in a responsible way It's a miracle how the Prius conditions all of us, in the pocket or ecologically. All of the car lessons in the world wouldn't have changed his driving habits but the Prius electric/engine mode must be the best possible teacher. I'm sure the potential gas savings helps ease the cabbie's anxiety. I hope we see a fleet of Prius cabs real soon.
A few weeks ago, I drove to Yankee Stadium and had a number of neat Prius encounters in NYC. I, too, saw a number of Prius cabs. Even more to my surprise, I saw that NYC Sanitation Supervisors are driving around in distinctively marked white Prii. With all due respect to Priuschat members who happen to drive white Prii, I'm really glad now that I decided on my Seaside Pearl. I'd hate to be in Manhattan and be mistaken for a Sanitation Supervisor!!!
I don't get downtown very often but it's great to hear that at least one taxi is driving a little more carefully.
