Prius Rage- Your stories

The index finger was point up, and the thumb horizontal and towards his vehicle.

 

I'm very conscious of the cars behind me. If I'm on a two lane highway I'll go the speed limit so as not to bother them. If on a 4+ lane I'll drop to 5mph or so below the speed limit and they can pass. Seems there are three types of drivers behind me.
1) Those that seem to think if they follow a Prius their mileage will improve (which it might) so they just stay behind me at a safe distance.
2) Those that pass
3) Those that for some reason follow close even though there is room for them to pass.

I haven't had anyone beep or flash their lights at me though.

In general my mileage is much better if there is nobody behind me so I can p&g or roller-coaster on the hills. Each week I leave a meeting at 9pm and drive 25 miles home where there is a slight downhill for much of the ride. At that time at night there is often few cars on the road and I'm averaging 75-80mpg all the way home. If there are cars they trip the lights so I get caught at signals, and I have to pay attention to them behind me and I lose about 5mpg on that same trip.

Ditto on those that speed up to the red lights. With the price of gas so high I'm guessing people will learn little by little how to conserve and the general driving habits of the nation will improve. I'd like to see all cars have the Prius type of display; it has taught me a lot about how to conserve.
John

 

I get a few tailgaters now and then. The other night I had a truck with fog lights and high beams behind me. He just followed me for a while and didn't pass even though there were opportunities. I was doing speed limit (55) and a devious thought came to mind. It would be nice to have two 1,000,000 candlepower spot lights mounted in the rear window pointing out. I would just hit the switch for a second or two and see who has the deer in the headlights look now .....

 

People perceive a Prius is going slower, when in fact, I may be traveling at, or greater than, the posted speed limit. People tend to substitute oil for knowledge. A car will follow for a while, then whip around, just to make a right turn in front of me, or then has to brake for a red light (which I saw a long time ago). We are in Peak Everything and it will take people a while to learn how to drive more efficiently.

 

I seem to get a lot of tailgate hate in both of my cars. Like 4G63, it doesn't matter if I'm already speeding (although I get just as much, if not more stupidity in my Evo, which you will have to pry from my cold, dead hands).

I like to apply a little hip-hop philosophy to the situation. To quote 50 Cent, "and if they hate, then let 'em hate, and watch the money pile up"

 

I was amazed today when I merged into traffic on the interstate and a car came zooming up not looking like they really wanted to let me in and then stayed fairly close to me.

From the view in my rear view mirror I had a suspicion, and sure enough--it was another PRIUS!

Apparently not a reader on these forums!

 

This happened before I got my Prius, but you may enjoy the justice anyway. I was in the left center lane of 4 lanes heading east one day and had this true a-hole in a pickup truck cozy up to my back bumper and start flashing his lights. I was doing the speed limit and pacing the cars next to me (you'll see why in a second) so I did what I usually do when some idiot flashes at me ---I slowed down slightly. He backs off a little and then floors it to go around me on the left. The whole time he's passing me he's sitting on his horn with one hand and giving me the one finger salute with the other, yelling all the way...until he see's the state trooper staring at him from the car in the lane on my right where's he's been all along watching this play out. He hit his breaks so hard they actually smoked but too late for him by then. Last I saw of him he was being pulled over while I laughed my a$$ off.

 

I also ride a bicycle on the road - Prius rage doesn't compare.

- I've had bottles/cans/food/rocks/etc thrown at me
- I've been hit at over 40 mph (yes I was injured)
- I get yelled/cursed at on EVERY single ride I've ever done

You get used to it. :brick:

... Brad

 

I only use my mirrors for lane changes and turning. I have no idea what's going on behind me, and frankly I don't care. My rule is I drive the speed limit up to 55mph, then anything over 55mph I drive 5mph below. That means on the 70mph highway commute I drive 65 all the way. I don't get cut off any more than I did before I had the Prius and--like I said before--if people were freaking out in my rear view mirror who aren't the police, I really wouldn't have any idea.

Liability laws being what they are, I just worry about what's going on in front of the car.

 

Not to sound preachy, but you may want to re-think that about not caring what's going on behind you. Many years ago, I was on a two-lane rural road and as I topped a hill, traffic was stopped ahead. In front pf me I had an 18 wheeler and I stopped about 6 feet from his back bumper. I have a habit of glancing in the rear-view when I stop and when I did, I saw nother 18-wheeler come barreling up over the top of the hill and from his speed, I could tell it was going to be close. Everything happened real fast but when I determined he was not going to be able to stop in time, I whipped my car over off the road and onto the shoulder as I heard all sorts of commotion back there. The truck was able to stop about 2 feet from the bumper of the truck that had been in front of me. If I hadn't looked back when I did, I would have been accordioned between the two and that would have been the end of me as I was in my little 77 Honda Civic at the time. My friend in the passenger seat to this day tells everyone that I 'saved his life'.

 

I remember being in Ohio once for a business trip. One evening at the hotel I decided to go to the Gold's Gym 2 miles away. Instead of using the rental car and then go on the cardio machine for 30mins, I jogged to the gym. The road (35mph limit, 2 lanes wide) had no sidewalk so I jogged on the grass. As above:

-I was honked at
-I was thrown cans/cigarette butts
-I got yelled at

 

since gas prices have increased i think people notice the prius a lot more, not so much my old prius though..

when driving my 05 prius i get tailgaters to no length, usually SUV's and stuff.

my 01 prius i rarely get any problems on the road

 

that said, you would use less gas & lower your NOx emissions if you went 55 in that zone

 

Pay a visit to the Dodge Cummins website. A few of the more "interesting" characters there have trolled here, really stirring up things.

I would exercise extreme care around any Dodge Cummins driver, especially in Texas. Most appear on the edge of being unhinged.

As an example, one of their Texan members bragged about how he nearly ran over a woman on a bicycle, then used the custom tune box to blow a huge cloud of black diesel smoke at her. Apparently, in Texas you're a Real Man if you use your lifted Dodge Ram Cummins to frighten a woman on a bicycle

Would have been interesting if that woman had whipped a Glock 22 out of her purse and popped a few caps into the Ram's rear window

Now, in this country, if a cop had witnessed that, the Disco Lights would have turned on and the Dodge driver would have been hauled off to jail. If it was up to me, I'd jail every tiny-penis Road Rager for life, in a cell with a lonely but huge lifer called "Bubba"

So be careful out there. There are a lot of dumbasses who bought a house and a vehicle they absolutely could not afford, and are now *very* angry. Prius cars are an easy-to-recognise target

These folks are strange: they firmly believe in captialism, think the high fuel prices are some sort of commie fag hippie environmentalist plot, but want the gov'mint to do something about it. They don't like to hear of how their Texas Oilman prez dropped the ball

One of the Dodge Cummins members actually thinks I'm an evil, backstabbing, traitor who "fled" to Canada. Apparently, I use the American flag to wipe my butt after taking a s***

So if you want a glimpse into a dangerous mind, actually a group of them, check out that Dodge Cummins site.

BTW I'm well aware that most Texans are decent, nice folks, just like most people are. A vocal minority happen to make Texas, the United States, and all Americans, look very bad to the rest of the world. They reenforce all of the stereotypes

 

Please pardon me for saying this, and I am sorry you were injured, but a bicycle has no place on a hiway. The road is by definition of every states laws a place for licensed motor vehicles. That is unless the road has a bike lane.

You were risking your life and others stupidly by riding on that road. I hope you have stopped that foolish activity.

 

Why do you assume it was a highway?

 

I experience hatred all the time. I drive my car like I always drive. I do P&G when I can and when nobody is around but I mostly P&G in the 30-50mph range so I pretty much pass other people. I still get the looks though.
I pissed off a dude in his Audi A8 at the pump the other day, when I pulled up next to him. told the attendant to fill her up (not allowed to pump our own gas by law in NJ) then 3 min later tank clicked and I was standing next to the guy and I sighed and said " ahh, thats all my baby takes" as I smiled. Even the attendant says "don't you love Hybrids?" (In his russian accent) The audi owner and his family just stared at me pissed off. Plus I had my mountain bike in the back along with a suitcase and some more day bags and equipment. proof that this is a large vehicle....HAHAHAHA....

 

Yes, when you are getting low mpg and the price of diesel is ~$5/gal you might be on the edge.

Its almost ironical, our below average President would say.

Oh no, I'll take your word on that.

Its not just the Dodge drivers, its all the drivers of the big fuel sucking vehicles who seem to be pissed off. Had a woman in a Toyota Sequoia who just absolutely had to pass me on the freeway this morning even though I had accelerated up to 70 to make sure I wasn't in anyone's way. Usually it is just men that drive by ego, but it was a woman this morning. Almost makes me feel guilty to have them waste so much fuel just to show me they can beat my little hybrid car. Almost. :evil:

 

:rofl:
Funny even though it's so sad!
I don't think I get any more wierd driver interactions than with any other car. It might be my vhf ham radio antenna on the trunk, maybe they think I'm an undercover cop? But then I drive neither slowly nor aggressively, which I think is the best way. I do speed up to 40 in 35mph zones, most people here would understand