Do Other Driver's Hate My Prius?

Weird. I just had a similar experience a few days ago. I was going 33 mph on a one-lane road with a limit of 35 and got passed by this dude with a BMW.....who would have been pulled over in an instant if there were cops around. The guy was nuts. I don't think most drivers hate the Prius; there are simply some nutcases that just don't know how to drive in a modern human civilization. They are the idiots that we see on Cops, on the evening news doing 100 on some highway, and in accidents that leave people dead. Nothing you can do about them unfortunately. My advice: just worry about driving well under the given circumstances.

 

I got passed on the slow lane driving the speed limit. The typical speed on the freeway is +10 to +15 over in CA. Gas is cheap again.

 

Re: Do Other Drivers Hate My Prius?

People are just plain rude these days. I noticed last year when the price of gas was much higher, people seem to be much more considerate.
I am too focused on my new car and its operation than the jerks cutting me off.:mod:
Peter

 

I think everybody wishes they had one. The only people really giving me the once over are other Prius drivers. I can tell they really like the car and are very happy to own their Prius. They know we are driving around with our engines off most of the time!

 

I'm sure you notice this in your smart as well. I think the perception is you must be going slow in a fuel efficient vehicle so they need to pass you.

 

So far I have not noticed a difference. Admittedly I've only had the car a few days, and I am not going out of my way to maximize fuel efficiency when it is likely to hold someone up.

I've had some really bad experiences in the past few weeks before I got the car, but at the time I was driving a rented Impala. I do believe that if any of those events had happened while I was driving the Prius I would for sure have attributed it to the car I was driving, but now I would just attribute it to the vast numbers of incapable drivers out there - most of the worst don't even have the awareness to notice the model of the car in front, just that it is in their way and that whatever they have to do is far more important than anyone in their way.

 

From time to time I have to drive my wifes tiny 1 litre, 3 cylinder Daihatsu ~ it's a great little car and always makes me smile while I'm driving it.

But...I have noticed when I take it on the motorway and start overtaking other people, they don't like it .

Once, I was overtaking a Mercedes, when I was just slightly ahead of it, the Merc driver must have realised what was overtaking him and he absolutely booted it!

I just laugh at them, ound:they must be so insecure!

I am sure there will be plenty of pathetic individuals who will overtake me just because I have Prius, (if and when I buy mine ... 24 hour test drive booked for just a few days after the UK launch, :cheer2: can't wait)

....but I will laugh at them too. ound:ound:

 

My wife and I share a 2008 Yaris (soon to be traded for our new prius) and on days that we drive the Yaris, we notice that people are more aggressive around us. On the same commute to work, if I'm in my turbo Eclipse or she is in her turbo PT Cruiser, we don't get cutoff as often or passed and blocked as often even though we drive with the same speed that we would our Yaris.

We believe that this is still going to happen with our Prius and as gas goes up, these types of drivers will hopefully realize how dumb they are.

 

Here's my guess about the behavior we're seeing...

In this economy, I don't think that there are many people who are buying new cars. So, when most drivers see a new Prius (mine still has temp tags), seeing someone who can afford a new ride gets under their skin.

 

Well, the whole enjoyment and fun of driving the Prius is trying to make the best MPG as possible. I believe this is what many of us do, and that means slowing down in many occasions. So, I think there is a large cultural pool of people who are simply impatient about the slower driving habits of Prius owners, some of them are simply ignorant and think that the Prius is actually just a very slow car. So, because of the culture, those anti-Prius (or anti-hybrid for that matter) folks get some more aggressive attitude when they a see a Prius in the road. The new Prius only make it worse for those folks, because many of them wonder why would someone keep investing on that crap, but the majority of them have NO idea what they are missing. Good for us.

 

I immediately noticed the same thing after going from an SUV to my new Prius. Other drivers will pass me now even if they have nowhere to go because of the traffic in front of me, or if I'm already going 10mph over the speed limit.

I too think that it has to do with them assuming that since it's a hybrid I must be driving too slowly. I drove the same speeds in my SUV and didn't experience this.

 

As an impending Prius owner (Aug 3) I find this thread interesting. I've also noticed that several Prii passing my Echo when I'm doing 65-70 on interstates. So obviously not all Prius drivers are as focused on maximizing mileage as many folks here are. After break-in I will be driving slowly because I'll be using CC most the time, with AC on (but no ACC). I'm hoping to get 50MPG without using unusual techiques, at least in the beginning.

Rich N.

 

This has happened to me on many occasion INCLUDING this morning. I was on the freeway doing 67 MPH and a Honda Oddysey was behind the driver in the center lane (I was in the left lane) and proceeded to go around that driver on the right, go in front of him and then shift into my lane. When he pulled in front of the driver that he was originally behind in the center lane, there was another vehicle in front of him in the center lane before he pulled in front of me - then slowed down . The distance between that vehicle and mine was 1 car length.

This same driver, not 3/4 of a mile further on cut over to the far right to take the exit. What a moron!!

 

Other drivers love my Prius.
It's great for their ego.

Being able to pass gives them a feeling of superiority, because they can then think that they can drive faster and pass more because they have a better car, or because they are better drivers.
Tailgating makes them feel more important, because then they can imagine that everyone in their way just doesn't have anything better to do to be in a hurry for like they are.
Cutting in makes them feel privileged to be able to use that extra space that was apparently left open just for them in case they wanted it.

I smile.
I'm happy to help them feel good about themselves.

 

I think few people actually care, and simply want to get to where they are going in a hurry.


The only real difference i've noticed switching from a conventional car was that other Prius drivers would occasionally give a thumbs up.