Do Prius Owners "Cheat" at Four-Way-Stop Intersections?

Exactly! It's related to Roadshow: Prius owners drive too slow — or is it too fast? - San Jose Mercury News.

Whenever I see slow pokes in the fast lane, it's most definitely not always a Prius or even more often a Prius. To try to knock some sense into those people who think it's always Prius drivers, I ask them, the next time you see a slow poke there, ask yourself "is it a Prius?" I've found that the answer is almost always no.

The other day, I saw an Accord Coupe that wasn't exactly driving by the book and made all sorts of turns all w/o bothering to signal once. (Then again, that happens all the time in LA).

I've observed that a odds of lifted truck being an asshat driver are pretty high. The other night I was doing at least 66-70 (in a 65) in the slowest lane in my Leaf and a lifted truck was almost tailgating me. He could've moved to the faster lanes if he didn't my speed.

As traffic progressed and I ended up in other lanes, he was blowing by everyone in the slowest lane.

 

His lifted truck was making up for something that doesn't lift anymore

Mike

 

Wealthy anybody can be huge jerks. I'll never know myself how much money it takes. I'll never get near it!

 

Since I have an M3 and the wife has the Prius, we are apparently just a family of horrible drivers.

I asked a few of my friends at work about the theory that because of the social stigma (early Prius drivers with their "I'm saving the planet - what are you doing about it?" bumper stickers) do they just notice the jerk driver more if they are in a BMW and Prius vs. other cars. After they thought about it, 5 out of 6 people said that indeed they probably do notice the BMW or Prius (2 added in Lifted Pickup Trucks to the list) more than other cars.

My peeve is the teenie bopper driving down the freeway texting along the way, and then cuts in front of you and then slows down to do more texting..... Wish I had a ray gun or something.

 

It boggles my mind that so many driver don't know the rules and etiquette of 4-way stops signs. Some don't know that you actually have to take turns and let other people go, in order of who got there first. What a concept! If two cars arrive at the same time, doesn't everyone know that the driver to the right goes first? I've seen it all; one car goes thru and after a brief stop, the car behind decides to go too, as if that's how it works. The worst are the drivers that don't have clue and refuse to go until everyone else has gone through, even waving everyone through, all while holding up traffic behind them. Not only do they don't know 4-way stop etiquette, they shouldn't be out on the roads period.

 

These studies reflects the prejudices of the researchers more than the behavior of the drivers. Perhaps it reflects my own biases, but my worst conflicts have been with SUVs and pickups.

 

I always come to a complete stop. I like four-way stop signs. It's true I have to stop, but so does everyone else, and so I can go in the order in which I got to the stop sign. We recently got three four-way stops in my neighborhood. They're great. As for our fellow Prius drivers, I do notice that some have lead feet or lousy driving manners. But I am not sure that this is any true for them as for other models.

A

 

Yes, I Cheat much more in my Prius than I have in any other car. There is no regen below 7mph and I tend to let off the brake peddle a little at that point.

 

No. But I roll through stops when I can see there's nobody around. If people are indecisive at stop signs/4-way stops, I'm usually the one who decides to just go, especially if people don't want to use turn signals.

 

Sorry, but that would be a Yes.

SCH-I535

 

In court, it would be guilty with an explanation.

 

I used to believe, for some reason, that cheating "slightly" would benefit my mpg, but then I figured out that I can just pop it into EV mode, and if that doesn't engage for some reason, ease it around the corner with low enough throttle for electric only driving until I hit about 10-13 mph.

btw, i do stop at all required stops.

 

It's world of " FATHER, SON and HOLY GHOST, the one who eats the fastest, gets the most."

 

The last time I almost lost my life on my motorcycle was when a pea-soup green G2 was soooo busy pulse and gliding that they forgot to look left before charging into the intersection. Of course it's not exactly relevant to this topic since this was at a two-way stop intersection (they were too busy to notice that too! )
I see it a lot, and I wouldn't really have any heartburn with it when there is no problem with opposing traffic.....but if this is the case, then why bother with the stop signs in the first place????
If you get in the habit of running stop signs.....then you get to be like the moron in the G2 that almost killed me.
It's not something that's exclusive to the hybrid community by any stretch.
Idiot drivers are hardly an endangered species in the US.
I pray CONTINUOUSLY that they'll start putting cameras at some of these intersections.
Win-Win.

 

I also "cheat" when there's no other cars at the intersection.
As William Bell (Fringe) said "momentum can be deferred- but it must always be paid back... in full!".
No one knows that better than Prius owners....

 

Ive been running some of them when I can (slow to only 7 or 8mph). I think I will try to come to a complete stop this tankful and see what happens.

 

In terms of crosswalks, it depends on the situation. When I'm the pedestrian, I only start walking and expect cars to stop when there's too much traffic for me to wait. Otherwise, I purposely look like I'm not about to cross, because I don't want the only car on the road to come to a full stop for me to cross when I can just wait five seconds.

When I'm driving, I expect others to act like I do when I'm a pedestrian. I stop if they're unlikely to find a break in traffic, or if they're old or have kids.

Well, I wasn't completely clear what the article meant by "Drivers of BMWs and other high-status cars (including Prius hybrids) were also more likely to cheat at four-way-stop intersections, according to the research." and it didn't explain. I was picturing two or more cars meeting at a 4-way stop and the BMWs & Prii going straight through. I don't do that.

Upon further digging, I found "The team also watched a four-way-stop intersection over a week, noting how likely drivers were to cut in front of others when it was not their turn to go. In their observation of 274 cars, the researchers found that the more expensive ones were more likely to jump their turns in the four-way rotation". So I kind of do that, but only in situations where the car whose turn it is is indecisive, which means everyone just sits there.

 

Please be aware that in the 'study', and in both states in which I have been licensed to drive, your 'expectation' is contrary to traffic law. If the pedestrian turns out to be assertive, and you intentionally don't defer, then you are committing a vehicular assault.

Not that many places (outside the place where I learned to drive) do much enforcement of it ...

From the NYT article:

In my states, the law applies only when the pedestrian has stepped off the curb, not waiting on the curb.

 

Incriminating thread!

Timing lights, rolling stops, drafting.. you guys are a wild bunch... I better ban myself.

 

Just for clarification, California law is below. I read this to mean that the pedestrian must be in the street. I'm not sure what the above poster meant by "assertive," but see section (b).

V C Section 21950 Right of Way at Crosswalks Right-of-Way at Crosswalks 21950.
(a) The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(b) This section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety. No pedestrian may suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. No pedestrian may unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while in a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
(c) The driver of a vehicle approaching a pedestrian within any marked or unmarked crosswalk shall exercise all due care and shall reduce the speed of the vehicle or take any other action relating to the operation of the vehicle as necessary to safeguard the safety of the pedestrian.
(d) Subdivision (b) does not relieve a driver of a vehicle from the duty of exercising due care for the safety of any pedestrian within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.