I remember back in 05 when EVERY prius driver would wave to others. The Prius wave didn't last long though, as there were soon just too many of them.
I try to park next to other Prii so that Rudy has someone to chat with while I'm off shopping. I think we've picked up a couple of MPGs after he had a conversation with a serious hypermiler's Prius.
This doesn't look like evidence of passive, mindless following along; a "herd mentality." This looks to be cases of an intentional and positive association... "Birds of a feather flock together."
I had a few errands to run and the herding happened quite by chance. First stop: I was circling around a small, busy parking lot. I glided towards a space that had just opened up as a couple who parked in the space next to it started to walk towards the store. As I passed them, I rolled down my window and said "Nice car!" They looked at me and laughed - they had a winter grey like mine! Second stop: The post office. Again, it's very busy and I wait for an SUV to back out so I can take its space. Parked next to the SUV was a black G3! The driver was waiting her turn to back out so I gave her a thumbs up as I pulled in. We weren't parked next to each other very long - for which I was grateful - her car was a lot cleaner than mine!
Agreed- I never said we were a DUMB herd! I think we're a rather intelligent bunch!!!! I was really commenting how I feel when I fall into a line of other Pri, whether on the road or in a parking lot. Gives me an additional sense of pleasure or well being- similar, I imagine, to that which a horse gets when standing next to another horse or in a herd. I somehow feel safer when I'm in a line of Pri...could be a shoal of fish kind of thing too where there's safety in numbers.
As the saying goes - birds of a feather then to flock together. Herd instinct, well, IS instinctive in nature, which, like it or not, applies to homosapiens.
There's actually a safety reason *not* to do this - when starting up in electric only mode and pulling forward, pedestrians or other vehicles cannot see your intent to pull out (or your brake lights). When you pull in, before you intend to move, your brake lights are generally on, and as you're in reverse, your reverse lights are also on. From a safety perspective, I continue to pull in only. The gas savings aren't worth someone's injury, life, or a collision.
To those that park near other Prii, where would you park here? (don't miss the 3rd one father away) Mine is the close one.
Bighouse: you can park next to R2Pre2 anytime! I too park next to other Pri's, typically at the end of parking lots. Additionally, I also wave to other Pri drivers but only a few return the gesture. Perhaps they can't see me as I'm whizzing by in PWR mode! (or...maybe the gesture was not a wave... )
Unless I'm missing something this doesn't make sense to me When pulling forward aren't you looking out the windshield which has much better visibility than when backing up especially if you have larger vehicles on either side of you.
+1 With all due respect to Rick, I believe my ability to see pedestrians around me while moving forward versus reverse is much greater. Having been a behind the wheel commercial license instructor here in AZ for over 2 years, I can say that from a safety perspective, it is always preferable to move forward. In fact, reversing a school bus without a spotter outside the vehicle is illegal in AZ. A tap on the horn before moving in either direction is also a good idea.
Where I work there are three gen III prii. I have worked diligently to get the red gen III and the white gen III to park in a row with me at work. I need therapy too... I haven't actually told the other owners I was trying to get us to park in a row so I could take a red, white and blue photo... just been parking "strategically" for a few months now, trying to send a message. Some of the other people at work know about my little parking lot obsession, they give me that "only a prius owner" look.
That's too funny! Honestly, there is nothing unusual about the phenomenon described in this thread, as it happens with other vehicles as well until they become "mainstream". The Prius is pretty much there now, where people have stopped thinking of it as some kind of driving anomaly and other drivers don't immediately hate or like my car as they did back in 2005. I even routinely see Prii up at my rural cabin where it used to be 95% trucks with an occasional sedan or minivan. Last place in the world I thought I'd see them adopted, but alas, they hate OPEC and fuel imports too!
