Hybrids replacing SUVs as targets of driver anger

Well, its inspired a bumper sticker for me...
If you can read this...
I'm still getting better mileage.

 

If I'm in the right lane doing the speed limit then I really don't give a damn about how fast they "want" to go. Let them get over into one of the faster lanes. The speed limit is the speed limit and I am willing to stand up in court before any judge and let the cop try to justify giving me a ticket for "obstructing traffic" while I was driving the speed limit.

 

Okay (Hokie), maybe I hve reading comprehension issues... but I totally could not parse that statement

 

Hi All,

I have received criticism for driving "too slow" and this was way before I ever got my Prius. I tend to drive at or just below the speed limit if the traffic lanes are wide open everywhere. If things are speeding by then I try to keep at the 70 mph max mark if I can. I also try to stay in which ever lane will allow me the most space between me and the other vehicles in front and behind me as possible.

Also, when I am in the carpool lane (and I use it every chance I get) if I get tailgated or see that there are folks that are just bound and determined to get to eternity before I do, I will pull out of the lane at the first legal opportunity and let them pass if possible.

My hubby (who drives a Pathfinder) when faced with a similar situation will either do the windshield washer trick or he will lightly tap his brakes to flash his brake lights at the offender and hope that they back the he** up. His theory is that if they rearend him it will be their fault and that most folks would rather not distroy their car or their pocketbooks if possible.

Incidentally, my friends who have complained about my driving speeds have all received speeding tickets in the past, you'd think they would have learned, huh? In fact, one friend of mine who use to loan me a kid whenever we were both driving separately to the same destination (pre Prius) would complain that I wasn't "keeping up". She would routinely cruise down the freeway at 80 to 85. I would calmly point out that I didn't think that she would want me to be taking any stupid chances while driving with her child in my car, now would she. That usually kept her quiet for a bit.

Now, she complains that there must be something wrong with my car because it does not accelerate as fast or as high as she would like. I point out that the car works just fine and that it is the foot that wants to go slower not the car. And then I laugh all the way to the bank .

Take care all and have a safe and great day!

Tisza

 

Very interesting where the one person noticed different reactions at the same speed depending on the car he was driving.


While I wish the HP would slow the HOV lane down, I think that people should try and pull over into the left lane to let them pass. Doesn't mean that we should have to cut someone else off so that can get back up to their insane speed as soon as possible. While I try to be accomodating, I do get irritated when I am already going over the speed limit and there is nowhere else to go and someone is riding my tail. I am not beyond a break tap.

I am gradually trying to break away from this habit and trying not to aggravate the aggressive drivers. While, I may be able to handle most physical altercations, you never know to what lengths the other person may take it. Through my work with prisoners, I have seen that there are people who do serious bodily injury to the point of death for messing with them. If you don't know how someone will react, it is best not to anger them unnecessarily as some will go far beyond what you thought they would. (Trying to practice what I preach, but not always perfectly).

I do think that there is a general mentality out there with many that they should be able to go as fast as they want, regardless of the speed limit or traffic conditions. In my experience, it usually is drivers of trucks and SUVs, although I have seen some in cars.

 

Are you sure you are going the speed limit? When my speedo says 58 I am actually going 56. Lower speeds are more accurate than higher speeds.

 

10 miles over is my max that I'll exceed the speed limit on the highway, and even then, it is done as to become one with traffic..Past that, I will not give in to mob mentality.

I'm not comfortable driving 80 in a 65 zone nor will I be forced to. I have outstanding driving skills but do not wish to test my reaction skills at high speed if it is not necessary. Does that mean if everyone decides to go 90, which is not uncommon, the moron driving 65 through, say 80 is in the wrong?

I stay in the right lane, except for passing - it's just the courteous thing to do (and in some states, the law). in regards to HOV / Carpool Lanes, the express purpose of that lane is to travel with the designated amount of passengers as an incentive to carpool (and recently, an incentive to hybridize)....it is NOT the express purpose to break the sound barrier.

 

From the Merc article "How can you make that tailgater who thinks 65 is far too slow during commute hours to back off?"

How about the Highway Patrol steps up enforcement and hands out some nice big traffic tickets? Aren't tailgating and speeding dangerous - especially in heavy traffic?

 

I used to side with the mentality that drivers that are going faster than the speed limit should not be given any sympathy, and that it's ridiculous to imply that drivers that are minding their own business obeying the speed limit are at fault.

But now I realize as aggressive those dumbass drivers who want to go as fast as they can and weave in and out of traffic are, the mentality that I'll *intentionally* go slower to get in their way is passive aggressive.

Nowadays, I'll stay in the right lane if i notice a lot of traffic passing me so that I won't get in anyone's way... but I am not going to be forced to go with the flow of traffic if i don't want to.

 

I simply don't care. In my area the speed limit is 60-65 on the highway. I never go faster than 55 mph in the right lane. If drivers want to tailgate me in the right lane when there are other lanes available to the left, so be it. I bought the car to *conserve* gas and will not succumb to the flow of traffic.

 

Although I think driving to slow may be dangerouse on the freeway it doesnt realy bother me if someone else is doing it, its their decision, and if it is a hybrid I undersand why other cars not so much I just assume the are stupid or not paying attention. My prius will be in the first week of April after a 6 month wait and in that time I have been doing some obervations. First I have been driving my Jeep how I belive I will drive my Prius to see what reactions are like. Most of this driving has been speed limit or if I see a truck holding up traffic (trucks do 55 in ohio cars 65) I drive behind them (not drafting) and so far I have had people pass me but no ill will has been observed although to their otherwise poor driving I will give those in my neck of the woods credit for generaly not giving in to violence or road rage and very few one finger salutes. The interesting comparision will come when I take my new Prius on the road and drive exactly the same way and observe how other drivers react to the different car with all other factors remaining the same.

One interesting aside is that i would mention is that the few Prius I see on the road most dont seem to make any effort to change their driving to conserve fuel many go faster than I, one individual who seems to be on the road the same time as me everyday consistently passes me at about 75 mph... I find this quite odd but to each their own.

 

Me, me, I can answer that... YES, very dangerous. If someone chooses to take a chance, don't include me in their folly. Share the road.

 

The person obeying the law and and traveling the speed limit is certainly NOT the "source of an accident waiting to happen." If everyone simply obeyed the posted speed limits, "the flow of traffic" would be the speed limit.

 

Frankly, I don't give a damn if people want to drive at speeds much higher than the posted limit. I do care that they seem to think that they can intimidate someone by parking 2 feet off their back bumper. When I was still driving my 1985 Bronco-II I would use the "tap the brakes" trick to discourage them. (If the tap didn't make the point then I would do a real slow-down very quickly.) Now that I'm driving my shiny new Prius I just grit my teeth and hope that there is a CHP officer someplace up ahead that is payng attention and is smart enough to enforce the law against tailgating (these are few and far between for some reason).

CHP Officers please note: It is just as effective having someone pulled over for tailgating as having someone pulled over for speeding. The guy going by doesn't know why you've stopped them and they will likely think its because the idiot was doing 80 in a 65 zone. The results are the same, people slow down (for a while).

 

This thread really got me thinking.

First of all, you are NOT a poloce officer, and it's not up to you to dictate the traffic speed (well, OK there are a few of us who ARE police, so this doesn't apply). If you are anywhere but the far right lane, don't get annoyed at people who want to go faster. YOU ARE HOLDING UP TRAFFIC! Move over. It's that simple. If you are in the far right lane then you have every right to go the speed limit, and don't need to speed up for others. As someone said, there are other lanes for them to use. However, if the general traffic speeds are faster even in the right lane, then just speed up a bit. No, you don't need to go over the speed limit, but don't do 55 in a 65 and then act surprised when you annoy people. You CAN go a little faster; 5 extra miles per hour will not kill your MPG. Big deal if your mpg goes from 52 to 51. Just don't be a nuisance.

But I don't want to drive the speed limit and youcan't make me. No, you're right. But by that thinking, you can't make the others slow down, and you can't make them drive a Prius either. They are idiots for going too fast and you're an idiot for going to slow. Six of one, half dozen of the other. I just got the sense from this thread that peole feel it's OK for them to drive too slow, but it's not OK for others to drive too fast. What I do is OK, but I think what you do is stupid so it's not OK. Come on people. Get real.

I don't blame the people who don't like Priuses for going slow. They are right, you are VERY annoying. It's not just Priuses though. Any car doing the speed limit in the left lane is an idiot. Doesn't matter if it is a Prius or an H2 or whatever. I can do 85 in my Prius and still get over 40 mpg. No, it's not the over 50 mpg I get by doing 65, but if it were such an issue I wouldn't do it. I'm still getting 3x my previous vehicles mpg, so I'm happy. People hate you becuase you drive your Prius too slow, people hate me becuase I drive it too fast. Who's right? (...and don't be an idiot and say you are, beucase then you'd be wrong.) No matter how you drive, there is someone who is going to not like it.

Anyway, just keep in mind that driving is NOT a solo event. There are other drivers on the road too. Driving only for you with no regard for others is wrong and stupid, no matter if it's way too fast or way too slow.

 

I haven't seen any of the replies in this thread that advocate for their being able to drive significantly under the speed limit (I would call 10 mph under significant) without any consequences. Neither are people stating we should camp out in the left lane just to piss people off. Frankly, I don't think that those that want to do 10mph over the speed limit can be speed police either and force others to drive faster. From my experiences, those that are being aggressive drivers don't care what lane you are in, they want you to drive just as fast as they are and get pissed if you don't.

I don't think anyone honestly thinks that we can drive way under the speed limit without getting some honks or aggressive behavior toward us. However, since when did the speed limit become a suggestion? If I am passing someone, I have just as much right to get in the left lane to do so as the person who wants to drive 15 mph over the speed limit.

 

Doc... the answer is simple : just don't be aggressive.
That includes being passive aggressive.

If you're driving too aggressively, you're an idiot. If you're driving passive aggressively, you're an idiot.

I find myself staying over to the right most of the time when I like to take it easy...

STOP DRIVING AGGRESSIVELY.

 

I drove the speed limit (give or take 5) in my old conventional car (a Mazda Protege) and do the same in my Prius. I have no tolerance for tailgaiters. I refuse to speed and break the law and risk paying expensive tickets for their convenience if I'm already going the speed limit. I've only had one speeding ticket in my entire life at age 17 in my first car (a VW Beetle). I've grown up a lot since then.