man, they love to tailgate a prius

Last year at least 33,000 Americans died on the road - speed was a factor in most of them.

Guess this defines a die-hard speeder.

 

I think I saw a hate monger using the "N" word.

 

civil disobedience. i hear you. i would lean more towards not wearing a seatbelt than speeding. sit low and drive slow!:rockon:

 

Actually, it was an embargo, which caused a short term shortage...but yes. The (almost) national speed limit was caused by the "Energy Crisis" that they talked about so much in the 70's.
They talked about global cooling a lot back then too...

Oops.

My limited (2,000 mile) experience with Priuses is that people don't like to tailgate Priuses....they like to tailgate SLOW Priuses. My current tank average (at 250 miles) is 60.5---so I'm not exactly driving this car with wild abandon. I do drive this car with some consideration to people who view cars as a means of conveyance from one place to another---in other words...I try to go with the flow of traffic. You know...courtesy, which like 'common sense' is faaaaar from common sometimes. Thus.....I get tailgated no more in my Prius than I do in other vehicles.
Tailgating is not a phenom that is unique to our little car---believe me! I get tailgated on my V-Rod, and in my Pickemup truck all the time. As a matter of fact....I've heard people on this forum discuss 'drafting'---which to my way of thinking is tailgating done by stupid people, instead of the more common variety done by stupid and impatient people.
Judging by the writings on this forum, road rage is a condition found on both sides of a Prius's steering wheel as well....

 

Yeah ...
So??
I drive like this in my Prius all the time!!

 

Hi Harry,

Welcome to the club of Prius owners and congratulations on your honary membership of getting harassed by Prius haters out there! Guilty as charged, I posted a thread about getting tail gated withit two weeks of getting my new Prius and it just happened again today...

Again, going about 5~10 mph above limit on the right hand lane...

 

I just bought my Prius a week ago and so far so good. I just try to stay out of the way. I can tell you one thing, I will NOT drive my Prius aggressively just because some idiot is in a hurry. I will say that my car has the power to keep up with most of the cars on the road, but I chose to not drive it that way. I have not tried power mode as of yet and have no plans to.

 

I was sitting at a light that led to the interstate. I was in the left lane of a two lane turn stop with a bmw m3 coupe on my right. Both lanes turn left and half way down the ramp they merge into a single lane as you enter the highway. When the light changed, I jumped on it and since I had the inside lane was first into the ramp. The beemer kept pace and looked like he was going to pass me on the right but I floored it and after a moment, he backed off and fell in behind. The driver was probably 60 years old with his wife in the car and as he passed me on the interstate he looked over with a smile and a nod. A younger driver would have risked an accident to blow by me. There is something to be said for diminishing testosterone levels with age.

 

There is nothing much I can say that hasn't already been said in this thread. That being said (haha), I would like to offer an interesting point of view.

dplatnyc made this post a while ago, and I am going to have to agree to an extent. I have been driving my Prius for less than a month and I have already noticed people showing me considerably more aggression than I have seen in certain situations. I was driving approximately 82 on the freeway up to Northern California and this was not fast enough for certain people; in addition to being stuck in similar circumstances as dplantnyc where I had nowhere to go and there was no extra space in front of me, yet the large truck behind me absolutely had to be in front of me instead of behind me.

THAT being said, I still agree with the perspective that you will be tailgated, rushed, and encounter general road rage regardless of what you are driving. People are always in a hurry, especially where I live. I've been driving for a while and I get tail gated even when I'm driving my sport motorcycle. Just can't get there fast enough can they... which becomes even more ridiculous when they run into a stop light and we end up side by side... waiting for the same thing.

However, I believe the combination of %$@# hole drivers and the general angst given to the Prius by some people creates an even angrier person following you and/or being reckless around you.

Nutshell, some people are angry drivers but don't mind the Prius, some people hate the Prius but aren't angry drivers, but some people both hate the Prius and are angry drivers. I bet even a few of those people are jerks out of the car too.

This is all assuming you are following traffic laws, not driving too slow or too, or generally being a good driver yourself. Because if you suck then I don't think it matters what car you are driving. :thumb:

Cheers!

 

I experienced the opposite behavior yesterday when on the 495 around Wilmington.

Speed Limit 65 (ironically, people tend to stick pretty close to it for some reason)

There was quite a bit of traffic for some reason, and someone in their baby blue prius was right on my butt in the left lane doing about 71. And they were doing that typical move to the very edge of the lane to see around the car that they are right on the butt of. I move to the middle lane, they speed up to the car that was in front of me, get right on their butt and start flashing their lights for them to move. At this point, traffic was moving around 73 anyway. Not a clue where that Prius ended up, but with the traffic I'm pretty sure they didn't get to their destination much quicker.

 

Well I get great mileage and I hammer my Prius off the line. Hold it flat to the speed limit then coast, that's my policy.

 

Thats funny cause thats really my other car.

 

I was already driving close to the speed limit in my IS300 and have started to learn to ignore 98% of the drivers who are compelled to speed. Now, that I am driving a Prius, I have not changed my driving habits. Don't be paranoid. It's not your fault.

 

Ya... Nothing like the look on an idiots face when they have been tailgating you for the last 2 miles, then make that illegal high speed pass with their middle finger in the air...... as when the see the sign on the side and the flashing strobes..... a cite for wreckless sure wakes 'em up (and lightens the load on their wallet)!:rockon:
Besides... There is nothing more embarrassing to a Urban Assault Vehicle (SUV) Driver than getting pulled over by a Prius!

 

A bit off topic perhaps, but... I have to say I seem to get tailgated more (on the interstate) when I use 'ECO' mode. The dang throttle is so mushy and non-responsive I will sometimes find myself going slower than I thought, and varying my speed more--without realizing it for a bit. Heck, to paraphrase John Malkovitch (I think it was he), "*I'd* tailgate me." Well, no, but I can't really blame them too much in that case.

I'm using ECO less and less, usually only to mitigate heating/AC drain. The other modes make it much easier to intuitively maintain a speed. Generally, in city traffic, my Prius isn't slowing anything down, and on the highway, no matter what the speed, I find that if I follow the 'drive right, pass left' (and get back over to the right asap) rule of thumb, I have few problems. Sure, there are some adjective/nouns out there who want to 'teach you a lesson.' but it is what it is, and you can't really change it.

And yes, I'd love it if people drove sanely and obeyed traffic laws, but the fact is that many don't. Putzing along in the passing lane at the speed limit just to make a point only pisses others off (including yours truly), and angry drivers make for an unsafe road for everyone.

My two cents.
~T

 

I don't have a Prius yet, but when people tailgate my Malibu I let off the gas and coast until they get the point. I drove nearly 15 miles one time at 5 MPH on a 75 MPH highway until some bozo in his monster truck with his high beams on got the point.

 

I currently drive my mother's BMW 328i and even though I'm considering getting a Prius, I can say I'm guilty of this. I believe the main reason is the psyche of the driver, or at least this is why for me. I'm driving a sports car with over 200 horsepower and I feel like I'm stuck behind a slug with less than 90. While you may be going the speed limit, the driver behind you automatically discriminates and decides, against reality that you're a slow driver. I hadn't thought about this until now, but it seems to make sense; You expect a Prius to be slow because of it's eco-friendliness and therefore people jump to the conclusion that they're always going slower than they should be.

Just a side note, but you went 5 MPH for 3 hours? I find that difficult to believe, especially considering you said it took the guy that long to think of passing you.

 

Prius, 0-60, 9.8 secs. M3 4.3 secs. The guy doesn't belong in a M3. He needs a Prius.