My first run-in with Prius hate

Yes, this is true. In addition to my Prius, I drive a small truck.

 

At least you're not insecure about any of it.

Dave M.

 

More SUV bashing?

I have had every make of car, truck, bus, van, motorcycle do that to me ------->WHILE I WAS DRIVING AN SUV<------------

Please get off your prius horse.

 

i guess people will be complaining next that the prius guy is driving like an nice person.. and has too much aggression( oh wait. that's me)

he think's he's all mighty in his SUV so he cuts me off.. well.. i cut him off.. while he's punching it... doing 73... he wanted to accelerate around me... so i cut him off again! ( i can change lanes faster!)

one of these days i'll pay dearly for my road rage... till then i wait.

the moral being... it really doesn't matter what car you drive.... oh wait.. there's a moral?

 

I usually drive 62-63 in the right lane of my 4-lane highway commute. Usually people just tailgate at the places you would expect them too -- ie. their exit is coming up so they have to be in the right lane behind me. Sometimes I'll pick up the speed a little or get out of their way. In NC there isn't as much road rage/tailgating as I experienced in the DC area, where I drove completely different cars and drove them faster than I do the Prius.

Last week I was driving along and a Honda Accord came flying around in one of the outer lanes. Behind that -- a Prius ... tailgating the Accord.

I'm sure the Accord driver must have provoked the Prius driver into it.

 

That's why I wonder if it would help if every vehicle had to have a mpg meter. My 2007 Altima has one (which I purchased a year before the Prius), and I tend to drive it more slowly to save on gas as a result. (I get the same responses from other drivers when I drive the Altima as I do the Prius.) Maybe more people (though obviously not all) would slow down if they knew how their driving habits and their vehicles affects their mpg. Of course, with gas under $2/gallon now it probably doesn't matter as it would at $4.

 

I've seen a few drivers in big pickups / SUV's come up behind on city streets. I move over to let them pass. I cannot stand being tailgated in my new car.

 

The roads in our area are two lane state highway or county roads, all with a 55 mph speed limit. The main highway, M22, curves and twists its way along the shoreline. It's one of the most beautiful roads in the state, but it's also bad for passing. There aren't many straight stretches, and those usually are short and feature hills. To add to the aggravation, we have a lot of tourists and RV traffic.

When I get behind slower traffic on M22, I usually just slow down and pace the traffic. You don't loose much time, and the drive is a lot safer. Now with the Prius I also get to enjoy optimal gas mileage as a bonus.

What amuses me is when some tool in a big gas guzzler rides my rear end, chomping at the bit to pass. At the first chance they blast around and start riding the rear end of the next car up. What invariably happens is I meet them at the traffic light at the south end of the county, where they have gained one or two car positions for all of their aggressive driving. It just doesn't make much difference in the 25 miles to Traverse City.

Tom

 

Personally, I like beating up drivers who cut me off. The look on their face when the 800 lb gorilla gets out of his Prius is just priceless

 

If you are driving a big truck or SUV, those tailgaters don't look quite so close in the rear-view mirror.

Often, new Prius owners are a bit overwhelmed by the large grills in the back window. Try cutting some slack as we reassure them that no one is targeting them in particular.

Mr. Incredible was right, btw.

 

Your Prius must look like one of those clown cars with you getting out.

Tom

 

No, my prius is a clown car!!!

 

Not quite that bad. The Prius is actually more roomy - for a big guy - than most cars. It helps that over the past two years I've shed a lot of blubber, I'm down to 170 lbs.

Nice to be all muscle again. When I was carrying 265, that didn't feel very good

 

Oy

:doh:

Actually, one of my childhood dreams was to be a clown. Alas, just one more childhood dream that never came true

 

*checks under waistband* Hmm, I don't think anything's changed
since I was still driving the Big Brown Box eight years ago...
.
Tailgating has certainly become more of a way of life in that
time, though -- without regard to vehicle type or fuel prices,
that I can see. Someone offered the theory that some of it might
be brought on by "feeling safer" with all the triple-redundant
airbags they're loading onto vehicles these days. I thought the
whole idea was to not hit things with your vehicle in the first place??
.
_H*

 

I noticed, not so much as hate when driving the Grey Shark, that people will tailgate and cut you off more than when driving a bigger vehicle.

Case in point: my other vehicle is a F250 Superduty Diesel w/ a massive front grill guard. The rear bumber is equipped w/ a bright orange trailer tow ball hitch. When people see this beast on the road, they give me plenty of room.

Dbcassidy

 

Well those that realise it handles like a wet sponge, has crap brakes and if you get up close behind it you can't see past it do.

 

This evening on the way home I saw two Prius in the far left lane of a 4-lane highway -- one hot on the bumper of the other, apparently tailgating for the one in front to move over. Watched them drive pretty far up the road that way.

The way I see most Prius being driven in NC, I doubt too many are getting much over the low 40s in mpg.

 

Aggressive drivers always drive erratically and dangerously. Their driving methods have nothing to do with Prii or other vehicles. Continue to drive prudently and safely, moving with the speed of flow of traffic. You will see other drivers exhibit the same erratic and dangerous behavior. Often times they are playing "tag" or "cat and mouse" down the highway with other vehicles. It has nothing to do with Prii.

 

You must not have ever driven one of those.

Mine out excellerates, out corners, and out brakes the Pruis, as well as many other small cars. When driven like a normal driver might do it is just as docile. If you can't see around, go around.

Methinks you generalize-eth too much...