Prius Rage- Your stories

this guy "fm.illuminatus" seems to be one a case of mild Prius hate:

Has anyone ever dyno'd a prius? - Toyota Forums :: Toyota Nation

In Canada there doesn't seem to be any special hatred towards the Prius. Maybe in the early days Prius owners were viewed as snobbish rich people who wanted to feel good.

I'm just a regular guy trying to get high mpg and low emissions. I'm aware that driving any car including the Prius isn't helping the environment. The only car helping the environment is the one not built and not driven. The Prius is just "less bad" for the environment compared to other cars.

Just the fact that we have a MFD displaying our mpg is affecting the way we drive. I bet if every car had a large mpg indicator, you would see a nation-wide 10-30% reduction in fuel consumption.

 

i have one to add. thursday the 3rd I started accelerating a little slowly from a light, 2nd in line behind another car. so the guy behind me honks his horn at me. gets angry and zips in the right lane, cant get infront of me to cut me off, so he zips back behind me. we get to a road which is one lane in each direction, and like the true idiot that he is (mind you i am already going well over the 35 speed limit) he actually goes to the opposite lane, speeds ahead of me, and almost takes out a car head-on before he cuts back infront of me. coming up to the next light after following him the first thing out of his mouth is "you stupid prius drivers drive so slow"

quite interesting how many different cars i notice accelerate slowly, especially if you have nowhere to go. but only because it was a prius did he get upset. he was driving a nothing little economy car, maybe it was a rental because his suv was in an accident or something... i just couldnt believe the anger merely because of what i choose to drive.

 

I have experienced more rage toward me while driving my work car. I don't dribble off the line at the lights in my Prius though, I set the pace and most don't match it. Currenty getting 4.0L/100km driving like that.

 

there is a little country back-road i like to take because i can drive 45 to town in the right lane if there's traffic (p&g if no other traffic). the other option to get to town is a 65 mph hwy...

needless to say, driving 45 (in a 50) in the right lane gets constant tailgaters, people flashing their brights at me, honking their horns, flipping me off, etc. seriously, i guess i could understand if this were a two-lane and they had no choice, but all they have to do is get in the left lane! i guess i don't understand why people in East Texas are so belligerent!

 

The best is when its 2AM, and I'm going 55 on the highway with 6 lanes. There were maybe 3 or 4 other cars on the road, but this Expedition decides to get right behind me flashin the brights and honking.

 

i get it a lot of times
people making hand movements and speeding with a lot of engine noise when passing me.
funny my car before the prius was a sports car and i also drove that one the same slow way and almost never do i get any irritated people!

 

I don't get it in the Prius any worse than other cars I've had. Most people who make a comment just want to know what the "real" mileage is. Occasionally I'll get a comment to the tune of "I guss you don't have to worry about gas prices anymore!" and I'll reply that I do, because I still have to buy it.

The aggressive drivers don't care what I drive. They'll tailgate me, then pass and tailgate the next car or truck.

 

I drive at posted speed limits and with traffic flow. Never really had any problems with gas guzzlers out there. If they want to pass, I let them pass and I maintain my cruising speed. My 'lead foot' days are over...it is time to maximize my mpg and enjoy the drive.

 

I have not really had any different experiences in the Prius. I typically do 71-72 on the freeway (65 posted) and not in the number one lane (left lane for those who don't know how they are numbered- left to right) and in a 35 I do 40.
There is always going to be some ignorant, bottom-feeding member of society driving some POS gas guzzler with whiskey dents all over it, who is in a great hurry to get to the unemployment office or maybe their job at McDonald's where they are in charge of french fries. I just laugh at them because that is how their entire life is and sooner or later they are going to pay for their ways.

 

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No specific Prius rage that I've noticed, but I do get, and love to, those rocket scientists who maneuver out from behind my coasting to a red light. They have to be all dramatic about it, revving the engine, speeding past me, then hard break at the red light, so much so their car's rear end lifts up at the line -if they are smart enough to do that. A lof of these idiots put their whole car in front of the white line and creep forward anticipating the green light.

Then here I come, just coasting to the light next to them, the light turns green, and I'm off on momentum. They are at a dead stop gunning it.

It's an extra reward when the left turning light changes to green first, and they lurch forward but have to wait because that wasn't our light.

HA HA. Gives me much satisfaction. Although, I'd be more satisfied if they practiced cleaner driving, but sometimes it's nice to know their stupidity is having a direct effect on their wallet.
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Hi All,

Get the usual tailgating (drafting) by right lane racers (which is where I am on the highway). There is a box truck which tends to tailgate me for 1/2 mile with a parallel exit lane available. Then he pulls into the exit lane at the last instant.

Something notable though happened a week or so ago. There is a hill on the highyway, over which is a long stretch, and then usual traffic slowdown. On the hill vehicles from another road merge in a long merging lane. So, in the right lane, there is a solid white line (no lane change right), and the merging lane to the right.

I was coming up the hill at the head of about 10 vehicles, the lanes to the left were going maybe 5 mph faster, and people were driving closely to each other. The tail end vehicle in the group was a 18 wheeled truck. As the 18 wheel truck gets past the start of the merging lane, and me near the end of the merging lane, a black SUV darts into the merging lane (no cars from the other road there) from behind the truck. He goes into presumably a WOT accelleration, as he is going well faster than the other cars behind me. I pull into the center of the two lane wide merged lane as the white line ends (two lanes are now one, no lines). Black SUV is about 5 cars back when I do this. By the time he reaches me, causing the other vehicles behind me to brake to give him the space, the lineless merged lane has narrowed to 1 1/2 normal lanes wide. And he nails his brakes right behind me.

Clearly, this driver has depth perception problems. Or is so goal orientened, that saftey is the last thing in his mind.

Eventually, there is a hole in the traffic to the left, and he goes around, pulling back into the right lane at a dangerous distance to me. As he pulls away he sticks his hand out the door making the shape of a "L" . I guess that meant he was sorry, but he had to do that because he was soo "Little" and was compensating. ;-) . Black large SUV and all. What do you all think?

 

One of the things I really like about the Prius is that being a fairly large guy (6'1") I sit far enough up in the seat that I can't see the faces of SUV drivers. Better to just let them be mad if they want, if I don't see its like that tree falling in a deserted forest. I do get people who tailgate when I drive the speed limit - but they tailgated me before when I drove a pickup truck too. Too bad for them, if you don't like me driving the speed limit, call a cop.

 

As he pulls away he sticks his hand out the door making the shape of a "L" . I guess that meant he was sorry, but he had to do that because he was soo "Little" and was compensating. ;-) . Black large SUV and all. What do you all think?

Are you sure he was sorry?
Around these parts if someone makes that gesture it means they are pointing a gun at you.

 

I have not had a problem since applying my "honk if you want me to drive slower" bumper sticker.

 

i always drive 10mph over speed limit and the funny thing is...
i used to drive a fast car, an evo.. and when i drove 50 on a 40, people never passed me, even if i drove 45 on a 40...
now i drive a prius at 50mph on a 40, people still fly by me at 55 or 60 or higher! they just feel its an insult driving slower than a prius or something... :crazy:
lucky i've never seen any rude or reckless driver YET.

 

I drive the safe speed for the road and conditions but never go faster than the posted speed limit. The surest way to get me to take my foot off the GO peddle is to crowd me. I wont hit the brake but will let the car slow down as it wants to. I had to do that once. I let it slow like that with the foot off the peddle until it got down to 5 mph once and the jerk behind was flashing and honking and crowing all the way. I was also on the phone and called a trooper who met us at the roads end and saw the jerk and pulled him over. I stopped too and preferred charges against him for assault. The cop called me and said the judge gave him a $1500 fine and told him if he is ever brought in again on a road rage citation he instantly gets 90 days for contempt. I bet that guy really hates me now. *snicker!*

 

i love the people who continue to floor it even when coming on a red light. i start to slow down and coast to the stop when they have to slam on their brakes. it just makes no sense for them to waste gas and brakes when you KNOW you have to eventually stop. I guess people are really just short sighted...

I live in too big of a city to call the cops and have them take care of someone with a road rage problem, but I didn't have to pull up next to him and ask what his problem was, I just decided to find out why he thought there was anywhere to go, I was accelerating slow from the light but I was keeping my 2-3 car distance from the car in front of me

 

This morning I was driving on a road with speed limit about 35 miles. Sometimes it's possible to go considerably faster on this road if there is no traffic, but that wasn't the case. There were 3 cars in front of me, with a construction truck in the lead keeping our speed right down to the limit. Being a conscientious Prius driver, I kept a reasonable distance in front of me rather than tailgating as the others were doing.

A sports car came up behind me and started tailgating me. I had nowhere to go on this one lane road. We were going downhill, so I presume he could see the cars in front of me. He insisted on passing me anyway--then had to sit behind the same cars I was stuck behind in the first place. What a dumb-nice person. I'm sure in his mind he was thinking, oh, those Prius drivers are such road hogs, etc. But I was as limited by traffic as he was. It was very satisfying to see him sitting behind those cars when I turned off. And I was in 99.9 mpg mode the whole time. Sucker!