Prius Rage- Your stories

mm, seems like most posters who have road rage experiences to share come from California...

 

I live in eastern PA and drive to central New Jersey every day for work and have never experienced Prius rage anywhere. I try to drive like everyone else and since I get my gas in NJ, I stay in my car so I don't encounter other drivers. I hope it gets better for all of you who have experience the Prius Rage.

 

I think it's a little bit elitist to think that someone's rage is because you're driving a desirable car. Most of the cases I've read about here result from stupid drivers doing the same stupid things, regardless of the type of car, or in a few cases Prius drivers doing annoying things to incite the rage - things that would have invited the same response in any other car.

I really do not think anyone specifically targets Priuses for their rage. That's the kind of myopia that comes from the "club" atmosphere here. Sorry, guys, we're not "the chosen ones."

 

Oh man...here I thought I was finally the chosen one.
What a bummer!!:second:

 

x2. There's a measurable percentage of moron drivers out there. With the huge population of members on this forum, we should assume that part of this measurable percentage owns a Prius and has found their way here. If they chose to drive another flavor of vehicle they could very well be posting a similar message there.

Mike

 

Alright I'll give you a non-Prius example but it fits. Nice cars in general are targets. My drunken idiot buddy saw a nice car and decided to roll on the hood can't remember the brand (Audi, BMW or Mercedes) but he told me (and the cops after the guy tried to fight him) that he jumped on the hood because it was a "nice car". Stupider than hell but that was the reason.

I think its a little naive to think that this type of thing doesn't happen.

 

OK, so if a guy gets drunk enough he might mistake my Prius for a Mercedes and jump on my hood. I'll concede that one!

But it still falls in my category of stupid people doing stupid things that they would do to any other car. Some of them might be directed at the Prius, but I doubt it's statistically different than other cars.

By the way, what kind of friends do you hang out with?

 

Hmmm, no tolerance for debate? Is this a case of Prius rage rage?

This is America. I'll stay right here and voice my opinions in a respectful manner. You're welcome to stay here too. :argue:

 

Never experienced anything I could call Prius rage yet. Then again, here in the SF Bay Area, if you get enraged every time you see a Prius, you'd be pissed off all day

 

I have no examples of Prius-inspired anger in 2 years of ownership. The cycling tangent caught my interest though.

There have been some stupid posts by non-cyclists in this thread, but this one wins the prize for that CO2 comment!:first: Actually, it was a close race with the person who said bikes don't have a legal right to be on the roads.

I commute on my bike, and I run errands, shop for groceries, etc. on my bike as well. But it doesn't matter what I'm doing or where I'm going on the road because I still have a right to be there, even if it's my "hobby." You spend more money on your driving hobby than I do on my cycling hobby... you're not a pro driver, so you must be a hobbyist.

As has been said before, on certain roads, if a cyclist feels unsafe riding on the side (no shoulder or very narrow and/or poorly maintained shoulder) then they have a right to ride in a lane.

Having said that, I certainly agree that some cyclists either pay too little attention to traffic, or they overestimate the abilities of drivers to deal with their presence. There are also some roads that legally allow bikes, but where no sane, self-respecting cyclist should ride.

When I ride, I get out of the way of cars as much as possible, not out of respect for their tax-paying status (pfft ) or because I don't have a right to be there, but because I know most of them either don't see me or don't care. I was hit by a minivan from behind once and the driver's excuse was that I was "in the way." Seriously! Another time, I needed to make a left turn; I looked over my shoulder and saw a car a safe distance back. I signaled with my hand, while still looking back at the car to make sure he saw. I made the turn. The driver was making the same turn and he rode up dangerously close to me and honked... I shouted back at him and he yelled out his window, "how am I supposed to know what that hand signal means?!?!" WOW!, I thought... he actually said that? I guess where he lives they don't give tests before handing out driver's licenses. (not to mention the fact that the signal for turning left is... pointing left. Duh.)

When I'm driving, I give cyclists space, but I also see enough cyclists riding with disregard for their own safety... it makes me mad that they're out there making the rest of us look bad. Speaking of which, I honestly think that if you're cycling often and always getting yelled at or things thrown at you, you're doing something stupid. I bike daily in a city that's widely renowned for hateful, aggressive drivers and I've only had very rare encounters with crazy people on the road who were obviously insane before they ever saw me riding my bike. I've never had something thrown at me.
</rant>

 

I have had a drivers license for 32 years and have never been messed with like the day I have recounted in my previous post on this thread. Did I upset someone because I am a "stupid driver" as suggested by RhythmDoctor? Don't think so. I have no moving violations nor traffic accidents in my driving history. Did I do something stupid on that day? Again, I really don't think so (read my post).

Most of my family lives in California and the Prius is quite a popular vehicle (as identified by Ichiro) in that state. I am told the perception of a Prius driver is one of elitism. I have no way of knowing if this perception is truth or fiction, but, if there is any element of truth to this, would it be such a stretch to imagine Prius rage?

And, if this Prius rage could happen in California, why could it not happen anywhere?

 

As my sig states, I own a Prius and an FJ Cruiser. I drive both exactly the same way: with the flow of traffic. I don't hold up traffic, and I don't blow it away

In the FJ, whether on the highway or in city driving, nobody flips me off, cuts me off, or does anything truly stupid. When I first got my Prius, a lot of SUV and pickup drivers were, shall we say, "rude" while driving around me. Fuel in 2004 was half what it is now

One thing with fuel $1.35 a litre and up, a lot more folks are driving the speed limit, even a bit under, around here. When I returned this morning from my business trip, I took the Prius to the post office to pick up my held mail

Turning into the post office parking lot, was a right turn for me. A Dodge Ram Cummins driver was in the oncoming lane, waiting to turn left. So I had the right of way. He roared in front of me, flipping me off in the process

What the hell is it about Dodge Ram drivers? Seems most of them are scrawny guys, a natural advertisement for Viagra. I pull up next to the bugger, and you should have seen the color drain from this little guys face when I walk up to him and yell "Wth is your problem, you little s***?!!!!"

Gotta admit, I was already in a bad mood. The project is tied up in knots, I was tired from an overseas flight, etc. It was nice to spend 5 mins blowing off steam to some skinny runt who happens to drive a big pickup truck. I must have scared him, I guess taking a swing at him didn't help, he got back into his POS Dodge Ram and got the hell out of there

So if you're on a bicycle or in a Prius and some retard in an SUV or a pickup threatens you, stick up for yourself. If you live in an area where handguns are common, consider getting a CCW permit to protect yourself

Once these illiterate retards figure out we'll stick up for ourselves, the road rage will probably drop off. I'm not recommending actual confrontation unless you've had training in that field, it's too dangerous

I've already suggested during a Community Policing seminar here last month, the best way for the RCMP to catch Road Rage is to buy a Prius and outfit it with high resolution hidden cameras and hidden LED flashers. They are seriously considering that idea for around Winnipeg.

Even the dumbest redneck pickup driver is careful around a white Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor with a black grille, black tinted rear and side windows, and a big hulking guy with a shaved head driving it. But a Prius? Well, that would be like waving a flag in front of a horny bull

Let's hope police departments step up, buy something like a Prius or VW New Beetle, or any other car considered "gay" by the redneck hillbilly white supremist pickup driving crowd, and clean things up

 

I hope I don't have to go through all this non-sense road rage with my Prius. I just let it pass and go on with my way and safely cruise down the road.

 

I have a guy at work who drives a big big Dodge diesel pickup. He makes fun of me and says I am un America for driving a Prius. I just laugh, because he is disable from a injury he recived while in combat. I like him but I bet he spends well over $125 to fill his truck with high price diesel fuel.

 

Did you ask him if it is more patriotic to use extra foreign oil?

 

I have a lot of road rage myself :evil:

 

I am not going to sort through 100+ messages to find yours. But I can state quite equivocally that I never intended to imply that any victim of road rage is a "stupid driver." My "stupid driver" comment was targeted at the perpetrators of road rage. I deeply regret that I was not more clear about that. I did not mean to offend you or anyone else.

There were also a few posts where people admitted driving slowly or doing other things to make the situation worse. While it is never a good idea to egg on the idiots who are driving aggressively, even that does not justify a case of road rage against someone.

My point is not to deny that road rage exists. There are idiots out there that do drive irresponsibly and are a danger to themselves and others. However, I do not believe that Priuses are targeted outside of statistical norms. Yes, there are people who don't like Priuses. But there are also Dodge Ram drivers who don't like F150's, Miata drivers who don't like Vettes, etc.

I do not have proof of any of this, so you can disagree if you choose. I will say that since buying my Prius 2 months ago, and my wife's 1 month ago, we have never noticed any discourteous behavior that was any different then when we were driving our Accord and Grand Voyager.

Again, let me apologize to anyone I have offended. I did not mean to, although I will freely admit that I may have written my message using some provocative wording.

 

Probably best if you try to ride on the side of the road rather than the middle Brad.