Smug Prius Drivers?

Once again I don't know if it's a fundamental difference of perception or opinion between Europe and America but I'm on my second Prius and apart from being jokingly accused of driving a milk float by a friend I haven't encountered any negativity at all.

 

A good deal of the ambivalence in the US has been due to the wild swings in petrol prices. Over the past 5 years the national average price has varied from $1.61 to $4.12/US gallon and those two extremes were only 6 months apart (July '08 for the high and January '09 for the low.
A little predictability would go a long way to help people make long term purchasing decisions.

 

I can see how changes of that magnitude in such a short period of time would be cause for concern

 

Historical Gas Price Charts - GasBuddy.com Average&city2=&city3=&crude=n&tme=60&units=us

 

I get called that all the time. It's like, come on lads take the piss, but when you're all moaning about the cost of petrol, I don't care. It doesn't bother me, it could go to £2.00 a litre before I'll break out in a sweat.

Oh, and I can still beat most of them off the line

 

How much brass?......

 

lol I wish. I do 50 miles a day and average 60 mpg per tank. Assume others get 30-40 mpg and whinge. Fuel could continue on the up and not adversely affect me. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't like it, but could cope. The other savings are the free road tax. A normal car would be £200 per year or £17 a month. Ok, £17 is neither here nor there, but it's quarter tank of juice and if one is whinging about fuel costs, then £17 extra juice for free is worthwhile.

I don't understand why people whinge about fuel costs when there are many cars out there that can cut their costs in half. Even the road tax saving is not to be sniffed at if your finances are that pushed. Each to their own I guess.

 

Agreed and to add to that if you need to drive into London on a regular basis the £10 per annum for the Prius vs £10 per day for most others represents a major saving.

 

Drive into central London? lol you'd have to pay me more than £10 to do that again. Feckin madness. I thought I was a nutter driver until I went there

 

You have a point there lol

 

yes but you'd need to be SERIOUSLY committed to use them.

I don't live near London but I drove into the center a couple times last year. Imagine a narrow European two lane, one way road. Now imagine 3 lanes of traffic squeezed into it, bumper to bumper and not moving. Then imagine you're in the left lane and your satnav pipes up "In 100 yards, turn right" Now attempt to cross to the right lane. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Indicator/turn signal on, wind window down, stick arm out and don't what ever you do make eye contact.

Get's the ol' ticker beating that's for sure.

 

The historic cities you admire were designed before everyone had cars. We drive small(er) cars for many reasons; one is that fuel is expensive but the second is that the cities are smaller and parking is a nightmare. I often find the Prius too big for street parking in the city where I work. London has great public transport but other cities are not so lucky and people still like to drive a car.

 

Yes there are but don't be thinking this will prevent a van from trying to kill you on the main roads.
There are other cycle routes that take you through the parks and so on and are much safer and pleasant.

On the whole cycling in London is encouraged and there are even short term bicycle rental schemes in place where you pick up a bike in one location and drop it off at another etc