Prius Drivers?

[mootsman]

FWIW

Dunno how much alike other drivers I am but I can say this:

1. I don't own a cat which seems to be the predominant pet here (do have a WONDERFUL Border Collie).
2. I'm 60 but my wife and I kayak, mountain bike race, and play in a bluegrass band.
3. I've been retired 7 years and I'm serious about the important issues but otherwise am not wound up too tight.
4. Generally speaking I feel more like an outlier on this forum than the others I frequent (Cycling, Civil War History, Bluegrass Music, guitars, etc.)
5. I've seen one other Prius since I bought mine two weeks ago and that was on an out of state trip.
6. For the guy who recently posted that Prius drivers looked like grandfathers -- as stated I'm 60 but this photo might adjust your attitude a little about us old folks.
7. Our other vehicle is a Honda Element and that is a very friendly community, i.e., waving at one another, etc.
Pardon the ramble

[GreenGene]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(miwaku @ Aug 2 2006, 09:02 AM) [snapback]296199[/snapback]</div>

Before I traded in my 99 Prelude, we all waved & flashed at one another. Now my fellow Prii drivers rarely do so. Last week in DC, I saw so many Prii, it would've been exhausting to wave...[/b]

Yeah. One day last week, on just one street, I saw two Barcelona Reds coming at me. I looked each driver right in the eye and smiled and was ready to wave, but they never looked in my direction. That afternoon I probably saw 20 or more Prii on the way down I-95. If I had waved at them all, my arm would have gotten quite a workout.

I'm sorry to say that I think I missed the Prius wave moment in time.

But I'm happy to say that I didn't miss getting a Prius!

[Soylent]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mootsman @ Aug 2 2006, 09:30 AM) [snapback]296207[/snapback]</div>

FWIW

Dunno how much alike other drivers I am but I can say this:

1. I don't own a cat which seems to be the predominant pet here (do have a WONDERFUL Border Collie).
2. I'm 60 but my wife and I kayak, mountain bike race, and play in a bluegrass band.
3. I've been retired 7 years and I'm serious about the important issues but otherwise am not wound up too tight.
4. Generally speaking I feel more like an outlier on this forum than the others I frequent (Cycling, Civil War History, Bluegrass Music, guitars, etc.)
5. I've seen one other Prius since I bought mine two weeks ago and that was on an out of state trip.
6. For the guy who recently posted that Prius drivers looked like grandfathers -- as stated I'm 60 but this photo might adjust your attitude a little about us old folks.
7. Our other vehicle is a Honda Element and that is a very friendly community, i.e., waving at one another, etc.
Pardon the ramble
[/b]

Hehe you're exactly how I'd picture a Prius driver.

[molgrips]

Mootsman - what the hell are you riding in that picture?

[Skwyre7]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenGene @ Aug 2 2006, 09:31 AM) [snapback]296209[/snapback]</div>

Yeah. One day last week, on just one street, I saw two Barcelona Reds coming at me. I looked each driver right in the eye and smiled and was ready to wave, but they never looked in my direction. That afternoon I probably saw 20 or more Prii on the way down I-95. If I had waved at them all, my arm would have gotten quite a workout.

I'm sorry to say that I think I missed the Prius wave moment in time.

But I'm happy to say that I didn't miss getting a Prius!
[/b]

Gene, next time I'm up in NoVa, I'll be sure to wave to all the Barcelonas I see, just in case you are one of them. I'll wave to all the other Prii too.

I did actually get a Prius wave in DC a couple weeks ago from a Driftwood with NY plates.

I rarely get a wave in Richmond anymore. It's kind of sad. But most of the Prius drivers down here are older (I'm 26, so a lot of people fit into that "older" category) and seem to be concentrating on their own driving.

[randreed]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mootsman @ Aug 2 2006, 09:30 AM) [snapback]296207[/snapback]</div>

6. For the guy who recently posted that Prius drivers looked like grandfathers -- as stated I'm 60 but this photo might adjust your attitude a little about us old folks.
[/b]

That GREAT picture needs some sort of soundtrack added!

[Starfall]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenGene @ Aug 2 2006, 08:31 AM) [snapback]296209[/snapback]</div>

That afternoon I probably saw 20 or more Prii on the way down I-95. If I had waved at them all, my arm would have gotten quite a workout.[/b]

What was once a clique phenomenon is now a mainstream fact of life. There is probably one Prius per square block in the part of town where I live. Most people just use it for transportation - it is a car, after all.

A lot of people on PriusChat tend to view their cars & the whole "Prius experience" differently. No value judgment implied but it's just that it's unrealistic to expect others to conform to our norms & expectations.

If I asked my neighbor what his car's name was or what mods he had made, he'd most likely search the ground for the screw which must have most assuredly come loose from my head ... <_<

[nerfer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clifford @ Aug 1 2006, 10:28 PM) [snapback]296064[/snapback]</div>

In my area, while driving my 2006 Prius, I find that most Prius drivers look old, serious, and self absorbed.
No one waves or hardly looks as I pass let alone waves back. What is the deal here?
[/b]

Maybe they're too busy with the MFD, trying to get into no-arrows mode...

I grew up in a rural area where everybody waved to each other anway. Nothing too big, just a couple fingers off the steering wheel. I've tried waving to people in similar cars here, but never gotten much of a response.

[jimmyrose]

Maybe they're all too focused on the MFD's energy/consumption screen to notice other Prii.
I've waved a couple of times (Rand are you ignoring me? :P ), but haven't gotten one back.
We do this all the time on motorcycles and it's pretty consistent and still pretty cool after 5 years of riding. The only ones who generally don't wave back (outside of being in a tight turn, using the clutch, etc.) I've found are Harley owners who seem not to respect metric bikes (aka rice-burners - disclaimer - not my term). Not all Harley owners, mind you, but 9 out 0f 10 times the guy who didn't return the wave is on a Harley. Just the way it is and no big deal.
I wave anyway. I do it because it's a friendly thing for ME to do, not because I expect something back.

[efusco]

I do agree that we 'enthusiasts' here at PC are a far different breed than the majority of those who now own a Prius. Many of us were early adopters while the skeptics and more cautious stayed away until us guinea pigs worked out the kinks.

I'm sure that some of these folks are not very interested in the inner workings of HSD, never even heard the term pulse & glide, and their eyes would glaze over completely as we started to discuss the data out put on the CAN-View.

They bought a fuel efficient practial car at a reasonable price that had some nice amenities and maybe they thought that being a hybrid it was kinda cool and cutting edge...but the fascination ended there.

Initially I was kinda disappointed that I wasn't so 'unique' any more when I started seeing a Prius on an almost daily basis. But now, I'm happy. I get a good feeling inside that this car is making it. It is accepted, it is main stream, it is "just another car"...and that is a darn good thing IMO. The fear and ignorance will go away and hybrids will be seen as the way cars should be, just as every car should have seat belts and air bags.

Certainly there's still a place for us enthusiasts....we're going to be the ones to break in the PHEVs, to convince folks that those work and aren't inconvenient too. And one day we may catch up to Darell and be on the cutting edge of long range every-day EVs.