As Much As I Love My Car, I'm Starting To Hate It!!

Maybe it's just me living in So. Cal, but I am seriously having a problem with this car. I have been in more altercations, been cut off, and darn near came to fist fights more times in the short few months I have owned this car than in any other car I have owned. I don't understand it. What is the deal?? Can someone please tell me? I can't imagine I am the only one. I have seriously altered my way of driving since buying the car, partially because it just doesn't have the size or power of past cars and trucks I have owned. Not to mention I have a little one one the way in a couple of weeks. Wanted to start altering my driving style to a more relaxed style and not be so aggressive. I still drive in the fast lane at times although not near what I used to. I still do 70-75 at times when traffic is moving. I knew from the get go that I would not be a hyper miler and get crazy off the chart fuel mileage. But there is a serious problem with the lack of respect for me in this car. It's like I'm not even there.

I had a guy yesterday that I almost came to blows with. I was driving over the overpass towards the mall and this guy in his big HD Silverado is flying up his offramp and stops almost into my lane as I'm driving by. Didn't do or say anything, just continued on my merry way. Turns out he's going to the mall too. We get the the stop sign where there is 2 turn lanes. We both make a left and I can tell he's in a hurry for whatever reason. We are driving side by side, next thing I know he starts coming over into my lane. I lay on the horn and he keeps coming. No signal, nothing. I keep on the horn and hold my ground. The car in front of him pulls down a parking lane so now he races in front of me and we both turn down the same road in the parking lot. Next thing I know, he pulls over and starts undoing his seatbelt like he's going to get out and come after me. I just kept driving by. Gave him a dirty look, but nothing more. He pulls into a parking spot a few rows over from me and we both end up out of our cars at the same time. Of course at that point I gotta say something. He was being a complete A**hole, not to mention just staring me down. My wife couldn't believe the way he was being and him saying I should be careful driving with my pregnant wife in the car. I didn't do anything!! In the midst of our yelling back and forth at eachother I realize he's acting this way in front of his poor little kid sitting in the back seat. What is wrong with these people? I just don't get it. Anyone else having these issues?

You are not the only one! I had people cut me off in the SLOW lane (I was doing the speed limit)! Although I have noticed that this seems to be curtailed as the price of gas goes up... like now.
The thing is, you just can't let em get under your skin. Relax and enjoy the FE.

we sure are, they're are already a couple of threads on it

some people just have a negative reaction to the Prius

my advice, let the guy just pass if he's in a hurry and you're not

as for me, i'll be on the freeway passing a slower moving car and they'll actually accelerate up to 20 mph faster than they were going to just avoid getting "stuck" behind a Prius

it's remarkable

i've never experienced anything like it, such a negative visceral reaction

the tailgating is unbearable, and i've already been hit once

don't get out of the car to confront anyone unless you are fully aware and prepared to deal with the consequences

Tailgating? It means you drive too slowly. Try moving to the right lane. I always drive in the left lane and wish the slower drivers would keep to the right. I have to move fast since I commute long distances.

Yes, I've same problems too. Nobody give any respect when i'm in my prius even an old and slow corolla. I'm almost tail gating the car infront of me and anybody behind me still wants me to go faster. It's just incredible. And nobody wants me in front of them either. I'm not going slow or doing pluse & glide or hypermiling in any case and keeping up with traffic all the time. It's just that everybody is jealous of the mpg and hates prius probably because they encounter alot of slow moving priuses on the street.

theyre juz jealous my friend dont let that get to you skin..

If someone doesn't respect me because of the car I drive, they can **** my ***, **** and *****. If they hit the car, they pay for it with their insurance. If they hit me, they may get the ass-whooping of a lifetime, and go to jail, or both. I'd never get in a road rage incident personally because it's just not worth it. I'd have parked far away just to avoid confrontation, especially with the wife around. If someone follows me and confronts me then, GAME ON.

I'll go the speed limit and no faster if I chose not to- if I'm going too slow, then they can pass me. Usually if I know I'm pissing someone off, I'll move out of their way.

This type of thing happened to me when I had my sportscars- MR2, S2000, even my '07 Vette. They ASSume that just because you're in a sportscar, you gotta drive like an asshat. I caught way more flack in those sportscars than I do in the Prius.

I especially like passing BMWs. Drives them crazy.

I just looked at your pics and mods. They give you trouble because they're jealous. I know I am. Looks Good!:high5:

Shawn, I too have had folks cut me off, and tail me, but based on what you stated here, you seem to be one of those people too...

You gave someone a dirty look (even though they may have deserved it), you had to say something and were yelling back and forth, not only in front of his child (which you may not have known about it at first), and your pregnant wife. Then you ask what's wrong with him?

I mean, I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but it seems to me that you were just as 'wrong' as the other guy, once you started getting into a staring contest with him, started yelling at him, and almost came to blows.

Is it worth it? So you get there after him, and need to walk a few extra spaces?

are effing kidding me?

wtf do you know about how fast i'm going and what lane i'm in?

Temper, temper. I can see why you get into trouble. Take a pill.

While tailgating does occur more often in the left lane (s), some fools do have the poor habit of tailgating whenever they have a chance...

Above all keep in mind these assholes are strangers and you should care less. I know it's hard but the best advice I can give is to not make eye contact. That will also spare you from looking at their swear finger.

Some of the worst drivers, speeders, idiots that think their driving for Nascar, rednecks, etc. drive trucks. You just have to keep an eye on the morons. They are very immature men who think their Flomasters are giving them 300 horsepower. Barely enough IQ to start a truck, let alone drive one.

all in all, i doubt the OP's situation had much to do with him owning a Prius ane likely more to do with the big guy wanting to pick on someone "getting in his way"...Situations like this tend to arise no matter what your driving, though, the fact that your car is smaller, likely kept him from backing off as you held your ground while driving.

I live in the NYC area which is the road rage capital of the world. Thank goodness you don't hear too many stories anymore but it still happens quite often. I do not think that what you drive influences other people's behavior towards you to the extent everyone thinks. What I THINK the problem is that there are Prius drivers that drive slower than the flow of traffic. If a person continually thinks that Prius drivers are slow, they are going to assume the same for you even though you may drive like 98% of the driving public. How many times have we all sighed when we get behind a big rig or a bus. Why? Because 9 times out of 10 those vehicles are going to be going slow and accelerate very slowly. We try to avoid them like the plague. Its the SAME issue when other conventional car drivers encounter a Prius. In all the years I've driven my Prius I've never been intentionally brutalized by other drivers. Unfortunately we all live in a crazy world now and must avoid that loose cannon that may inflict harm on us when we least expect it.

I have noticed an increase in drivers who simply have to pass me, regardless of what speed I'm driving. I drive the same way I always have, so it mystifies me. I don't stare anyone down though. I merely shake my head and laugh. What can you do?

This reminds me of the time a friend of mine almost got a girl pregnant or the Cuban Missile Crisis almost resulted in nuclear Armageddon.

No one wants to hear about your almost-fight with the perpetual strawman SUV/pickup driver.

I've been driving for over 40 years. One thing that I've noticed (like being hit over the head with a baseball bat) is that in densely populated areas, human beings exhibit highly aggressive behavior towards each other. If one is driving a smaller car (like a Prius) then one "appears" to be more vulnerable than somebody who is driving an SUV and is more likely to be the target of agressive behavior. With the current high un-employment rate (forget what the government economists are telling you about the recession being over), aggressive human behavior appears to be greater than 1 1/2 years ago.

Keith