Constantly being Bullied on the Road ...

Most of the road bullies in Alberta drive jacked up F150/Ram/Tundras. They are the same guys that idle excessively and think the whole city wants to hear their aftermarket mufflers.

I don't understand why the lift kits for these trucks aren't illegal. When their bumper meets the window of a passenger sedan, it becomes a safety issue that the government needs to deal with.

Anyway, I see them as idiots, and they see the Prius (and the liberal environmental consciousness that it has come to represent) as an opportunity to put on their little mating dance. Some uneducated guys need this to make up for an inferiority complex so I TRY not to get worked up about it - and hope that one of them doesn't drive over my car.

 

Yeah, there is an old saying "do as I say, not as I do" and it applies here. All the hillbilly trailertrash prefer to hide behind a login, we pretty much leave it out in the open

Also cute how the Prius is even blamed for a war and casulties in [insert name of country we had no effing business ever getting involved in, which had not one effing thing to do with a certain event involving airplanes and tall buildings]

 

What is it with those drivers in Calgary, Edmonton, and god help you, Ft Mac? Thank God for gun control. If they tried the same stunts in Utah, they'd be shot

 

I agree 100%. I don't have too much trouble with other drivers tailgating me because I usually leave most behind me as I get up to my intended cruising speed. I try to limit that cruise to 5 MPH or less above the posted speed limit, so some do end up going around. With no window tinting on my classic Prius, they can clearly see that I am rather large, so they typically won't get rude. Very few occasions have I had to actually get out of my car for an "attitude adjustment".

The exceptions here tend to be the "kids" driving late model mustangs that like to burn rubber leaving traffic lights. I do love the puzzled look that they give the classic, trying to figure out what kind of car it is, as they come up to me at the next light after getting left behind by a car that launches well without burning rubber. Needless to say, they usually don't try that again!

Bob

 

I am from Alberta and have never been bullied once since I got my Prius last May.

OK, I lied... I was bullied once but it took place when I was in Victoria, BC! (a place that is supposed to be more left leaning then Alberta). We were in line at the Ferry terminal in T'waissen (spelling?) and some in a truck with BC plates said "You either have more money then you know what to do with or your just @!@!ing retarted!"

 

A lot of it, crazy enough, is your state of mind. I used to think the same thing. they are looking at me. they are bullying me. it was all in my head. i walked in late to a friend's parent's party...and could hear "record scratch" as i walked in. I felt the whole party freeze, and just would not take their stares off me all night. when I asked my friend the next day what everyone's problem was, why they just had to fixate on me all night...he said, "r u friggin crazy? you think you are that interesting that everyone just forgot to have fun that night, and fixated on you? NO one even remembers you coming! much less if you showed up on time or not!"

and he was right! it was all in my head. And we've all done it before.

Best advice when driving. Take all emotion out of it....like you're playing a video race car game. when the purple car in the video game cuts you off...do you get angry? do you make judgements on it? NO! you simply go around it and avoid it. And if you treat other cars on the road like this...road rage, and paranoia, go right out the door

 

They wouldn't have been giggling after I got done with them

I recently upgraded the bumpers on my FJ, to units that are solid steel and actually meant to bump. A wee bit icy out there with the warmer temps.

Came to a red light, and thanks to winter tires, had little problem stopping. Felt a bump, and looked behind. Some dumb punk in a ricer had slid into me

He felt pretty bad, headlights smashed, plasticky parts shattered, but my rear bumper didn't even have a scratch. I'm sure he learned a valuable lesson about following too closely

If I had been in my Prius, there probably would have been significant damage

 

Has happened perhaps four times to me, call it once a year. Not exactly a daily occurance

Oh, why can't somebody say that to MY face? Must be the mean, bald, 800 lb gorilla look I have

 

I just came across a rather entertaining article and set of rather
biting comments that's related, boston-centric but could easily apply
anywhere. Anywhere you have trailer-trash knuckle-draggers trying to
pass themselves off as authors and writing about the Prius, anyways.
.
Merge, Prius, merge! Acceleration from yesteryear - Boston Overdrive - Boston.com
.
For the record, I get around the same area all the time using no more
than 25 or *maybe* 30 kilowatts at the extreme, which doesn't even
bring battery assist into the equation.
.
Never fail to consider the loaded semi on the uphill on-ramp.
.
_H*

 

I like the "wash your windshield" technique. What I usually do is ever-so-gingerly slow down. This forces the idiot to go around me. What I make sure, is that I'm in the right-most lane where slower traffic is supposed to be. If I'm in one of the higher-speed lanes, I make sure I'm doing the speed others are doing. If I get a tailgater, I still slow down to force him to pass, then speed back up.

 

This issue is definitely worse in SoCal. I went to visit a friend in LA last month. Was driving 85 in the right lane and was still tailgated all the time! Even when the left lane was free.

 

You are telling lies Jayman, people never tailgate big vehicles and the FJ is a pretty big vehicle. We all know from the posts on PriusChat that only small and econo-cars get tailgated. wake up now and stop dreaming, you know this never happened.

 

To spray tailgaters to maximum effect, use this liquid

 

You know I think this goes both ways. I'm out hear in southern CA & I do drive a big lifted diesel 4x4 with 37" tires on it. I dont talegate people but I do see more people driving the prius (more so than other cars. or at least thats how it seems) cutting people off, talegating, driving in the fast lane & car pool lane driving 5-10 below the speed limit. It seems like (at least the prius drivers hear in southern CA)they seem to be compleatly olbivious to anyone else on the road. It seems like they think they own the road bec they "think" they are saving the environment. If someone talegates me i will break check them and they normaly back off. If I am going slower than the flow of traffic I will move over and let them buy unless traffic is already moving slow and there is noware to go (witch is most of the time hear in SO CAL) I am not saying anyone is right or wrong hear. Im just saying from what I see hear in so cal. The prius driving people that are getting talegated are nomaly the ones cutting off people and driving 55-60 in the fast lane or carpool lane when the flow of traffic is moving 65-70+ Again this is just my thoughts from what i see hear in So Cal.

 

I can't identify with this topic. I live in South Carolina, where it feels like 75% of the cars on the road are either pickups, SUVs, or a lifted version of the former. You would **think** this would be a hellish place to drive a Prius. Do I see my share of discourtesy? You bet. More than anybody else? Not a chance. I see lifted pickups get cut-off, too. Except having that happen in a big top-heavy vehicle is a whole lot scarier than having to maneuver a smaller, more agile car. I like driving here better than I liked driving in CT and MA when I still thought 80mph was a reasonable speed.

Nobody on the road cares that you are driving a Prius. Nobody on the road will remember you five seconds after blowing around you (unless you reciprocate the supposed aggression). Bad drivers are not about you, period. So don't mistake it for something personal.

 

I never see this agression to Prius drivers, I do get a little more respect on the road in a marked patrol vehicle but the Prius gets no more or less respect than my last car or unmarked work cars.

 

Until the "nascar mentality" subsides, the tailgating and stupidity will continue...with the clueless generation on the loose...who knows what will happen...remember "you cant fix stupid"..........a sign of the times...thats why its safer at 10000ft than on the road...