Prius hate? [Serious question]

oh, in that other thread ?

1 yes, I pointed out common failure points that drivers make, and in doing so perturb other drivers. doing so causes other drivers to interact with them in a negative manner.

is this surprising to you ? it's not to me.

2 correct. everyone involved in the pile up, was not responsible for causing it. read that again, read it slowly. I believe I said that citing everyone in a pile up does nothing to prevent future pileups, or similar . I'll go back in look in a minute.

citing the people responsible for causing (see, cause) the pile up, will probably be cited, and probably should be cited.

will citations prevent:
texting instead of merging?
watching movies instead of driving ?
driving drunk ?
driving high ?
driving tired ?
following too closely ?
etc ?

I wish it would, but if driving records are any indicator of future habits, increasing skill, or decreasing poor habits, I believe the answer is no.

 

well, that's a good enough reason for me.

 

Pretty sure it was this very thread right here.

Another way to look at a "pile up" is as a bunch of crashes. Is driver A responsible for the crash at the front of it? Is driver A responsible for driver A's crash?

There could be something to the idea suggested by fuzzy1: did you crash because of something that suddenly and unforeseeably appeared in your lane, or because your chosen speed/distance behind what was already in front of you squandered your options?

 

I purchased my Prius in 2012, it has been a wonderful car. The longer I have been driving the more and more I've noticed a consistent increasing aggressive behaviour amongst truck drivers. I drive the highway everyday and I have experienced a multitude of dangerous aggressions towards my car. I drive it fast, using the left only to pass, and I do not drive up someone's undercarriage. When I see a truck I can only assume as soon as I pass it on the road it will retaliate against me. As though I somehow insulted them. I have a dash camera because I became increasingly placed into dangerous situations by individuals whose self-esteem is somehow wrapped around their vehicles, like a bully on the play ground upset that your joke about them made everyone laugh. It is comical, but also very frightening. I ask my husband to drive my car, just in case it was in my head or something I was doing wrong and unaware of. However, he too said it was weird how aggressive he found truck drivers were towards him when he drove the Prius. Not sure why it bruises their egos so much? I just keep telling myself how much gas they waste trying to flex their muscles.

 

in canada? i'm shocked

 

It isn't just the Prius that causes this behavior.

Many who buy these trucks have no real use for the truck form factor but see owing one as an expression of their masculinity. And they drive that way. Add in Covid frustration and it has gotten much worse over the last few years. But it isn't just men and it isn't just trucks. Young ladies seem to have sped up too. Then add in the phone distractions.

I enter my subdivision off a 55 MPH road where the average speed is 65. I have to make a left turn and traffic density is such that I have to get in the left/speed lane early or there is no way anyone will let me in to make the turn. Add in that the last stretch is going down a steep hill and I have people climbing my bumper every time. Flashing their lights. Blaring their horns. Passing me and then cutting in front of me. I've had to resort to putting on my turn signal maybe 500 yards before the traffic light I need to use to make the turn. There are a minimum of 3 very serious accidents at that intersection every year. 53 year old died in a head-on crash last Friday. Truck ran through the stop light and then a barrier and into a lake a month ago. The metal barrier is always bright and shiny because it gets replaced so often.

We have begged for enforcement. But to keep the budget low ... maybe a day every 6 months.

It isn't just where you live, or you, or the car you drive.

 

Down here, I've been finding a very broad selection vehicles being more aggressive since the Pandemic began, regardless whether I'm in my Prius or Subaru. And we have a very significantly boosted annual fatality rate to show for it.

The latest available reporting period still shows Vehicle Miles Traveled down from pre-Pandemic levels, despite the increased deaths. That mean total traffic isn't up, instead the death rate per mile driven is up.

 

And the high fuel prices hasn't lead to people slowing down.

 

Me as well! Almost seems as if people forgot how to drive during the pandemic...and are now much more aggressive and/or angry. It is a very strange phenomenon.

 

Nah.

Same, age old problem.
It merely presents differently in modernity.

https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2016/09/the_basic_laws_of_human_stupidity.html

TL ; DR
Stupid People.
They're universally under-counted and underestimated.

One of (5) Cipolla's laws provides the 'secret sauce' with dealing with stupid people:
It admonishes the members of society who tacitly encourage stupidity.


Most of us are guilty.

"Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake."

The USNA teaches a simpler interpretation:
Never wrestle with a pig.
You both get nasty, and the pig likes it.

 

Aggressive driving - the insurance industry will bases their ratings when it (along with negligence) causes an accident & then assigns fault. Plus, more states' insurance agencies are now using GPS tracking to determine who is pulling traffic &/or failing to stop. Still, it might be surprising where exactly your state fits. The results change yearly, too;



From the chart above - generally it appears the south is worse than the north.
.

 

There is a certain level of arrogance here along the lines of “he cut me up I’m gonna hit him since my insurance will pay out as it’s his fault”. There are plenty of “victim” dashcam footage on YouTube and PBS where it is blatant that the “victim” didn’t even attempt to brake before rear ending the so called aggressor.

 

Around here pretty much NOBODY does a legal stop at stop signs, or when turning right on a red. Signalling is “elective” too. And it’s widely understood the speed limit is the MINIMUM speed, at least until there’s a cop in the mix.

 

OH...Of course it is.
People in Boston, NY, and Philly are world renowned for their polite driving.

 

While I'll agree with the aggressive and angry parts, I wouldn't say they forgot. Here, it seems like more of a case that enforcement has dropped sharply, allowing people to get away with much more bad behavior.

Between Covid, blowback over abuse of force after George Floyd and very many others, greatly reduced staffing from defunding and attrition, new laws and policies no longer allowing police to stop or pull over a significant number of offenders, and lack of court and justice system capacity to properly handle the offenders that they are still catching, forcing prompt release of many who really ought to be held longer, there is simply less reason and pressure for people to be on good behavior.

 

The only thing that stops a bad driver with a car......is ANOTHER bad driver with a car.

 

... and not only are cops in the mix less frequently now, they aren't obeying speed limits either. And since they can't possibly pull over and cite an entire herd, their tolerance threshold has necessarily been pushed higher.

 

Enforcement seems to be picking up around here...I've seen a LOT more police and state troopers out stopping people lately.

Maybe that's why people are pissed off!

 

Aren't post speed limits generally higher in the south?

 

Thinking Texas? across large swathes of land? That'd be true. Having driven around parts of Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri ..... never noticed higher speed - but as the guy in the slow lanes - it'd be easy to miss.
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