Do you drive like a jerk?

Huh. Interesting

So, if I got one of these

Dodge - 2009 Charger - Muscle Car, Performance Car, Sedan

and stuck on one of these

PB-Car-Charger

I'd be all set.

Cool!

 

I've wanted to get a push bar for the Prius, but no one seems to carry one. :madgrin:

The article seems to contradict one posted by Hobbit on his links page:

SCIENCE HOBBYIST: Traffic Waves, physics for bored commuters

 

My theory, and I have said this before on Prius Chat is, when the light goes green sink the bloody right slipper into the carpet, get moving! Want to reduce your countries dependency of Arab oil? If during rush hour you dawdle through the light and because of your actions 2 cars that might have made it through are stuck at the light then those 2 cars will be replaced by another 2, and another 2, etc until peak hour is over and traffic isn't banked up any more. Those car will most likely sit idling while stationary, we don't all drive Prius. Your trying to save a drop of gas will mean 2 car sit idling for an hour of so, so have you contributed to the solution with your slow takeoff or the problem?

Personally I believe quick takeoffs use less or the same amount of fuel as slow takeoffs anyway, you get off the gas sooner!

 

I've never hesitated with my Prius. A firm right foot gets you up to speed quicker, where the car appears to be more efficient anyway.

A quick sprint also appears to take those hybrid-doubters by surprise. Especially in winter with the studded tires on, the look on pickup driver faces is priceless. You can tell by the look on their face "Wth is that thing?"

When they finally catch up to me, the look on their face is "I got my a** kicked by a PRIUS?!"

 

I do not know... i do see some similarities. In both cases, the drivers are reducing the size of the jam - the Jerk passes illegally, getting his car out of the Jam, increasing the flow out of the packed region. The smart guy drives a little slower, and decreases the flow into the packed region. At one point in the article you linked to, the author talks about how he was powerless to help alleviate a Jam after he had already been through it - he couldn't speed up to decrease the flow out of it. Well, the Jerk found a way to!

 

Isn't the jerk method more likely to make other people brake when Mr. Jerk cuts them off to get back into traffic? I have observed a lot of jerks and that seems to happen most of the time.

Where I live, there is an intersection that is 3 lanes on one side and then merges down to 2 lanes immediately on the other side. The jerks usually try to take advantage of this by lining up on the right side (the lane that must merge) and then forcing their way in front of everyone else. The result is that traffic must slow or stop for the jerk. Its a jerk generator.

 

That heavy duty wrap bar from Go Rhino Public Safety would easily take care of the jerk