Has the Prius effected your driving habits, less tickets?

Great idea! Personally, i don't have quite 6 months in my car, so it's a pretty small data point to say i haven't gotten any tickets in it. However, i am definately more aware of my speed, and i don't speed nearly as often, and when i do not nearly as much... I usually define speeding to be anything faster than the slow lane on the highway, which is usually going over the posted speed limit, but thats just being safe and not impeeding traffic :-p

What would be really great is if the insurance companies looked into this, saw that people with Prii got less tickets, drove safer, etc and lowered all of our rates!

 

I sent him an e-mail, we will see what happens. I have def changed my driving habits from i got to get there fast to I got to get there with the biggest MPG number on the MFD as possible.

 

<_< My driving habits have, indeed, changed. The MFD has made me more aware of fuel economy - when I see a traffic stop approaching, traffic permitting, I "coast" rather than continue applying power until I am almost at the stop sign or traffic signal. I most often turn the Prius OFF when I know I will be awaiting a few minutes as for a passenger, etc., I use cruise control set at ~38 MPH around town (It gets better economy than my foot). If my memory serves well, at 41 MPH, the ICE is always spinning whether or not it is contributing power to the drive train.

As for traffic citations, I haven't been ticketed for over 10 years, so that is not a factor.

 

I get just as many in the prius as I did with my other vehicles.

zero is not a bad place to be after 22,000 miles in just under 6.5 months.

 

Actually I got my first ticket in over 2 decades, 3 months after I had the Prius. It wasn't for speeding though; I was using the NAV system (I live in San Diego and this happened in LA) and decided not to follow the suggested route, but to make a left turn early. Unfortunately it had a NO LEFT TURN UNTIL 7PM sign (it was 6:45pm and I didn't even see the sign as it was hidden by a tree) AND a cop car. Ah well, I can't really blame the car for that, if I had followed the NAV directions it wouldn't have happened. I simply knew how bad the traffic was on ahead and wanted to get around it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(keydiver @ Aug 25 2006, 09:47 AM) [snapback]309340[/snapback]</div>

No tickets in the last 10 years.(The last before that was almost 40 years ago) I don't expect that to change. Have my driving habits changed -- sure, to the extent that I adapt my driving habits to the capabilities of the car I'm driving. Am I calmer? Not according to my wife, and even though I can't accelerate like I did in my last car, I still get pissed at the guys who pull out in front of me and take mile and a half to accelerate from 30 to 70.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Aug 25 2006, 01:24 PM) [snapback]309366[/snapback]</div>

I got a very pretty picture of my Prius flying through Washington, D.C. yesterday curtesy of the D.C. Traffic Division. They have this neato idea of photographing your vehicle (with a strategic view of your license plate) and ticketing the speeders in the mail. No muss, no fuss, just steady income for the District. I wouldn't have minded it, guilty as charged and all that, but the rest of the planet was zooming by me like I was riding in the La Brea Tar Pit. For $50 you'd think they'd have least provided a frame!

 

Guess gotta be a contrarian here... I am afraid my Prius might lead to MORE speeding tickets! If I'm not totally focused on the MFD and maximizing all those darn arrows... if I'm just cruising down the freeway like a normal person the car is so quiet, so smooth, and so overly isolated from the road that before I know it I'm FLYING.

 

Like others here, the ticket issue is a non-issue; haven't gotten one in over 20 years. But that's probably due to some luck, because I've historically pushed the envelope in terms of what I thought I could get away with. I'm a life-long resident of my area and I have a pretty good handle on the radar speed thresholds at which the locals start ticketing you.

But the Prius has almost completely changed my driving habits. No worries whatsoever now about a speeding ticket, except when I'm making maximum use of a long or steep downhill "no arrows" or "warp-stealth" glide to give me momentum for the next uphill. I was the guy who often rode the bumper of the driver going the speed limit. Now I'm the one whose bumper is being ridden. Heck, I've surprised myself at how willing I am to drive below the speed limit when I don't compromise safety or impede traffic.

While my driving has changed, some of my attitudes have not. I still get frustrated, but for totally different reasons. I never liked red lights, especially sudden ones that required a rapid stop. Before, they (supposedly) delayed me. Now I hate what they do to my fuel mileage. And like pogo, I always have been and am still impatient with someone who pulls out in front of me and then drives like grandma. But again, for a different reason now.

But on the whole, I'm a calmer and safer driver. I leave a little earlier, take my time, and arrive less stressed and with MPG numbers that I never imagined. 58+ on my current tank, for instance. Can't wait for cooler weather to run without AC and push for a 60 MPG tankful!

 

I've only been driving my Prius for about 5-1/2 weeks ( not that I have my car's birthday on my calendar now and am keeping track... ) and it has made a huge difference in my driving habits. I'm much calmer, I have a smile on my face when I drive not an angry grimmace, and I still get where I'm going with time to spare.

I do have a red Prius, so we'll see if the urban legend of red cars getting more tickets is true for me. It will be pretty hard for any cop to give me a speeding ticket except on long downhill stretches though!

 

I can't reply to this question because it would jinx my 15+ year lucky streak of no moving violations.

 

Yes, I drive a lot more sanely in my Prius than I did before. The Prius doesn't look anything like a high-speed sports car so why pretend? Get over there in the right lane where you belong!

If you are really interested in reducing your ticket count, in the states where it is legal, I'd recommend a radar detector. Mine works real well and I've discovered quite a few police cars, both hidden and not, before they had time to nab me. The Prius alone, however, keeps me slow because I hate to sacrifice the mileage.

 

I would say yes, with a but, I have been followed by a cop twice late at night while pulsing and gliding. I could hear them "What is that nut doing?" In each case I put the car on cruse control and they took off after something more intresting than someone driving down a country road at the exact speed limit.

 

Oh yes, I remember. Last Labor Day weekend (at night) I was stopped because I was driving slower than the other traffic. He thought I was drunk. When he saw I wasn't he let me go.

 

Has driving a Prius changed my driving habits? Oh yes. I am averaging 54 mpg on this tank. I am observing all the recommended techniques for maximizing the mpg. All very legal. But those long down hills are just so tempting!
Haven't had a moving violation in quite awhile-and never in the Prius. The last time I was eligible-I was driving the Explorer on the way to work. Was coming up on an intersection with a yellow light. I knew this intersection had a pretty long time with all the lights red, so I figured I could make it without any safety risks. As I ran through it, only to look to the right and see a cop sitting there. "Oh sh--. he has me." "Can't really argue this one." I continued on, watching the rearview, waiting for the flashing lights and the siren. Apparently the gods of stupidity (are the any?) were watching over me. Or maybe I should thank the weather gods-it was raining and maybe the cop didn't want to get wet. He ignored the whole thing. But I did learn from it and haven't done a stupid since.
The Prius has changed me radio listening habit. I always used to listen to the all news, all the time station. Not anymore. Now on the way to work I listen to classical , on the way home, it's jazz. Can't explain it. It just happened.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lola'05 @ Aug 26 2006, 03:34 PM) [snapback]309907[/snapback]</div>

"You can't get road rage when listening to a happenin' groove" Quote KPLU

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(keydiver @ Aug 25 2006, 11:47 AM) [snapback]309340[/snapback]</div>

For those curious what Thom's article said.....here it is:

Thom Smith Hybrid Article

EDIT:

I also sent him an email with my comments.