Prius hate, or am I just being paranoid?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(busyrosy @ May 17 2006, 02:54 AM) [snapback]256723[/snapback]</div>

Were you hanging out in the left lane? I think a lot of drivers, not just SUV owners, get mad if you do that. If not, then it's possible the SUV drivers are just being haters. They're probably:

a) jealous that you don't have to pay as much as they do for gas
\b) angry that people who drive Prii think they (the SUV owners) are morally inferior
c) annoyed that people who drive Prii think of themselves as morally superior
d) under the impression that Prius drivers always drive slowly (no matter their actual speed) and deserve to be tailgated



I think others on PC have noticed that SUV owners are slightly more antagonistic to Prii than to other cars. I've come (most irrationally) to despise SUV and pickup truck drivers based on how rudely I've been treated by an unrepresentative few. On average though, I've found that the drivers of SUVs and pickups are less considerate on the road. It makes sense since they're likely less considerate on social and environmental issues as well (again, on average).

 

You're just being paranoid

 

Especially if you left on Friday, people are often in a big hurry to get out of town. Frustrated from the week's work, jacked up to be going there, whatever. I used to see the L.A.-to-L.V. traffic almost every Friday when I lived down there. Not pretty.

 

I get tailgated all the time; it's just part of the general decline in driving technique. Often it is by an SUV or a pickup truck, but that's not surprising since there are so many of them on the road.

Tom

 

I think in general there is a lot of rudeness among drivers. I don't know if any of it is specifically directed towards Prius drivers. It has been my experience that SUV drivers are more likely to tailgate you or cut you off. People who have no concern for the environment or our dependence on fossil fuels would be less likely to show consideration toward fellow drivers. Also, they are driving around in vehciles that are so huge that they figure everyone else should just get out of their way. But of course this is a generalization- I know some very good people who happen to own SUVs.

 

I think you're being paranoid.

When one gets a Prius, slows down, gets into the comsumption/energy montior with the music cranked up from the iPod you have a whole different view of traffic. At least for me, especially when I'm alone, I slow way down and enjoy the trip and enjoy watching the ballet of vehicles as they move through traffic on the freeway. I've only been a Prius owner for 12 days and was on the other side in my XL SUV. Nothing specific to the Prius, just always pushed getting to where I was going without regard for MPG.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(imntacrook @ May 17 2006, 03:18 AM) [snapback]256731[/snapback]</div>

Well, remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 17 2006, 08:31 AM) [snapback]256775[/snapback]</div>

All true points. In my experience, these are also the drivers who never use turn signals when changing lanes and never put their lights on when it's raining or snowing.

My Prius is only 4 days old, so I've yet to notice whether it's worse when driving a Prius. For the past 10 years, I've been driving a Jetta. I usually drive with the general flow of traffic (above the speed limit).

One thing I have always done is leave good space between my car and the car in front. Since I hate being tailgated, I avoid doing it to other cars. This always seems to piss off these rude drivers. They cut around me to tailgate the next car.

They push and push to get ahead, and then someone jams on their brakes. This causes a chain reaction of braking and sometimes a collision. If everyone would keep a safe following distance, the traffic would flow much more smoothly. These people who are frustrated by being caught in traffic don't realize they are the ones causing the slowdowns.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoVaSnow @ May 17 2006, 09:23 AM) [snapback]256802[/snapback]</div>

I think you will notice that there are certain people, no matter what they are driving, who see the Prius as a red flag and thus want to intimidate and upset the Prius driver. A long time ago somebody told the story about a neighbor that was so upset with his Prius that she would come over and vandalize his property. Of course she was a loon, but it took the Prius to set her off.

When I started driving a Prius I noticed fairly quickly about the SUV drivers who were now riding the back bumper, passing and then cutting in with less than an inch to spare. They don't do that when I'm driving the F250.

It was the same thing when I started driving a Honda Rebel. I rode a Honda 350 and 360 for years and years without any problems. When I switched to the Rebel people were upset for some unknown reason. I don't know if they thought it was a small Harley or else the fact that it was a much smaller motorcycle, and would do the same riding two inches behind at 50 mph and cut back in after passing with less than an inch to spare.

And of course they have to floor it to show the huge power they have for the two seconds it takes them to pass. Very impressive. But with the Rebel I'm getting 80 to 100 mpg, and with the Prius 55 mpg, so it is a bit soothing to think of all their money those people are wasting.

 

How about this change in perspective:

When somebody is tail-gating you that means you are driving too slow. Rule of thumb is that if the vehicle behind you is closer to you than you are to the vehicle in front of you, then you are driving too slow and should probably move to the right lane.

Don't be rude, let the drivers who are in a hurry to use the left lane. Don't think that because you are going with the flow that that's ok to be inconsiderate and not move over.

 

I thought that was how SUV drivers drive all the time! Beemers, too. If any generalizations are to be made, it's that SUV drivers tend to be aggressive and inconsiderate, not that you are being paranoid. I haven't noticed any particular animosity toward me now that wasn't there when I drove a Taurus wagon. I'm willing to accept that my driving style has mellowed while others' have not. My wife and I use the terms "young buck" and "girlie girl" to refer to the young, impatient and recklessly aggressive drivers (usually in bright red vehicles). I guess that makes us sound like "old mules", even though we're only forty-somethings!

- Doug

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(electricity_guzzler @ May 17 2006, 10:04 AM) [snapback]256830[/snapback]</div>

Blocking the left lane is inconsiderate, and it just serves to piss of other drivers and get them to do dangerous things like cutting you off. But if I'm maintaining a safe distance behind the car in front of me and I have no where to go, either because there is traffic to the right of me or I'm already in the right lane, and another vehicle is on my nice person, then no, I am right, and he is wrong.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(electricity_guzzler @ May 17 2006, 10:04 AM) [snapback]256830[/snapback]</div>

That is total BS. Just because I am not tailgating the guy in front of me, it does not mean I'm moving too slowly. I'm not saying I leave a huge gap in front of me, just the reasonable following distance I was taught to use 36 years ago.

I repeat: If people would not follow so closely, the traffic would always flow more smoothly. You would no longer have the situation where everyone speeds up to 70, someone cuts someone else off, everyone slams on their brakes, slows to 5, then speeds up to 70 again.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 17 2006, 10:09 AM) [snapback]256833[/snapback]</div>

This nicely complements what I just said.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(electricity_guzzler @ May 17 2006, 09:04 AM) [snapback]256830[/snapback]</div>

Change in perspective? Reality check. The rule of thumb is a two-second following distance - check your driver's ed. manual. When someone is tailgating you, it says absolutely nothing about your driving. It means the tailgater is not driving defensively (again, check your driver's ed. manual for a wealth of information on this topic). Just because someone else wants to go really fast doesn't mean I'm in the wrong for wanting to go the legal speed limit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(busyrosy @ May 17 2006, 02:54 AM) [snapback]256723[/snapback]</div>

Whatever happened to the laid-back Californian eh? They (SUV drivers) were jerks when gasoline was cheap and their hulking guzzlers were admired and they're jerks now. The only real difference is now it costs them money and that pisses them off even more. They also hate it when they see someone that isn't sharing the pain but it's still not specific to the Prius. The Prius is just the most obvious symbol of the failure of the American car companies and the failure of the American glutton.

 

I drive in the HOV lane, and in the left lane. But I also drive quite fast, so if someone is tailgating me then they are seriously pushing reckless driving charges.

I know that I could get +5-10 MPG if I drove 55-65 MPH, but then again so could nearly everyone else. I just choose to drive the Prius as I would any other car, and let the technology do it's thing. Doing 75-85 MPH and I still get 45-48 MPG.

So I smile as I tailgate and pass SUV's, while going 90. Fear my Prius. Go ahead, FEAR IT!

 

Hey peeps,
I tried to GENTLY suggest that electricity_guzzler's perspective was not right. We can disagree here without getting too nasty about it! Let's maintain a higher level of civility than those rude SUV drivers we're talking about!

 

tailgating at 80 - 100? Yow... vision of a half-mile smear of
crumpled wreckage...
.
A lot of drivers seem to think that *me* giving someone else good
following distance [even if I'm going the same speed] is offensive
somehow. Why can't I close that gap? Why am I not right on the nice person
of the person ahead? Doesn't change my behavior, other than to look
for a way they can safely pass me [and promptly tailgate the car
ahead], after which I re-establish my gap.
.
If people didn't catch it before -- google for "traffic waves", there
is a wonderful "amateur scientist" set of articles out there about
traffic flow and the benefits of leaving large gaps.
.
_H*