Constantly being Bullied on the Road ...

i think the issue is what are you still doing driving in the left lane? i dont care what speed you are going, nobody should be in the left lanes on the highway (or even a busy street) unless you are passing. the left lane is the PASSING lane. if you are going 80mph, kindly merge into a right lane and leave the left lane open

 

Alex, he didn't say he wasn't passing vehicles. Sometimes, at least where I live (metropolitan area) there are long stretches of road where if you want to go 75-80 you end up staying in the left lane while passing lots of cars in the middle lane. I agree that if at all possible one should change back into the middle as soon as possible, especially if one is being tailgated.

That is my solution, just change lanes if you're being bullied. If somebody wants to pass you let them, whats the big deal?

 

You need this attachment:

aston-martin-vanquish-524.jpg (image)

 

True -- but the wacko, gesturing tailgators are neurotic, psychotic & potentially dangerous. 'Unpredictable,' at best.

One thing for sure -- while lacking patience, they do have limited attention spans & IQ's.

SO -- If I shift lanes, they may do so at the same time. They won't bother with no stinkin' blinkers, right? I just stay where I am, and, in a New-York minute, they'll be off to [they think] hassle someone else.

I smile the whole time.:nod:

Kidding aside, that's the advice I've been given by the police. Tailgaiters are impulsive, poor drivers. Can't 2nd guess them. So just just let 'em vent & pass.

 

+100 :d

 

Air horn! Someone needs to design an aerodynamic air horn that we can add aftermarket to our Prii. When some dope pulls in front of us, we can pull the cord (as we slam on the brakes) and they'll think they're gonna get plowed by an 18 wheeler. Come on, all you designers out there, someone create the next hot item for the PriusChat shop !

 

I've experienced the same thing. I've had my Prius for about 4 months now and I also have a BMW 750. I am by no means a slow driver in the Prius but, I get tailgated and cut off all the time and I have more trouble in merging into another lane in a traffic jam in the last 4 months than I have ever experienced with my BMW that I've been driving for 4 years. I think some people are just jealous of the kind of mileage we get.

 

I recall a thread or two where louder horns were discussed. Several people have installed air horns and found them to be quite effective. I have one on my bicycle, and it works almost too well.

 

I think most of these drivers are borderline deranged, or have some sort of inferiority complex. That is, in person they would *never* dream of an actual confrontation. But behind the wheel, they suddenly feel invincible. A lot of them will purposely get a full size pickup or SUV, kind of like an extension of the personality they *wish* they had

I rarely have had issues driving a pickup or my FJ Cruiser. In a smaller car, be it Prius or Corolla, whatever, a lot more issues with rude driving, including outright dangerous driving.

The thing I find really funny is that the donkey drivers assume *all* Prius drivers are effeminate, tiny men. You should see the look on their face once the mean, bald, 800 lb gorilla gets out of his Prius and marches up to them

Note: I don't consider it an "assault" but rather a "tune up" when I work over such a person. Usually, the lesson sticks. I'm generally slow to anger, but once I reach the Danger Zone, bad things can happen to those who provoke me

 

I only see the bullying type of behavior once in awhile here in California. I do notice people will pull out in front of me no matter what I drive. I just think people are impatient and don't think of the consequences. I had a lady pull out in front of me while I was driving my truck and pulling my boat. The skid marks were amazing. The lady and my eyes were huge with oh no "this ain't happening going through our brains" and the "this is going to leave a mark" thought process! I would like to mention that unfortunately I have pulled out in front of people before, and lucky for me they were watching and avoided the accident. Not everyone is picking on the prius drivers. Some just make bad choices!

 

Nooaah

Um, I'm a typical pale white guy, who in our brief summers up here, will have a "farmer's tan."

Also, I *wish* I had hair like that. My head looks like Jamie's from Mythbusters

I do appreciate the enthusiasm, however

 

My experiences on the road and as a moderator support these views.

CleanMPG was attacked last year by a pack of trolls from an off-roading lifted truck forum (name withheld to avoid them Googling it and attacking PriusChat) Little did they know we lurked on their thread plotting their attack and whining like Wiley E. Coyote after his 1000th attempt fails. Their ringleader tried rejoining 12 times over several months. To the point, these losers are obsessed with their twisted picture of "Real Men" and dismiss 90% of males that are not idiotic thugs like them as "ghey". They need a tour of duty in Afghanistan to validate their manhood.

When I'm on the freeways in the morning at 6am, I go slower than during daylight - 50 in a 60 zone and generally there is 2-3 lanes to the left of me to pass. Even considering Dallas has double the amount of truck drivers as the rest of the US, only 30% of the honks/highbeams are cars. As they pass, it's almost always some kind of gas guzzler and driven in an agressive way. In fact some pass so fast there is no way they could have been behind me.

In the vast majority of cases, these drivers could have easily passed me (some do and just do the honk epithet) if they would think more than two seconds ahead.

I liken this to the way preacher's kids and pastors are often treated by the wild bunch - it's defensive.

 

I was searching for the Facebook PriusChat page yesterday, and entered 'Prius' as the search term. Was astounded at the number of 'I Hate Prius' groups out there. Reported two of them, which appear to be gone at this point. One of the larger ones is still active--
it's called 'I h a t e the Toyota Prius, and the liberal t r ee-h u ggers that drive them!' [spaces added by me to thwart google searches]. Anyway, posts on this group are probably from the same jerks that have been tailgating Prius drivers.

If you're a Facebook user, feel free to drop by that group and report it to administrators.

 

One more objectionable Facebook group that could stand some reporting to moderators: MyT r u c k Will E a t Your Prius for B re a kfast

 

Correction to my first comment: the Facebook hate groups mentioned above are still active--you just have to drill down past page 5 to find them. Call me narrow-minded, but I'd say that such groups violate Facebook's terms of use, which states that users may not:

"...upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable."

Not that I'm vindictive or anything about tailgaters and hate-spewers, but it'd sure be a cryin' shame if those groups got yanked. ...

 

Yeah, I'm really amazed how the Prius became a lightning rod for all the closet-gay, homophobic, inferior, racist "men" out there, driving around in their lifted pickup, their driving behavior a direct extension of their simple little trailer-trash minds

Like, how some of them will use those tuning boxes to make their POS diesel pickup blow clouds of black smoke. Or how they brag about almost running over a female on a bicycle. If that had been my girlfriend or wife, I would have gone after the person

If these "men" are so tough, why not enlist and prove it?

In the end, Karma will catch up to these characters. A lot of the bubbas got into very expensive houses courtesy of sub prime mortages, and a lot of them are very close to being homeless. Ditto the full size pickup with lift kit, in danger of being repo'd

Of course, Karma will catch up to a small handful of them a lot sooner. Especially the three characters over the years who cut me off while driving their pickup. The look on their face as I marched up to them was priceless, truly a Visa Moment.

Kinda funny how soft, weak, and scared they became after I got done with them. I always give the same advice to any group that is prey upon: fight back

Eg: the condo I used to live in, the two gay neighbors down the hall told me stories about how they were beat up a few times, indeed were generally afraid to go out anymore.

Well, I told them to stick up for themselves, work out, take self-defence classes, etc. Guess what? They were no longer scared to go out at night

Before anybody accuses me of being a bully, I *never* go looking for trouble. However, if a person attempts to bring trouble onto me, it's Open Season

 

Oh, that off-roading forum had well over 200 posts, waist-deep in potty-mouth smack. Once they realized obvious trolling would not work, their subtly got absurd

Strange such a homephobic lurker would have a sex-change just to troll. Other oddities is they were frustrated about censorship, but their forum (along with similar ones) is almost completely private.

While they talked about dangerous hypermiling practices, they seem to have a blind eye to stuff like this in the video below: