So I have had three cases of road rage against my Prius. The first case was back in February, about 2 weeks after buying the car, when a black H2 came from an onramp merged into heavy slow moving traffic and merged behind me. He then leaned on his high pitched horn, went around my black Prius using the shoulder of the road, gave me the finger and cut off in front of me. I gave him a smile and a wave of the palm to let him know that was so happy in my car, his act of aggression didn't bother me. The second case was a month ago driving through Kansas City on my way to Wichita Kansas for a wedding, when a beat up ford with a dozen 'buy american' - type bumper stickers, some of which had profanity, cut in front of me in slow moving traffic, and stopped his car in the lane for a couple of minutes and gave me the finger, I was able to get around him (thanks to a Honda who let me over), after which he tail gated me for eight miles. As peaved as I was because of the jerk, I didn't flip him off back or honk, I just ignored him. Then I noticed that almost all of the vehicles in Kansas city were Detroit labeled, and combined with all of the nationalistic buy american bumper stickers and confederate flags, I will probably never stop my Prius there (at least on the eastern part of the metro; the Kansas side of the metro seemed much more accepting). So that brings me to yesterday. I was driving with my wife to our two week temporary evening job on a Minneapolis city street. When crossing the Mississippi River, a truck seemed to honk behind us, I wasn't sure what was going on so I ignored it. Then at the next stop light, the truck hunked at me over and over again, and flipped me off when I looked in my rear view mirror. I waved back at him (nicely, because I know that probably makes him mad), and ignored him. He kept doing it for some reason. When the light turned and we both got onto the highway, he passes me with his pick up truck, flips me off again, and I read on the side of his truck "National Rifle Association Recruiter" in big letters. So in my first three and a half months and 5000 miles of driving my Prius, I have been flipped off by a Hummer driver, a nationalistic ford employed wingnut (or probably layed-off Ford employee), and now a NRA recruiter. Is this unusual? I have no bumper stickers on my car and nothing to stand out from other Prii, but surely this isn't common. I hate Hummers but my parents are SUV drivers, I am sympathetic to hardworking americans shafted by Detroits lack of vision and cost-cutting schemes, and I am fairly moderate (for a liberal) on gun control laws. Does the Prius make that much of a political statement, especially in light of the fact that more and more Prius drivers aren't liberals???
I'm in MN too, but have not had these problems. Do you have a bumperstick on back? Are you driving like a grandma? The only time I had an angry driver behind me was due to my driving behavior. I was approaching a stop sign with a line of cars I'd have to wait at anyways. So I began a longer than usual slowdown to stay in coast and keep the engine off. Some woman in an SUV was banging on her steering wheel and flippin me off (with her kids in the car) for doing this. Despite the fact that there was NOWHERE to go.
Just remember that these are isolated incidents, and can't be taken as representative of the entire group of people who may have similar stickers, cars, whatever. Many people are just jerks, and will treat others like that if they feel they have any sort of reason. Others are reasonable individuals who won't treat others like that. To prove the point, keep your eyes out for hummer and other gas guzzlers - a vast majority of the time, they won't do anything against you. The same goes for your second case - You said there were tons of similar cars with stickers, etc around, but only this one jerk. As for the third case, i'm sure there are a ton of NRA members in the area (after all, this is MN and a lot of people like to hunt... not as many as in WI, though...), and just this one jerk. So in short, think about the person behind the wheel, and try not to let their actions influence your opinions of whatever groups they may be associated with.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ May 18 2007, 11:18 AM) [snapback]444912[/snapback]</div> I don't have any bumper stickers, I drive rather fast when I can, when I can't I go with traffic.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ May 18 2007, 12:18 PM) [snapback]444912[/snapback]</div> This has generally been my experience with road anger (since I wouldn't term what I experienced "rage") - it's when I'm not speeding up to the red light so that I can slam on my brakes and wait that I find people tailgating me. On the other hand, since regenrative braking occurs and the Prius doesn't coast unless you're gliding, the person behind you (and me) may just not want to have to use their brakes yet (remember, they're going through brake pads MUCH faster than you are) and their heavier vehicle is maintaining their speed longer (on a level road or downhill), thus, they're closing the gap faster than if the Prius was decelrating at the same rate. As far as the NRA guy - they may not like the Prius because of it's stealth ability. This makes them harder to hunt.
Simply put, the Prius is a label for most people. Nearly everyone I know automatically assumes you are a tree-huggin', dirt worshippin, whale kisser if you drive a Prius and you are probably on your way to the Burning Man celebration. I generally don't get outright anger like you did, which is good because I used to be the type to get ticked and entice them to pull over so I could "talk" to them face to face and see what their malfunction was. I do get people who want to cut me off but I think that is more a function of me driving the speed limit and they want to go much faster. I just let that stuff go now. I admire the way you handled your situations. I live in California so while we have some of the extreme views decribed on the bumper stickers you saw, the average citzen here has a bit more respect and is less likely to act like a fool in the same situation. Obviously this doesn't apply everywhere. Go into any ghetto area or into some of the "hick towns" near where I live and you'll get the same kind of rediculous behavior. Then again, watch out for the SUV driving "power mom". They are nutty no matter what your location is! :lol:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ May 18 2007, 11:20 AM) [snapback]444913[/snapback]</div> I just wonder why I have had three isolated incidents in three and a half months, and 3500 of my 5000 miles are rural highway miles (neither my wife nor I drive to our daytime jobs). The NRA guy was quite strange. My dad is a lifetime NRA member, a Chevy suburban driver, and an environmentalist (I do my best to make his environmental side make his SUV driving side feel guilty ). The NRA guy is a recruiter, which means he represents the organization, and he represented them poorly. I feel that in my Prius, I represent a generally more leftist group of people, and so I have had really good road manners since I bought it. However, when I talk about the car, I barely mention its low emissions and talk more about the features and reliability, so that people don't write me off as the liberal I am. In my Chevy Astro van I used to drive, I would be a bit more aggressive with the horn.
Yes, as a recruiter he does represent the organization... But at the same time i doubt he's thinking about that at all times. It's like a salesman... he might have a sticker on his car with what he's selling and his phone number, and during the day he's 100% committed to making the sale, but 5PM comes around and he's thinking about his wife, kids, whats for dinner, etc and is no longer that salesman, even though his care may be advertising it for him.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarkMN @ May 18 2007, 12:32 PM) [snapback]444926[/snapback]</div> As a NRA life member, I have never heard of anyone with a job title "NRA Recruiter". They do reams of stupid fundraising, but recruiting?? I suspect that he was some a**hole with a made up sign. Edit: Just checked Google and the NRA does have a recruiting program. Its a self-made sort of thing where you sign up as a "recruiter" and get $10 for every person you sign up. They do have various promotional materials for their recruiters. So I'll have to recant my line above and agree that this clown "represents them poorly" - he represents humanity poorly as well. - Tom
I again would think these are just isolated incidents. Megan and I have driven our Prius around Kansas City last Thanksgiving and in a much smaller town near Hutchinson at Christmas without any honks, flip-offs, etc. Frankly, we get more of that in Chicago, and it has nothing to with the NRA, merely with ability of people to drive like friggin idiots, something our locals are especially adept at. Although the NRA does have a recruiting program.
"drive like friggin idiots" That's the key here. In defense, I remember as a younger man having these anger impulses like "get the F* out of my way" and banging on the steering wheel. So I just expect that behavior and acknowledge that there are morons and immature selfish people out there and always will be. It's in my best interest to just ignore it instead of raising my blood pressure as well. Most mature out of this stage, but not all. And they are usually the ones that develop stress/heart problems when they don't.
Nearly everyone I know automatically assumes you are a tree-huggin', dirt worshippin, whale kisser if you drive a Prius and you are probably on your way to the Burning Man celebration. Some version of that would make a great bumper sticker. Hey, don't assume I am tree-huggin', dirt worshippin, whale kisser and am on my way to the Burning Man celebration, because I drive a Prius. I just don't like giving all my money to big oil. I have been behind many a prius driver that is so concerned with the display and gas mileage, that they are holding up traffic. I try not to do this, as it is a good way to get rear--ended, or be the target of road rage.
That does seem like a knee jerk first reaction. But at least in my area, I could stereotype Prius drivers as elderly. Seriously, 3/4 Prius drivers I see around here are over 60, or at least 50. And I'm not talking aging hippy, I'm talking granma Betty on her way to church. They just aren't internet browsing people.
But we hardly use our brakes! everything is a coast to stop... which just goes to show, buy a prius, and never have to replace brakes or brake lights!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ May 18 2007, 09:29 AM) [snapback]444923[/snapback]</div> If Hummer drivers wanted to flip off all the Prii around here, they'd get repetitive motion injuries for sure!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 18 2007, 10:26 AM) [snapback]444976[/snapback]</div> So true! I'm very concious of my driving since I used to be one of those jerks weaving through traffic at 90mph and being upset at the rest of the world. Some aging, education and a little tao te ching helped me though. I will admit that on I-80 (3 lanes) I have trouble staying in the slow lane because of contantly merging traffic from onramps. So sometimes I stay in the middle lane and I know I tick off the "convoy" of 80mph guys that come blasting through every 15min or so. Then I'm back to having the freeway to myself. 65-70mph is my average speed and I never go below that. Darell, I would hate for that to happen. That's just one more health care cost us tax payers would have to assume responsibility for. lol There does seem to be a lot of Prii in this area though!
I had another solution to the hostility I faced on the road while driving my Prius ... <div align="center">[attachmentid=8151]</div> It did cause the service writer at the dealership to do a double take ... he told my wife, "Well, now THAT'S a first!"
I've never had anything like this happen in So. Cal. Of course, we have a lot of Prii here and no one cares.
