Do people ever get really pissed off at your Eco driving??

[Grant-53]

Some people get pissed off at me no matter how I drive. I prefer to just out of their way rather than getting into an accident they cause. What did Richard Petty say? You have to finish to win. I want to be visible and predictable.

[MeteorGray]

A while back I was running about 65mph on a 75mph Interstate with very light traffic, and thus holding up no one, when I noticed in my mirrors an older pickup truck and travel trailer closing at a good clip. Of course, I was in the right lane, and so was he.

Well, I expected him to leisurely pass me by since the left lane was empty on the uncrowded road. Instead, he pulled up within a few feet of my bumper and BLEW THE HORN.

Wha?

Knowing the prevalence of and consequences of Road Rage nowadays, I didn't do anything to provoke him except not driving fast enough for him and his pull. I'm sure he had something important to do that was being impeded by me.

After a few seconds of dissatisfaction, it must have finally dawned on him that a tiny turn of his steering wheel to the left would allow him to pass me without further adieu, and eureka! he did so.

Because of my usual habit of watching the road ahead, I didn't look at him as he readily passed me by, probably waving with a single finger.

I'm sure he got on Facebook to complain about my lack of courtesy or something.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by MeteorGray

A while back I was running about 65mph on a 75mph Interstate with very light traffic, and thus holding up no one, when I noticed in my mirrors an older pickup truck and travel trailer closing at a good clip. Of course, I was in the right lane, and so was he.

Well, I expected him to leisurely pass me by since the left lane was empty on the uncrowded road. Instead, he pulled up within a few feet of my bumper and BLEW THE HORN.

Wha?

Knowing the prevalence of and consequences of Road Rage nowadays, I didn't do anything to provoke him except not driving fast enough for him and his pull. I'm sure he had something important to do that was being impeded by me.

After a few seconds of dissatisfaction, it must have finally dawned on him that a tiny turn of his steering wheel to the left would allow him to pass me without further adieu, and eureka! he did so.

Because of my usual habit of watching the road ahead, I didn't look at him as he readily passed me by, probably waving with a single finger.

I'm sure he got on Facebook to complain about my lack of courtesy or something.

Everyone is stupid nowadays. They expect the Interstate travel lane traffic to make room for them as they enter (or with an 18-wheeler to NOT have 500’ clearance) and they’ll also cut in front of an 18-wheeler to brake and exit. (“Oh, I was far enough ahead”. Ha!). There are no exceptions to rule-breaking

Or they’re too fast for conditions. Every road and every hour.

The prevalence of bad (illegal) behavior is still a shock. And unnecessary as no advantage accrues. Flipped from rarely to mainly with first an uptick circa 1980, and then the growth metastasized from 1995 till now. The rarity of doing it right earns a wave from me.

A very, very long time ago I decided — accident or not — that I was going home. That means the truck WILL stay upright and in the lane of travel. What it takes to accomplish that will be done. And I’ve never heard different from any driver worth his salt. (A) I’m not going into an adjacent lane or shoulder, and (B) it WILL be a controlled stop.

MG, dollars to donuts that moron didn’t have trailering mirrors. Or they were so poor as to be almost worthless. Combine that with (likeliest, given behavior; seen it a thousand times) congenital inability to use the mirrors: we keep importing those with low visuo-spatial ability. (Consequently, in their countries, tailgating, with high beams and horn is acceptable communication. The inability to make time/distance calculations, and to follow the logic of traffic rules is sharply-limited — is lost — compared to Americans).

Feel free to flip him off AND call DPS. Tailgating, weaving, threatening. No mirrors. (Take a picture. Dispatch will forward it). I recommend you NOT shirk action. Quit believing TV garbage @ RR. For some, THIS action set is SOP. You want backstop, get cameras.

As to Eco-Driving, there’s nothing so funny as a Prius driver in the hills maintaining his perfect 57-mph, oblivious to the commercial traffic. He passes on the ascent — because he ain’t very smart; he’s stupid — and on the descent he’s a bullseye as the big trucks TRY to keep from runaway. He’s about to be another roadkill bug on the grille.

His car is already cheap to operate. So what’s with the sanctimonious behavior? The utter failure to adapt to conditions? (Stay the hell away. How hard is it? First rule set in driving is always operative: Lead, follow or get out of the way).

Who would ever miss someone this stupid?

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[Xist]

How about the Neon driver that slammed to a stop in front of my school bus on a main street for no apparent reason?

I do not understand how I managed to stop. They must have left skid marks, but I did not have passengers.

[skyking]

One of the main roads we use to get to the freeway is a posted 45 MPH 6 lane divided road that really runs in the 50~55 range in the morning commute.
We call it Canyon Speedway
I drive my car like I drive truck, looking way ahead and minimizing brake use, conserving energy as much as possible and timing the lights. This will piss off the gas-n-brake crowd, but they can always get around me with 3 lanes to use.
I see more bad behavior there in 7 miles than the rest of my 23 mile commute.
I don't worry about the idiots, I just keep on keeping on.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Who would ever miss someone this stupid?

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Wow.

It sounds like you're almost sanctioning running someone over just because they're going slower than yourself, and your vehicle is difficult to drive.

Please tell me I'm mistaken. I want to be mistaken.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by elhigh

Wow.

It sounds like you're almost sanctioning running someone over just because they're going slower than yourself, and your vehicle is difficult to drive.

Please tell me I'm mistaken. I want to be mistaken.

Given the casual racism in his post too, I don't think you're mistaken.

Seriously: "Non-Americans don't have the visual-spatial reasoning capacity of Americans"? That's a new one.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by elhigh

Wow.

It sounds like you're almost sanctioning running someone over just because they're going slower than yourself, and your vehicle is difficult to drive.

Please tell me I'm mistaken. I want to be mistaken.

You think stupidity doesn’t have a price? What used to characterize the roads was cooperation. Guess you didn’t understand what I earlier said in that post. That, and your conclusion reveal a problem in comprehension.

Would you advocate a child stray near a cliffs edge? Sounds like it.

I long ago quit feeling sorry for those in wrecks. What’s done can’t be changed. It’s nothing but cheap sentiment. How often have you been first on the scene? Been the last to leave? What are the statistics and how do they work hasn’t been part of your studies on what are a man’s responsibilities.

If you’d had a father you’d understand: there’s no such thing as an accident. . There IS failure to pay attention and take corrective action. Sounds like you didn’t have that guidance. Or that he distinctly disliked you and omitted it. You’d understand that if anything goes so wrong that there’s a wreck, IT IS YOU who are at fault. That’s fundamental.

Car accidents are like being gunshot. It’s never minor. It’s life-changing. Or ending. Get that through your head.

The Prius fool makes no attempt to understand what’s going on around him. He’s “free” from any responsibility to others. That’s stupidity. It’s a regular feature now. Has become the norm. What may come to him is predictable, son. It not today, then tomorrow.

I guarantee he’d never be allowed to drive a family member of mine. Or have a firearm on his person in my presence. He's proven he can’t be trusted. When things really matter, he creates problems on top of high risk already in play.


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[gone9]

I learned about eco-driving from this forum and its helped, probably even made me a safer driver in some areas. I do however like to be efficient and drive the speed limit when weather/road conditions permit but, there has to be a balance. I feel the other guy has had some bad experiences with the infamous prious drivers with an ipad attached to their steering wheel. Seen it more than a few times esp in san fran. Some younger fella or lady driving a prius 15mph under the speed limit in one lane with traffic cramming up behind them and they wont pull over to let others pass. So the other drivers rage behind them till two lanes open up. I'll admit I've been the quietly angry driver stuck in the pack before but I have improved over time etc. There is a proper and improper time and place to try extreme eco modding etc.

Some new research shows that slow cars in the fast lanes or one laners can actually be just as if not more dangerous than speeding. The great majority would like to drive the speed limit or the infamous 5mph over rule and one person drives 15mph under it makes everyone mad. Yes it does not make it right or justify the road rage you see on the news today but one car can cause a great number of people to drive even more dangerously, rather than pull over to let them pass or just drive the posted limit for a few till more lanes open up? Its why more and more states are enforcing these "slow driver" laws because it can create unneeded danger. when they already have to worry about speeders, drunks, drugs and flat out driving dangerously and not paying the needed attention.

Regarding the racist undertones it could have been said in a much better way. Driving overseas and temporarily (8 yrs) in California taught me one thing. Americans are sub-OK drivers at the very best and drivers from other countries are worse and on a whole different level. Tailgating is not even a word in their culture many times at least the ones where average citizens can afford cars. One example that is kind of personal to me is with CA when they implemented a policy of giving drivers licenses to immigrants without requiring citizenship proof it backfired (not already counting the current bad drivers who were already born there). I could not count the number of times I was tailgated beyond comfort, cut off, cursed at (in Spanish), ran off the road, and one case of road rage to the point of me just driving to the police station with the dude behind me then he speeds off when he realizes where I was heading... (later reports stolen car, mixed plates etc) and witnessed accidents where the police's hands were tied because one party involved was an illegal immigrant but in a sanctuary zone.

I'm not some build the wall zealot by any means, and im all for saving a buck on my daily commute but where does the line really begin and end? If your eco driving is making everyone else around you furious its a two way street. You know its upsetting them yet you persist on doing it in the name of whatever cause, reducing oil import/export, meeting your budget, breaking your mpg record etc. In return you give ammo to all the idiots already all oer the road and you become that car that gave all the true ecomodders a bad name.

Im not defending any politician, demeaning anyone from another country but its just experience through observation and interaction. Eco driving is great but there needs to be some balance to counter all the other bad drivers out there.

"unorganized, poor grammar/spelling, poor writing in general rant over lol"

[elhigh]

I understand your frustration but let me just say it's good for you that you post under a pseudonym. If you're ever involved in an accident (yes, I called it that), this series of posts would be rich evidence against you.

RE: it never actually being an accident, I really agree. There are precious few unavoidable two-car accidents, they are crashes that happened at the confluence of poor practice on both parts. Failure to take road conditions into account, failure to maintain vehicle, insufficient awareness of other vehicles, etc.

BOTH parts. Next time you're in any kind of crash, think on that. Where did you fail? Because you will have.

Actual accidents involve rocks or trees falling from outside a driver's field of view. Can't be helped. Schist happens.

But your absence of empathy just makes me really glad you live where you do, and I don't.