The Prius problem

[redpoint5]

I'm very aware of others on the road and try to accommodate them as much as possible. I normally travel about 5 mph over the speed limit and maintain a very steady cruising speed regardless of cruise usage or not.

That said, after getting my Prius I'm probably slowing people down a little more often. The thing is so noisy and requires so much throttle to accelerate quickly that I simply take a lot longer to come up to speed than I do in any other vehicle. Not only that, but the display is telling me to accelerate more slowly to get back into "eco" mode.

Once up to speed, I pass more people than pass me, and I always move over when someone faster approaches.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

While I feel like it's true, I also wonder if the distinctiveness of the prius' body makes it easier to label these drivers.

Gotta have to agree with you. BTW the Prius is kinda rare in my country, but the handful of Prius owners I've ever talked to actually had a different profile than the stereotypical American Prius driver, kinda geeky but not smug at all, probably because it's deemed a luxury vehicle back here (nearly everything is more expensive in Brazil).

[dirtydave]

The only people that have them around here are old rich people or taxi cabs and drive as such. Driving slow but not really eco. Or petal to the floor all day. At least the cabs are driving them instead of the fat crown vic's

[MetroMPG]

Confirmation bias, also called myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses. It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning. People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way. The effect is stronger for emotionally charged issues and for deeply entrenched beliefs.

More: Confirmation bias - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[user removed]

Originally Posted by EVmetro

This! This is exactly what the problem is! I have a lot of respect for other drivers, and for people who fit the description above, but not when they are in the hammer lane or next to another Prius who is doing the same thing. There is a respectable way to Eco drive. When I spot an Eco driver who is clearly driving that way for economy, I make sure to do what I can to accommodate him, but rarely do they let me go 80 when that's how I want to drive. It's like they want to force me to drive like them.

There is the mutual respect between those of us who Eco drive and those of us who go 80 in the hammer lane, and then there is the problem of the Prius driver who is completely out of touch with what the rest of the drivers are doing, is driving too slow in whatever lane they are in, and are focused on exclusively on the 100 feet in front of their vehicle.

Around here if you drive 81mph you risk $500 and 5 points, but idiots still do.
Hang up the flow of traffic in the left lane and your prize is a jacked up diesel 22 foot long pickup climbing up your rear bumper.

Plenty of Prii around here, my youngest brother owns one, but I'm sure its not a fun drive with a bumper and license plate hovering 18 inches above and behind your hatch ornament. I do remember one that was determined to pass me in a big old V12 BMW to get on the Richmond beltway, several years ago.

What was that song about as fast as a Rambler would go.

FAIL

regards
mech

[fusion210]

I do, at most, 5mph over the limit and it's the Prii passing me along with all the SUVs and trucks. Countless hybrids too. I've very rarely found even a model of a normal car that has a fuel saving model to be in front of me in the slow lane.

[Fat Charlie]

Prius drivers can't win.

As George Carlin said:
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving a Prius slower than you is an idiot, and anyone in a Prius going faster than you is a maniac?

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Xist

Statement unclear, response hazardous.

Is this Prius driving slowly in the fast lane? My experience has always been Prius drivers passing everyone like Audis did back in Germany.

I run into Prius drivers every so often, they all seem to drive with the traffic flow, as they are passing me, on old country roads.

1% of the Prius's may follow me for a while, but happens just as often as pickup drivers following me.

And all drivers sometimes don't pass me when they have a chance but wait until a double yellow, then try to pass.

Jim.

[War_Wagon]

I see the same thing here, except replace Prius with a lower model, new, Mercedes 4-Matic. It's always an E320 or C240, and always a 4-Matic. Basically the top model of the cheapest Mercedes the guy could buy for his wife, who just learned how to drive. The concept of a "driving lane" and a "passing lane" doesn't really apply around my neck of the woods. Be it a Prius or a Mercedes, I think once you notice something like that, you can't help but always notice it when it happens, ala confirmation bias as stated before.

[Xist]

I do not remember ever thinking "Hey! Another hypermiler!" Instead, I always wonder what is so attractive about red lights.