20090728

prius

When you drive a Toyota Prius, you get a lot of interesting reactions from other people on the road. I thought people treated me strangely when I drove a minivan - they always seemed to be walking out in front of my van, even on the turnpike, as though they somehow always trusted the driver of a minivan to be responsible and brake for pedestrians. But a Prius is a whole 'nother ballgame.

Most recently I was driving home from Valley Forge park when another driver waved at me. I tried to think, do I know this person? Who do I know in this area who drives a gray Prius? Oh, wait, I realized, they're waving at me because I too drive a Prius. we're in a club. OBVIOUSLY.

even stranger is the behavior of people on the interstate. When I pass them. Often I'll go to pass someone except that when they realize they're being passed by a Prius, they speed up too. it must be just so irrational and impossible for a hybrid car to be passing them that they unconsciously speed up to match me. I can raise the average speed by ten miles per hour on a section of highway just by trying to pass a Lexus. Who knew such power lay in driving such an underpowered little car.

4 comments:

  1. cheeser (hopefully he doesnt read this) gets very mad when priuses (prii?) pass other cars. he believes it is hypocritical. he went on a long rant about this and i have never seen cheeser actually angry before. actually, (and this isn't surprising) he probably was more angry because the prius in question wasnt getting out of the passing lane fast enough for him to pass them.

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  2. heeeee. while i admit there are times that I don't get out of the passing lane as fast as some people would prefer, cheeser might also keep in mind that it's even harder to get out of the left lane when the right lane occupant is accelerating to match your speed.

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  3. Sorry, Kate, but I do read this.

    Looking back at the situation I was probably a little more heated than I should have been about the situation. In my defense though, the lady in the Prius was just cruising in the passing lane. I get angry at anyone who does this regardless of what car they drive though. I think the fact that it was a Prius just pushed it over the edge because I don't really get why you're speeding in a hybrid (passing a slow vehicle, yes, speeding, no). If you have room on the right then you should get over because it's pretty obvious that I want to pass you. Plus, it is state law that you should only be in the passing lane to, you know, pass and that you should be in the left lane when you're not. /rant

    I'm trying to get better with my aggressive driving pet peeves and pet peeves in general. My uncle made a good point to me a while ago. Why let something someone else has done bother you? You don't have control on what they do but you do have control over your emotions. It's no bother to them, why let it bother you? I haven't quite completely adopted this way of thinking but I'm working on it. I promise to try not to be as angry the next time we drive out to Pittsburgh again, Kate.

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  4. @michael you prolly would have liked my husband driving my prius through western PA on our last trip to south bend. he was doing a nice slalom across 3 lanes at 80 to 85 mph.

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