"Hypermiling Prius" rant

If I lived in a state that allowed Hybrids in the HOV lane. I'd have one. Simple.

 

I just bought one two days ago ... soon to have shields

G

 

Well, I hope it works out for you. But, I just saw a TV ad from a Ford dealer for their Focus econobox (now, I know nothing about this car at all so I can't tell you if it's any good or not) but they claim that the different in MSRP price between it and the Prius would actually PAY for all the fuel you would use in the car in 4 years. It's like getting 4 years of free fuel just to buy a non hybrid car. Makes you think.....

 

I hypermile my civic in the right lane, when there is no one around. Pulse and glide ftw, especially on city streets.
Someone at work went from 40mpg average to 64.69mpg average by hypermiling/ecomodding their 98 civic HX.

www.ecomodder.com

 

Luckly in Virginia they do occasionally go out and enforce the slow cars keep right law.

This is a serious SAFETY issue for the guys working the scene. As a firefighter, I have a problem with cops who try to keep us from closeing down enough lanes to do our job safely, just to avoid some horn honking. We would like to all go home to see our families after a shift/call rather than getting plowed by some impatient numbskull. Investigations should be cleared up quickly, and some times they take too long, but they should always keep as many lanes closed to allow the job to be done safely. Firefighters and cops did not cause the accident, and we don't deserve to be killed after the fact because you want to get home quicker.

 

You are correct.. Bad drivers exist every where.. which is why my statement was general.. Based on my own experiences, I have only met the worst drivers being in America. How is it ridiculous when America has the higher rates of simple bumper accidents, let alone fatal accidents...? You only come across a fatal accident in Europe quite seldomly, per yr... To acquire a proper full license in any European country, it takes much (much) more than to get one in the states.. How do i know? (not only do i reside and hold a portugues license) but also because I found more idiots on the road in the states than anywhere else... Anyone can get a license, with ease... no skill needed, just a basic comprehension of the "road rules" and the street etiquette... So yes, i can indeed say you have the worst drivers, because you respectively have the worst basic training for the acquisition of a full license... 1+1=2... is it a bad thing? Ofcourse! look at your accident rate... will you still justify it? i guess you will..

Melting Pot rhetoric is irrelevant to what i am saying.

 

No, I have to drive one occasionally it always goes flat out on the Motorway.

It may suprise you how well they go!!!

 

Wow. I can see you guys have never been to Mainland CHINA. Now, if you want to see some bad driving, China is where you have to go. It's the wild wild west! No passing over double yellow lines? Who cares! Overtaking on the right even if it means going into a ditch? Sounds like a plan! Making a left turn from any lane, including using the opposing traffic lane? Sure! See a pedestrian in the middle of the road? Well, that's just a moving chicane. Who has the right of way? That one's easy.. the most aggressive guy gets the right of way.

I even once saw a cycle cop IN UNIFORM taking his 4 kids for a ride on his police bike with him. One kid was on handle bars. Two more where clinging to him around the waist and shoulders from behind as they stood on the seat, and the baby was pressed against his chest as he cradled it with one hand. Of course, none had a helmet. I had to close my eyes.

Now, I have not been to Africa so I cannot really judge. They may or may not be good drivers. But,I have to say from my experience the Mainland Chinese drivers (not to be confused with Hong Kong drivers --who are excellent) are clearly the worst in the world by far.

 

why does this crap keep coming up in the ferrari forum? we don't care about prius' or vette's. Take it to off topic or other cars.

 

I don't care till these Prius owners start ricing out there vehicles then they become a threat to me .

 

They have been doing it in Florida (mainly central/north) for not doing the speed limit in the left lane. They just don't do it often enough.

 

WGAF? If fuel economy is that important to you, take less trips. If you are on the road, be considerate and safe, and put fuel economy considerations second. I am starting to fantasize about putting in reinforced bumpers and punting hybrid cars out of the way. *******s.

 

The default slow speed on Interstates is 45 mph, unless posted otherwise.
Be fun to nail some slow bastard(s).

As far as pokie types in the left lane, anyone tried pulling in front of them,
then slowing THEM down? Give 'em dose of their medicine.

Really piss 'em off by slowing way down, then speeding back up, then slowing
down...mess with their hypermiling gas mileage

 

you can also shepherd them over to the right lanes...
A) slow down in front, wait till you catch up to someone on the right, then match their speed. prius retard will go two lanes over to maintain his speed. now you speed up and get in front of car on right and switch two lanes to right, in front of prius, and again pace the car to the left, but from slightly ahead.
B) prius will have choice of slowing down, letting car on left get ahead, and then going left, or going right immediately and maintaining speed. prius retard will of course go to right to save his precious nanodrops of fuel.
C) now you pace him, preventing him from coming back out to the left.

but wait, the game is not over. wait till you catch up to a slow truck on a long uphill grade, and pace prius to keep him squarely behind crawling big righ. if you are lucky, you will see the prius driver explode.

stencil in a prius on your fender for the win.
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Ever the skeptic... do you have figures you could point me to (links to reports and the like). I would be more than happy to buy this logic if you can provide more than just assertions, perhaps some actual information. Rhetoric is irrelevant to your argument, yet you still rely on it?


For what its worth, the worst drivers I have ever encountered (as a general population) were in Southern Italy (they seemed to do much better in the north).

 

This is absolutely hilarious!! Next time I am towing my Ford GT with my gas guzzling Cayenne Turbo, I will have to try this. Ha.

 

It's true. Just use your common sense. European drivers require a lot more training and have more stringent testing. They have to have better skills and knowledge just to get the license. And enforcement is pretty lax in the US, so drivers can get away with a lot. It shows in their road manners, awareness of traffic around them, skills in things like pulling out into traffic, etc., (although things are getting worse now), and in their control of their cars. Southern Italy...do you mean aggression/recklessness? I would agree with that.

I hear the worst drivers are in India and China, in terms of sheer carelessness and disregard of any laws or safety considerations. The state of traffic is the worst in India, apparently, with a HUGE mix ranging from stray cows and dogs to tanker trucks. The stories make my skin crawl.

 

I agree with you. India and Nepal are both fairly bad. In Nepal, entering traffic has the right of way! I have cycled through Kathmandu, and, in few places, thought I was going to die!
Back to going green, this is one of the best articles I have read on the subject:
http://blogs.motortrend.com/6215302/editorial/give-up-your-suv-and-other-nauseating-hypocrisy/index.html

 

Indian drivers are the worst i have seen, but their structure is not equal to what you have in the US... US has the same structure as most European major countries... For a country with such new infrastructure, (the USA) there should be no excuse for poor driving skill, or insanity on the road. And for China, you need to use your common sense... That place is simply over-populated.. I bet more people use public transport, but you still manage to find thousands of traffic jams, just because of how many are populated in the major cities... They drive the way they do just because of their circumstances... being over crowed, having smaller roads, etc..

In Uganda (east Africa, because Africa contains countries which are all different, like Asia, like Europe.....) could be counted as worse because depending on who your driving instructor is, you can simply buy a license. If you do drive in Uganda, you must have skill to a degree because there is hardly any regulation on the road... It is almost as bad as India.. Nothing is implied like it may be in Europe or the US.. "right of way" does not exist.. But again, countries like those, have a different type of infrastructure compared to mainstream Europe and US. . . thats obvious..

Well, you do not have to agree by any means, this is fair discussion, after all I have no figures to prove myself, but I think it has been clearly cited in various news reports.. Also, I have lived in both areas of the world (for long enough to take notice), and it just appears that with all the "structure" you have in the USA, you have some horrible drivers... With all that guidence and all the fairly new infrastructure, there should be no excuse for poor drivers in the US, even if the training is below what it should be. I dont need stats to prove my point because you can walk around in any major city of the US and witness this stuff.. Sure you can witness bad driving everywhere else, but not to the same degree (and to say the least, everyone else in Europe atleast, have a better training process before being granted a legal license.)

You say southern Italy.. Look at southern Italy.. then compare it to the metropolitan of London or New York.. They drive how they drive because of their laid out structure (as i've said its different every where.) You go to Paris, you will find the worst drivers in Europe, but they still do not do the silly mistakes which you find with the average American bad driver.. Its why you have huge regulations for speeding, because local governments do not trust the people to manuver a vehicle at high speeds... I wonder why they dont share the same regulation in most of Germany....

 

"You are part of the solution, not part of the problem" - great episode.


Ferrari- the one and only victim of The Great Global Warming (fraud).

By the way, I bet you all heard about this: http://www.thecarconnection.com/article/1010861_prius-versus-hummer-exploding-the-myth
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And therein lies the problem. The handing out of drivers licenses. That for one would reduce the amount of cars on the road, while at the same time reducing emissions output. Why not have stricter rules in places, tougher exams, maybe even cost a bit more.

Would any of the tree-huggers agree to this? The level headed ones sure. But not the crazies. They would file a lawsuit alongside the ACLU and claim that it went against people rights.

Which brings us to the next problem, driving IS NOT a RIGHT. IT IS a PRIVILEGE. Not to get too political here, but everything to liberals is a right. Nothing is a privilege.

 

If people are going too slow in the left lane, I ignore them. It's pretty easy to just drive around them. I drive a Civic hybrid, and like the mileage, but usually, if I'm in the fast lane, I'm going 5 - 10 over the limit. I don't get out of the way for people that want to pass, since I don't ask people to move, if they're going the limit, I just drive around them. Too much ego involved, I suspect. I've seen some pretty poor behavior from people who, although there is plenty of room to pass, insist upon your pulling over. I have a solution for that bad behavior, and I suspect that those that I've used it on, didn't know who'd gotten even with them, or why, but they do know that someone has paid a little attention to them. Works for me. If you're going to behave badly, I suggest you don't have license plates on your car.

Art

 

Been there, done that ... Bejing and Shanghi.

OMFG ... funniest and scariest **** you'll ever experience ... An "E" ticket ride would be a front seat in a taxi ... freeway shoulders are available lanes ... pedestrians do not have right of way.

G

 

Ferrari Eco Car ???

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/07/16/ferrari-500-not-really-a-ferrari/