Prior to owning my HCHII, I worried about how So. Cal drivers might be aggresive, flashing lights, honking or using "one-finger salutes" to express their displeasure at someone doing slightly less than the speed limit (even in the right lane) or just at the speed limit in the carpool lane.

To my pleasant surprise, in six months of driving my car, I haven't had any incidents. Until today.

I was in the carpool lane of the 91 fwy at 66 mph (regular lanes doing about 45 - 55). I was a consistant 6 car lengths back from a line of other cars, when a guy behind me started flashing his lights and waving his arms. The sad part? He was in a Prius!

I doubt such an individual would ever visit Green Hybrid, as he obviously has no interest in MPG, low emissions or anything but rushing in the carpool lane... but just in case... "hey buddy... get a life!"

 

My speeding Prius story is funnier. Between Denver and Fort Collins on I25 the pack was going the posted limit -75 or a little faster. This Prius II does one of those rude blast-byes. For a few miles, I'd get on a hill and return the favor, then he would....saw a state trooper and both of us decided to call it off. Fortunately he pulled someone else over, or we would have been ticketed for the first hybrid drag race in Colorado.

 

Maybe you were dragging a small dog...


Seriously, this is one of my greatest challenges -- not killing other drivers!

Good job.

 

It does not amaze me how many people just "don't get it" when it comes to leaving a reasonable following distance infront of you (a few car lengths).

After all, I used to be one of those people who whould follow along and complain to other's in the car, or just sit there and wonder why this person infront of me was driving "SO SLOW," when they could obviously move up several car lengths and catch up with the flow...LOL

I would not think of honking or flashing or improper gesturing or anything like that... but I might pass them at full throttle when the road went for a 2 lane to a four lane (or some other relatively harmless gesture)...

It really is an amazingly high level of maturity that usually (but not always, as the Prius driver you encountered today proved) comes along with Hybrid ownersip.

You know, my wife said to me she read that there was a study conducted that found the problem with upsetting someone in a car (ie the reason for road rage) is that there is no opprtunity to simply face the other person and utter a simply "sorry," or somthing along those lines. If they were in a grocery store aisle and cut off someone with their cart or obviously in a hurry in a airport for example, would diffuse the situation immediately by simple appology and off everyone meant in their merry way. But a similar situation where there is the comfort of your own automobile and the anonymity the highway offers, all of the sudden usually normal people can turn into very angry people. Then I said to my wife, oh, that's why when someone cuts me off and I wanna get mad then they all of a sudden raise their hand to appologize it all feels better!

That's gotta be a first... a Prius driver mad about leaving a few car lengths infront of you...

 

My dream car would be what I drive with fuel economy boosts....and things to deal with rude drivers. Stuff like flashes directed at tailgaters that have the candelpower of a nuke or an under-the-bumper gun that takes out their tires.

 

FWIW, if the car pool lane is wide open and someone is just cruising along I will be pretty aggressive coming up behind them. If they want to putt along they should be courteous and step out long enough to let people pass.

 

That's why I doubt I'd benefit much from HOV lanes - they are going to cruise faster than I.

Different story when I'd on the rightmost freeway lane and instead of using the two left lanes to pass, some jerk deliberetly passes on the right using the shoulder, access lane...

 

Yeah, but the way I read this he was driving the same speed as the people in front of him. The problem was that it looked like he was driving slow because he left a reasonable cushion between himself and the vehicle in front.

Road rage is like a sport here in the Northeast, and I have written more than my fair share of posts while still fuming over a particularly needless encounter. Fortunately I have finally learned that the best way to handle these guys is to ignore them completely. No gestures, no speeding up, no slowing down, no honking, and not even a glance in that direction if I can help it. Most importantly, no inner monologue about what the offender deserves to have done to him! My first priority is now to get home without my own blood pressure skyrocketing as a result of some nutcase. That can be the hardest part of driving some days.

 

The OP stated that he was maintaining a consistent gap of approx 6 carlengths. To me that would mean that he was moving with the flow of carpool lane traffic...

 

Maybe he was flirting with you.

But seriously, you got there first, so he's just gonna have to wait until you're done with that stretch of road before he gets to use it.

I want a trunk-mounted brick ejector. It should be computer-aimed, launching farther at higher road speeds, always set so that the brick would hit the ground at what would be a proper following speed. Get too close, you're taking it in the windshield.