Just drive like a Texan!

It don't matter the size of the car or truck, its the pilot that gets the respect. Stand up to them!

I get the same crap here in California, and how I deal with it is by showing them that I am just as crazy as they are, and perhaps a little bit more. Most of them back off, and those that don't get their money's worth.

Instead of selling your civic, just pretend it is a SUV. All you have to do is anticipate a little further in advance to make up for the lower acceleration and power.

 

It says you can only compare cars within 250 pounds of each other.

I think this is because of physics.
Yes the Honda Civic is safe, but it is light.
Even though the Hummer and Civic both got 5 stars for driver frontal crash test if the crash is head on Hummer against Civic the Civic will lose.

The Hummer is much heavier so it will be slowed down by the crash but the Civic will probably stop and recoil back very fast - resulting to greater impact to the Civic occupants than to the Hummer occupants.

Example (numbers are made up but the concept is sound.)

Let's say they crash head on both going 30 MPH.
An instant after the impact the Hummer will have slowed down to maybe 15 MPH whereas the Civic will have stopped and recoiled back and move backwards at perhaps 10 MPH.

Change in speed for the Hummer is 30-15 =15MPH
Change in speed for the Civic is 30 to zero then back 10 = 40MPH

A greater sudden change in velocity means more impact on the Civic occupants..
All the safety features in the world can't undo physics.

Granted head-on is only one of many types of possible crashes.
The Civic is more nimble and manuverable and better able manuver away from a crash and is less likely to roll over.

 

Hi Richard,

You are correct the HCH II is {Slow}.

I have a suggestion for you. Go drive the TCH (Toyota Camry Hybrid). It is way "Faster" than the HCHII. I do mean a lot Faster by all accounts and you will still get Great-FE (Fuel-Economy). You can view pics and read Threads/Post here on Greenhybrid from owners that have the TCH Now.

Good-Luck with your next choice and just one more thought here on another Hybrid that is like a Rocket-Ship leaving Earth as far as Acceleration goes. The Lexus 450h. Now there is a Hybrid that gets it done and still gets Good FE. A little pricey though.

You do have choices out there in the Land-of-Hybrids.

Have a Nice-Day:

Terry (tiger)

BTW, I would like to have the TCH Anniversary Model myself:

 

Sorry to hear you are giving it up. It's very hard to drive that car with all the crazies around. I get some kind of sick charge out of the whole thing though, especially when that same hummer is pulled over a mile down the road. Good luck to you!

 

Thank you for all the suggestions and insight (again this is a testiment to all the good people out there). I totally agree that driving a faster car is NOT the solution to the problem. The HCHII is fine 95% of the time but it's the 5% of the time when I have to:
1. Accelerate onto merging highway traffic
2. Accelerate to change lanes (mostly in highway speed situations)
3. Accelerate in order try to drive defensively (i.e. closing the gap in order to prevent vehicles suddenly cutting in front of me and then slamming on their brakes to adjust their speed).
Again the common theme is acceleration (or the lack thereof). I will keep you guys updated with the replacement vehicle.

 

You don't need a different car.
You need more information.

You can DEcellerate to change lanes into a gap *behind* you.
(Use your mirrors.)

Closing the gap in front of you is called tailgaiting.

Agressive driving is not safe in ANY vehicle.

 

I have been in Houston a few times, and like many large metro areas have plenty of aggressive drivers.

Like several have said on this thread - stay right and try to avoid the rush hour when possible. It took awhile for me.

Reconsider the roadway arms race of getting bigger and faster - nobody wins that race.

 

I live in the S.F. Bay area, and have NO PROBLEM

 

I used to drive Volvos (740, S70) for safety reasons but their acceleration was not better than the HCHII! And now the HCH is as safe! The mileage is a bonus. With time you just get the hang of merging.

 

Too much. Safety reason... I mean I can see you selling your car because you are scared of driving out in the mean streets of america but to sell the car on the grounds of safety? That's a pathetic excuse.