Toyota Prius - A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Ever since Toyota introduced its new hybrid car the Prius has been a subject of various debates. Its actual fuel economy was largely questioned. There has been rumors about its batteries not being environment friendly. Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear made a really harsh review of it that you can see below.
But the subject that I would want to discuss is Prius drivers. A long while ago Motodisiac told me that the Prius drivers are the worst kind to ever populate carpool lanes. Now that I got involved into riding I know why.
First of all they are arguably the slowest carpool tenants often going even below the speed limit. While other vehicles do that once in a while I have been noticing this behavior from the Prius society members much frequently. For the record one of my friends is a proud owner of one of those. And even he complained to me once that often times he waits for the opening in a carpool lane to pass another Prius on the right.
Secondly they are probably the most oblivious drivers on the roads of Southern California. I have been noticing this even before I started riding. They will merge tentatively in a way that misleads drivers around them. Frequently I’d see a Prius occupying left most lanes for no apparent reason or sliding in and out of a lane just a bit but enough to brush against another unsuspecting vehicle. A failure to use blinkers goes without saying. We are in Los Angeles. No one uses blinkers.
And thirdly they seem to be pretty unfriendly to motorcyclists that share carpool lanes with them. It has not been 2 months that I am riding and I already have gotten more than one angry look from a Prius side window. And keep in mind that I am a new rider. I am not whizzing between cars at 80mph as I see some riders do. I was under the impression that the majority of the Prius drivers were politically liberal and tolerant environmentalists. How does anger fit in the liberal and tolerant picture?
After thinking about all that I asked myself - do people become like that when they purchase a Prius? Or it is something pertaining their personality traits that leads them to a decision to own one? That is a mystery yet to be explored and hopefully unveiled. In the meantime I will try to be safe and recommend everyone to watch out if you see one driving close to you.
P.S. I was riding in a carpool lane the other day. Slowly but steadily overtaking slower cars I approached a Prius. Surprisingly the driver (female in her 30s) shifted her car a bit to the left. My heart was filled with joy. The hope is not completely lost.
October 25th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Its called confirmation bias: you get the idea that Prius drivers are bad drivers, and every bad Prius driver that you see “convinces” you. When you see a Prius driver that doesn’t fit your preconception, they’re an “exception”, rather than just another driver. I’d say I’m quite the considerate driver (I even use turn signals - they’re there for everyone’s safety), and you writing another blog post furthering another stereotype just makes it worse for everyone. Because we all know the type of car you drive has no bearing on how good a driver you are.
October 25th, 2007 at 11:16 am
I want to think that generally I am a prejudice free person. This post is not a product of surfing the anti-Prius forums or attending the Prius-hating meetings. But the result of my own observation while riding. And unfortunately most of my rider friends concur.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Can somebody explain me why hybrid vehicles are allowed to travel in car pool lanes? As far as I know they produce exactly the same amount of pollutants when moving as any regular car…..
October 26th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I’m pretty sure the main reason for buying a hybrid car is to save on gas. Being environment friendly comes as an after thought.
October 28th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I don’t think you are going to save much on gas, owners are reporting average of 25mpg. WV Golf / Jetta Diesel is much better choice, it will get you up to 50mpg.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
All I meant was the person buying a hybrid car is expecting to save on gas.:)
December 2nd, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Hello Prius driver haters:
I have a Prius and a Ford F150. I live on a dirt road in the farmland of Nebraska and am an average person. I drive both vehicles the same way, except that I can’t always drive the F150 because it’s too expense to fill up.
The Prius allowed me to take a job 45 miles away when the place I was working at was outsourced. I’m just trying to make it in the world and I appreciate the 50mpg I’ve gotten so far so that I’m not quite so worried about the gas prices each month. I bought the Prius for $24,500 and with the tax break I paid a net of $21,000. I like the vehicle stability control and with snow tires it does great in the winter.
Do you hate me and think I’m a bad driver when I drive my Prius, but don’t mind me when I’m driving my Ford F150?
Michelle
December 2nd, 2007 at 10:55 pm
First of all thank you for reading our blog. Speaking on behalf of my friend Motodisiac and myself I will say this - of course we do not hate you. Again the purpose of this post was to point out our observations of the Prius drivers we see daily on the roads of Los Angeles. By no means I implied that anyone who drives a Prius will fit the profile. However unfortunately what we see daily is a trend.