Hybrid tire slasher in Virginia

[hybridbear]

Watch out Virginia Fusion Hybrid owners! This is just ridiculous!

 

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/07/23/toyota-prius-tires-slashed-arlington-virginia-video/

 

[Riggo]

Yep, I saw that. Not good at all.

[aaronj1159]

People tend to avoid that stuff down here in my end of Virginia. It's hard to tell what kind of weapon someone has stowed away in their car down here. I personally keep a large crowbar just in case.

[Riggo]

Apparently these tires were slashed in the late night hours while people were asleep so I don't think a weapon would have helped. :-P

[aaronj1159]

Well in that case... That's just cowardly! haha. I did see a story where people vandalized a hummer in broad daylight while it was parked outside of some offices, spraying "gas hog" all over it. People are dumb.

[MaineFusion]

Well in that case... That's just cowardly! haha. I did see a story where people vandalized a hummer in broad daylight while it was parked outside of some offices, spraying "gas hog" all over it. People are dumb.

Fanaticism in almost any form is a bad thing.

 

One thing I like about the FFH is that it looks like the regular Fusion. I don't feel like it's shouting to the world, "hey look at me driving a hybrid, I'm better than you who's driving a gas hog." I just like to smile to my self when I'm full after 10 gallons while the driver of the Hummer at the pump next to me has to take out a loan to fill up their tank.

[Aquineas]

Please note that most of the tires being slashed are/were Priuses (Priii?). And let's be honest folks, how many times have you been behind a wall of traffic with open road in front of it and contributing to the whole blockade is a Prius plopped down in the passing lane? Hyper-miling and getting great mileage is cool people, but get the heck out of the passing lane when you do it. Please note I didn't say "fast" lane, as that is a misnomer, and there is a distinction. If the road of you is open, always yield to faster moving traffic by allowing them to pass on the left, where in most states we are legally obligated to do, regardless of speed traveled. Speed enforcement is not your job (unless you're a law enforcement officer). Besides, there are always benefits to having someone driving much faster than you ahead of you. Let 'em pass, and let them be the first to trip the speed traps :-).

Edited August 3, 2013 by Aquineas

[MaineFusion]

Please note that most of the tires being slashed are/were Priuses (Priii?). And let's be honest folks, how many times have you been behind a wall of traffic with open road in front of it and contributing to the whole blockade is a Prius plopped down in the passing lane? Hyper-miling and getting great mileage is cool people, but get the heck out of the passing lane when you do it. Please note I didn't say "fast" lane, as that is a misnomer, and there is a distinction. If the road of you is open, always yield to faster moving traffic by allowing them to pass on the left, where in most states we are legally obligated to do, regardless of speed traveled. Speed enforcement is not your job (unless you're a law enforcement officer). Besides, there are always benefits to having someone driving much faster than you ahead of you. Let 'em pass, and let them be the first to trip the speed traps :-).

One bad behavior doesn't justify another bad behavior. Also on my daily commute I've seen lots of different cars, not just Priuses driving slow in the center or left lane causing traffic to back up. It's just that the Prius has a very distinct look that everyone knows and thus remembers. Even when in a three lane situation, I drive in the right lane unless I'm passing or need to be in the left lane for a toll plaza EZ Pass lane.

[Aquineas]

One bad behavior doesn't justify another bad behavior. Also on my daily commute I've seen lots of different cars, not just Priuses driving slow in the center or left lane causing traffic to back up. It's just that the Prius has a very distinct look that everyone knows and thus remembers. Even when in a three lane situation, I drive in the right lane unless I'm passing or need to be in the left lane for a toll plaza EZ Pass lane.

Oh I completely agree with you; under no circumstances is that the behavior justified. I am just saying there have been quite a few occasions (particularly in and around Austin) that when I've finally "broken free" of a driver-created traffic logjam, there was a Prius in the passing lane that I had to pass on the right. As I pass, I usually silently wish that they have to be the one at work who makes the next pot of coffee or that they would end up behind someone who has 8 bags of groceries (and then pays with check) in the express line of the grocery store.

 

I'm sure some of it is having a more memorable shape, but there's probably a tiny fire under all that smoke.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Aquineas

[MaineFusion]

On the subject of passing and bad driving habits, I hate it when I come up from behind a car and go to pass only to have them speed up just enough to prevent me from passing without overriding my cruise control. Either drive the speed limit or let me pass in a reasonable time fame so that we don't both cause a bottleneck of traffic behind us.

 

To be honest, I think most drivers are just clueless of their surroundings and have very little situational awareness. They may be at the controls of their vehicle, but they aren't focused on driving, which includes knowing what is going on around you and having a plan if things suddenly go wrong.

[djminfll]

Fanaticism in almost any form is a bad thing.

 

One thing I like about the FFH is that it looks like the regular Fusion. I don't feel like it's shouting to the world, "hey look at me driving a hybrid, I'm better than you who's driving a gas hog." I just like to smile to my self when I'm full after 10 gallons while the driver of the Hummer at the pump next to me has to take out a loan to fill up their tank.

 

In Florida, all hybrids get a "HOV" (High Occupancy Vehicle, or carpool) sticker, permitting single drivers to occupy the carpool lane during rush hour. Since I prefer to drive at a hig mpg speed, I stay out of that lane unless the regular lanes are backed up, then I switch into the HOV lane until the slowdown has cleared up. But when I do this, I increase my speed to about 70-75mph in order to avoid causing a road-rage incident.

But I do love going to the gas station, putting in about $30-35 of gas, watching the guy next to me pumping $50, 60, 70+ in gas in his Camaro SS, and thinking, "hmmm, hope you enjoy winning those stoplight races - is it really worth it?"

[hybridbear]

On the subject of passing and bad driving habits, I hate it when I come up from behind a car and go to pass only to have them speed up just enough to prevent me from passing without overriding my cruise control. Either drive the speed limit or let me pass in a reasonable time fame so that we don't both cause a bottleneck of traffic behind us.

 

To be honest, I think most drivers are just clueless of their surroundings and have very little situational awareness. They may be at the controls of their vehicle, but they aren't focused on driving, which includes knowing what is going on around you and having a plan if things suddenly go wrong.

I think you're 100% correct about how most drivers are clueless of their surroundings. Your comment above about cruise control is something I have experienced many times that is just one example of the lack of awareness of other motorists.

 

It's interesting to see how much higher the standards are in some European countries for getting a driver's license compared to the US. There is almost nothing done to teach defensive driving here, part of which is being aware of your surroundings. The challenge is that change is hard to implement though so we will likely never see better driver training programs in the US and thus will never see an improvement in the behavior of the motoring population as a whole.

 

My dad drove city bus in Minneapolis for most of my life growing up and he got defensive driving training twice a year. He would always share with my mom and me what things he was taught and he would apply them no only driving the city bus, but also driving a car. Now that he's pushing 70 I can tell that his reaction times have slipped but he's still an excellent driver because he pays very keen attention to what's going on around him and is almost never caught off guard by other morons on the road.

 

One example of something that he taught me to do is being aware of stop signs in residential neighborhoods. In Minneapolis the residential intersections usually have stop signs only for one of the two streets. And the streets alternate which one has a stop sign, meaning if you're continuing down the same street for various blocks you will have a stop sign every other street. Many drivers seem clueless to this though and either don't stop and yield at their stop sign because they think you'll stop too or they stop when they don't have a stop sign because they think they do have one. I've avoided many near accidents by paying attention from afar to what the stop sign situation is at the next intersection so that I can be ready for some idiot to be unaware of the traffic situation and cause problems. There are certain intersections that I know are especially bad for this and I am extra careful around those.

 

Little things like this are how I almost never get less than a 100% brake score and why our Lifetime Brake score is at 99% after 16000+ miles. I'm sure that if I were the only one driving the car my Lifetime Brake score would say 100% but when my wife drives she probably averages 96-97% for her brake scores so she pulls it down a little.

[MaineFusion]

My dad drove city bus in Minneapolis for most of my life growing up and he got defensive driving training twice a year. He would always share with my mom and me what things he was taught and he would apply them no only driving the city bus, but also driving a car. Now that he's pushing 70 I can tell that his reaction times have slipped but he's still an excellent driver because he pays very keen attention to what's going on around him and is almost never caught off guard by other morons on the road.

Little things like this are how I almost never get less than a 100% brake score and why our Lifetime Brake score is at 99% after 16000+ miles. I'm sure that if I were the only one driving the car my Lifetime Brake score would say 100% but when my wife drives she probably averages 96-97% for her brake scores so she pulls it down a little.

The thing that kills my brake score the most are are short yellow lights. Most of the time I'm pretty good at predicting when a traffic light is going tot turn yellow in advance, but every now and then I still end up having to stop short. Another thing that hurts my overall brake score is that when lights are red, I'll slow down way in advance so that it turns green again before I get to it so that I don't need to come to a complete stop thus not adding to my brake score.

[hybridbear]

The thing that kills my brake score the most are are short yellow lights. Most of the time I'm pretty good at predicting when a traffic light is going tot turn yellow in advance, but every now and then I still end up having to stop short. Another thing that hurts my overall brake score is that when lights are red, I'll slow down way in advance so that it turns green again before I get to it so that I don't need to come to a complete stop thus not adding to my brake score.

Brake score is not just based on full stops, it's based on any time you hit the brakes. Most of the trips where my trip summary shows less than 100% I never had the display tell me less than 100% but I had some other spot where I had to hit the brakes hard that lowered my brake score.

 

I just go through those lights rather than stopping for them.

[hermans]

Back to the tire slasher in Arlington, VA....any news? I tend to get down that way.

Edited August 5, 2013 by hermans

[TX NRG]

...our Lifetime Brake score is at 99% after 16000+ miles. I'm sure that if I were the only one driving the car my Lifetime Brake score would say 100% but when my wife drives she probably averages 96-97% for her brake scores so she pulls it down a little.

Way to throw the wife under the bus! ;)

[LASooner]

Glad I got rid of my Hybrid badges. I've noticed less tailgaters since I did.