PHEV drivers. Generally, pretty obnoxious

[TimLee]

... Especially after they've tailgated me mercilessly. I have a policy of never giving rude people what they want.

+10
The one really positive thing about driving a LEAF is you quickly recognize how stupidly people drive.
I was slowing for a light today and the ICE in the lane right of me for entrance to Interstate rapidly accelerated three car lengths past me and then began heavy braking to get down at least close to the 25 mph ramp speed.
Why :?: Is getting there one second faster worth doing that :?:

 

[mikesus]

Ok. Its my fault. (there were a few of us, but I actually started a very effective email campaign to get it changed)

You see, back when the Honda Insight came out, I noticed that the law in VA stated that electric powered vehicles were allowed in HOV's. This point was disputed by the VA DMV. I pointed out that the law didn't say solely or wholly electric powered. After many people contacted the DMV, they relented...

Long story short, I have a letter that states "You and other Honda Insight Owners" are now allowed to use the HOV lanes.

I don't remember who exactly contacted me from CA (its been a LONG time ) but they were very interested and got the interpretation in CA changed.

So you can blame me :lol:

 

[DaveEV]

It's petty-ass "moderation" like that that ensures that I'll never give this site a dime. (If you want to see one this left up, please quote it!)

I've reviewed the moderators logs for this thread and do not see anything that indicates that any posts of yours have been deleted from it. So I do believe that you are mistaken here.

As far as moderation - there is very little moderation on this site. I'm not sure what "petty ass 'moderation'" you are referring to - if you want to discuss this further feel free to start a new thread or take it to PM.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I posted, it was seen by at least one other person, then it vanished. If this were the first time it had happened I'd give the benefit of the doubt, but unfortunately it wasn't. I've since reposted the essence of what I wrote, so I'll drop it here. My main point was that the behavior of California Prius PHEV drivers in that state's HOV lanes shouldn't be used to characterize PIP drivers nationwide. It is interesting that the title was edited since, though...

 

[cwerdna]

I posted, it was seen by at least one other person, then it vanished. If this were the first time it had happened I'd give the benefit of the doubt, but unfortunately it wasn't. I've since reposted the essence of what I wrote, so I'll drop it here.

Maybe it was moved somewhere? I didn't see it, so I don't know.

If you're afraid of revisionist history, you can submit pages to https://archive.org/.." onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

 

[DaveEV]

I posted, it was seen by at least one other person, then it vanished.

Like I said, the moderators logs don't have any activity that would reflect any such action. The only thing that might cause something like this that I can think of would be if the database was rolled back and a number of posts were removed. I will check with the others, though.

 

[alanlarson]

My solutions:

2) Minimum age or licensed driver requirement for all ICE vehicle occupants - kick-out the mom/dad ferrying their baby/child around.
3) MORE ENFORCEMENT - there is precious little going on right now, which is encouraging scofflaws.
4) Open entrance/exit rather than being forced to bring the whole lane to a halt while trying to get in/out at the designated area.

Agreed on these three! The baby in the back seat isn't going to be driving a different car - he is cargo not a carpooler.
More enforcement sounds good - 1/4 to 1/3 of the folks in the carpool lane around here are scofflaws - single driver in non-entitled car. Often they have tinted windows on the back so you can't see that there is nobody back there. The law should require that the second occupant be visible, and if not, pull them over!
I never understood the silly entrace/exit windows unless they were to support the toll concept. It seems that the government realized that carpool lanes were a failure and decided to turn them into toll lanes instead of admitting defeat. It was obvious here long ago that at the minute the lane restrictions ended, and traffic could use all of the lanes, that traffic started moving more rapidly - the jams were the result of putting most traffic in 3 instead of 4 lanes. (Now, with the large number of scofflaws already in the carpool lane, that is less obvious.)

 

[CWO4Mann]

Lots of angry folks out there in California. I am guessing that the entire HOV lane structure is flawed to create an angst-ridden "us and them" population. We have a number of HOV lanes in the Nashville and I have an HOV sticker. I rarely use the HOV lane on I-65 Southbound since there is very little enforcement. Solo drivers in behemoth ICE's don't even need an inflated love doll in the passenger seat as they do on the D.C HOV lanes.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I totally concur! And they are likewise at the charging stations...

It's a massive generalization, I know, but I've been paying a lot of attention to the way PHEV drivers use the HOV lane of late and my impression is...they're pretty obnoxious as a whole.

at Priuschat, there was a thread about this very subject. many many many PiP owners simply bought the car for HOV access and had ZERO plans to plug in EVER.

This is reason that NO single occupancy cars should be allowed in HOV lanes at any time. WA almost does it right. We do have toll roads where single riders can pay for HOV privileges on pay per use basis.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I posted, it was seen by at least one other person, then it vanished. If this were the first time it had happened I'd give the benefit of the doubt, but unfortunately it wasn't. I've since reposted the essence of what I wrote, so I'll drop it here. My main point was that the behavior of California Prius PHEV drivers in that state's HOV lanes shouldn't be used to characterize PIP drivers nationwide. It is interesting that the title was edited since, though...

would not be the first time where a post did not make it to its intended thread. I have posted things only to have them either

1) duplicated
2) not show up

at first I chalked it up to my 2 screen desktop plus laptop (along with work which I do concurrently often) going at the same time and old age working against my better judgments.

now, I have seen my posts appear in the wrong thread but not convinced that was a cause of a system error..

 

[LeftieBiker]

I totally concur! And they are likewise at the charging stations...

It's a massive generalization, I know, but I've been paying a lot of attention to the way PHEV drivers use the HOV lane of late and my impression is...they're pretty obnoxious as a whole.

at Priuschat, there was a thread about this very subject. many many many PiP owners simply bought the car for HOV access and had ZERO plans to plug in EVER.

This is reason that NO single occupancy cars should be allowed in HOV lanes at any time. WA almost does it right. We do have toll roads where single riders can pay for HOV privileges on pay per use basis.

If the PIP can get 60MPG without ever being plugged in, that should be taken into account. That's better than two individuals each driving a 30MPG vehicle. Also, I have yet to see an actual fact-based correlation that shows that the PIPs using HOV lanes are mostly not being charged. So far it's just opinion and innuendo.

 

[JeremyW]

If the PIP can get 60MPG without ever being plugged in, that should be taken into account

Well then my 60mpg Honda Insight should be let back in the HOV lane then. I regularly get 65 mpg on the freeway. A few more tweaks/repairs and I should be around 70 mpg.

 

[JimSouCal]

Lots of angry folks out there in California..

Yep, your post led to me laughing. Interesting point is the natives seem more mellow. We didn't come here for anything... Also, CA, as as state has some distinct pockets of character, and not just rural verses city. Here in Los Angeles, on the 405, often, I don't use the HOV lane because the HOV is moving about the same speed as the rest of the lanes. There are literally areas here you can walk faster than taking a car. There are some very uptight people with some fragile balances. And since most of us don't carry guns, they express themselves. Which brings us right back to the PHEV group, with a broad swath, are, generally, more obnoxious. As are the gangs of bicycle riders, who don't like to obey any rules, like red lights, etc. It's all fun if you get the right attitude on.... Sort of...

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

If the PIP can get 60MPG without ever being plugged in, that should be taken into account. That's better than two individuals each driving a 30MPG vehicle. Also, I have yet to see an actual fact-based correlation that shows that the PIPs using HOV lanes are mostly not being charged. So far it's just opinion and innuendo.

well, in my neighborhood 60 passenger MPGs is nowhere near good enough

 

[srl99]

The HOV (High Occupancy Vehicles) lanes were meant to get cars off the roads. A single occupant EV, at whatever speed, is also abusing public infrastructure - though it's allowed by regulation.

I once saw a hearse in the HOV lane - apparently , the additional occupant does NOT need to have a pulse. If fresh delivery is at risk,
give them whatever advantage will help.

Driving an electric gives you the right to (far) exceed the speed limit? Driving fast no matter which storage you use is wasting energy and diluting whatever green cred you profess. *By the way, it also puts you at greater mercy of the "PHEVs hogging the public EVSEs".

 

[hill]

....... snip...... . *By the way, it also puts you at greater mercy of the "PHEVs hogging the public EVSEs".

.... only when they're priced below gas, or free. There's a thread on Prius chat to that very effect.
.

 

[TomT]

A co-worker has a PiP and he readily admits that he has never plugged it in and doesn't plan to... He simply wanted the stickers and the better MPG...

I have yet to see an actual fact-based correlation that shows that the PIPs using HOV lanes are mostly not being charged. So far it's just opinion and innuendo.

 

[adric22]

This thread is funny. I see people complaining that PiP drivers are rude because they drive so slow in the HOV lane. Then others are claiming PiPs are rude because they are driving at very high speed in the HOV lane. While others are complaining that PiP drivers never plug in their car, and yet others are complaining that they plug them in too often.

I think what we're witnessing is a perfect case of anecdotal evidence. We don't really have any scientific statistics.

 

[LeftieBiker]

This thread is funny. I see people complaining that PiP drivers are rude because they drive so slow in the HOV lane. Then others are claiming PiPs are rude because they are driving at very high speed in the HOV lane. While others are complaining that PiP drivers never plug in their car, and yet others are complaining that they plug them in too often.

I think what we're witnessing is a perfect case of anecdotal evidence. We don't really have any scientific statistics.

Yes, it's another case of "The food is terrible and the portions are too small." The fact that all these conflicting complaints exist at once points more to bias than to evidence.

 

[jlv]

PHEV drivers hog free public charging stations like it's going out of style.

I was just in downtown Boston yesterday, and the 2 (free) charging stations in the (paid) garage I was in were taken up by PIPs. One was done charging -- which means he was there a long time.