Leafs giving Leafs a bad name !!

[Sondy132001]

I love my leaf, but if you're driving in the carpool and going 55, you're a douchebag ! Some clown, in a Leaf was doing 55 in the car pool lane with no one in front of him and about 30 of us behind him ! Just plain rude ! Don't be that guy ! I hear it from my friends all the time abut electric cars going slow in the carpool lane, just sit in traffic if you don't want to do the speed limit !

 

[mwalsh]

I love my leaf, but if you're driving in the carpool and going 55, you're a douchebag ! Some clown, in a Leaf was doing 55 in the car pool lane with no one in front of him and about 30 of us behind him ! Just plain rude ! Don't be that guy ! I hear it from my friends all the time abut electric cars going slow in the carpool lane, just sit in traffic if you don't want to do the speed limit !

It's not that common, fortunately. The last time I really saw behavior like this, when the carpool was otherwise wide openit wasn't even a LEAF - it was actually someone in an old-school RAV4-EV, and that has to be something like 3-4 years ago.

 

[TomT]

It actually IS fairly common, unfortunately... I see Priuses doing this all the time as well and they are one of the biggest offenders! I don't care what you are driving, if you are not going to do at least the speed limit, or are moving SLOWER than the rest of the lanes, get your ass out of the HOV lane!

I love my leaf, but if you're driving in the carpool and going 55, you're a douchebag ! Some clown, in a Leaf was doing 55 in the car pool lane with no one in front of him and about 30 of us behind him ! Just plain rude ! Don't be that guy ! I hear it from my friends all the time abut electric cars going slow in the carpool lane, just sit in traffic if you don't want to do the speed limit !

 

[fooljoe]

Hmm, certainly I agree one shouldn't be doing 55 in the carpool lane with wide open traffic, but looking at the picture posted it's clear that the traffic is anything but wide open... Doing even 55 might be unsafe in that situation, when the cars in the other lane are lucky to do 10 mph and might be tempted to cut over into the relatively open HOV lane at any time.

And OP, was the driver of the black Leaf really going inordinately slow, or just leaving a good amount of space between him and the car in front of him? It could very well be that a few hundred yards ahead traffic is stopped in the HOV lane as well, and the Leaf driver is prudently deciding not to accelerate into a bunch of stopped cars.

 

[EVforRobert]

It is really scary how many ICE drivers dive abruptly out of the left lane into HOV. Almost as scary are people who mistake HOV lanes for the fast lane and want to exceed the speed limit and tailgate.

If there is a solid wall between HOV and regular lanes, it would be safer to go fast. I don't want a raging tailgater smashing me into an illegal lane changer!

 

[GregH]

It is really scary how many ICE drivers dive abruptly out of the left lane into HOV. Almost as scary are people who mistake HOV lanes for the fast lane and want to exceed the speed limit and tailgate. Take a chill pill, OP.

I used to think the double yellow line gave me permission to go at the speed limit even if everyone else was hardly moving.
But after an ICE pulled out of that traffic RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME (and totaled my Leaf), I'm a bit more cautious now... And I got a dash-cam.

But I do agree it's rude to drive 55 in the carpool lane if you could be doing that in the right hand lane... and if you can't (because of traffic), then bite the bullet and go the speed limit as long as it's safe to do so.

 

[Sondy132001]

Hmm, certainly I agree one shouldn't be doing 55 in the carpool lane with wide open traffic, but looking at the picture posted it's clear that the traffic is anything but wide open... Doing even 55 might be unsafe in that situation, when the cars in the other lane are lucky to do 10 mph and might be tempted to cut over into the relatively open HOV lane at any time.

And OP, was the driver of the black Leaf really going inordinately slow, or just leaving a good amount of space between him and the car in front of him? It could very well be that a few hundred yards ahead traffic is stopped in the HOV lane as well, and the Leaf driver is prudently deciding not accelerate into a bunch of stopped cars.

If you call 5 miles enough room ? I posted no one in front of him.

It is really scary how many ICE drivers dive abruptly out of the left lane into HOV. Almost as scary are people who mistake HOV lanes for the fast lane and want to exceed the speed limit and tailgate. Take a chill pill, OP.

RE-READ THE POST ! He wasn't doing the speed limit, no one in front of him, no one was exceeding the speed limit, I hust wanted him TO DO the speed limit, you can chill now =)

 

[EVforRobert]

Hmm, certainly I agree one shouldn't be doing 55 in the carpool lane with wide open traffic, but looking at the picture posted it's clear that the traffic is anything but wide open... Doing even 55 might be unsafe in that situation, when the cars in the other lane are lucky to do 10 mph and might be tempted to cut over into the relatively open HOV lane at any time.

And OP, was the driver of the black Leaf really going inordinately slow, or just leaving a good amount of space between him and the car in front of him? It could very well be that a few hundred yards ahead traffic is stopped in the HOV lane as well, and the Leaf driver is prudently deciding not accelerate into a bunch of stopped cars.

If you call 5 miles enough room ? I posted no one in front of him.

It is really scary how many ICE drivers dive abruptly out of the left lane into HOV. Almost as scary are people who mistake HOV lanes for the fast lane and want to exceed the speed limit and tailgate. Take a chill pill, OP.

RE-READ THE POST ! He wasn't doing the speed limit, no one in front of him, no one was exceeding the speed limit, I hust wanted him TO DO the speed limit, you can chill now =)

Sorry I thought better and edited my post for a more measured response. I was a bit slow, though. Sadly, I won't be able to read your next response due to this site's excellent filtering choices.

 

[fooljoe]

If you call 5 miles enough room ? I posted no one in front of him.

Yeah, I know you posted that, and I don't mean to question your honesty or anything, but perhaps you'll understand if I'm a little skeptical given the high density of traffic in the other lanes. And I took another, closer look at the pic, and if you peek through the black Leaf's windows it actually does look like there is another car not that far in front of him (hardly conclusive, but still...) :?

Sorry to be the contrarian here, but I've been in this situation far too many times, where I'm just trying to leave a sufficient amount of space in front of me to be safe and not have to alternate between accelerating and slamming on the brakes every 30 seconds, but the impatient drivers behind me feel like if I'm not tailgating like they are I'm somehow slowing them down.

Anyway, regardless of the particulars of the situation and whether or not Mr. black Leaf should be going faster, I think we can all agree that tailgating him will NEVER improve the situation.

 

[Sondy132001]

There is nothing to prevent people from going into the HOV lane, even on the 91 (So Cal) they have plastic markers along the HOV lane and a guy drove over them to cut into the HOV lane and nailed my buddy in his Range Rover. He then tried to lie and say that my buddy did that to him, lucky there were plenty of witnesses.

I see dumbasses all the time driving over a double yellow line, you know that the fines for driving illegally in the carpool lane, which means driving over the yellow lines is $341 and it's double if it's over 2 sets of yellow lines (4 all together). Ask me how I know ?? Yeah it was an ugly ticket ! :shock:

All I can say is I see electric cars all the time driving the HOV lane, and doing less than the speed limit. I read in here how some of you guys drive "under" the speed limit to "save power". It's wrong, it's dangerous and it makes people like me pissed and I'll post your pics up here and tell you I'm pissed

Speed limit is 65MPH so do 65mph, unless it's stopped then yeah I get it, but don't be a douchebag to people who just want to get to Point A from Point B in a timely fashion. I bought a Leaf so I could drive the carpool lane to get home quicker so I could spend more time with my family.

When I had my regular car I figured I was spending 960 hours a year on the freeway, that's 40 days, it was killing me, so I started to use the toll road, it's $6.75 each way, it was costing me about $300 a month in tolls. I decided to buy a Leaf, been happy ever since and have more money in my pocket

 

[Sondy132001]

If you call 5 miles enough room ? I posted no one in front of him.

Yeah, I know you posted that, and I don't mean to question your honesty or anything, but perhaps you'll understand if I'm a little skeptical given the high density of traffic in the other lanes. And I took another, closer look at the pic, and if you peek through the black Leaf's windows it actually does look like there is another car not that far in front of him (hardly conclusive, but still...) :?

Sorry to be the contrarian here, but I've been in this situation far too many times, where I'm just trying to leave a sufficient amount of space in front of me to be safe and not have to alternate between accelerating and slamming on the brakes every 30 seconds, but the impatient drivers behind me feel like if I'm not tailgating like they are I'm somehow slowing them down.

Anyway, regardless of the particulars of the situation and whether or not Mr. black Leaf should be going faster, I think we can all agree that tailgating him will NEVER improve the situation.

That's the fast lane (non HOV) lanes of cars you see and his rear view mirror, there was no one there in front of him, easily for 5 miles, and I wasn't tailgating, I used zoom on my phone, I don't tailgate I curse and honk at you and hold up my fingers, 6 first then 5 to tell you hey it's 65 not 55. I'm not here to argue with you, you weren't there, I am just telling you my point of view

 

[billg]

I decided to buy a Leaf, been happy ever since

Really??

 

[born2pdl]

Yeah Sondy, you hit the nail on the head. You just forgot that besides a few normal people that want a car as a solution to specific problems, forums like these are full of and usually run by self righteous, arrogant holier-than-thous. Many of the previous replies show why so many Leaf/ prius/ whatever owners are widely despised by normal people.

 

[fooljoe]

Like I said up front, I totally agree that if traffic is wide open you shouldn't be doing 55 in the HOV lane. But If you're driving at rush hour (as the picture would suggest), I think you might need to reevaluate your expectations of what's possible...

 

[TomT]

The car you are referring two is definitely in the number 2 lane to the right of the HOV lane, not in the HOV lane...

And I took another, closer look at the pic, and if you peek through the black Leaf's windows it actually does look like there is another car not that far in front of him (hardly conclusive, but still...) :?

 

[TomT]

I don't know what it is about the Prius but they seem to have an over-represented percentage of bad/rude/arrogant drivers...

Many of the previous replies show why so many Leaf/ prius/ whatever owners are widely despised by normal people.

 

[fooljoe]

The car you are referring two is definitely in the number 2 lane to the right of the HOV lane, not in the HOV lane...

Hmm, are we seeing the same thing? I don't want to get into detailed imagery analysis here, but I see what looks like the right rear wheel of a dark-colored car (perhaps a pickup?) in between the headrest and rear-view mirror, while there's a light-colored car to the right of the car in question which is in the #2 lane. There's no way you'd be seeing anyone's RIGHT wheel in the #2 lane, given the backed-up line of cars in that lane...

Anyway, I could certainly be wrong, and it doesn't really matter. It's beside the point, which is when you're in a rush to get somewhere you might be unjustly focusing your anger on the guy in front of you and ignoring the larger situation. ~20 years of commuting on the 405 has taught me that you need to just give up on trying to "beat" the traffic and just zone out and give yourself to the freeway. :lol: As long as you're still passing those non-HOV drivers, you're coming out ahead.

 

[caffeinekid]

I don't know what it is about the Prius but they seem to have an over-represented percentage of bad/rude/arrogant drivers...

Many of the previous replies show why so many Leaf/ prius/ whatever owners are widely despised by normal people.

Here in Houston it is Lexus drivers IME. Most of the Prii I see are either driving "normally" or like a bat out of hell.

I agree with the OP though. Either drive at a reasonable speed while cognizant of the fact that there is a whole other 320 degrees of activity around you, or be "that person" with both thumbs in the ass who contributes to road rage. :evil:

 

[derkraut]

Hey....maybe that Leaf was on VLB, and was trying to conserve electricity until he reached an exit?? Or, maybe he had a mechanical malfunction of some kind. At any rate, I can't find any requirement in the CA Vehicle Code to drive "at or above" the posted speed limit.

We're all slowly dying. Why do we have to live our lives in such a hurry? Speeders, Tail-gaters, finger flippers, cursers are bound and determined to be angry/miserable. And, they want everybody around them to be the same. Why not take a deep breath, sit back, and chill out? Life is short enough as it is. :roll:

 

[XeonPony]

Hey....maybe that Leaf was on VLB, and was trying to conserve electricity until he reached an exit?? Or, maybe he had a mechanical malfunction of some kind. At any rate, I can't find any requirement in the CA Vehicle Code to drive "at or above" the posted speed limit.

We're all slowly dying. Why do we have to live our lives in such a hurry? Speeders, Tail-gaters, finger flippers, cursers are bound and determined to be angry/miserable. And, they want everybody around them to be the same. Why not take a deep breath, sit back, and chill out? Life is short enough as it is. :roll:

Indeed, back in the logging camps we had a saying " The faster you go the faster you fck up!" and out there you screw up you die, very little room for error, So that gets burned into the brain.

Relax, focus on your task at hand and enjoy the journy.