Alicia's POV: Is there such a thing as Prius "Road Hate"?

I’ve driven a number of different automobiles over the past few years.

As a native Detroiter, cars are in my DNA. Everything from customization to truly make it "my car" to giving each one a name (my current is named X2, short for Xavier the 2nd). Cars, for some people, are a reflection of your personality. For others, it’s a means getting from point "A" to point "B."  I’m somewhat of a traitor in the eyes of some purists, as I currently own a non-Motown car (Hello, Nissan!). Yet I have to admit it, I love my car.

I hadn’t thought about "Road Hate" much. I define Road Hate as the attitude you get from other drivers that’s based on your driving skills or even the type of car you’re driving. Different from “road rage,” road hate, for example, is the frustration you feel when the person in front of you turns without using their signal beforehand, causing you to tap on the brakes.

Tuesday, I experienced my first series of Road Hate. Instead of driving my Nissan, I needed to drive a Prius for the day. My travels stretched from Redwood City to Mountain View and various points in between. In the morning, both on El Camino Real and Hwy 101, I was cut off numerous times, even when driving the same speed as those around me (granted it took a bit longer to reach higher speeds). The first and second time it happened, I considered it a fluke. After the fifth time, I was clearly upset. Remember, this was just on the way to work with one stop in between!

Driving around Mountain View during the day didn’t seem to be any different.  While I often found myself at stop lights with at least one other Prius, once the light turned green, a non-Prius would immediately move from behind me and cut in front of me without a lot of room for error. Really?!

The only difference I noticed was heading back to Redwood City during the commute hour. I was actually afraid of merging into traffic based on what I’d experienced up to this point. Yet, something incredible and unexpected happened: while moving from the acceleration lane over to the carpool lane, it was like the parting of the Red Sea. I merged over into each lane with an ease I’ve never experienced before! It was pretty amazing. Road Love? Maybe more like Road Tolerance. Is it because we’ve been conditioned that such cars get to use that lane that we just give them the room to get there and get out of the way for the rest of us?

I posed an abbreviated version of my experience on Twitter. While no one answered, the tweet was “favored.”

So I ask: Is this normal for everyday Prius drivers? I’d really love to know.