Hybrid Hate

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   Why is there so much hybrid hate? I dont understand? Just because some get to drive solo on the HOV? When you are waiting in line and a Hybrid picks you up, do you decline the ride? I am very confussed, since i havnt heard nothing but good things when slugs get into my hybrid. Are there really that many hybrids clogin the HOV for such hate? When I get on the HOV around 5am to 540am I dont see that many, but again at this time they are open to all traffic. So someone please enlight me?

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VA_Hybrid Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote VA_Hybrid Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Hybrid Hate Posted: 30 Aug 2006 at 9:55pm
	Why is there so much hybrid hate? I dont understand? Just because some get to drive solo on the HOV? When you are waiting in line and a Hybrid picks you up, do you decline the ride? I am very confussed, since i havnt heard nothing but good things when slugs get into my hybrid. Are there really that many hybrids clogin the HOV for such hate? When I get on the HOV around 5am to 540am I dont see that many, but again at this time they are open to all traffic. So someone please enlight me?

MDC Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 04 Dec 2002 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote MDC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Aug 2006 at 7:58am
	There's plenty to read here if you're interested in the answer. Here's where the discussion started. http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=147

scottt Members Profile Find Members Posts Senior Slug Joined: 12 May 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 106	Post Options Post Reply Quote scottt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Aug 2006 at 8:38am
	VA_Hybrid, I can only speak to my opinions. If you have a Hybrid and yet stop to get slugs, that is FANTASTIC! My biggest issue is the HOV exemption. A Hybrid gets better gas mileage in bumper to bumper traffic than it does on the Hwy. So why in the @$#%#@ did the politicians allow for SOV in the HOV lanes for Hybrids? What the @#$%##$ is a Lexus GS450h doing in the HOV lanes as a SOV? My Mazda 6i gets better gas mileage than that! Also, referring to the Edmunds article I posted in the other thread, if you bought a Toyota Prius, and drive 15k miles per year, it takes 13.6 years for the Prius to pay off (over purchasing a Corolla). I would LOVE to buy a Hybrid and get 50mpg (I had a Prius as a rental for 3 weeks and I was getting 49.5 mpg with my slightly lead foot driving style), but I don't have 13.6 years to start saving $$$. Some of the Hybrid hate is aimed at the Hybrid owners that would take my previous sentence and say "Well what about the environment?". Well, I have two 3 year old children. I don't want to explain to them that they'd have to wait until they are almost 17 before daddy starts saving money. I try to do my best for the environment, but sorry folks, my family comes first. Food on the table vs. thousands of extra dollars spent on a Hybrid. Sorry, the food is going to win every time. So, in a nutshell, I don't hate Hybrids at all. I just hate the snooty Hybrid owners that think they have a God given right to SOV access to the HOV lanes, and somehow they are saving the planet and I'm not.

N_or_S_bound Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 20 May 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote N_or_S_bound Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Aug 2006 at 9:23am
	It's not the technology, it's the motives of the owner/driver. A CAR driver picking up slugs, no matter what vehicle they're driving, IS contributing in a way to reducing the challenges surrounding commuting in the NOVA/DC metro area. Less cars on the road = less of just about everything else (pollution, congestion, problematic parking, etc.). If the DRIVER is in a hybrid and is picking up slugs, so much the better. The additional "less of just about everything else" also adds to less fuel consumed which helps on any number of levels in the geo-socio-economic interplay surrounding oil as an energy source. Hate is such a hard word. I prefer not to like those very much who would drive solo in HOV, but hate them? no, not hate. If I were to hate them, it would probably be out of jealousy for them exploiting a system that rewards the rich at the expense of the poor. NoSb SOV because you can, HOV because you care!

LDOMAJ Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 17 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote LDOMAJ Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Aug 2006 at 11:26am
	I don't think most of my riders even notice my Escape is a Hybrid... at least they have never commented on it(or declined the ride).

n/a Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote n/a Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Aug 2006 at 1:26pm
	I will repeat my position, hybrids are just another product, and hybrid owners are entitled to buy what they want to buy. No hybrid or hybrid owner hate here. The hybrid HOV exemption is unfair and based on faulty reasoning (unless you work for the auto industry). The hybrid HOV exemption has created an elite class of commuters based on socio-economic status and buying choices. Many hybrid beneficiaries may be ignorant to this preception, while others flaunt it, continue to drive SOV, and criticize those who do not agree. It creates a negative backlash toward hybrid owners. Unfortunately, this backlash does not discriminate between hybrid owners, all are subject to scrutiny. The only way to redeem yourself is to continue to commute HOV. Which, coincidentally enough, is what we all should do, regardless of our economic means.

NoSUV Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote NoSUV Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Aug 2006 at 4:19pm
	Actually, this whole subsection was created by Admin because of all of the negative sentiments by the slugging community toward the hybrid exemption - so much that the general section comments became as clogged as regular lane traffic during commuting hours. Most slugs refuse to acknowledge that most people, including themselves, are selfish, and want lanes to be built for them and them alone. Truckers want their own lanes and can cite plenty of good safety reasons. Slugs want their own lanes and claim life is better that way. Sort of like people who buy into an area and then enact laws so no one else can move there. Hybrid owners have a big cost to overcome to try to make life for future generations better - something that many who post here would never dream of doing. Most slugs do it for the cheap ride - there used to be suggestions of financial contributions for the driver back when gas first approached $2.50 that were ridiculed. Anyway, to help provide an incentive for people to better the environment, VA allowed for an exemption. And before you could say boo-hoo, the slugs beat their chests and ranted - well before there was any hint of potential congestion in the express lanes. Shoot, there's still not much congestion on I-395 express lanes during commuting hours, and yet slugs HATE (yes, that strong) for SOV hybrids to use those express lanes. The hybrid exemption should be changed - the express lanes should be for mass transit and hybrids only. Then and only then will we start making the environmental impact we need to make.

N_or_S_bound Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 20 May 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote N_or_S_bound Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Sep 2006 at 8:17am
	quote: Originally posted by NoSUV [br] Most slugs refuse to acknowledge that most people, including themselves, are selfish, and want lanes to be built for them and them alone. Truckers want their own lanes and can cite plenty of good safety reasons. Slugs want their own lanes and claim life is better that way. Sort of like people who buy into an area and then enact laws so no one else can move there. Interesting, "want lanes to be built for them and them alone". IF every carpooler became a slug, sure, but you're point is totally useless and invalid. You're talking about something that can't and won't exist. There are no and will be no "lanes to be built for them and them alone". quote: Originally posted by NoSUV [br] Most slugs do it for the cheap ride - there used to be suggestions of financial contributions for the driver back when gas first approached $2.50 that were ridiculed. Anyway, to help provide an incentive for people to better the environment, VA allowed for an exemption. And before you could say boo-hoo, the slugs beat their chests and ranted - well before there was any hint of potential congestion in the express lanes. Shoot, there's still not much congestion on I-395 express lanes during commuting hours, and yet slugs HATE (yes, that strong) for SOV hybrids to use those express lanes. Do it for a cheap ride eh? What's your source for that bold claim? How about waking up and seeing that people slug for a quicker commute? Cost may factor in for some (the ones who REALLY can't afford to live in closer and don't have the cush jobs you and I do), but it's not an overriding factor for many I stand in line next to and talk with daily (I'm cheap, I do it so I can get a "free" ride....riiiight...). Better for the environment? NOT when it's causing less fuel efficient vehicles to sit in congestion due to SOV travel. Better for the environment is for hybrids to sit in the mainlines running their batteries, making life better for everyone...oh, except for the SOV driver/owner/zealot. "There's still not much congestion on I-395 express lanes during commuting hours"--this conflicts with earlier assertions made by none-other than you that I-395 express lanes aren't congested AT ALL. Why the change? Maybe due to the increased # of SOVs congesting the lanes, eh? quote: Originally posted by NoSUV [br] The hybrid exemption should be changed - the express lanes should be for mass transit and hybrids only. Then and only then will we start making the environmental impact we need to make. The lanes do need to be changed, but not for elitist zealots who think panacea is to be found in an over-priced/over-marketed/under-performing technology that will join the ranks of other feeble technologies. Nice to see the true spirit of a hybrid SOV zealot come out....looking out for numero uno. Would like to say I'm done responding to lunacy, but if someone doesn't respond, lunatics will be converted and start blindly evangelizing others into a mis-founded faith. NoSb SOV because you can, HOV because you care!

n/a Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote n/a Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Sep 2006 at 11:07am
	NoSUV writes, "Hybrid owners have a big cost to overcome to try to make life for future generations better..." OMG! With this kind of egocentricity, its a wonder your head will fit in your hybrid! I guess I stand corrected, SOV hybrid commuters don't travel alone; thier egos fill up the empty seats! I wonder if hybrid owners could use some of that hot air to power their vehicles! They should engineer your hybrid to channel some of that flatulence into the gas tank! (Oh, I could make a stand-up comedy career on this stuff!) But the best line is yet to come: "The hybrid exemption should be changed - the express lanes should be for mass transit and hybrids only. Then and only then will we start making the environmental impact we need to make." YES, now we know that the nuts are running the nuthouse! When people actually advocate dumping traffic onto the already choked reg. lanes, support killing carpooling, think that our bus system could actually attract (and support) a mass user base, and believe their own spew with this kind of conviction, I know its time to do something drastic; I'll run for President!

scottt Members Profile Find Members Posts Senior Slug Joined: 12 May 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 106	Post Options Post Reply Quote scottt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Sep 2006 at 8:24am
	quote: Originally posted by NoSUV [br] Hybrid owners have a big cost to overcome to try to make life for future generations better - something that many who post here would never dream of doing. Most slugs do it for the cheap ride - there used to be suggestions of financial contributions for the driver back when gas first approached $2.50 that were ridiculed. Anyway, to help provide an incentive for people to better the environment, VA allowed for an exemption. Total, total bullsh*t. My Mazda 6i gets the same gas mileage as the Lexus 400h and Toyota Highlander Hybrid, yet I don't get "rewarded" for my choice in purchasing a fuel efficient car. The Lexus owner does (by paying $35,000 more than I paid for my car). I get 6mpg better than the Lexus GS450h, yet they get "rewarded". WHY, NoSUV, WHY????