Anti-hybrid road rage

NoSUV - Simply take a look at the technology. Engine shuts down at low speeds but switches to gas once up to around 25mph. Uses electric boost to aid in quick acceleration. Your hybrid must be one of those that actually gets lower mpg than a regular car but for some reason still gets an exemption. If I need to point you to the information behind hybrid technology and also the information showing the number of regular cars exceeding the mpg of hybrids, simply ask.

I would like to preface my message by saying that I have been a slug, an HOV3 driver, a carpool driver and I currently own both a Hybrid and a motorcycle, both of which I now use to gain access to the HOV lanes. I might slug if my job location was located near an area that had popular slug lines but for now I am kind of stuck - in Balston and sometimes Merrifield. When driving my Hybrid, I usually carpool with my wife whom I drop off at the Springfield Metro before continuing on my way.

There has been a lot of negativity and ridiculous comments made toward Hybrid drivers (probably by a few disturbed individuals no doubt) and I would like to bust a few of these Hybrid myths:

Myth 1. Hybrid drivers don't make eye contact with slugs because they feel shame and/or are afraid to face them.
Busted: Hybrid drivers are usually busy trying to drive their vehicles. We need to be looking at traffic ahead and behind of us and we don't have a lot of extra time left over for idle gazing out of windows. My advice for you slugs out there wanting to make contact with Hybrid drivers is to just sit back, relax and enjoy that free ride. Or, if you absolutely need to get some important message across, just write it down on some notebook paper with a thick dark marker and then hold it up to the window. If that doesn't work, try rolling down the window (ask driver permission first) and then wave your arms back and forth. I would be a bit surprised if these methods don't get that Hybrid driver to look over at you, if not for a brief second or two.

Myth 2. Hybrid drivers need to move out of the left lanes as they go too slow.
Busted: There is an equal distribution of inconsiderate drivers out on the HOV lanes. This has nothing to do with Hybrid or HOV3. If you are driving in the left lanes be you a Hybrid or a slug-laden HOV3+ vehicle, be considerate to others trying to pass you and move out of the left lane. If you don't want to move out of the left lane because you are planning to exit left or something, then try speeding up or slowing down to create an escape route so other drivers can still get around you on the right vs. driving in formation with the vehicle to your right.

Myth 3. Hybrid drivers are elitists, they are smug and conceited.
Busted: There is a broad diversity of individuals that make up the Hybrid community. No doubt some fit this description but it's not the norm. Hybrid drivers are more or less just like you, and are interested in getting to work and home from work quickly, efficiently and safely. Just remember, your primary car is probably like a Lexus or Mercedes and we are driving a crappy overpriced baseline Honda Civic with cloth seats and lots of rattles that is supposed to get 51mpg but really only gets like 40mpg unless you have a pre-2004 model with the software bug which says you are getting 50+mpg when in fact you are really just getting 40mpg. Our Hybrids only have like 100HP and you have like 300HP or even 400HP. You should feel like a god next to our little toy-like vehicles.

Myth 4. The HOV lanes are crowded all because of Hybrids.
Busted: There are more SOV federal and other emergency workers using the HOV lanes these days then ever before. There are more violators out there today then ever before and yes, there are definately more Hybrids out there today then ever before...but there are also more HOV3's out there then ever before as well. And all this while we are still sitting at 2 lanes, the same as it was in the 1970s. Okay so they added some shoulders so those 2 lanes are much safer today then back then but still its two lanes. Look at the population difference between now and the 1970s. I have no clue what the difference is exactly but i'm sure it's probably a factor of 10x if not 20x more people now than back then. What we need to do is to either add more HOV lanes or to make the rules for qualifying for riding in the HOV lanes much stricter. Move from HOV3 to HOV4 and don't allow Hybrids on them, or something like that. Write your representatives...and let them know how you feel but don't take it out on the Hybrid drivers as the sole cause of this multidimensionally complex issue. What about adding HOV lanes to the main lanes like are on 66 and allowing Hybrids out there but not inside the current HOV lanes? What about building a southern bypass down 301 to re-route mainline traffic to help relieve some of that congestion as well? With all of the tax dollars we pay around here (mine taxes have gone up about 20% for the last 5 years) you would think we (Northern Virginia) could have better representation for road funds with VDOT. Instead of widening our much needed HOV lanes, VDOT is busy building Corridoor-H or some other super highway in the middle of nowhere that few will ever use. The primary problem with the HOV lanes is that they have suffered a long term abuse and lack of long term planning to keep pace with our growing population. Our representatives are currently in a "band-aid" mode, passing new laws that only get us to through the next 6 months or a year in hopes that HOT lanes will swoop in and relieve them of this burden and then they can let a private company take all of the heat and say it's not their fault.

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Originally posted by Wagonman
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Originally posted by dilbertian
[br] I would like to bust a few of these Hybrid myths:

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Myths are better busted with facts than opinions...

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And the end of the world scenarios from VDOT to hybrid haters to the Washington Post have yet to materialize from the extension of the hybrid exemption to use express lanes during HOV hours. Why is that? BECAUSE IT WAS A MYTH!