[Leica] Totally OT: Prius experiences?

[telyt at earthlink.net (Douglas Herr)]

Adam Bridge <abridge@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have to say that as a cyclist I have come to HATE Prius drivers. In
>my experience Prius drivers give me less room when they pass, seldom
>bothering to cross the center-line. I cannot account for this unless
>they feel that they just own the road now. I've been riding pretty
>intensely this year, rural, not urban (shuddering), and find that
>almost uniformly it's Mommy Dearest in her Escalade or Prius that
>present the most hair-raising experiences. Cell phones are often
>involved. Farm equipment, pickups, sports cars, they are quite benign.
>Older drivers are worse than younger ones unless they are playing
>NASCAR. Anything towing a boat is reason for fear. When they closed
>Folsom Lake to high-speed boating due to low water level the boat
>trailer traffic headed up to Berryessa become more intense and now I
>don't ride up that way on the weekends unless I have to.
>
>Doug might have urban experiences somewhat different in his neck of the
> woods.

I haven't ridden on roads much since the incident 10 years ago where the 
driver of an MG watching a woman jogging turned and struck my bicycle's rear 
wheel.  He clearly should have yielded right-of-way (he started from a stop 
sign, I was on a residential street marked as a bicycle route, and I'm anal 
about observing traffic rules when I'm on a bike) yet I was the one on the 
ground.  Cracked helmet, dislocated shoulder and a twisted brand new rear 
wheel.  Grrr.  The shoulder now has arthritis and pops out of joint 
regularly.

At that time, the two most dangerous types of vehicles were red full-size GM 
pickups (several near-misses) and anyone on a cell phone.  Cell phones are a 
lot more common now and General Motors still paints trucks red.

Fortunately the Sacramento area has numerous bicycle paths separated from 
motor vehicle traffic.  Riding on roads is a distant last choice, so I have 
very little data about the relative danger of the Prius driver.




Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com