Ways to not make people mad
 

Ok as the title suggests i want to know ways to not make poeple mad when i am hypermiling. I seem to get alot of angry people fly by me and flick me off cause i am going 55 in the 70 posted speed limit. What do you guys suggest i mean i dont want to turn my hazards on but i do want to keep driving this way. Help me out im tired of getting flicked off and yelled at lol im pretty much waiting fof one of them to try to run me off the road. Sorry if someone already posted something about this i tried to search the forums and it didnt come up with anything...

If you are impeding traffic and causing a backup while going that slow in a 70 zone, you're gonna get flipped off no matter what.

Some of this you can alleviate by maybe going 60-ish. Other of it is not impeding traffic in places they cannot pass you. Or, you could grow a thicker skin.

On the other hand, some of it is simply the impatience and rudeness of the other drivers. Can't do much about that one...

Stay right, let people pass, and don't be a major obstruction.

Hey, someone posted a thread about a sticker a group was making that you can put on the back of your vehicle to notify people you are hypermiling...At least hoping that they might see it and understand or at least to educate people...let me look for the thread, they are free I ordered on waiting for it still...

Edit:
Here is the thread on here:(Thanks Ford Man)
https://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=8797

Here is the site for the Decal:
https://lawfulhypermiling.org/

I plan to stick the Decal to a magnet and then slapping that to the back of my car so it isn't permanent, I think its better then nothing!

oh ok sweet the sticker is a good idea and about the impeding traffic ill be in the right lane and people can pass but some will ride my bumper for a while and then pass and act all pissed off... but yesterday i got someone that followed me and did what i did. I guess they figured out what i was doing and they tried it lol

ok just orderd the sticker thanks for the link i hope that helps :)

If the traffic is that heavy, I just find a big rig going 65ish and draft it at 3 stripes (about 125 feet) behind. Go with the flow of traffic and your mileage will be about the same as 55 with no draft.

Some people start doing very stupid things when you dare to get in their way on a highway. To me the danger level with such stupidity is not worth the small benefit (actually I dont think there is any benefit)

Moving with the flow of traffic is essential to safe driving when the level of traffic reaches the saturation point.

regards
gary

Fortunately the vast majority of my driving is in town (4 lanes, stop and go) or I-35 with 4+ lanes of high speed traffic. In town, I can hypermile while keeping up with most traffic fairly easily, since everyone has to stop for the lights anyways. On I-35, I aim for a bigrig doing 60 and draft at a safe distance. I did this in someone's supercharged minicooper a while back going from Austin Tx to Dallas, got *almost* 40mpg. She normally gets about 32mpg hwy. I also showed her how to exceed 30mpg in town where she normally got about 16, but since her dad pays for most of her gas, she drives however she likes. -_-

That's always the best way to do it. Find a truck going your ideal speed and follow them.

-Jay

Ignore them. Or do what I do, give them a big smile as they pass. I'm a pretty spiteful hypermiler so when they get pissed, I know I'm doing a good job. People think they own the road, but we share the road.

But I do stay in the rightmost lane. I'll occasionally flip my rear-view mirror up so I don't see the person behind me highbeaming me.

Yeah lol i got these aviator sunglasses now (so it makes me look like a douchbag) and i smile at them too as they go by. It makes them morre angry haha

Cruze, pop your collar and complete the look! Also make sure you wave when you drive by and they're gassing up.

... take a road with a lower speed limit.

Haha ya i will do that... im going to get killed lol

But seriously i might take jared's advice and find a slower road

If you're doing less than 20 below the posted speed limit on full-speed roads (55+) then it's legal in almost all locales. 55 in a 70 is legal everywhere in the US. Just because they are in a hurry is not your fault. Just ignore them. How many times have you been doing 55 and they've been doing 85? THEIR fault, not yours.

So many people get sucked into the trap of all the credit cards (seen the ads lately?), have to work extra hours to pay for all the interest, have to get there ULTRA fast, have MORE interest because they bought a house that is way over-inflated in price, don't have time for dinner now, maybe even have a second job, so then they're on their way to fast food, then they get diseases associated with eating crap because they did the above too much, then bought an over-priced car and made the circle worse - so they are literally driving themselves to death.

Ignore them. Then take a little (slow) time to donate to a food bank, volunteer at a soup kitchen, whatever. You can only change your own life, and live a better example for the others around you.

And the sticker won't hurt.

Don't do it when other people are on the road. It's dangerous and stupid.

Why not just drive faster? Most hypermiling techniques work just as well at moderately higher speeds. I do pretty well without holding up traffic very much.

For the times I do piss people off, I flip up the mirror as someone else described above, and my truck has a dark tinted rear window (and I might do the same for the car). Also, I've got the Active Tailgater Control System on my VW -- the rear window washer nozzle points backwards and I can just squirt them if they're tailgating....ok, so it doesn't exactly make them less pissed off but it's fun. :D

X2

Some apparently WANT to be behind. They WANT to be annoyed. How else to explain this:
Two lane rural road posted at 50 mph. Very light traffic. About half no passing zone. I'm ghosting along at 42 to 45, just enough to remain in 5th gear in automatic. Someone comes up close behind. When the passing zone opens up I put on my right blinker, pull as far to the side as is possible, lower my window and use my arm to signal the driver to pass here where it's safe. No taker.
Still on my bumper, next passing zone same action, but I slow to 30 to allow less time required for him to pass and expecting that at that speed he'll be more likely to. Nope. he slowed down too.
I returned to the 40+ mph. Next passing section, blinker on, window down, 'come around' arm motion, slowed to 20 mph. The follower matches my speed, starts flashing his lights, but makes absolutely no attempt to pass or otherwise take charge of his own destiny.
Frikkin' masochist! Next passing zone I make no attempt to help him get the hint. My window went down, but this time my wave was only 20% of what it had been.

Thats sweet!!

So true. Some people out there will just continue to honk/highbeam/flash you even when you're doing all the right things. This is where I get pissed and I do things to spite them (like super DFCO below 40mph, which is illegal on the highway in Florida). Its hard to do much to people, so I usually just ignore them. I'm not sure what their problem is, maybe they're on a power trip.

I guess my suggestion is, when you're doing all the right things, ignore them. If you're merging onto an exit on from the fast lane (in the US, it would be the left lane), make some concessions and speed up if you feel its necessary. I probably wouldn't. But i'm a spiteful hypermiler.

i have a sticker on my rear taurus window (not on the tailgate, i wanna be able to remove it to sell it) that just says "I drive slow to save gas, so get off my ***"

it works wonders!

You could always use limo tint on your rear windows, and take your side view mirrors. That way you will never know who/what is behind you! You may see them flying past you on your left hand side, but just keep looking straight ahead.

Americans are pretty nuts though. The fact that people are allowed to carry guns there really scares me. In Japan you do get passed sometimes if you are going slow, but no one gets mad about it. People just have a much different outlook here. Live and let live.

That is one reason that I won't be driving when I eventually go back to the states. Just not worth the stress and danger.

No offense to your believes but i do feel safer know that people ARE carrying guns here.
I mean yeah there are some freaks out there that use guns in the worng way... say after a road rage incident lol but if guns were banned those people would still find a way to get one. So i say let the good people have them so that we can stop the ones that are crazy if needed. There was a case in texas at a resturant where they posted a NO guns in here sign on the door... In my opinion that just screams stupidity cause then a criminal will walk by and by like ********** i need to go in there and rob it cause no one can stop me. So guess what A guy DID go in the resturant and robbed it. There were multiple people in there that had their carry licences which they could have stopped him from what he did. along with robbing the place he killed 8 people. Those 8 people could have lived if the guns were allowed. So i would advise everyone to get their carry license so that they can save lives. Also on of the people killed was someone that had their license and had to leave the gun in there car. Also when a resturant or whatever puts up that sign, they are saying dont bring your gun in here cuase we will protect you.... see how that worked out for them

Ok i did digress alot from my original topic but i believe VERY strongly in our second amendment. The right to bear arms.

https://www.demopolislive.com/gallery..._bear_arms.jpg

https://img159.imageshack.us/img159/7...lworks2tv7.jpg

Take away the number of people that were shot and killed due to drug and other crimes and you have a very small number of people killed by guns. The number of people killed in road rage incidents is a miniscule number. More people are bludgeoned to death by lamps and clubs. It's pretty much a non-issue that has been spun by the media and anti-gun types.

You're more liable to be killed on the roadway by teenaged girls texting or yakking.

To come back to the original point of the conversation, use common sense and keep right. Get behind other slow vehicles to take the heat off of you. And, you can only be responsible for the personal actions of the person controlling the car you are driving...everybody else has their own karma to deal with.

https://video.google.com/videoplay?do...46325790254055 :D

Please take the gun discussion to a new thread.

At that point, I'd pull over and stop. If he goes, give him a dirty look. If he stops too, well, then that depends on my mood -- either get out and ask him if something is wrong with my car and that's why he flashed his lights, or do the smart thing and race away because he's probably a murderer.

damn, that water squirt mod makes me want to get a hatchback again.

I think that's actually a great to stop and see what's up, maybe they noticed your licence plate (or exhaust!) is about to fall off or maybe you've got a blown taillight. But yea, that person could also be a serial rapist/killer.

I don't know about you, but if I see someone's exhaust about to fall off I dont tailgate them. ;)

Put antifreeze in the washer tank.

Honestly people, I would rather be a stealth hypermiler, than one who wants to stick it in their face. If you prefer the second method, I would suggest notification (sticker) so people might understand your are no threat. Drafting is especially significant at 65 MPH, it reduces the total energy demand by about 20%, if done properly, and that is not risking your life. Leave stopping distance between you and the truck and let all the others blast by you. Their draft makes your mileage go up as they pass you.

The most afraid I think I have ever been was when I pulled out on the DC beltway and got stuck behind an 80 year old man in a giant 88 OLDS 2 dr sedan, going 35 MPH with everybody else going 72. Stay behind him and get nailed, or pull out in front of someone flying by you and get nailed, at almost a 50 MPH difference in speed in a 280Z.

Dont want that happening around me, no friggin way. I don't plan on dying for a few MPG.

regards
gary

yeah thats a good point the little bit of extra money is not worth your life or any damage to your vehicle due to accidents. So i have the sticker on order and will probably just try to draft if at all possible.

About the washers sparying other cars... i had a friend that filled his with urine when we were younger and used to spray people with that.I told he was going to get beat up some day but he didnt care. He told me he used to try to find people with convertables and bikes and stuff and spray them. I told him he should stop but he thought it was just to funny to stop

I won't put anything offensive in it. I only use it on people who are uncommonly rude. Common tailgaters usually don't get squirted. The really bad ones do; I think I've used it 4 or 5 times since I set it up (maybe in May or June). I'm totally not interested in pissing people off, I just want to cause them to think for just a moment..."why did he just squirt me?"

There were lots of uncommonly jerky tailgaters tonight. I used it on one who kept tailgating, in a large truck with excessively bright lights illuminating the whole interior of my car, while I waited behind a line of traffic.

I far prefer stealth hypermiling. I don't want attention, confrontation, or even interaction. I want to get out of the way and I want others to get out of my way, without anyone ever noticing.

On the 2 lane road to work I go between 50 and 60 mph depending on if I'm going up or down hills, and right at the speed limit of 55 on straights. I almost always have a couple cars following me. I'd say only 20% of them pass me though. Most are content to just follow, though about half speed up and pass once we reach the city and it turns into 4 lanes. I kinda cared for the first few weeks, but now I'm like whatever. They can pass if they want, doesn't bother me. I have as much right to that road as they do, and I think I've even saved one or two people from getting speeding tickets because they were following me. I never look at them when they pass though. I don't care if they're mad or not. I'm not making them late if they are. They did by leaving their house late. You shouldn't have to speed to get to where you're going on time. and for those who just want to drive fast, well.......that's dumb.

Some people are just crazy, though, and there isn't anything you can do. Just last week I was on another 2 lane road going 65 (the speed limit), and in a part where the road widened to allow for a left turn lane for both directions, some crazy lady passed me by going into those lanes. Now THAT is not safe, and not my fault. I was going the speed limit.

If someone's stupidity gets you killed, does it matter who is at fault? Today I had a guy that wanted to tailgate me on a two lane road, speed limit was 45.

There was a car in front of me that was doing the speed limit and too much traffic both ways for any safe passing.

My response was to pulse and glide to within safe braking distance of the car in front of me, which made it hard for the driver behind to stay close to my rear end, without many changes in rate of acceleration and braking.

Apparently when the driver behind realized there was no way for me to get out of his way he backed off just enough for me to feel comfortable.

We turned onto a 4 lane road (right turn with yield) and the same driver immediately went into the left lane until he realized he did not want to go any faster than I did, so he dropped in behind me again too close.

There is a right turn into a military base, then an entrance ramp into I64 west, both require the driver to be in the right lane. This is where idiots go flying by you and then slam on the brakes to turn into the base, which can cause accidents. I just moved over to the left lane since I was not turning. My action did not affect the flow of traffic in any way.

Now there was a good margin of safety and the other driver, who had been trying to tailgate me for 2 miles, did not go any faster than I was going in the left lane, and he entered the interstate and we parted company.

I had a police officer tell me once that I should sit at a traffic light and do nothing to avoid being rear ended by a negligent driver, because if I moved into the intersection to get out of his way I would be guilty of a moving violation.

I told him that was a decision made by a judge, not a police officer, and no law required me to voulentarily accept potentially catastrophic and or deadly situations.

What law applies if your life is in danger?

Survival.

regards
gary

I would love to respond to this comment, especially the "live and let live" attitude you claim the japanese live by. But I will resist the temptation and not hijack the thread.

Agreed!

Of course, they don't always like it. But it's better to have a truck driver in front of you who doesn't like to be followed than a crazed battle cruiser behind you!

M

You really drive in Japan? Really? I lived there 10 years and people certainly do NOT have a live and let live attitude, especially on the road.

I drove all over the Kanto region:

• Dai-san Keihin
• Shuto
• Wan-Gan
• Tomei

And many more.

You sound like you're in the honeymoon stage of going local. When you visit another culture, everything seems better until the novelty wears off.

M

I don't tailgate. I always stay far enough back to be able to see the side view mirrors on the truck, but I can take a hint. If they flash their trailer lights, I either back off or pass.

-Jay

I tend to be a spitefull hypermiler, but I am nice to big rigs. I'll draft them but I'll deffinatly let them know I'm there, and I can take a hint if they don't like it. I understand that the road is their workplace and in some respects their home so I try to stay out of there way and let them do their jobs. Normal cars and trucks are a completly different story though;)

You ain't kiddin. Take note of the title I have.:)