Are San Diego's Prius owners bad drivers?

According to social media posts and news outlets, January was bad for Toyota Prius drivers in San Diego County. On January 26, a driver of a Prius crashed into a local Chevron; a week before, a driver of a Prius evaded police and collided with a Nissan Altima on the 94; then, just hours after New Year's Eve, another Prius had a head-on collision in Chula Vista.

Word on the San Diego County streets and online forums is that we Prius owners — are bad drivers. Or is it people hating on our cute little hybrids?

JT Legal Group, with offices in San Diego and Oceanside, shared an article in 2018 headlined "Why Prius Drivers Have Such a Bad Reputation." The article says it's partly because Prius drivers are "overly slow, overly fast, and constantly running stop signs and traffic lights."

Slow, I admit, as my 4-door Prius transverses up the 163 grade north of the 8 or I head southbound on the 805, passing the 8 — it's an arduous climb for my low horsepower hybrid compact vehicle. People honk at me and flip me off at least once a week.

Our 100-112 mph top-speed Priuses being "overly fast" and "constantly running stop signs and traffic lights" is up to the driver, not our beloved Prius.

The legal group's site says in part that Prius drivers brake often or coast to allow the battery to receive a full charge faster to help save gas. "Also, Prius owners don’t want to kick on the gas engine when they take off from a stop," continues the site. "Taking off slowly ensures that electricity is still powering the car, which makes a lot of people behind them angry. On freeways, the sweet spot for using the electrical power is around 55 mph."

Local Mark Brown, who has owned and driven two Priuses, said to me that people don't have to do the above actions to save gas. People can push the ECO button for the same fuel consumption savings.  

But not all Priuses are treated equally.

In January, I wrote about a Prius driver who evaded police and crashed into the Tower Bar, and in November, there's news coverage of a Prius driver who tried to ditch the CHP, sheriffs, and SDPD. That same November, a Prius driver wearing "stiletto" heels was busted for a DUI.  

GoCompare.com reportedly said the Toyota Prius had the most accidents in their 2019 published study, with 111 accidents for every 10,000 cars. 

"But maybe there's a lot of Priuses on the road, so it seems like there are more Prius accidents," Ali from Guardian Towing Inc. in Miramar said to me in a recent interview. "But I don't see them in more accidents than in previous years."

Lastly, the hybrid gas-electric car, a top seller in previous years, is hard to hear when driving on the streets, and distracted pedestrians (on phones) or unaware cyclists could accidentally cross paths with a Prius and not know it.

Many posts and threads are online on fellow Prius owners getting bashed and receiving road rage.

End of a high-speed chase

OnSceneTV

"I think the Prius challenges the decisions/lifestyle of some insecure people," said Bigbirdk on an "I will never understand why people hate Priuses" Reddit thread. "Usually aggressive tailgating and passing, rolling coal, and other douchebaggery. Some people (especially young dudes) identify who they are by what they drive. I choose to identify with 49 mpg instead."

The Prius animosity could've started when then-Governor Schwarzenegger passed legislation in hopes of encouraging more people to drive hybrid cars, providing solo drivers access to carpool lanes — says the legal group's article mentioned earlier. "Seeing a lone person in a Prius whiz by while the rest were stuck in traffic was an aggravating experience for many motorists. People in regular non-hybrid cars traveling in the carpool lane without passengers could be pulled over and fined up to 270 dollars. Given this rationality, of course, Prius drivers have garnered some surrounding hate."