Fred, Thanks for that. I don't at all consider it a rant. I would call it the voice of reason.
I must admit that the media has gotten me a bit worried about road rage. But as I reflect on your comments, I realize that I shouldn't do so. My actual experience is pretty much identical to yours. My S-10 lead sled will do 70 mph, but that would really cut into my 28 mile range. To avoid that I choose a commuting route that keeps me on roads with posted limits of no more than 50 (mostly 35-40). When I drive 5 mph below the posted limits many people pass me and probably 98% do so with no more than a shoulder check for the lane change. On a few rare occasions I've had a glare as they drive by. No big deal overall. - Peter Flipsen Jr http://www.evalbum.com/3739 On Mon, Feb 2, 2015 at 1:32 PM, fred via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > An all-encompassing subject, I'm referring to "other" drivers as well as > EV drivers. A recent post by the EVangel brought this to my alleged mind. > There's a pervasive attitude that driving in a reasonable manner causes > irritation from all the other road users. Take this perspective, regardless > of your source of energy, liquid or gaseous fuel or raw electrons. Consider > also city buses, trash pickup, postal and other delivery vehicles when you > make this consideration: > You are traveling along a roadway, any roadway. Interstate, major surface > road, backwoods trail. Because you are an attentive driver, as ALL other > road users are, you noted that you are closing on a slower moving vehicle > ahead. > > What do you do? > According to far too many media reports, you immediately go into rant mode > and become severely irritated that such vehicles and drivers are permitted > on the road. In some cases, there would be shouting, profanities, perhaps > horn sounding. > What do YOU do? > I check my surroundings, ahead and behind, possibly and very likely to the > sides as well. If traffic permits (multi-lane roadway, for example,) I > prepare for a lane change and overtake the other vehicle. If traffic does > not permit, I may have to prepare for a lane change and overtake the other > vehicle after waiting a moment or two. In some cases, I will slow or stop. > School bus with lights on, trash pickup, city bus taking up the entire > lane, that I missed far enough back to change lanes early. It happens. > Which driver perspective do you fit? > > If you're driving a middling-performance EV or don't care to abuse your > pack, you may accelerate gradually (as I do) and your top speed may not > reach the posted limit, because you can see that the light two blocks ahead > is red or worse yet, just changed to yellow. Why punch it, only to have to > hit the brakes, as did the driver who safely passed you to beat you gently > to the traffic light? > My Gizmo EV is a 52 mph top speed, tiny three-wheeled grocery-getter. I > can pull 450 amps with the controller and 540 amps with the 3C pack I > carry. Why should I? I drive 35-40 on surface streets. My 2002 Rav4EV can > do 78 mph, but I won't get my usual 80-90 mile range from it at those > speeds. I drive 35-40 on surface streets. My no-longer-used velomobile > managed 20 mph on good days and that was it. > My experience with other road users is they are not ranting and screaming > and sounding horns. The other road users will pass when safe and almost > always pass when on a multi-lane roadway. Exceptions such as today's > cell-phone using driver coasting along six inches behind me at 30 mph on a > four lane road are just that, exceptional. Yeah, right, and more common > than not. > The media has it wrong and has brain-washed too many people. It does the > EV world no good to consider that a 40 mph EV won't do the job because it > won't break the speed limit on an interstate highway. I don't take the > Gizmo EV on the interstate, but I do drive the Rav4EV on one, at 5-10 mph > below the posted speed limit. You know what happens? People go around me. > Funny thing, I go around those drivers ahead of me traveling slower, too. > My posting isn't going to change the media's ignorance, but maybe it will > change some EV driver's understanding. /rant off > fred > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150202/18d39a70/attachment.htm > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150202/39cd3008/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
