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It's interesting because there used to be a similar cliche about Prius drivers being terrible when they were a new sensation. Maybe there's something about peo

It's interesting because there used to be a similar cliche about Prius drivers being terrible when they were a new sensation. Maybe there's something about people who are first adopters of "environmentally friendly" cars feeling a sense of moral license, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licensing, and end up being less conscientious on the road as a result. Or maybe the rest of us just notice these bad drivers more because the cars stick out on the road as new and unusual. Or maybe the drivers tend to just be rich, distracted assholes.

ashtonbaker 3y ago
It’s definitely related to the moral license thing in my opinion. As a cyclist there are a lot of bad drivers out there, but I’ve learned to treat every Tesla like I do lifted trucks. I think they feel that they are at the top of the moral hierarchy and forget about pedestrians and cyclists completely. Not all of them, obviously, but enough.
bsder 3y ago
The main irritant about initial Prius drivers was that they were a pain in the ass for going so goddamn slow--a LOT of them were "hypermiling". This is different from the Tesla drivers who think that their acceleration always lets them cut in front of people.
simondotau 3y ago
Or maybe drivers are like that exist in similar amounts across brands and models, but human nature means we only think to attach a driver's behaviour to the brand/class of vehicle when we're primed to do so. I've noticed that with taxis. In my city, taxi drivers have a reputation for driving like arseholes. I thought this too, but I started paying more attention and I realised that the vast majority of taxi drivers were driving entirely unremarkably. Before when I saw something which confirmed a prejudice, I thought it was more evidence in favour of that prejudice; now I realise that it was the Texas sharpshooter fallacy all along. It seems to be true for just about every prejudice I've ever been told about. BMW drivers use their indicators just as often as anyone else. Owners of cheap Toyotas are just as likely to drive unreasonably fast as owners of high powered sports cars.

ashtonbaker 3y ago

It’s definitely related to the moral license thing in my opinion. As a cyclist there are a lot of bad drivers out there, but I’ve learned to treat every Tesla like I do lifted trucks. I think they feel that they are at the top of the moral hierarchy and forget about pedestrians and cyclists completely. Not all of them, obviously, but enough.

bsder 3y ago

The main irritant about initial Prius drivers was that they were a pain in the ass for going so goddamn slow--a LOT of them were "hypermiling". This is different from the Tesla drivers who think that their acceleration always lets them cut in front of people.

simondotau 3y ago

Or maybe drivers are like that exist in similar amounts across brands and models, but human nature means we only think to attach a driver's behaviour to the brand/class of vehicle when we're primed to do so. I've noticed that with taxis. In my city, taxi drivers have a reputation for driving like arseholes. I thought this too, but I started paying more attention and I realised that the vast majority of taxi drivers were driving entirely unremarkably. Before when I saw something which confirmed a prejudice, I thought it was more evidence in favour of that prejudice; now I realise that it was the Texas sharpshooter fallacy all along. It seems to be true for just about every prejudice I've ever been told about. BMW drivers use their indicators just as often as anyone else. Owners of cheap Toyotas are just as likely to drive unreasonably fast as owners of high powered sports cars.