On my way back from visiting Grandmom, I had a segment getting 98.9mpg over 141.9 miles before having to give up. Were it not for a big early hit on the freeway, chances would have been excellent the 100mpg mark would have been broken. Clearly my personal best (PR). Had additional excitement that Sunday evening....in retrospect, I think a lot of high school kids were celebrating the summer that night.

It's clear to me that some drivers become hostile at hypermilers just for the heck of it. Keep in mind that drivers always had at least one lane to my left to pass, and sometimes four. Some of the time, I'd be tailgated for as much as a mile then they would take the exit. I really got concerned when a policeman was tailing me - I got my speed up to 55mph and that was basically the end of my attempt to break 100mpg. A few drivers were tailgating me who clearly did not have an exit to make and did not want to pass - they wanted to be a pain in the butt. One of them very nearly crashed from his hostile driving.

Fast & Furious Stunt Driver Reject?

Should have know there were racers - two minutes before my story below six bikers were racing at 90mph at 11pm.

I was westbound on I635 (LBJ Freeway) at about 45mph and this sports car (seemed like an Acura, but hard to tell) did one of those patently offensive charges from the rear, abrupt slowdown and does the butt-wiggle in the process. I'm all but certain I responded with a little butt-wiggle, before I considered this idiot is probably not sober. Anyway, he was going to attempt to swerve and peel past me just inches away, but it backfired for him badly. I'm guessing he did a quarter turn to the left - enough to lose control. He swerved to the lane to the left of me, in an uncontroled slalom, swerved to the lane to the right of me - crossed three over three lanes and nearly spun out. He was frightenly close to hitting the concrete barrier on the right side of the freeway. Did he stop and give thanks to God for not crashing? No - he peeled back on the road to 60-70mph, passed me, and took the next exit(Preston). Frankly, I wished he had crashed - only the car would have been lost. The way he was driving he was putting himself and others at risk. Come to think of it, he may be mentioned on Monday's news. Did see this article: Channel 5 Fort Worth Story (D/FW drivers frustrated with people going slow in the passing lane. Heck they take it out if you are on the right lane.)

I'm well aware I must consider what I'm dealing with on the roads, even if the law is on my side and I'm not according to Texas law - "impeding traffic flow". Still the arrogance of people bullying others to speed steams me.

I hope the next attempt at 100mpg will be a lot more boring. Got to remember to avoid weekend nights, too...

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

I couldn't hack it in Dallas. We saw/experienced way too much aggressive driving on our DFW roadtrip (our first in our '06 Ford Escape Hybrid), including two near accidents -- one of which would have been multi-car and perhaps involved us. San Antonio's no paragon of polite driving, but for the most part the worst I get is some jerkwad in a pickup tailing me for a little while then roaring past me -- they're always young males behind the wheel. I ignore 'em... don't even make eye contact. I have no desire to feed their "thrills".

Cops have tailed me twice while I've been in my FEH going the speed limit, but I suspect they do it to everyone. If they're not speeding themselves (not talking about legally, responding to a call), it seems their goal is to pressure drivers into speeding so they can be ticketed.

When I had a hybrid sticker on my FEH I thought it was enticing some people to drive more aggressively around me. I took it off and realized, other than the hybrid badge which most people can't see until they're on my bumper, most of the aggressive drivers I see do so for any reason at all. Worse, a lot of them are women with kids in their vehicles, which as a female myself (though without kids), surprises the heck out of me. Safety first? Apparently not...

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

My early impression of Dallas in the 1980's was so many interviewers asking: "are you aggressive?" and reckless drivers poping out from nowhere - so hostile, bullying behavior is how you get things done?

Article states that as many as 16 million Americans have "Road Rage disorder". While I believe counciling is in order for many drivers, please don't clinically call them "a victim". If they are truly helpless, take away their keys.

CNN Story

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

That irritates me to no end! Last year I had a state trooper follow me for 5 miles on my way to work, inches from my bumper the entire time. Eventually he got so fed up that he passed me on a double yellow and took off. No lights, no siren, nothing. He technically should have had his headlights on at the time, didn't even do that. I think that my prior life of speeding was an irrational attempt to "get back" at cops who do that kind of thing but would happily write me on three charges for the same.

My neighbor beat a ticket in that situation with his cameraphone-

Timestamped pics of the cruiser tailgating him, then a shot of his speedo, then the cruiser again, within a few seconds. The cruiser had no lights on, and the speedo was at about 75. These pics convinced the judge that my neighbor was telling the truth that he was being 'gated for several miles by the officer. Apparently the judge had some choice words for that officer!

If the police are going >speed limit without lights on, they are also breaking the law. You are still breaking it, and they can ticket you, but at least this judge found that what was good for the goose was good for the gander.

I just heard that this morning on NPR. Road rage now has a medial name: intermittent explosive disorder. Great. So now we can start prescribing medication as drugs are the answer to all life's problems

Typo: Up to 16 million Americans have "Road Rage Disorder".

I'll agree with a Defensive Driver instructor that people tend to get more combative and paranoid behind the wheel, but it can be controled. For example, what seperates us from murders is the vast majority of us have controled our "urge to kill".

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated