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chindian

Am I the only one getting cut-off??

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I've owned my SMART for 2 days now. Yesterday the road rage wasn't as bad but this morning on my way to work, this one guy kept cutting me off (to avoid construction in his lane) and others followed suit. I don't leave heaps of room in front of me and in my previous car (Modded Civic) I hardly got cut off except for some retards on the highway occasionally. WHAT GIVES!?!?!!

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I get cut off all the time, even when I am going with the flow of traffic. Funny, it never happens when I am in my Jeep and going slowerSome people just seem like they don't want to follow a smart.

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Yes this happens to me all the time. People speed up to get by me and then get back in front of me and slow right down. There seems to be a mentality that they have to be going faster than a smart car.payback- Last weekend I was eastbound on the 401 to Kingston and someone pulled this move. I was going almost 120km/h - fast enough in the allowable over the speed limit range. So this guy is trying to get by me and in order to do so has to speed up much faster than when he had been travelling behind me. A Cop on a motorcycle pulled him over midway through his passing me. :)

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Absolutely all the time. I drive 120 km on 401 every day, follow the speed limit and stick in the right lane. But I've always got a huge grin on my face. I think that pisses them off even more when they pass me. :)Kimberly - that is AWESOME about the cop nailing someone passing you! Love that!!-Iain

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Just some input from the States. We've put 23,000 miles on our Phat Red 2005 Coupe since April, 2006. I do not recall ever getting cut off during that time... but we are still a curiosity. During our attempts at getting higher mpg figures on long trips, we hold the car to 55-60mph on the highways. In a normal car that gets you a familiar finger from about 50% of the cars that pass you. In the smart car, however, we've noticed a completely different attitude. Because it's the first one most folks have seen, they assume you are going as fast as you can. They slow for pictures, thumbs up (the right finger!) and many, many smiles coming back. When we end our trial "mpg runs" at the slower speeds, we pass some of these same cars when ours gets up to 75-80 mph. Then they cheer us as we pass! Can't lose! Maybe things will change as more and more hit these US roads, but the current owners down here sure are enjoying this opportunity. Thanks for this great forum. Taught me a lot which we pass on to our customers. Ron Gaus, aSmartCar.com, St. Louis

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That's exactly how I feel Ron - when I drive the limit I always think "people must think that's as fast as I can go". It's a real internal struggle to drive the limit, but I somehow do it :) I love that in the states though yeah when you pass everyone again! The reactions are always just as you describe.-Iain

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Iain - It was pretty awesome!!!!I felt kind of guilty that he got busted just to pass me but hey if you go over 120 you are risking paying that fine.

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I don't think you should ever have to feel guilty about that. :) I absolutely love it when someone blasts past me then 5 minutes later I see them pulled over. Doesn't happen very often, but whenever it does, I always smile and wave. :D-Iain

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LOL!!! I will remember that. I was a little too flustered to think about waving. I didn't see the cop at first until my b/f was shouting "slow down slow down!" (not because I was going fast but because the guy pulled over to the right in front of me so the cop was then trying to get in front of me and over a few lanes to pull him over on the right side.

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When i first got the car, i noticed that i seemed to be getting cut off and tailgated an awful lot. But then i thought about it, and i think it's at least 50% perception.

Our cars have very little ahead of the windshield and behind our seats, so there's almost no "buffer zone" of steel before the usual amount of "safe margin" we leave between our vehicle and the next one ahead (or behind). So while it may seem like other drivers are maliciously cutting us off or following too close (which some of them may actually be), i think at least part of the issue is that we are just that much closer to them than we're used to.

After a few months, i noticed that i don't seem to be getting cut off or tailgated as much as when i first started driving the smart, which suggests to me that it was in fact a perception issue with the new car.

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I can't say that I've been cut off any more frequently than usual - especially by people on the DVP who don't respect solid lines. I can say that I've seen people trying to get ahead of me, I think because they perceive me as being slow. I seem to manage to stay up with the speed of the traffic around me.

I've been using my Smart to commute to downtown every day since getting my car at the end of May. It's been lots of fun. I got thumbs up this morning from a bunch of construction workers who saw me pull a U-turn on a dime right in front of them!

Lyle

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Definitely. There are lots of great people out there that appreciate the car if not driving it themselves. I got thumbs up and plenty of smiles at Costco last weekend.

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I drive the Pat Bay Hwy every day, often twice a day. Its the one that takes you from downtown Victoria to the ferry to Vancouver. The drivers are noticeably faster, more aggressive, less careful than those on the #1 which goes up Island. So, yes I get cut off a lot, but no more than I did in my Rabbit, or before that in my Tercel. As for people getting pulled over - I see this on the Pat Bay at least once a week but they don't have anywhere near enough cops on that stretch of road. There have been some seriously nasty accidents there.

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I think it is part perception, but also many think that smarts are slow and don't want to be behind them. When they pass me and slow down in front of me I simply return the favour. Or in the city I wait until there is a small opening that only a smart can get through on the curb lane and scoot on by.

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Thankfully no one cut me off.When I drove the cabrio (rental) from Niagara Falls to Toronto on the highways and all around Mississauga and St Catharines, I pushed the car to see how fast we could go. In fact, I got up to and cruised at 120 km but only on straight/even ground. :race: The bridges were a different story and when I was near semis. I stayed in the right lane and gripped the steering wheel real tight until I was out of danger. :watchout: Boy was that scarey.Other than that, I had a wonderful time! :barbie: Regina

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My experiences have been more along the lines of Darren. It took a bit of time to get used to the fact that there isn't much car in front of my feet, and not much behind my back either. Once I factored in the extra distance I have in my other vehicles it didn't really seem that the gaps between my car and the person moving in in front or coming up behind were that much different.

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and maybe in time it will get better as many suggest, but I have been smart now since February, and I still get cut off.My first day with my smart we just happened to get hit by a blizzard-of-sorts. I had promised to drive around the city showing off the car, and knowing my safety was absolutely not an issue in the little car, I hit the Anthony Henday... (Big F... Highway here in Edmonton) The road was bad, I will not lie. I was trucking along though, close to 90 km/hr when I got SEVERELY cut off by a semi and trailer. I was not happy, but managed to slow down very well to allow the truck the lane. When he was all settled in and no doubt feelin' pretty proud, I drove over the snow mountains on the road, into the other lane, pumped it up to 120 and went sailing past him... then I turned back into MY lane, gave a little wave and kept on my merry way.Now, in the city, it seems like people just don't want to be behind my smart. The most common thing I see is people will pull into the lane beside me, even though there is another car there that is in sync with how fast I am going. Even if there's no way for them to cut me off, they still change lanes.I just laugh and continue on with my singing and smiling... The last thing I would ever want to do is start driving recklessly to keep up with these nimrods and put the safety of bert in jeopardy.

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When i first got the car, i noticed that i seemed to be getting cut off and tailgated an awful lot. But then i thought about it, and i think it's at least 50% perception.

Our cars have very little ahead of the windshield and behind our seats, so there's almost no "buffer zone" of steel before the usual amount of "safe margin" we leave between our vehicle and the next one ahead (or behind). So while it may seem like other drivers are maliciously cutting us off or following too close (which some of them may actually be), i think at least part of the issue is that we are just that much closer to them than we're used to.

After a few months, i noticed that i don't seem to be getting cut off or tailgated as much as when i first started driving the smart, which suggests to me that it was in fact a perception issue with the new car.

I think you've nailed it. The first time a semi sat behind me at a light I nearly shat myself. Then I realized he was still about a normal six feet off my bumper!

A corollary is that even though my little smart is significantly less quick than my previous (under-powered, "economy") car, my commute takes a couple of minutes less. Daytimes, I drove about 10 Km/h faster than "traffic speed" and accelerated as hard as it would go. Now, I seldom drive evn as fast as the traffic around me, but the nimble handling and ferocious braking allow me to zip through traffic like a knife through butter. If I could control how the clutch dumps, I'd be in hog heaven.

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Here in the States I usually drive in the "right (slow) lane of a two lane highway" 30 miles to and from work every day and the speed limit is 55mph (88.51kph) most of the way. I drive anywhere between 50-60mph. Most people in the 'fast' lane drive 75mph+ (120.70kph+). I never understood why people seem to be in such a hurry. Often times I get passed then the passer comes back into the 'slow' lane and slows back down. I think it has something to do with some type of superiority complex where they must be in the front.Often times I set my cruise control a couple of mph (kph) below the speed limit so I never have to turn my cruise control off because people are always pulling away from me after passing me. I find having to press the brake pedal after people pass me and slow back down and then resume cruise control annoying.

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Sometimes if I see that someone is speeding up coming towards me and then is probably going to switch lanes, if there is a car in the other lane, I will speed up to the other car and create a roadblock so the driver behind being an idiot can't get through.

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Sometimes if I see that someone is speeding up coming towards me and then is probably going to switch lanes, if there is a car in the other lane, I will speed up to the other car and create a roadblock so the driver behind being an idiot can't get through.

That may get you shot / killed in L.A.

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Cut off, not normally.But the number of people who feel the need to roar past me is just ridiculous. I tend to slow down a bit when coming to a red light so I can time it so as to not have to stop. People will just go roaring by and up to the light and slam on their brakes. It is quite gratifying if they are the only ones there and I can come zipping along at still a good pace and fly by them as they just start up. This typically causes them to do a jack rabbit start to get ahead of me, only to have to stop suddenly again at the next light. I just grin as I think about the huge amounts of gas they are wasting.

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YES! YESyesyesyse. I love that Ken!! That's my absolute favourite thing... I'm sitting here reading this getting giddy to leave the office becuase I do this EVERY DAY on the Hanlon :DIt makes them soooooooooooooooo mad! And I've saved fuel, and got a free grin out of the whole deal. :)-Iain

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My best one for this was many years ago on a motorcycle. I was attending evening school, and we had cutoff times to submit computer jobs (8:30am, 4:30 and 8:30pm). I left work to get to the school for the 8:30am run. On my way back to work, someone cut in front of me, and immediately hit the brakes for a red light. As we were the only 2 cars at the intersection, I pulled up beside him, and just stared, not saying anything, or even making the gestures I thought about. The light changed, and he went roaring off down the Yellowhead freeway, with me beside him, just creeping up to pass, then him accelerating even more. This went on for about 2 km, then, as we approached a curve in the road, I hit the brakes, and cut in behind him, with me going the speed limit, and him rounding the corner to see a police officer standing at the side of the road, pointing to him, then gesturing to the driveway with the 3 police cars in it. I puttered by at the speed limit, waving, secure in the knowledge the the speed trap I had seen there half an hour before was still busy.MG

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