Why do other drivers treat me differently based on the vehicle I'm driving? (motorcycle, SUV)
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When I'm driving my car it seems like I can't go more than five minutes without another driver trying to run me off the road, maim me, or kill me for sport. In other words, other drivers treat me like I'm gum on the bottom of their shoe. On the other hand when I'm driving my SUV, other drivers treat me like I'm the Pope. What gives? Why is my life disposable when I'm driving a car, but when I'm driving an SUV I'm regarded as royalty?
Confirmation bias. I doubt they're treating you any differently, especially given your hyperbole. Trying to run you off the road and maim or kill you every five minutes? Right.
Could just feel that way due to how high you're sitting. Low to the ground and seeing bumpers will do that to you some times. I used to think like that, now I just know to keep my distance and leave an out any time I feel like I'm getting squeezed in.
Of course riding my motorcycle home this afternoon, some genius pulled out in front of me and I had to power swerve around him into the other lane. I was still going the speed limit after that, but he slowed down considerably to the point where he was keeping well away from me after his little misjudgment.
If it's a nice new car people could just assume you are motivated to not let it get messed up (cut you off ect).
Traffic in front of a business I frequent often gets backed up to the point you could wait 2 hrs to exit the lot at times if I wasn't willing to stick the front of my car between vehicles that are parked waiting for the light. Honestly I will wait for a vehicle/drive combo unlikely to challenge this. Women with late model BMWs or similar cars have never failed to allow me to merge. GRANTED this is ALL taking place with parked vehicles...I DO NOT force my way thru moving traffic, intentioally cut people off ect.
It depends, I think size matters in this case. I know while driving eveyday for Uber, the most aggressive A-Hole drivers are people in trucks especially lifted, some SUV drivers, mustang drivers, BMW drivers, and small imports.
These are the worst drivers at cutting you off, but I think people that drive large SUV’s are less likely to get cut off and tailgated, because of the size differences for sure.
The Pope drove a Fiat and they always let him merge because they liked his hat. I find the same (what you are experiencing) to be true concerning the type of vehicle. Somehow in our subconcious minds, we have embedded biases based on the particular vehicle. If you are in a hoopty, they give you plenty of room and assume you are one step away from the demolishion derby. If you have a nice sports car, you will probably be the one to yield. I think there are assumptions about drivers and their actions based on the gender identify of the car.
When I'm driving my car it seems like I can't go more than five minutes without another driver trying to run me off the road, maim me, or kill me for sport. In other words, other drivers treat me like I'm gum on the bottom of their shoe. On the other hand when I'm driving my SUV, other drivers treat me like I'm the Pope. What gives? Why is my life disposable when I'm driving a car, but when I'm driving an SUV I'm regarded as royalty?
Call 911 ASAP. It sounds like a gang of homicidal maniacs is trying to kill you by running you off the road. Either that or you are just paranoid. In which case you should probably get some help for that.
In my own experience, there's a spectrum, and both ends are good places to be. In the middle, not so much. I drive a Mercedes E550 as my daily driver, it's a nice car, but in terms of "respect" given by other drivers to me, it's no better than the average Toyota or Ford sedan.
My fun car though, is a Porsche 911 turbo. I do notice that most people are more careful around me, if they are behind me, they don't follow too close, and if they are ahead of me and I'm moving up beside them, they wait until after I've passed if they want to move into my lane, etc. Whether they respect the car or just don't want to get involved in an expensive accident with me, I don't know, but the behavior of other drivers towards me is much better than in the Mercedes.
My wife's SUV is probably even better, it's a midsize SUV, Mercedes ML63 AMG, and if the size doesn't give driver's reason to respect it, then the AMG badge does. Most people know that the higher numbers mean a more expensive model, so I usually have no one tailgating or acting like an idiot around me if they take note of the car.
So basically, you either need to stand out because of the size of your vehicle, or the cost of your vehicle, or both.
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