With gasoline headed for $5 a gallon, you can't blame Toyota Prius owners for feeling a bit smug right now. They and the other owners of hybrids are getting city fuel economy of 40 mpg and above. But in an attempt to coax the last MP out of a G - "if I can do 44 mpg on this stretch of road, how about 46?" -- they may be simultaneously increasing economy and shortening their stay on earth when they hold up other cars by their personal brand of (fuel) conservativsm. Not a good move - inciting road rage -- at a time when the Supreme Court recently loosened the pearl-handled grip on gun ownership. Here's what I've been seeing, and hearing from my car-fanatic friends: The left-lane bandit (LLB) is back. This time it isn't grandpa in his ancient Oldsmobile but a friend of the earth in a hybrid, going slow, especially in the left-hand lane.

On urban roads, I've been stuck behind a couple of Priuses departing traffic lights where the car couldn't be going slower if the occupants were pushing it from behind. What's happening is the desire to see how far you can go on battery/electric power before - quarter-mile? half-mile? farther? - before the internal combustion engine kicks in. To maximize your range on battery power, you need to have a gentle foot on the throttle and stay under 20 or 25 mph. All of which is fine when the Prius is the only car on the road. But when a slow hybrid on a crowded street backs up traffic even further, the hybrid driver may be the catalyst that incites an ugly situation down the road.