Since this is a Prius thread, I'll start by confessing that my wife drives a Prius, and we both agree that it's a great commuter car. My commuter's corner connection is that.... I was riding home from work in Los Angeles, and a Prius was tailgating me in the carpool lane. Traffic was backed up, as it was rush hour, so I wasn't holding back traffic. He ignored my hand-wave asking him to back off. I had a bit of a head cold at the time, so after enduring about 10 minutes with the Prius on my ass, I cleared my throat and let a mucus bomb fly over my shoulder. I looked back and I saw windshield wipers wiping, and a Prius keeping a 30 yard gap. Childish? Maybe, Awesome karma moment? Yessss.
My wife drives a Prius. I shared your post with her and we both laughed and laughed and laughed. The newer Prius's (Prii?) have automatic windshield wipers. Get some moisture on the windshield and the wipers turn on. She has a friend with one who had a seagull take a dump on the windshield. The wipers did just like they were designed to do and turned on...spreading the huge mass of white poop all across the windshield.
FWIW, I predominately use engine compression braking and don't get tailgaters.
Chris