I have to take I-40 from Albuquerque to Oklahoma city and back occasionally. It’s about 550 miles each way and except for Amarillo, it’s open road through the boondocks and you can put the cruise control on and relax.
Aside from construction zones and sometimes groups of big rigs, you generally might have maybe one or two vehicles on any given mile of road, or even less. I am used to the construction and have no problem with the truckers.
However, coming back today, at least ten fucking times, I would come up on a car that moved into the left lane to pass another car, and they would take TEN OR FIFTEEN FUCKING MINUTES TO MAKE THE FUCKING PASS! I timed them!
So now, other cars and 18-wheelers would catch up and then you have eight cars and four big rigs and 3 motor homes jammed up like fucking rush hour with no traffic for miles in front or behind. Then the shit can last a fucking hour, and as windy and rough as this stretch of road can get, it’s fucking dangerous.
It’s not like they are purposely fucking with you, but that the ignorant, rude, moronic dumbfucks are on cruise control going one tenth of a mph faster and they just overtake inch by inch.
Hit the gas and make the pass, you asshole! I personally don’t like to be side by side with another car for twenty fucking miles, and it’s rude as shit to let people jam up behind you on a wide open interstate highway.
We’re not on the local freeway during rush hour here, you fucking irritating dumbass bastards. I can’t understand this fucking behavior.
And I’m not hauling ass upon these fucks, just going the limit up to five over like most everybody else.
For quite some time, I’ve had this hypothesis regarding traffic jams. If you look into your rear-view mirror and see an incredibly long line of cars behind you and then look in front of you and see open road…YOU’RE THE PROBLEM!
I don’t have any facts and haven’t done any research on this hypothesis. I do like it though.
I won’t defend the drivers dallying in the passing lane, but I’m fascinated by your justification for speeding: “Well almost everyone else does it!” Do you have a newseltter?
I must make a note of that one so that I can tell it to the police if and when they stop me for speeding “Almost everyone else does it, officer”. Might work better than “Hey, why don’t you go and catch some real criminals”.
Would you kindly explain this to my father, please?
Also, AFAIK, it is a violation to impede the flow of traffic, even if the traffic is attempting to travel 5 miles over the limit.
To the OP, perhaps horn blowing and lights flashing is called for, eh? Couldn’t hurt.
Actually, before they finally posted the new speed limit of 60 on the highway between Coffeyville and Independence it was better to speed than to do the posted speed limit. The police would consider it “suspicious” and stop you if you did. My husband’s relative (who was a stickler for following the law) told us about it, and said “Go ahead and speed through this part, the police will stop you if you don’t here.”
Unfortunately, my darling Marcie is one who adheres strictly to the posted speed limit. She is often guilty of doing the “pass by inches” dance; I cannot reason with her on this—the speed limit is the speed limit, by God, and she will obey it even if she causes traffic to stack up twenty miles behind her. She just does not get the concept of impeding the flow of traffic; in her view, everyone should obey the posted speed limit. I honestly fear that she will be run off the road and killed by someone in a fit of road rage.
I was riding with a dumbshit cow-worker one time who did the “pass at 1/2 mile faster” around a guy in a station wagon pulling a trailer. We came upon a semi in the right lane and the station wagon started to pull over into the left lane on top of us.
My cow-worker started cussing and moaning about the “idiot” in the station wagon.
I just calmly said to my cow-worker," Maybe he didn’t see you since you’ve been driving in his blind spot for the last fifteen fucking minutes instead of passing him like any sane person would do."
It was a quiet, but safer, ride for the rest of the trip.
Speaking as an old fart who grumps at whippersnappers who spead: Have you ever driven the stretch of road Klaatu describes? Behind and in front of you is mostly nothing but straight empty road to the horizon. It’s almost physically impossible not to speed.
These people need to be introduced to another aspect of traffic law, keep right except to pass. I don’t consider it noble to violate one law in order to adhere strictly to another law.
For those of you indignant about someone going 5mph over the speed limit on a highway, how do you drive on America’s streets without your head exploding? I swear, fully 90% of the drivers I see at any one time are exceeding the posted speed limit, the only times people aren’t is at stop lights and during traffic jams.
I’ll let you know after I have some luck explaining it to my co-teacher. She can’t understand that there are different speed limits for different parts of the road. The inability to keep the gas pedal in one position is another rant.
I was under the impression that as long as you’re going the posted speed limit, you’re safe from that violation. No cite. I’ll look it up tomorrow after the field trip. It’s 11 pm (just about) right now here and I’m too tired to do the search.
Ok… here’s a dilemma for you, and it involves both of the issues here.
Somewhat frequently, I drive to Houston or College Station from Dallas, and take I-45 south.
For whatever reason, the highway seems to be populated by maniacs who want to go 85-90 in the left lane, or old farts/farmers in their turnip trucks who go 50-55 in the right lane.
(mind you, the speed limit is 70 along most of it)
Where do I drive if I want to go 75?
My usual process is to drive in the right lane as much as possible, but then egregiously screw the faster drivers when I come upon a line of old farts going 55, and get over in the left lane going 75. They get mad, flash lights, etc… but I generally don’t feel too comfortable going 85-90, so I pass the line of old farts at 75 or thereabouts.
I don’t like getting flashed at, but nor do I like slowing down to 55 so the maniacs can pass either.
No, your doing it right. Stick in the right lane and use the left lane to pass. But your passes shouldn’t take 5-10 minutes to perform like the OP states. Speed up a bit to make a pass if needed.