I’ve asked a few people in my area why drivers do this (match speeds, hang off your port stern, barely pass, etc) and the best answer I’ve received is the other driver is scared of being pulled over by the police. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know, but in their minds, the other driver feels there’s safety in numbers, and they won’t get singled out if there’s a cop ahead.
I think that’s a stupid reason, but I also think it’s probably close to accurate.
So you swerve, lose control, shoot off the road, over the embankment, and into the trees. That’s the collision pattern I see all the time. You’re better off hitting the deer.
I’m all for getting away from these types of people. The problem I’ve had is that you can speed up, slow down and they are still there. So you get off the road and either somehow they are still there or you pick up another one of these idiots. How often am I supposed to stop for 5 minutes when I pick up one of them? I’d never get where I’m going if I did so.
Sounds like the same asshole who walks into a public restroom and stands right next to you at an otherwise empty bank of 5 or 6 urinals.
Yup - and the same people sit right next to you in an empty theatre, too.
I’d also note that there are stalkerish overtones to doing this on an otherwise empty stretch of road, especially at night. Why is this person hanging around behind me when he could easily give me more space or pass? Probably harmless, but…
It’s even more fun when a cop does it. They are almost certainly checking you out, but why - and when will they decide whether or not to pull you over? I still remember once in Arizona when Mrs. J. and I were on vacation and a cop car got behind me as I was preparing to get onto the Interstate, stayed behind me on the onramp, then squatted a few car lengths back of me in the right lane (I was doing a bit below the speed limit). It eventually got distracting as hell. Finally Officer Jerko put on his flashers and pulled me over. “I stopped you because you were swerving inside your lane.” “Well, yes, I kept glancing back in my mirrors to see why you were following me for so long, and I suppose I wasn’t keeping a perfectly straight line.”
I was pretty obviously pissed off, but he let me go.
This exact tactic helped me get between Bakersfield and LA along highway 5 several times. I was always worried about someone speeding up behind me.
Not that it has anything to do with driving but the proper response to this is to turn (bodily) to them and start talking while still pissing.
(best done in your head so no violence ensues)
As I get older, I’m starting to think that the proper response to the people who sit right next to you in an empty movie theatre is to get up, announce to them that you’re going to move to ONE OF THE 300 OTHER EMPTY SEATS IN HERE, and request that they don’t follow you. Then do so.
Yeah, right. I don’t think so.
Don’t know if this happens now a days anymore, but back in the mists of time when I was in college (late 70’s) I was stalked by drivers more than once. One that sticks in my memory was on the NY State Thruway between Syracuse and Rochester. I was alone in a Honda Civic that had trouble getting out of it’s own way. My stalker was in something else (can’t remember what but it was faster than my poor little car was capable of) He started by passing me and then pulling in front and slowing down. So I’d pull out to pass him, at which point he’d speed up and pass me again only to slow down (appreciably) once he pulled in front. Slowing down myself didn’t help, he’d follow suit. Next trick was to pass and then ride next to me regardless of my speed. I don’t recall if there’s a rest area between Syracuse and Rochester, but I was spooked enough by this time that I wasn’t going to pull over anywhere. The final straw was when he followed me as I left the highway. I lost him when I took a quick exit at the last minute and hit the back roads that I was quite familiar with.
It happened again when I was driving (alone again - same car) through the interstate system in Albany, NY. This asshole played the pass and slow game and then pulled up next to me and started to drift closer and closer to within inches of my driver’s side in traffic. Unfortunately for him, my boyfriend at the time was following and saw what was going on. He had a much larger and scarier car which he planted on the asshole’s bumper.
I’m pretty sure there were other occasions but I don’t remember details after all these years. Doesn’t happen anymore. Can’t imagine why 
Actually my daughters both reported similar events in their early driving years.
One of my favorite movies.
I’ve got a theory on this. This is caused by the 5th fundamental force of the universe that I’ve named “The car force” which causes cars to be attracted to each other. Every wonder why you can park on the other side of a parking lot as far as you can from the store because you don’t want some idiot to ding your door. Yet somebody always seems to park right next to you even though there’s slot after slot where they could have parked closer to the store and actually have an easier time getting out and putting in the groceries and what not. It’s not the other guys fault, his car was dragged next to yours by “The car force” and it forced that guy to herd with that OP’s car. Since I’ve come up with this one I guess all I got to do is wait for my Nobel prize in Physics to come in the mail:D (Wonder if it’ll get here before my Peace Prize:rolleyes: )