You’ve added exactly zero to this entire discussion other than profanity and name-calling. You have summarily ignored every single thing I’ve written and have added not a single thought or idea to the discussion. The contrast between you and the other posters who have at least spelled out their disagreement with me in some detail and in a reasoned fashion is glaring.
It’s painfully obvious that the only one “looking for a fight” in this thread is you. I’m very happy to have given you the opportunity to release at least a little of that venom that is obviously festering inside of you…it must be tough living with that every day of your life.
Yes he is impeding someone - you, when you are in the left lane. And in NJ I saw a state trooper pull over an idiot driving slowly on the left in a situation where the road was not the slightest bit congested. So there is some justice.
If you are approaching this guy in a way that would make him think you want to pass, pretty soon you’ll be on his tail. (And, as I mentioned, if he had a clue he wouldn’t be there in the first place.) If you drive safely the right number of car lengths behind him, and he notices you, perhaps he’ll think you’re another slowpoke, just like him.
First of all, I doubt many would make a fine distinction between “tailing” and “tailgating,” but regardless of this…what’s being described here happens all the time on a two-lane divided highway.
I move from right to left to pass a slower-moving car. As I’m passing it, another car that had been some distance behind me also moves into the left lane with the intention of passing the slower car. It becomes obvious to me that he’s moving at an even higher rate of speed than I am, so I get back over into the right lane as soon as possible, and he passes me by.
I would do this eventually anyway, of course, but the urgency to do so is greater because he’s moving up behind me and has made it clear he wants to pass me as well as the original car.
How is the relationship between his car and mine any different from the relationship between my car and the slow one that had been traveling in the left lane?
What everyone is missing in my scenario is that, most of time, what I do works. The slow driver moves over from the left lane to the right, and I pass him in exactly the same way I would pass any other car. The difference is, I pass him in a way that’s safer than if I had passed him on the right — as the authorities I cited in this post agree it is.
My original complaint, very much in the spirit of this thread, was with the small number of drivers who are so dense that what I do doesn’t work. As I’ve made it clear, I have no choice then but to pass these drivers on the right.
Which is why I said that after a certain amount of time, I flash my bright lights and maybe honk my horn, all the while maintaining an assured safe distance. If it becomes apparent that these measures have had no effect, I will eventually, reluctantly, have to pass on the right.
If it hasn’t been made clear, let me repeat the scenario the way it has come about in the times I remember it. Open, straightaway road will very clear sight lines both behind and ahead, and his car and mine are virtually the only ones in sight. It’s very apparent for some time that his speed is less than mine (though I am not speeding; I never travel at more than 4-5 miles over the speed limit). The distance between his car and mine is gradually becoming less, so while we’re still some distance apart, I pull into the left lane.
His car either moves over, at which point all is roses…or it doesn’t. As I draw closer and it’s apparent that he has no intention of moving over despite any other measures I may take, I reach a point where I can’t safely get any closer to him in the left lane, so I have no choice but to pass him on the right.
What no one has adequately explained so far is what is so unsafe about what I’m doing.
I’ll be glad to further engage you in a discussion of these issues…as soon as you actually SAY something.
So far, your batting average on this score is .000.
On the other hand, you’re batting a thousand when it comes to ignoring things you have no answer for. You ask me (sarcastically, condescendingly) for cites to support my position. I provide them, and it’s as if it never happened. I ask you for cites to support your position, and the silence is even more deafening.
Do you honestly think that no one notices that the only thing you have in your mental arsenal is juvenile insults?
I suggest you return to the fourth-grade playground. You’re woefully out of your depth here, but you’ll be right at home there.
When a cop refers to you as “fucking retarded” for doing it, does that not give you the slightest hint that perhaps you’re doing something that is abnormal, to say the least?
While I’m sure this officer’s mode of expression makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and you’re convinced you now have a soulmate for life, his response suffers from the same problem all of your responses have: a complete lack of substance, a reason why what I’m doing is unsafe, and so terribly wrong.
I’m perfectly willing to listen if anyone comes up with one. I know it won’t come from you, as it’s beyond your capabilities. Anyone else?