It's a two-lane heavily winding road at night... SO STOP BEEPING ME TO GO FASTER!

The BBQ Pit
1

We’re driving back from a tiring but satisfying hike in the mountains on one of those two-lane roads that has a speed limit of 55 MPH on the straightaways, and lower limits (down to 30 at some spots) at the turns. Only a little yellow line separates us from cars coming from the other direction. It is winding as hell. Trees line the side most of the way, so you can’t see past curves. It is almost 10 PM, and it is pretty freakin dark, with no street lights.

I am driving at about 35 MPH, which I consider reasonable, considering that taking a bend just a bit too tightly (in either lane) could result in a head-on collision with cars coming the other way.

Of course, this SUV comes up behind me and starts riding my tail like I was a cheap whore desperate for a fix. After a minute or so of this, he starts honking at me! I try to put on my most Zen state of miind and ignore it. My friend: “Just let him pass.”

I agree, but there is no shoulder to speak of (maybe a tiny margin between it and the railing); still, I slow down and get as far to the right as possible.

The guy starts honking some more now, like a chicken on Speed. OK, maybe he is afraid of oncoming traffic that may suddenly shoot out of one of the bends… WHICH IS WHY I AM DRIVING 35 MPH!

Jeez louise.

I speed back up to 35, having given him his chance. Now the idiot starts flashing his high beams on and off. At this point, I decided the gloves came off.

I slow down to 20 and start speeding up and slowing down between it and 35. My friend is telling me that I’m an idiot. I don’t care, I reply.

After a couple of minutes of this, the guy finally pulls out during a straightaway and passes me, opening his passenger side window and screaming something that sounded like “Puck Moo!” before zooming ahead. I flashed my high beams in response, and let him ride off into the darkness, possibly into a tree or another car.

Was I wrong here? Is there an unspoken rule that you must drive at least the speed limit, even when you don’t feel it is safe to do so? I don’t want to be a statistic. Even if this was bad driving etiquette, I still give a hearty Puck Moo to anyone who tries to force me to risk my life so that he can get home 10 minutes faster. Next time someone tries to pull this crap on me, maybe I’ll slow down to 10 MPH…

BLARGH

2

That’s what my dad would do. Everytime they honked it cost them 5 mph. They would usually figure it out once we got down to about 25 mph.

3

Windwalker, it is a speed limit not a speed minimum.* While some roads have minimum speeds posted, I do not think they exist for two lane roads. Slowing down wasn’t the smartest thing but we’ve all done that and will do it again. :slight_smile:

  • If the road as 2 or more lanes in each direction, then those wishing to go slower should stay right. So in this instance, it is a speed minimum for the left lane (assuming weather conditions permit).
4

Just stick your indicator* on and come to a dead stop. Let him pass and then you can follow him at any speed you like, 'cause if there is someone else coming the other way his dumass will be between you and the other car anyway. Let him do all the worrying about watching the road for oncoming traffic.

And that way you have two less things in life to worry about.

  • I believe may be called a turn signal in the US
5

Driving into Yosemite a few years ago, on a similar winding road with a speed limit of, I think, 45, along this truly beautiful, scenic road, I found myself with a constant parade of rampant speed freaks riding my ass, furious that I would take the time to (a) drive safely and (b) drive safely enough that I could enjoy the scenery. I mean, who goes to Yosemite for the scenery?

Sheesh.

I don’t think you did ANYTHING wrong. It’s very frustrating to have someone like that on your tail, especially where there’s nowhere to pull over. As Aro said, finding a spot to pull to the right – preferably on a straightaway so neither of you will get killed, since you have a concern for his life even if he clearly has none for yours – and letting him go around you is probably the best way to deal with it. It’s always a tossup, though: Is it worth pissing the guy off enough to just stay in front of him going slow, or will his road rage oercome his love for his expensive SUV enough to allow him to start doing really stupid things with it like ramming you?

6

I don’t think you did anything wrong either. I have a policy similar to World Eater’s dad. You honk at me or flash your highbeams, I slow down. Eventually, people tend to pass me, showing me how proud they are of their well-formed middle finger on the way.

7

Do such roads in your area have turnout areas or lanes? Around here our mountain roads provide turnouts and slow-traffic lanes every few miles for RV’s, trucks, campers and any other vehicle which may be holding up several cars (Idaho law requires any vehicle delaying three or more cars to turn out and let the others pass, no cite, sorry). Perhaps you could have used one of these lanes or turnouts, if they were available, just to let the guy get ahead of you and off your tail so you can drive in peace. While I generally don’t hold up traffic like this, if I have someone tailing me I’ll turn out just to get him off of me. I figure if he wrecks or gets a ticket farther up the road it’s his fault.

8

Thats when you extend the Bun Hur spikes and ram them off the road into a ditch. :smiley:

9

Thats the way I do it. The closer you get the slower I drive. I just love to watch those assholes faces as it gets redder and redder and they get closer to a massive heart attack. To me that is entertainment.

Why is it that people think that the more thay honk or the closer they get ,the faster you will go ? Kind of like pushing the button at the elevator multiple times so it will come to your floor faster. Morons !

10

World Eater, this calls for the Mad Max Style Apocolypse Mobile.

(Forgive me, I can’t figure out how to link to that one particular post. It’s 16 posts down.)

11

Good thing I don’t drive along 2 lane (one in each direction) roads very often.

Slowing down because it’s dark, I’m sorry to say, is pretty fucking lame and shows maybe you shouldn’t drive. I hate to sound harsh but if the limit is 55 mph, it should be safe to drive 55. I have never, ever, come across a limit that was “too high”. Yes, turns have lower limits but you’re saying that you coasted at 35 mph the entire way!

I know what kinds of roads you’re talking about. I once had to drive 2000 kms (1200 miles) to pick up my sister as a favor (in the deep, dark, north). Yes, it’s dark, but get a grip, it doesn’t suddenly become death valley because of some turns. And yes, animals might jump out at you (my friend and I who took the trip had some fun trying to find moose but we didn’t see any) but that’s the price for driving in the dark anyways (or hell, even in the middle of the day).

Next time if you’re going to impede traffic at almost half the limit you should pull over and stop. It’s dangerous for both him having to tail your ass, and for you because you might just get shot.

12

Oh yeah, BTW, I am not defending people who honk or tailgate (flashing your lights is perfectly legal and the recommended method of asking for the forward car to yield).

But when you purposely go out of your way to fuck with people who are driving behind you makes you a bully and a fucktard in my book. Just stay right gods damnit. It doesn’t take any fucking effort to stay right.

13

Hey, I’m there.

I used to work in one small town in the Texas hill country, and live in another. I didn’t get off until ten PM, and the road home was narrow, winding, up and down LOTS of hills, no shoulder to speak of, and so on. You know the drill.

Furthermore, the Texas hill country is infested with deer. Hitting a deer at thirty miles an hour can total your car, depending on the size of the deer, what you’re driving, and sheer luck. You MUST be careful!

…and at least once a week, while driving that winding, dark, shoulderless fifteen-minute-drive-home, I’d get some asshead behind me who wanted to know why I wasn’t going at least sixty, and wanted to make an ISSUE of it…

Made me wish land mines were legal…

14

I do the same thing, although you have to be very careful to decrease your speed slowly, preferably without using the brakes. You don’t want to jam the brakes on and cause an accident.

15

Were you not taught about “overdriving your headlights” in driver’s training? If your lights don’t illuminate far enough ahead for a safe stopping distance at the speed you’re driving, you need to slow down. Whether it’s for dark or for weather, you should never put yourself in such a situation. It has nothing to do with being “lame” and it has everything to do with safety.

16

You must have missed the memo, the OP said it was single lane and there was nowhere to pass.

:stuck_out_tongue: Insomnia, I should file a patent and get to work.

17

Overdriving your headlights is not going to happen here. Overdriving your headlights happens when you’re driving much faster than in this scenario. If you’re overdriving them at 35 or 55, you need new headlights.

As far as the other comments in this thread, that is pasive aggressive behavior, and a leading cause of road rage. Only assholes do stuff like that.

I agree with badmana. If you’re driving 35 in a 55, just because it’s dark, you need to learn to drive better.

18

FairyChatMom, no offence (because AFAIK you’re one of the nicer people here) but WTF are you talking about? 55 MPH is not going to “over drive” your lights. According to the driver’s hand book (reread recently because my GF just got her learners permit) it states your low beams should iluminate 150 feet (about 50 meters) and high beams should clear about 3 times that (well, it doesn’t say actually, but it does state when an oncoming car is approaching lower your beams at 150 meters (450 feet).

Since the OP was moving at 35 mph I highly doubt many cars were a head of them (it should be ok to use your highbeams). Also, with incoming traffic (something he mentioned) any normal person would be able to use oncoming traffic lights to help mark the road. If the OP was doing 75 mph and someone wanted to pass, yes, that’s pretty dumb, but we’re talking 35 mph (60 kph!). That’s a ticketable offense in Ontario.

This isn’t about over driving nothing. No bad weather was mentioned. The OP basically was scared to proceed at the limit because of trees and shit.

19

I’m pretty irritable about people who drive slow in front of me, and I think what Windwalker did was perfectly acceptable. He made an effort to let the person by, and that person didn’t take the opportunity. So fuck 'em.

Some people, on the other hand, want to slow down in front of you simply because you want to pass them, which makes them world class dickheads. The other day I was driving on a four lane highway (two in each direction) and some cockmonger was driving slow in the fast lane. I pulled up behind him (not too close) and waited patiently for him to check his rearview mirror and realize he was blocking traffic. After a minute, I gave him a quick flash of the brights, and his response was to immediately slam on the brakes. So I got in the slow lane (which he was now traveling much slower than) and passed him, and he waited until I got in front of him and flashed me his brights. What’s with these fucking people?

20

Nuther vote for badmana. I think Windwalker’s slowing down was purely juvenile, and the friend was correct in calling him an idiot.

Get some driver’s training, get your eyes checked, or stay off the damn road. I bet you are one of those pricks that speeds up on the straight aways so nobody can pass you.