Uhm. After snipping your three reasons, numbered one through five, I wonder if you ever bothered to read this thread. The OP tried to let the ruddy bastard pass.
Also, did you just call all americans septic tanks? Are you really that much of an idiot? I’m not even going to bother to draw a parallel, it doesn’t deserve one.
Awaiting your reply with bated breath.
Actually, Venoma, the term “septic tank” is rhyming slang for “yank,” and is used occasionally in Australia and Britain, especially among the older generation.
It is generally considered to be rather tongue-in-cheek and not to be taken as a put-down, even if the origins may have been somewhat less friendly.
It’s not really designed to offend, although of course one can see how it might.
I’m sure nobody cares, but here’s my 2 cents:
I think you should have listened to your friend.
First of all, I’m skeptical that there was no place at all on that entire road for you to pull over. Not one turnout? Not a single patch of dirt 6 feet wide?. Was it really just uninterrupted railing just inches from the right lane, for miles and miles on end?
If I were driving behind someone who was doing 35 in a 55 zone, I would expect that person to pull off the road momentarily to let me pass. Now if you honestly and truly had no possible way to pull over, then I suppose there was nothing you could have done, but then slowing down and moving slightly to the right actually made the situation worse, because now not only can the other driver not pass you, but you are slowing him/her down even more. The proper thing to do is wait for a turnout, pull off, and let the other driver pass. If one is not immediately available, you simply continue driving until the first opportunity to do so. All this debate about what is the “proper” speed to be driving is irrelevant. The only relevant thing is that the other car wanted to pass you, and the polite thing to do is to let them do so at your first opportunity.
Now I’m going to be completely forthcoming here and admit that I have on occasion let my emotions get the better of me, and have deliberately taunted another motorist who was being a jerk, as you did. The thing is, though, I freely admit I was wrong to do so. And if my friend were in the car with me telling me that I’m an idiot, that would just cement it.
Sorry, missed this:
Yes, IMHO you most definitely should have stopped. Also, you might have kept an eye out for a place that would be more suitable for passing, rather than slowing down at a particularly curvy spot.
A few clarifications seem to be required
I can sympathise with Windwalker , sometimes the perceptions of “safe to pass” differ widely and correctly he was being very cautious , especially with some asshole behid giving him grief.
A thank you to mmhendo as a third party for pointing out that 'septic" is not designed to offend . His "among the older generation " is quite perceptive . However , even though I have been in Australia since 1947 , my friends still occasionally refer to me as “bloody septic” as I was born in Lancaster Pa. , and hold a current US passport . So don’t take it to heart **Venoma[\b] , I apologise if I offended you and promise to remember that Americans and “bloody Skippys” have slightly different senses of humour.
The purpose of my post was to show how easily that these situations can be resolved if there is tolerance on each side . No judgements are made on motives or driving abilities by either party . and a potentially dangerous situation is defused with the minimum of aggravation .
At least in my neck of the woods, there really are twisting, turning two lane roads with little room to pass, and people who don’t expect to pass you; they expect you to drive at a speed which suits them. Let me give you a situation I was in a few years ago.
At the time, there were major construction and slow downs on my direct route home from work, so I took a detour around it which was 2-lane, twisting, hilly roads with a town in the middle of it. The posted speed limit was 25 mph, which I admit was slow, but the police knew a fair number of people were using it to avoid the construction and were patrolling it. As a result, after I got followed down this road by a police officer and saw another waiting on a side road, presumably to catch speeders, I got a lot more scrupulous about obeying the posted limit. I’ve got better things to spend $100 on! One day I was followed by what looked like a couple of teenagers in an SUV who were flashing their lights, honking their horns, and, in general, doing their best to demonstrate to me what a blight I was on the face of humanity for not driving as fast as they wanted me too. Unfortunately, that was one of the days I didn’t see a policeman. I would have been happier driving faster myself, but somehow, I didn’t think they would have paid my speeding ticket if I’d been busted, and, in all fairness, they shouldn’t have if I let their behaviour influence my driving.
As for speed limits and speeding tickets, several years ago, a coworker was driving to work on an icy morning when he lost control of his car and wound up on the median strip. He wasn’t hurt, but he did receive a ticket for “driving too fast for conditions.” He told the officer he was driving below the speed limit, but the officer pointed that out that, since he was in an accident, he clearly was driving too fast for the conditions. I’ve got to admit, the policeman had a point.
While we’re talking about tailgaters, can I get one of my pet peeves of my choice? I am tired of people who tailgate me when the person a car or two ahead of me is the one going at or below the speed limit. Look, I may heartily agree that the person is going too slowly, but it seems to me that driving faster than the car ahead of me on a 2-lane road is asking for trouble. What’s more, I may be just as frustrated as you are, and you aren’t helping. When this happened to me the other day, I pointed at the car ahead of me, trying to get across, “I agree! But you’re acting like an idiot, and you ain’t helping any. Back off and deal with it! I have to.” Aargh!
Just what I want to think about before going to work.
CJ
I think TLW nailed it.
Perfectly.
LPN is hereby wrong. :smack:
Soudest thou the trumps of sorrow, play unto she the violas of shame, toot the tubas of recognition.
Go thou, LPN, and learn the error of thy ways. Drive thou sweetly, and others shall drive sweetly around thee, save for the fuckers who pull in front of you in heavy traffic then slam on their brakes. Thou mayest inflict thy road rage on them with due force.
I don’t drive like that anymore. 
HUMOR! HUMOR! MOST OF THE ABOVE WAS HUMOR AND TONGUE IN CHEEK!
Except for the bit about not driving like that anymore and the bastards who do the brakes thing.
FWIW, Ohio law requires honking the horn to warn the driver being overtaken that they are about to be passed. Not applicable to the OP, I know, but there are perfectly valid uses of the horn and flashing brights other than to be annoying or in emergency situations.
This nitpick not meant to detract from your otherwise perfectly sensible post.
Mmkay, point taken - I have never heard of Americans referred to as septic tanks, might be my lack of age showing.
Not being an American, but holding a few close to me, might make me a little more sensitive to a percieved slight. Thanks for the explanation 
I’m curious, then: what is your recommended way of politely letting the person in front of you know you’d like to pass?
Part of the problem is that most slow drivers seem offended by any and all methods of requesting that they move over. Flashing your brights makes you an asshole. Edging a little closer makes you an asshole. Honking makes you an asshole. Is there a button on my dashboard that I’m overlooking that somehow telegraphs “please, good fellow, I’d like to pass if you don’t mind” to the car in front of me?
The way to do it is to maintain a safe distance until there is a safe opportunity to pass (e.g., passing lane; long straight stretch). Then: use indicator and enter left lane, accelerate, pass, return to right lane, continue on your way. Pretty simple, really.
I drive faster than average, but i realize that others drive more slowly, and on a winding road i’m happy just to wait until it is safe to pass. Don’t like travelling a bit slower than normal? Suck it up, crybabies.
You know, I don’t really think there is a way of politely letting them know you want to pass (excluding laws in particular states that have been pointed out already), save using your turn signal just before you undertake the passing manuever, as mhendo pointed out. A conscientious driver should be checking his mirror and should realize when he is holding up another driver; if there is no passing lane, he should pull over to let him pass. If the driver is too obstinate and/or obtuse to see the car behind him, I don’t think any amount of light-flashing or horn-honking is going to educate him. I’ve pretty much given up on giving signals like that. It’s been my experience that if the person is polite and conscientious, he’s going to pull over. If he’s rude and selfish, there ain’t a whole lot you can do about it. And please, I’m speaking generally; I’m not saying anyone in this thread is rude or selfish.
mhendo got it right – on a road where there is a second lane, if youwant to pass me, pass me. No need to telegraph your intentions, just do it. On a road where there is are only two lanes, you wait until there’s somewhere safe to pass and if that means that you don’t get to pass, you slow down and exercise a little patience.
If it is a situation like the one mentioned where you’re transporting someone to the hospital, then maybe horn honking is okay. But never light flashing, ever. I know personally that if I’m driving slowly, one of the main reasons is because there are things I can’t see for one reason or another, and I’d bet that’s true in most cases. High beams going off like a strobe in the rearview and illuminating the car and distracting already limited vision even further is infuriating beyond words and could prove dangerous if done at the wrong time.
Just say no to high beams.
Oh, Windwalker, I hope I already made it abundantly clear that I don’t think you’re a prick. I was just trying to provide a possible point of view from the other side.
I also think tlw’s observation is dead on. Remember, I consider myself a reformed maniac asshole.
Nevertheless, this bears repeating, with a dash of clarification. To this day I am more untrustworthy of cars which cannot maintain a speed near the speed limit than I am of speeders.
There are simple, obvious reasons for this. Slow driving is often an indication that the driver is having some sort of a problem. Drunk drivers often exhibit the same behavior (but it is my understanding that slow driving is a only a possible symptom). As I said before, there can be a myriad of reasons, but most of them indicate that there is some sort of a problem: a mechanical problem; an argument with a girlfriend; poor night vision; inattentiveness; unfamiliarity with the road; or timidity (which I consider to be a danger ever since my very first accident, in which a person who pulled out in front of me hit the brakes upon seeing me approach, thus blocking both lanes and leaving me no place to go but into the T-bone). There are also good reasons to drive slow, but I can’t tell if you’re being responsible or not from where I’m sitting. Therefore I have to give you some space somehow, and I would much prefer it to be behind me.
It is a bad, bad idea to closely follow a person driving like that. When I’m behind a suspiciously slow car I only have a few safe options: I can pull far back and lope along at your speed, but I’m still behind you and I will also have to deal with any mistakes you make ahead; I will also have to deal with anyone who comes up behind me; I can find an alternative route; or I can pass you.
Windwalker, that jerk who pissed you off so bad is far more at fault than you are, make no mistake about that. But you should also be aware that by driving the way you did you became an integral part of the incident. Next time I hope you’ll simply slow down as much as possible, pull as close to the side as you can, and wave the guy on by. You don’t want him behind you, and he doesn’t want to be there either. Figure out how to get rid of him, eh?
Whether it’s passive aggressive or isn’t is a separate issue. Personally I don’t favor slowing down when someone behind me is honking and flashing his (or her) brights because he’s already demonstrated that he’s a little tense and I don’t know if he’s armed!
Well, what about if a car is stopped at a light, light turns green and they just sit there? Then is it okay to honk? This has happened to me a few times, once, I honked (after waiting awhile, I don’t honk immediately, I think that’s rude as hell) and the person just sat there. I ended up LAYING on my horn and they sat. Through. The. Whole. Light. They went right as it turned yellow so I’d be forced to sit through it. The fuck? I honked quickly and lightly once to let them know the light had turned green, in case they weren’t paying attention. Apparently, it was taken as an act of aggression, as the asshole’s reaction showed.
What do all you “never use the horn!!” people think about that? Is that a legitimate time to use the horn?
For educational purposes, do you have a cite for this?
Yes that’s fine.
sigh Yes. This here Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws pdf document, page 36 in the booklet, page 42 in the pdf