A few days ago I was driving on a four lane, double-yellow-line road (two lanes in each direction). I was in the right lane, along with several other cars. The left lane was occupied by ten or eleven motorcycles.
The leader of the pack signaled a right turn, indicating that the group should get into the right lane. There was a comfortable distance (at least ten car lengths) between me and the car in front of me. Plenty of room for the leader and possibly another bike to fit in, but not the whole group. The leader didn’t budge, but kept looking over at me. After a quarter mile of this, I sped up to pass the leader so they could all fall in behind me. Of course, the leader then changed lanes and got in front of me. I changed to the left lane and passed him while he glared at me. I resisted showing him my favorite finger because my wife thought they were Hell’s Angels, not the software engineers and mortgage brokers they likely were.
My question is: who was in the wrong in this situation? They seemed to think that their group should be treated as one entity, while I thought they should be treated as individual vehicles.
Legally, I believe treating them as individuals is correct. Road etiquette may say that I should have deferred to the group, but I am not hitting my brakes and risking being rear-ended so that a bunch of nine-to-five brown nosers trying to prove they are still men can keep up their little Easy Rider fantasy and then go home to their granite countertops and stainless steel refrigerators filled with fruit-flavored microbrews while their wives fuck guys who actually have dicks.
You’ve answered your own question. Unless your state has driving laws that state that a group must be treated as an entity you are correct. You are under no legal obligation avoid cutting into the group but if you choose to show some road courtesy you probably will.
Tennessee state law gives a motorcycle the same space as a car - we are suppose to be the equivalent of a car. One car. Nothing about groups.
Social dynamics on the road are a little different.
Me, I don’t take the right of way that I may be entitiled to, on my bike or in my car, if it is going to get me in an accident. I, personally, try to avoid engendering road rage as there are people out there who will do more than post a rant.
I guess what I’m saying is why are you still upset and how big is your penis?
I thought it was clear. If there is no state law requiring you to treat groups of motorcycles as a single entity you are within your rights to pull into the group as long as there is room. If you choose to show road courtesy you will probably not pull into the middle of a group of motorcycles.
Riding in a group that size is a logistical challenge, and a reasonable leader should not expect any favors from cars (chiefly because of drivers like you). They SHOULD hang out in the right lane for the most part, only passing when needed, and doing it in such a way as to keep the group together, or having a method to re-join once it is broken up. One method is to have the leader and one other get in front, then the second bike slows slightly, creating the gap to let the rest of the group in ahead of him/her, thereby becoming the trail bike. 10-11 bikes is not a HUGE group, but is past that point where easy manuevering is no longer an option.
Your disparaging remarks about the riders, their countertops, beers, and wives are not appreciated.
This is why I asked the question; please explain what I did wrong. Should I have slowed down to let the entire group pass me? Wouldn’t this endanger the group because an inattentive driver behind me may then change lanes without looking (to get around my slow ass) and plow into the bikers?
I know how to drive - I keep a (very) safe distance from the car in front of me and maintain the prevailing speed of the surrounding traffic. I don’t expect people to slow down so I can get in front of them. I match the speed of the vehicles in the next lane and merge. Why don’t bikers do the same?
C’mon. These guys are ass clowns. I work with several of their ilk. They are as concious of their tiny penises as I am of mine.
Here in Maryland, when riding in a group and the group wants to pass you are supposed to pass one at a time. If the group gets seperated they should know where they are supposed to end up and it shouldn’t matter. They should have known this and got in front of you one at a time. You should have just stayed your speed and let them fit as many as you could have in front of you. However, there is no reason to “slam on your brakes” to give them more room
Please however, stay away from me if that is your atttitude about bikers.
This is what I expected to happen, and it didn’t. That’s why I was left wondering whether I had done something wrong.
I’m not advocating running down bikers. I just find them laughable and annoying. They endanger themselves far more than I endanger them. I make every effort to give them as much leeway as is reasonable, but I will not yield the right of way and endanger others around me.
I don’t care. In a couple of days (or sooner, mod willing), I will no longer be able to post here so you dues-paying members can have your little fantasy land where you all think you are of above-average intelligence and everyone sucks Opal’s cock.
I’ve been banned three times already. What’s one more for old times sake?
You may have done nothing illegal whatsoever. I said riders should not expect FAVORS from cars because of people like you. A FAVOR would have been to allow them to keep their group together by altering your speed slightly without endangering anybody at all, or altering your arrival time by more than a few seconds. Based on your words here, it would not suprise me if the other party in this little road action had a slightly different point of view regarding your actions at that time, perhaps even to the point of some RAV-4 not letting them back in on purpose due to spite.
I’m sure the leader didn’t approve of my actions, but I assure you I was trying to do the right thing. I left a sizable space between my car and the car in front of me. I didn’t slow down, as I said before, because I didn’t want to cause a possibly inattentive driver (who I noticed was following fairly closely) behind me to attempt to pass me and wipe out the other riders. I would have had to slow down appreciably to let the entire group in, as the length of the group was about twice the already generous space I had in front of me.
I don’t like these weekend bikers, but I do not take chances with their lives or anyone else’s on the road. I tried to be accomodating and all I got for it was a nasty look. My wife was frightened and my baby girl let her feelings be known by farting in their general direction.