Please people, please let the other motorist pass

[Jackmannii]

@Mavis Topholese

What always happens to me is, I’ll be tooling along at a good clip on the interstate and I notice somebody coming up in my rear view mirror. So I figure I’ll move into the right lane and let them pass. I change into the right lane, but do they pass? Nope, they get into the right lane too, so that they can shine their lights in my rear view mirror for the next hundred miles.

On long trips it’s maddening - you can slow down but they won’t pass. You speed up and they’re right there behind you. You start to think about all the movies about crazy interstate motor-stalkers.

I don’t think these drivers are thinking about it at all, they’re just on autopilot, following my car’s convenient taillights. And that’s fine, but do it from more than one car length away, all right?

I see this all the time, driving in the right lane on interstates. Either these idiots don’t have cruise control, it’s broken or they’re too lazy to use it. Your car’s speed seems good so why not use you as a guide and follow cloooosely.

Usually, after you’ve gradually decreased speed to 50 mph or so, all but the most clueless of these drivers will get the hint and pass you. Once they do that, they discover that they really wanted to drive faster than you were going. :smack:

[Sailboat]

@Mavis_Topholese

On long trips it’s maddening - you can slow down but they won’t pass. You speed up and they’re right there behind you. You start to think about all the movies about crazy interstate motor-stalkers.

I don’t think these drivers are thinking about it at all, they’re just on autopilot, following my car’s convenient taillights.

My dad once pulled over into a cow pasture when being followed relentlessly in this way. The car behind us pulled over too – then the driver looked around, startled, looked back at us, and pulled out and drove away. Talk about being on autopilot!

[GHO57]

@pulykamell

@GHO57

It’s the same in every country.

This really hasn’t been my experience–it seems like much more of an insult here in the US to let somebody pass than in, say, Germany. Or perhaps I’ve just had good luck in those countries.

Perhaps I should’ve phrased it more carefully. “It’s the same in every country to some extent”. I used to have an 800 mile weekly commute, 400 on Monday, a week on site and 400 back to home on Friday. …

:smack: Oh man…

I just realized the cognitive bias resulting from that year… I’m thinking; there’s at least two idiots *per trip *… but I must’ve passed a couple of hundred cars each trip, so the overall percentage is like 1-2%. :smack: :smack:

The times I’ve driven through Central Europe (like Austria, Germany, Switzerland), I watched as cars pulled halfway onto the shoulder in narrow two-lane roads to let others pass. Pretty much without exception.

The Swiss don’t count, they’re so eerily polite I’m sure they’re secretly plotting something, possibly involving chocolate. But yea, those countries together with the nordic ones are pretty nice to drive in general… although I’ve seen the same thing on the autobahn, seems like there’s always some asshole in a Ferrari who doesn’t want to be passed by a 5-door family car.

Trucks with higher vantage points would indicate to you when it’s safe to pass by signaling with their blinkers (this behavior is not known in the US, so far as I know.) Also, if you’re in the left lane in a multi-lane road, the moment you come up on somebody’s tail, they will switch lanes to let you pass. More often, however, they’re not in the left lane to begin with if they don’t have to be. At least that has been my experience.

Truckers rock. I try to make all long drives at night… less cars, more trucks. They’re professionals, so smooth traffic is in their best interest. Oh… the light communication thing, it’s actually a part of driver’s education (or was when I learned to drive); drive close to the middle line and flash your lights quickly to indicate you’re looking to pass. And the car in front either stays where he is (and possibly uses the left blinker), or moves to the right and lets you know if it’s safe to pass by using the right blinker. And to be polite, you can use your blinkers R-L-R to to thank him when you re-enter the lane.

I was fascinated by the order of the road in those particular countries. There are parts of the US where I’ve seen some of this behavior, usually in the rural parts of the northern Midwest.

Wouldn’t know about that, the only driving I did in the US was up and down I-95, not much different than driving on any European highway. Admittedly I was driving crappy rentals, and I just couldn’t pedal hard enough to actually pass anyone.

[Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party]

This happens in every country. Anybody who’s had the misfortune of driving into Edinburgh through the Biggar road (something I used to do regularly) will know this. Basically, a winding country road with hidden dips making it impossible to overtake safely anywhere along its length, apart from two straight stretches. You get idiots in caravans and motor homes, or towing horse boxes, driving 10–15 mph under the speed limit forming a queue of 20 cars behind them. Then, finally when you get a chance to overtake, they either speed up, or your attempt is thwarted by an idiot three cars back attempting a mass overtake. There’s supposedly a law against this queuing, and they’re supposed to pull over to let people past, but it’s unenforceable. It pisses me off so much that I’ve started taking the train instead of driving down that road.

[Mavis_Topholese]

@Sailboat

@Mavis_Topholese

On long trips it’s maddening - you can slow down but they won’t pass. You speed up and they’re right there behind you. You start to think about all the movies about crazy interstate motor-stalkers.

I don’t think these drivers are thinking about it at all, they’re just on autopilot, following my car’s convenient taillights.

My dad once pulled over into a cow pasture when being followed relentlessly in this way. The car behind us pulled over too – then the driver looked around, startled, looked back at us, and pulled out and drove away. Talk about being on autopilot!

I’ll have to try that next time! Boy, it’s satisfying to hear that OTHER people experience this sort of thing. Of course, it’s also kind of alarming to consider all the drivers who are zoning out on the nation’s highways.

[figure9]

So I’m cruising along in my Mazda GLC (a small eco-box) and I get stuck behind a guy driving a nicely restored GTO (big ass muscle car). The guy is busy talking to his girlfriend and is doing all of 20 mph. So I passed him. Ever see someone throw a shit fit through your rear-view mirror?
My friend’s dad is pulling a hay-wagon with his tractor on a busy 2-lane highway. He pulls off onto the shoulder and sees a car go flying across the ditch and into a corn field. Guy chose the wrong time to use the shoulder as a passing lane.

[pulykamell]

@GHO57

Oh… the light communication thing, it’s actually a part of driver’s education (or was when I learned to drive); drive close to the middle line and flash your lights quickly to indicate you’re looking to pass.

I really liked the light communication in Europe. There’s a bit of that with truckers here, but I don’t think the average driver knows the signals. And flashing to indicate to pass is generally regarded as an open act of aggression/hostility by most motorists in the US, in my experience.

[Ludovic]

I can say “me too” to nearly all the posts in this thread, and I can add one of my own. I went out West for the first time a week ago and experienced this phenomenon more than 10 times in my journey:

The only vehicles nearby on the road are myself, and a truck which is in the right hand lane, behind a slower vehicle. I start to pass the two of them, and at the last second, the truck pulls out to block me, forcing me to apply my brakes. I can understand merely blocking someone you are going 10 mph slower than: after all, while definitely a jerk-ass move, it could affect your pay and job, being able to get the shipment in a minute or so earlier.

But to block them at the last possible moment when there’s no one else on the road? Just a power trip. Or an inattention so large that you’re unsafe behind an 18 wheeler. At any rate, you’re costing me real money in terms of unneeded acceleration and braking. Hope you enjoy your lot lizards, and I hope your wife enjoys the mailman.

@RedWood

@Mavis_Topholese

What always happens to me is, I’ll be tooling along at a good clip on the interstate and I notice somebody coming up in my rear view mirror. So I figure I’ll move into the right lane and let them pass. I change into the right lane, but do they pass? Nope, they get into the right lane too, so that they can shine their lights in my rear view mirror for the next hundred miles.

.

I just keep slowing down, eventually they do pass me.

I keep slowing down, and then speed up to my desired speed once they move over to pass me. I only do this for tailgaters who do not pass me when given a chance.

For tailgaters who tailgate me in the left hand lane and then refuse to pass when I move over, I wait until they are tailgating someone else, then ride their ass until they move over, then I pull past them and slow down to my original speed.