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Comments
Years ago I was on an expressway, (big 3/4 lane arterial run by the county) with a Isusu diesel covered truck slightly ahead and on the right lane of me. There was a cardboard political sign in his lane and I think as he went over it it caught the winds just right and it launched and found its way to cover the entire windshield on an SUV!!! (to where I could not see out at all but just under the windshield wipers) WHAT ARE THE ODDS ON THIS? Luckily the drivers behind saw my plight and motioned and gave me the horn to pull over. I had to physically remove the sign from the windshield. !!! This was about the weirdest set of odds I have seen.
I gotta say, it was a tough match, but in the end my WRX triumphed over the plucky little hybrid
The whole spectacle actually unfolded in my rear/side-view mirrors. The guy was going to pass by that point, but he lost speed and ultimately exited after a few minutes of the embarrassment. Dunno if he was approaching his destination or just had to go deal with it.
I thought of a third analogy to go with "party streamer" and "bridal veil": toilet paper stuck to your shoe. Hahaha...
Most annoying are the ones who wont get out of the left lane when i come barreling up behind them, and even worse, then they speed up and try to block me from passing them on the right since they wont move over. I always get the jump on em though, and before they can block me in I've picked up enough speed and shoot around them.
I can picture you on 101 with the prius following. I was laughing when I read your post as it reminded me that "there is justice in the universe".
The prius got his reward, and you got a good laugh.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
All that speeding and weaving and he still was behind me :shades:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Somehow, more often than not, stop lights moderate even the speediest of "Gonzolas."
It was just shy of midnight, maybe 2345, and ahead of me are a business-owned cargo van in the left lane and a red sedan in the right. The cargo van is about 50 feet ahead of the sedan, and both are traveling about the same speed. I was in the left lane, having just made a left turn onto this road. I sped up to my normal 59-60 speed in a 55 SL zone. Eventually, I caught up to the van, so I matched speed (it was going right at 55) 2-3 seconds back, thought about eeking through the 50' gap, but decided against it and just hung out there. A few moments later, the van starts to slow down - almost imperceptibly, but steadily. Another 1/2 mile and we are down to about 40 from the original 55. At first the sedan was pacing the van, but eventually I think the driver realized they were slowing down and so he sped up and went along his way. Thinking the van driver would make his way to the right lane, I just hung out for another 1/8 mile - biding my time.
No, no move, blinker, etc., by the van driver, so I finally took the right lane, passed, then went back into the left lane to pass the sedan. The moment had I passed the van on the right, the driver moved over into the right lane (sans blinker, of course). Ah! Wonderful. Well, at least the driver had a jolly time playing puppet master with the other drivers on the road. :sick:
I think half the time they are just so stupid that passing them on the right and then getting in front of them is like making them realize 'hmm, maybe i really do need to be in the right lane if im going this slow'; like waking them up.
I drive somewhat fast, (compared to everyone else) at about 80mph and im having to constantly pass on the right for people who dont know the left lane is primarily a passing lane.
Speaking of following distance, I was on this same stretch of road last night and was initially in the left lane because I and it were both traveling faster than traffic in the right lane. The light at Danby was red, so there was a long line of backed up traffic in the right lane there, but very little in the left. So, as the traffic starts to go, both myself and a pickup ahead of me were traveling at about 40 as we started passing the line of cars in the right lane. Lo and behold, one of the vehicles stopped in the left lane never made it above 40 as it continued on down the road. The right lane was going a little faster once traffic flow resumed. Why this rig two vehicles ahead of me would not go faster, I have no idea. But, I wanted to take the College Rd off ramp that was coming up, so I needed to get over. I put on my blinker, hung out for about 8 "clicks" of the light (longer than my normal delay), and then moved into a narrowing gap between the cars in front and behind me. Once there, the driver of the Honda Pilot behind me decided that I had, apparently, taken "her" space. She drove her Pilot about 6 feet off my rear bumper. I eased my speed a bit to put 2 seconds between me and the car ahead, so she pulled even closer - so close that I could not see the top of her windshield any longer. There she stayed until about 40 feet prior to the exit ramp (where me and nearly EVERY vehicle ahead were turning off!), then abruptly pulled into the left lane and huffed off down the road.
:confuse: Considering that she lost probably 2 minutes on her commute with that stunt, it must have made her feel really powerful! :P
The above paragraph accurately describes "Agressive Driving" conducted by one who has never played well with others & is independent of the team spirit in most situations.
80 mph would require constant lane changing in a vehicle equipped with a fuzz buster & keen vision for other wild animals of the four legged variety.
Now there's nothing wrong with Buicks... I have two of them!
As for the other comment about people not moving over into an empty right lane when you come up on them, there may be the factor that you are close to them and distracting them. Although you may not feel close, you are in their perceived area and when you are 'gone' they don't have to be as careful and more easily move to the right lane.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I don't really consider it aggressive when one is forced to pass on the right because other drivers refuse to obey law and common courtesy by yielding the left lane. Not only that, but I was surprised to learn in discussion here a few months ago that passing on the right is perfectly legal, at least in California and New York. I had long thought otherwise.
Passing on the left is part of "correct traffic flow," since traffic is supposed to be stratified by speed from right to left. The fact that passing on the right is legal indicates that the law recognizes the need to operate outside the "correct flow" when the system malfunctions, i.e., people do not yield properly.
Of course, it's possible to be dangerous and aggressive when passing on the right OR the left.
And 80 is not necessarily unusually fast, depending on the SL. It's quite typical for traffic to flow at 80 in 65 zones here. And conversely, I can think of some two-lane highways where 80 might be a bit reckless.
I'm close to Fairbanks and I believe xwesx is in fairbanks. Small world!
But, going back to "aggressive" driving, there is a difference between driving fast (better to term that "spirited" driving) and/or passing on the right, and driving aggressively (tailgating, weaving, blah blah). The line is crossed when a driver's intent is to directly influence the behavior of other drivers on the road - usually for the benefit of said driver. Occupying another driver's "safety bubble" is certainly aggressive. Maintaining an acceptable following distance and then passing on the right if necessary is not aggressive, it is taking advantage of "plan B."
Now, some drivers will react negatively even when another driver maintains a reasonable following distance and there is nothing to be done for that except pass when able. That sort of driver is called passive-aggressive.
Interesting to note that while I learned that the "2-second, increase for inclement conditions, rule" was the accepted standard (Oregon driving manual), I was surprised to read from the Alaska manual that 4 seconds is the recommended interval. I guess that follows the dictum, "better safe than sorry." Or, maybe the committee that drafted the manual realized that there are very few conditions Alaska drivers consider "inclement," so they better build the standard following distance to account for it! :P
Passing on the right has to be legal (unless you leave the marked lanes). Think of this, you are on a surface street with two lanes going in each direction. Suppose you are in the right lane and just a head of you in the left lane is someone slowing down to make a left turn, do you slow down with them until they make that left turn or do you just pass them?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Sorry, should have been specific, I was thinking of passing on the right in a multi-lane highway situation where left turns are not a factor. This was one of the cases spelled out in the law illustrations I saw.
Very nicely explained...
Ok suppose you are in the right lane of this multi lane highway and just a head of you in the left lane is someone slowing down to take a exit on the left side, do you slow down or just pass them? Suppose it was an entrance on the left side, do you slow down not to pass or pass them?
Suppose you are in one of the right lanes in gridlock on a morning commute and your lane starts to move, do you just sit there until the lane to your left moves?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Sure! Do you not? I mean, everybody loves gridlock! Why move?! :P
Suppose you are in one of the right lanes in gridlock on a morning commute and your lane starts to move, do you just sit there until the lane to your left moves?
I'm not sure what you're getting at. I have always passed on the right when necessary and/or it made sense to do so. For some reason, I was under the impression that it was illegal on multi-lane highways (generally not having left-side exits) with flowing traffic.
The only thing that changed is I learned that it's legal.
And my whole reason for bringing it up was to point out that it's perfectly reasonable to go around somebody on the right, in a safe/courteous manner, if (s)he is declining to yield the left lane.
Yes, I would agree. It makes not much sense to follow someone in the #1 or passing lane who is not passing. LLCer's usually give VERY clear signals. One car doing it is bad enough. Tailgating a LLCer is not only VERY VERY dangerous, but actually slows the speed down even further. Even with a severe mismatch in acceleration potential and ideal conditions, passing another car takes app 12 seconds. So all you need do is the math for the whole line bunch in front of you!!
Of course, good driving practice on free-flowing highways (without left turns, left exits, or cross traffic) means you should keep right except to pass. This is also the law in many states.
I (almost) always cruise in the far right lane, particularly in light to medium traffic, on 2-3 lane interstates. Driving at the 85th percentile (8-9 over the posted limit), I find that I only need to change lanes to pass truckers. Most people are driving in the left and center lanes and I just cruise on by on the right.
On rare occasion, I have had people move from the center lane to the right lane as I approached from behind. I guess that they are not comfortable being passed on the right. Or they recognize that they are violating the "keep right" rule. In any case, I then have to change lanes to pass, which is okay too.
I will say that when passing on the right, I always keep a close eye on the other vehicle and my thumb on the horn, even though I have never had anyone attempt to change lanes into me as I was passing on the right. I certainly HAVE had people start to change into my lane when passing on the left!
james
And he comes onto the road... and then just keeps coming over into the left lane right on top of me. Ihave toget off the gas, can't step on the brakes safely because traffic is right behind me. I get on the horn and he STILL keeps coming and I HAVE to brake or drive into the concrete barrier at 65 MPH. This causes a nice commotion behind me. Fortunately, everyone escaped.
I'd seriously considering making the next guy in a similar situation slow up and wait his turn to get on. being considerate didn't help me much!! :mad:
Funny thing happened the other day. I was driving and a car comes up next to me merging into 1 lane-now I have the right of way and he has a yield to sign and this guy, he looks over his shoulder and sees me coming (so i figure ok good he sees me i have no problem now) but to my amazement drives on like he has the right of way!
I kept going, i layed on the horn and were practically side by side now on whats supposed to be 1 lane he looked back again like i was the idiot because i held my ground and basically forced him onto the shoulder and then I threw my hands up in the mirrow like 'what are you thinking?' and shook my head.
I was headed a slightly different route than normal coming into town this morning. As a group of about, say, 12 or so cars was waiting at a light (two lane single direction), a huge flatbed tractor/trailer heavily loaded with building supplies made a right turn onto the road. As it had such a long trailer, it ended up turning directly into the left-hand lane and stayed there. When the light turned green, two of the three vehicles in the left lane managed to squeeze into the right lane and pass this truck, but the third, a older pickup, did not. I was about 4 cars back in the right lane, and this fella puts on his blinker to signal his desire to switch lanes. Of course, the vehicles in front of me bunch up a bit to ward him off.
As this tractor was gaining speed dismally slow and there were around a dozen cars behind me at this point, I took pity on him and opened up a decent gap in front of me. When the gap came, he started to take it, backed off for a moment for some reason, then actually made eye contact with me for a moment. I waved him over with a smile and he jumped on the opportunity.
Funny enough, most of the traffic ahead of me (including this driver), made it through the upcoming light that turned red. I ended up "first" in the right lane... and guess what pulled up on the left? That tractor-trailer! Funny, but it would not have mattered whether I let that pickup in or not. The vehicle that was originally in front of me (then him), in my opinion, ran the red light (turned red just as it entered the intersection) and I was just not in that much of a hurry.
It was refreshing to see the "natural order" restored, where cars travel faster than tractor-trailers, even while we maintained the speed limit. This was like the pre-55 mph days, when cars routinely passed trucks and not the other way around. It was so pleasant NOT to have truckers running up on your bumper before reluctantly moving over to pass.
But one rogue trucker intruded on this blissful scene on westbound I-40 in central Arizona. I had passed one tractor-trailer and was still in the left lane gaining on a second one, when literally out of the blue, this rogue driving a bright red tractor began to loom in my rear view mirror.
Well, 75 mph is fast enough for me, thank you very much, so I still had time to duck into the right lane behind the truck I was originally going to pass. The rogue whooshed by at maybe 90 mph and was soon gone.
In a manner of speaking it was good this trucker COULD go 90 mph. The thing that frustrates me on those very same roads: a fully loaded tractor trailer going 75 mph is being "passed" in the left lane by a fully loaded tractor trailer going 75.5 mpg. GEEZZZ, if you are behind in that scenario it is more fun to watch paint dry.
There were a couple of times when we encountered one truck passing another, and had to wait. It's interesting also that especially in the evening, trucks seem to outnumber cars on the interstates, at least at this time of year. Nice to see though that lots of freight trains are also operating, helping to share the load.
We used the interstates only where necessary, i.e., no alternatives, because we've found the best way to see the "real" America is on the back roads. Route 66 was a real hoot, a trip back in time for sure.
But there were some very disturbing things: the glaring contrast between the wealth, excess, and glitter of Las Vegas versus the grinding poverty and abandonment evident in the Navajo Nation as well as the smaller towns in Arizona now bypassed by I-40 (including "standing on a corner" Winslow, Arizona). Even some parts of Vegas looked pretty seedy. Also, the amount of litter we saw in some rest areas was appalling as was the extent of new development going on between Kingman, AZ and Vegas, with obviously no abundant sources of fresh water.
Who knows, I could have been someone as dumb as him and then they both would have just driven right into eachother!
The tanker driver said he could go 90 in TX, but to watch your speed in Georgia.
Interesting that he was hauling concentrated Orange juice from Florida to California and on the flip flop hauling concentrated soft drinks to FL from CA.
The above happened in June 1995. The lucky guy is still at it?
Sure, that would be nice, but realistically the roads here are not good enough to warrant that high of a speed limit. The only road that is sometimes good enough for that is the Glenn Highway between Wasilla and Anchorage.
It is not that some vehicles/drivers are not able to safely take the roads at those speeds, it is that not all/most vehicles can safely do so. And, regardless of what anyone thinks, driving the balance of the Parks Highway at 80 mph is not a safe speed - there are points along the highway where it is, but most of it is not. This is a 2-lane road with frequent turning traffic and limited sight distances - not a good place to set a 75 mph SL. Even 65 is excess at times, at that is the SL now...
Where else might the SL be upped? Ah, the Richardson between Fairbanks and Eielson AFB! Sure, that could go up to 65. Silly that is it set at 55 as it is a fairly good "freeway" style road without limited sight distance. The problem with that road is the uncontrolled intersections. Oh, and the heavy fog it experiences in the winter months. Again, set the SL at 75 and the road would be full of incompetents driving 80, feeling on top of the world, with only 100ft visibility, and plowing into drivers going an appropriate 30-40 mph (or less) in those conditions.
If drivers want to go 80, go for it. But setting a SL that high is asking for excess problems. Let those who want to go 80 on Alaska's narrow, poorly maintained, and frost-heaved roads take the risk upon themselves.
You have to be determined and a real detective to locate some of the abandoned sections, many of which are undriveable (bridges gone, etc.).
Nevada allows 70 mph on 2-lane roads, but these are in tabletop smooth condition, fog is not a problem in the desert, sight distances are huge (I measured one 21-mile straightaway on US 6), and the state is virtually empty of traffic once you get away from Las Vegas and the Reno area.
No big deal, he had enough room as I left a safe cushion between me and the car in front, although I wasn't exactly dawdling. However, another car tries to pull the same manouever, but there's not enough room as the right lane is just about ending and the first car is occupying the gap that was in front of me.
This time it wasn't in me to back off and let this bozo in, so I squeezed him out and he had to get back behind me. Of course the dodo high beams me for not yielding to his aggressive, dangerous stunt, but what else would you expect :confuse:
But I'm really seeing the same depth of incidents and I think I'm in "on guard" mode constantly on the road now regardless of what I'm driving!
It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world!
Yep from the Loop to LA. I drive down parts of it often. On nice days when I just want to lose myself I sometimes drive south on it until it meets up again with I-55.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
It might help though since I am no longer driving from west Wichita to east Wichita to work!
The pickup in the right lane, however, did not have to stop since the light turned green as it approached. The light turns green, we all go, the Chevy in the right lane passes. I stuck to the left lane figuring that the truck ahead would end up passing the truck in the right lane, all things being equal. No, the truck in the left lane accelerates to 30, then hangs out there! I waited, then decided to just go around since there was a sizable gap (~15 car lengths) between this truck and the one in the right lane. I was making no effort to do this passing quickly, mind you, but after I signaled and changed to the right lane, I did accelerate to ~42. What do you know? The truck in the left lane paces me! Now, at this point, we are both going faster than the pickup in the right lane (which was going ~35) and are approaching the truck rather quickly.
Not wanting to play games with the truck in the left lane, I just dropped a gear, punched it to about 50 (making my wife nervous in the process!), and then signaled and changed into the left lane in front of the other pickup. Once I had passed the pickup in the right lane, I moved back to the right lane, settled in at my normal 43-44, and ended up slowly but steadily pulling away from both pickups.
:confuse:
Anything for a little excitement, I suppose. :sick:
When you are driving yourself your mind is occupied about other traffic, the idiot ahead of you driving on the lines, other traffic around you, are you going to make the green light 2 lights ahead etc.....The passengers dont have to worry about any of that so they worry about your driving
Actually, now that I think about it, she drives it MORE than I! :mad: Now I'm jealous. :P
On the other side, though, I found out a few months ago just how little attention passengers can pay to what is happening beyond the confines of the car. After all, they are the passenger so they are not required to do so, but for me having a "feel" for the surroundings gives me a greater sense of confidence in the driver's actions as I can "see" why the driver is piloting the car in whatever manner.
Think about when you, as a passenger, are sleeping in a car. Those points of just going to sleep or just waking up are the worst! You have your eyes closed, but are not asleep. Everything is quiet, speed feels constant, and suddenly the engine revs, or the car shifts direction, or brakes. Even if it is not "jerky," your impulse is to LOOK! So much for that restful sleep!