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As far as people who don't maintain their cars, what about people who don't clean snow, and particularly ice, off their cars, and then get on the highway, with the ice shaking loose from their cars and possibly going through somebody's windshield. I have seen this and it's not only inconsiderate, but extremely dangerous.
I only find myself being tailgated on 40mph and slower posted roads, the slower, the more often. I try to maintain the limit in 25 and slower zones, had to avoid a little tyke once.
Most blatant case recently, I was cruising 30 in a 25, coasting slightly downhill. Some suicidal maniac was dusting my bumper, then flew around me, on a curve, on a section where parking was allowed on both sides. I caught him at a red light, and called the police and forwarded his info to them. I haven't seen that car since, and this is on my daily commuting route.
Years ago, had a fellow tailgate me at 10 under limit on PA turnpike, then followed me off at the Denver/Ephrata/Reading exit, still 'gating me onto Rt 222, until my exit, where he had to cross the gravely part between the exit lane and main travel lanes...this when he realized I was exiting and he didn't want to. This car had originally been doing well over, and then just sat behind me once he came up to my bumper.
Sad to say but that sounds like normal behavior. Most drivers I know would get at least frustrated at 10 under. And that second case sounds rude but not exactly suicidal-maniac-style to me. Different roads from the ones around here probably.
As for poorly maintained cars, the most frustrating one I ever drove behind (on a rush hour freeway with rapidly varying traffic speeds) was a car with no brake lights. That was an interesting challenge.
I was driving 10 under hoping the smart guy would get the hint, and so that if they did hit me, I would be going slower. My wife is of the mentality to speed up when someone tailgates her. I say why do that? They will just hit harder at 80 than 55. I will always resume a higher speed once the 'gater backs off.
As for inoperable taillights..... that is tough, perhaps maybe slow down or pull over(depends on your situation or location) to let them get far enough ahead of you.
I have most of my experience with fumagators(ya know, spraying for bugs with their tailpipe ) I definitely let them get far away, or I go a different direction. Or try to get ahead of them, if possible.
How do they manage to pass inspection and emissions???
I would never speed up, because IMO that's just reinforcing their bad behavior, and rewarding it. When you speed up it tells the tailgater that riding somebody's bumper works. Now I will add this disclaimer: I DON'T left lane camp, as to me that's one of the mortal sins of driving! And I'm usually driving at or above the speed limit, as conditions allow, so as far as I'm concerned, there should never be a need to tailgate me.
If they get up too close on me and stay there, I'll usually roll down my window and make a hand motion for them to back off. And no, that motion doesn't involve my middle finger! ;-)
>I would never speed up, because IMO that's just reinforcing their bad behavior, and rewarding it.
Right on. Especially since you're already going at or above the speed limit. That's the usual case with my driving on the local interstates. I begin looking for the opportunity to easily merge over to allow the tailgater to go on their merry way.
> too close on me and stay there, I'll usually roll down my window and make a hand motion
I don't acknowledge their aggression. That too encourages their behavior just the same as a playground bully likes any reaction from their victim. I believe it's dangerous to interact in anyway with all the crazies around with guns.
When I'm on the highway, or other roads with 2 lanes of travel in the same direction...I will let off the gas and coast down as slow as is needed to force them around. I have done this only once or twice. Most of them get the hint long before that. Most of them will back off once I get to 10 under... then I resume normal travel.
A lot of them go around, then tailgate the next one on down the line. Bunch of yo-yos.
I usually drop a mile off the cruise control and get closer to the speed limit. Then another one after .5 mile or so. If they are truly wanting to get somewhere in a hurry, they pass in one of the two other lanes, or back off so I can look for a place to merge into the middle lane.
The aggressive ones stay right on your bumper to "show you" that they have their rights. I've had them keep tailing me right down to 65, the speed limit. I'm usually going 72 when in the 3rd lane unless traffic is blocking all three lanes because it's heavy. If all 3 lanes are heavy it's hard to find somewhere to get out of their way. It's easier for them to go around and take a chance on getting hit changing lanes to the right lane. Amazing how many jump right back to the 3rd lane to tailgate someone 150 feet ahead of me.
I once3 had anOldsw 442. It would out accelerate almost anything on the road. I got in the midle lane and matched a left lane camper side by side3. I wouldn't let him off at his intended exit. I finally let him off on the airport exit. A 40 mile one way trip..
Ha ha ha, you just made my day!!! I remember a time, about 13 years ago, my dad stopped in the R lane of an 8 lane boulevard. A car had pulled out of a parking lot, far enough to block the lane. Car was some underwhelming Bui/olds and we were in a full size Dodge van. It only took 5 minutes for the lady to get the picture and backup into the lot. She couldn't see around the van. Her only options were pull out farther and have her nose clipped off, or backup. She wasn't as dumb as she was acting, I guess.
I used to commute on a motorcycle. One morning a car deliberately moved into my lane and cut me off, almost pushing me up on the curb. I stopped just in time. I got up next to his front window and flipped him off about 3 inches from his face. He pointed to the side of the road and stopped. I stopped behind him.
He came running back telling me that motorcycles don't belong on the road. He was smoking a cigarette. I grabbed his cigarette with my leather gauntlet and crunched it out. He said, "Take off your helmet." I grabbed the back of his head and butted him with the top of my helmet.
He went down like a sack of cement. I got on my motorcycle and left.
you get to see into the minds of these inconsiderate drivers, and what you see can be really disturbing! I got to spend most of the day yesterday hanging out in the emergency room. One of my housemates started having serious chest pains, so I drove him to the emergency room. It was just majorly bad acid reflux, but he's had heart conditions in the past, so we take any chest pain seriously. Anyway, we were in there for like 8 hours.
At one point, this 16 year old girl and her mother were sitting beside us. The mother worked at the hospital, and I think the girl did too. Either that, or she hung out there alot because she seemed to know every employee there.
Anyway, the girl was there because she had back pains. She was saying that she was in a car accident, a head on collision. And naturally it was the other person's fault. She'd tell this story to everyone she ran into.
Finally though, I heard more details. Turns out it wasn't a head on collision, it was a rear-end collision. I still didn't hear the whole story, but I did hear "There was too much traffic", "The other car waited too long to stop" and "I hit the other car...twice!"
So it sounds to me like this kid wanted to blast through a light that was about to turn red, tailgating another car. That other car's driver changed their mind at the last second, nailed the brakes, and then this kid whacked her. I don't understand the twice part though! Unless someone else then hit the kid, and knocked her into the car again! Or maybe she was just so hell-bent on getting to where she was going that she never hit the brakes, so when she hit the car the first time, she knocked it forward, but then ran into it again?!
But I just love the part about "It was the other person's fault"! I tried to be quiet, but at that point I started snickering a bit, and this older gentleman next to me, did, as well! And the girl's mother even tried to explain to her that when you rear end somebody, it's almost ALWAYS your fault, and that she should have left enough space between her and the other car. But this girl just didn't want to hear it!
We got to see a few other things of interest in the emergency room at the hospital, but as far as I know, that was the only one that was auto related. This old guy came in with a dislocated middle finger. It looked like it must've been bent about 45 degrees at the joint! Looked really painful, but the guy seemed in good spirits and pretty jolly. Also got to see an old lady come in with a bloody nose. That one really bothered me. Now the sight of blood doesn't really bother me, for the most part, but I really hate to see it on an elderly person. A younger guy also came in with a bloody nose, or actually, a deep cut about where his nose joined his face. Didn't look like a fight, but I'm guessing some kind of on-the-job injury. He was there with some other guys, and they were wearing uniforms, so I'm guessing a piece of equipment, debris, or something else got him. Also got to see a woman come in with a cop, in handcuffs. Now she got instant service! As soon as she came in, the cop took her back into Intensive care, and she was out in like 20 minutes. I told my housemate that maybe he should go do something to get himself arrested, and maybe the hospital would get to him quicker!
I also discovered that there is a Toyota model that has the same wheel bolt pattern as a Ford Crown Vic. At least, I saw a Crown Vic taxi pull up at the entrance, and in the center of the wheels, there was the "T" logo that is made up of two skinny ovals.
I was hit by a lady driver with kids in her car not paying attention. I was turning left into a car dealer to shop for a new car. It was a 35 mph zone. She hit me, knocked my car forward. Because she wasn't trying to stop and hadn't locked her brakes up, she hit me again.
A car salesman was standing looking out the window, so he made the perfect witness. He said she was looking over toward the dealership instead of the traffic. Luckily none of the kids were hurt. I should have sued to neck injuries. It broke the seatback on my Mustang. Totalled the car for the insurance company.
I just don't get people who take chances while driving in snow. This morning Michigan was blanketed in snow and the roads had 1 or 2 inches of snow and ice on them. I was travelling down a pretty busy road, two lanes in each direction with a turn lane in the middle. I was in the left-most lane. A guy in a van coming out of a parking lot on my right decides to make a left turn across both my lanes. However, there was oncoming traffic, so he couldn't pull into the other lanes. So the guy basically pulls out in front of me and another car (in the right-most lane) and stops dead, blocking my lane and partially blocking the other lane. Me and the other car both had to lock up our brakes. Luckily we weren't travelling fast, but I still came within two feet of t-boning the idiot. Guess he didn't want to wait 30 seconds for the traffic to clear.
These days I rarely get upset with other drivers, except on a certain 4-lane highway where the speed limit is 70mph (not many exits and no intersections). Traffic is usually very light, maybe a couple of cars.
With cruise control set to about 5-10 miles an hour over the limit, eventually I'll come up on a slower moving car. For some reason at least once every time I drive this route, these people just refuse to be overtaken. Now, I don't mind if they increase their speed to follow behind me at a respectable distance (I like to do the same sometimes), but these people either:
1- match my speed and hold right in my blind spot, like a "wing man." Not beside me where I can see them, I can only see their front bumper. If I slow down, they do the same; If I speed up, same again, holding this formation (even to 5-10mph under OR 10-15 over). Infuriating! These are the only times I REALLY speed; I get so mad I finally drop the hammer and hold 100mph until they are dropped. But I've actually had some speed up to catch me and start the process over. Obviously I was going faster to begin with or I would never have come across them!!! C'mon.
2- They just have to pass me back, and then they slow down again (of course).
Oh yea, I like when people tailgate and/or honk, flash lights, or motion with their hands when traffic is really heavyu. I can't merge over because both lanes are full, and that wouldn't help them anyways because there's 10 cars ahead of me. Do they think all of the cars in both lanes are just going to dance and revolve around them until they are at the front of the line?
We recently had a crazy snow storm (actually, more like those tiny ice pellets that feel like granulated sugar) on January 2nd, and my girlfriend and I had tickets to see a concert. The drive wasn't too long, but everyone (with common sense) was driving in slow motion to take into account the conditions.
I was driving behind a minivan, with another sedan behind me, forming a little convoy to cut through the unplowed highway (divided with two lanes in each direction). There were really no "lanes" though, only tire tracks revealing the blacktop underneath the snow.
So we're travelling at 80 km/h (pretty good given the conditions) and some fruitcake decides to blast ahead on the unplowed "fast" lane at 100+ km/h (not sure of exact speed, but it was plenty quick). So there he/she goes out of sight.
Minutes later, we see the same car (truck, actually), stuck behind other traffic as vehicle density increases. I make a quick exit and head to the concert venue. I dunno if it was a case of AWD-to-the-brain or something, but driving that fast isn't smart at all.
Another incident was really puzzling to me. It happened during a bout of freezing rain. I was in the right lane, and wanted to make a right turn. The street is marked at 70 km/h, and I'm doing around 65 km/h with another car right on my tail.
I signal around 200 meters before the intersection (I got some *good* signal usage there... ) and proceded to slow down and make my turn. About halfway through the turn, the guy behind me starts honking like no tomorrow, swerves around me and speeds off.
I was kinda miffed (I didn't expect it) and that leads me to wonder what goes through these people's heads!
And that's not all...when you hit your exit, there they are. Only 2 cars ahead of you, even tho they passed you all those miles back."
I have found alot of this is because other drivers have a subconscious tendency to want to slow down drivers moving considerably faster than the speed limit or the flow of traffic. The idea being, you block them in to 'teach them a lesson', etc..., and then when you reach the light and they're only two cars ahead you can say 'see what all that foolishness got him?!?!'
At least when it comes to highways, I don't think we would have anywhere near the number of tailgating issues we currently do if American drivers did not have this irritating tendency to completely defeat the purpose of the multi-lane highway by traveling for extended periods of time next to other cars at times when traffic patterns don't absolutely make it necessary to do so. As I said before, it't not just that I am tailgated infrequently. IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS to me.
" to completely defeat the purpose of the multi-lane highway "
Is the purpose of the multilane highway to enable the 2% of extreme speeders to get to the exit ramp 5 cars ahead of someone of is the purpose of the multilane highway to enable the maximum number of cars to travel past one point per unit of time?
The latter is the obvious answer and for that to happen cars need to use all lanes in an efficient manner. You believe that efficient manner is to not use the left-most lane except to pass. Others believe it's to use all lanes and courteously move to the right to allow those who wish to travel still faster than 7 over the limit to move on past expediciously.
When traffic is lighter than the design maximum for that stretch of road then perhaps use of only 1 lane by most cars or the 2 rightmost lanes by cars and leaving one unused except for those moving above the 85%ile, may be justified. But in most areas of interstate I drive at the time I drive them, the traffic loads are high or inclulde a high percentage of trucks. Efficient useage means everyone uses the lanes.
I was on a lovely 4 lane divided highway with a grassy median this morning. Weather was a light drizzle, traffic was light like it usually is on this road at this time. This is my regular commute so I'm very familiar with this stretch of road. It's not exciting, it's just a stretch of highway from A to B.
After I merge and get up to speed, I come up on a clump of cars covering both lanes and travelling exactly the same speed. This is because a woman in a PT Cruiser in the left lane was holding formation with the car beside her.
Behind her is a Lincoln Towncar, behind the Lincoln is a Ford Focus and behind the Ford is me. We're all riding pretty tight waiting for the PT Cruiser to make some sort of move.
I guess (based on her later behavior) that she was trying to "teach the Lincoln a lesson" because when he gave up on her and moved right, she sped up by about 10mph and finally passed the car beside her. Now the right lane clears for a few hundred yards but nobody gets in the right lane... so I do. I move right and pass the Ford but slower traffic is incoming and I merge left behind the PT Cruiser.
Now she's really moving (15mph or so faster than when she was driving in formation) so we both pass the slower car on the right pretty quickly.
I move right again and pass her. This is where it gets bizarre. She makes a hard lane change behind me and turns on her high beams!?
Unsatisfied with only that 'punishment', she follows me off at my exit and starts laying on the horn as I wait at the stop sign.
Finally, we both stop at a traffic light (her in the left turn lane, me two lanes over on the right), and she gives me the finger. A caucasian(sp?), middle aged, slightly overweight, woman in a PT Cruiser is flipping me off and cursing at me. Then, she starts making the 'slow down' motion with her hands... I guess because anyone driving faster than her is 'dangerous'.
Keep in mind that I didn't cut her off, flip her off, honk my horn or antogonize her in any way. I WAS close behind her for a hundred yards or so, but quickly moved out from there as soon as possible and continued on my way.
"middle aged, slightly overweight, woman in a PT Cruiser is flipping me off and cursing at me. Then, she starts making the 'slow down' motion with her hands"
Is this an example of a sociopath? or was she just an idiot.
It sounds like traffic was light and all she had to do was to ease up and get out of the way of the Lincoln. Take the plate number and notify the police; she'll probably do it again. Maybe when they get a repeat call they'll check on her.
in Philly when I tried to exit for Independence Hall. The lanes weren't clearly marked that two lanes exit off the Ben Franklin bridge (to New Jersey) and I merged right because I thought that was the only lane that exited. She gave a sign for idiot driver since I had to cut over in front of her. I ended up parking beside her in the underground parking garage. She just quickly started walking toward the pedestrian exit when she looked up and saw me pulling in next to her...
that's aggressive driving in the truest sense of the word. Purposely going after someone, trying to blind them with the high beams, annoy them with the horn, and literally chasing them down. Someday that woman will do that to the wrong person and gonna get blown away, run off the road, or taught a lesson in some other way.
And you wanna know the sad thing? When she does, she'll probably be recorded as a victim of road rage, instead of the instigator that she is!
"Is the purpose of the multilane highway to enable the 2% of extreme speeders to get to the exit ramp 5 cars ahead of someone of is the purpose of the multilane highway to enable the maximum number of cars to travel past one point per unit of time?"
The purpose is to allow different vehicles to travel at different speeds so that traffic does not become snarled. You want to do 50 mph, you have a lane. I want to do 75, I have a lane. Things move faster when a whole bunch of people who want to drive with purpose are not stuck behind Sunday drivers. This purpose becomes defeated when two cars travel side by side for extended periods of time, or one vehicle travels in another's blind spot, IN SITUATIONS WHERE TRAFFIC DOES NOT MAKE IT NECESSARY.
"The latter is the obvious answer and for that to happen cars need to use all lanes in an efficient manner."
Most drivers in this country have no clue what it means to use all lanes in an efficient manner. An efficient manner means there's a good reason why you are driving next to a car instead of behind it. You are passing it, or traffic is so heavy you have no choice but to be there. Most times when driving I see people make stupid, silly, pointless lane changes for no reason whatsoever.
The perfect example is when I merge onto I-95 in the morning, this never fails. The merging lane becomes a clear right lane that continues uninterrupte. And yet people avoid it like the plague. They could be doing 45 mph but will immediately jump one or two lanes over into 75 mph traffic anyway, causing themselves to be the victims of... you guessed it... TAILGATERS!
" You believe that efficient manner is to not use the left-most lane except to pass. Others believe it's to use all lanes and courteously move to the right to allow those who wish to travel still faster than 7 over the limit to move on past expediciously."
Either of those makes sense to me. Except the second one usually doesn't happen. When most people on American roads hit the left lane they either decide to stay there and let everybody else find a way around them so they don't have to change lanes as frequently, or else they get lost in their day dreams or their cell phone conversation and cause a rolling traffic jam. They seem to believe the most efficient manner to use lanes is to match speeds with the vehicle next to you for 15 miles straight with a clear lane in front of you, get angry and indignant when anybody behind you gets tired of waiting to pass, and then use a combination of break checks and sudden accelaration to keep them behind you to 'teach them a lesson.
Nobody has responded to my one main point though: I live and drive in a heavily travelled urban area, often in very heavy traffic at high speeds, and cannot remember the last time anybody tailgated me. It seems to happen very frequently to people on here. I know sometimes there's just that impatient jerk back there who's gonna be on you butt no matter what, but I still submit maybe you need to analyze your own driving style to see what you could be doing to prevent this.
I believe the generally accepted rule, as seen on many interstate signs, is to stay right EXCEPT to pass. How hard a concept is that for people to understand? Judging by my observations on the intetstate, apparently it is quite a difficult concept to grasp by many drivers. I think laziness and lack of attention are the chief reasons behind left lane bandits.
last nite I was on the DC Beltway, and there was a Suburban left lane camping at around 65 mph. Finally, there was a break in the traffic and he did get over, but then he took off! He was probably doing about 80 when I passed him.
And this is not a rare occurrence. How come people seem perfectly comfy camping in the left lane, holding up traffic, but then the second they move over, they wanna speed up 10-20 mph?! It's almost as if they're trying to be polite and selfish at the same time. Polite in at least getting over, but selfish in the fact that they still don't want anybody to pass them!
And a great deal of the time, there's somebody who wants to go faster on my tail, so my main focus is to get ahead of the vehicle that just moved over, so I can move over myself and let the faster traffic pass. And as an end result, I end up going faster than I had wanted to, and the people in the lane following me probably do, as well.
If you want to do 65 in the passing lane, but then move over, why not just stay at 65? And I didn't do anything to antagonize this guy either, like tailgating, flashing my lights, making rude gestures, or throwing or shooting anything at him ;-)
'Stay right except to pass' evolved into 'Cruise the left lane but be prepared to get over if anyone comes up behind you' to 'they can find a way around if they're in such a hurry' to 'he has no right to go faster than me anyway so #%@$ him.'
the people who cruise in the left lane as long as they're willing to move over and let the faster traffic pass. But when they're in the passing lane and every blessed car on the road is going faster than them, then I think it's time for a psychiatric evaluation!
One of my co-workers has a brother, cousin, brother-in-law, or something like that, who's a certified left lane camper. His attitude is that if he's doing the speed limit, he has the right to be where he is.
Why is it, of all the laws that are out there, the speed limit on a highway is the one that people seem to get a bug up their butt the most about, and feel that it's their civic duty to enforce?! They'll do 55 in the passing lane of a 55 mph interstate, but then at the same time they'll often to 45-50 zipping through a residential neighborhood, run stop signs, red lights, blast through parking lots, etc. But in that one instant, the least dangerous of all those things, that's the law they decide they want to enforce!
My opinion is that people just don't like being passed. For whatever reason, they get offended by someone passing them. I don't understand why.
I see it a lot where you have to pass someone on the right or they do get over and once you are past them, they speed up a good chunk.
Though it could be that you just woke them from their daze and now that they're fully aware of it, they speed up to the speed they'd like to be doing. I don't know.
Another one of my pet peeves is when you have someone that's afraid to be "on point". They want to speed but they don't want to be the guy in front. I guess that is ok by itself, but you'll get these ones that get too close. You think they're wanting to get by, so you get over. They slow down and get over behind you and still creep back and forth too close for comfort. If you speed up and take off, they'll follow.....doing the same exact thing. Annoying.
I have found a good way to drop off people like that is a technique I've dubbed "scraping a turd off" (like from your shoe if you've stepped in something). I speed up quite a bit away from the "creeper" and get over in the right lane well ahead and resume my regular speed. I find that they're too afraid of a ticket to keep pace and so you won't see them again in the mirror.
I'm not sure to which of my points you're saying "nope" so I assume it's all of it.
I have come to realize we see the road through different-colored glasses. My experiences typically are I75 and I70. Yours are I95 and I76? I recalled DC visits and Philly. The traffic at most times was much heavier than I experience in SW Ohio unless the Reds have a good game scheduled and then traffic is much heavier on all 3 lanes.
I view DC beltway traffic as Hades on Earth from trips to Williamsburg and vists to DC. Philly drivers were generally much more driving, courtesy oriented. You exhibit that from your self description. I'm used to drivers in this area who are much more likely to harbor the left lane.
We too have the lane jumpers who immediate go to the left or middle lane rather than finishing their speed merge in the rightmost lane.
How come people seem perfectly comfy camping in the left lane, holding up traffic, but then the second they move over, they wanna speed up 10-20 mph?
My theory on this is that some people get nervous when they are driving right next to another car at speed (i.e. when they're supposedly passing), and slow down. When they (eventually) pass the other car and pull into the right lane, there's no one next to them any more so they relax and speed up. Generally, when people have more room and visibility, they drive faster.
There's an excellent example where I live. There's a three lane divided highway where traffic generally moves about 50-55 MPH. But on one mile-long stretch it gains an extra lane, plus you're coming down a hill on a curve so you can see what's happening with the traffic for about half a mile. Traffic ALWAYS speeds up to 60-65 MPH for this stretch, then slows down again.
That is some of the problem that has evolved here because of more frequent patroling by Ohio's police, state and locals on the interstate.
Some people want to go fast but don't want to be the one out front to get the ticket. I used to let the speeders by in the days of CBs so that they would flush the bears, especially when there was a smokey report ahead from the CB. Then I felt safer running fast behind them. Worked a few times!
Just returned from a 2,000 mile road trip from DC to Pensacola, I-95 to I-85 to I-65 and reverse on way back. I travelled routinely 5-7 miles above the speed limit with cruise control. All-in-all, it was a very pleasant drive, and I did not experience many problems, except, the two times I did encounter passing-challenged drivers, both of them from southern states.
First offender was on the trip down--he (35??in silver BMW) overtook me on I-85 (two lanes each direction) in GA; I was in the right lane, doing about 71 in 65 zone IIRC, and traffic was very light for the most part. He approaches in right lane, passes in left, and then moves back to right lane and slows BELOW my cruising speed. So, I punch the Bonny's Northstar, pass on left, return to right lane at my preset speed. Here he comes again, passes, and you guessed it, settles back in front of me slower. Didn't give him another chance--punched the Northstar again, this time he decides the race is on, and well, my taillights were all he saw. I'm tracking back on preset cruise speed for about 15 minutes, and decide its time for rest stop. BMW guy pulls up and parks next to me as I am returning to my car and starts talking some "stuff" about my driving. I listened to his bunch of nonsense, and just asked a one word question Why? Answer: I was bored and thought it would be fun. Sheesh!
Second offender was guy and his wife in newer Explorer. I overtook him about 10 miles south of Montgomery, Ala on return trip. I passed safely in left lane, returned to right lane. He then passes me, settles back in to right lane, and yup, slows down, but to just below speed limit. On his third pass around me, I gunned it and kept pace in the right lane, and got his wife's attention and gave her that "What's up" look. Well, that's all it took--her hands start flying all over the place as it was obvious she was chastising the driver. He then cut his speed back and on I went. I'm stymied about that guy's "motivation".
Or how about the other side of the coin in the parking lot fiasco. Now I know I'm supposed to check before backing out of a spot and yield to vehicles coming up the aisle. What about when I've already started backing out after seeing a clear aisle behind me and someone comes flying around the corner and decides to shoot past me anyway? Does that strike anyone else as especially ignorant?
Do you think that LLC's have "evolved" over time due in part to road conditions?? What I'm thinking of here are stretches of divided highway that are heavily travelled by truck traffic in the right lanes at lower speeds. If the trucks ARE present, you cruise the left lane as you keep passing them. And when the road is free from trucks, the condition of the right lane in some stretches makes it a simple matter of being nice to your car by running on the smoother surface.
Count me as an anti-LLC, but there are probably more reasons for some of it than simply ascribing less-than-desirable qualities to the other guy.
Well that does not prohibit those LLC'ers from moving right when others are overtaking now does it? Also there is no law that says they are only allowed to travel in the left lane, especially when others wish to pass!?
Good point. In some areas the right lanes are rougher due to trucks damaging the road and causing grooves and bumps. There was one part of a Michigan highway near Flint that the right lane was so rough I just drove in the left lane. I speeded up to stay out of everyone's way for about 15-20 miles. I think that was a 70 mph speed limit.
...where trucks are NOT allowed in the passing lane, whether it's an unwritten law or not I don't know. But last summer we drive out to Indianapolis and on I-70 there were trucks as far as the eye could see, in the right lane only, all going right at the speed limit. Cars were ALL going 10-15 above the limit in the left lane. In all the time on the road from the PA state line to Indy and back, we didn't see a single car pulled over by a trooper. We did see about 8 trucks pulled over and being written us at various places. The only thing I can think that they got them for was getting out of that right lane.
I think most car drivers who LLC are really skirting the REAL point why trucks stay in the right lanes except to pass!!!??? If one gets the logic for trucks "keeping right,EXCEPT TO PASS it seems to be rocket science to those same folks why CARS should keep right, EXCEPT TO PASS??! So when I encounter those folks I pass. (on their other left)
Trucks are in the right lane in Ohio because their speed limit 55 while cars and other light vehicles are 65. The typical speed most of the time is 65 to 72 for trucks in Ohio,depending upon the time of day and the presence of police reported by CB or not.
I don't recall the Indiana portion having a trucks right lane only and can't speak to that.
There are many roads that restrict trucks in the left lane of multiple lane roads. I only driven in 48 of the States so I don't know about Idaho or Oregon. On rural roads in WA that have numerous slow moving log carriers, they require trucks pull over and let cars by when there are 5 or more tailing them.
As for LLC, I have seen the the left lane as the slowest moving lane on many multiple lane roads. Most of the traffic is in the passing lane. I think some of them think the left lane is the "passing" lane because that's where they drive " to get passed. "
I believe some LLC's are such pathetic drivers, that they are incapable of driving in interior lanes, with the possibility of traffic on both sides of them. Then, of course, I'm sure quite a few don't know their right from their left.
I have many times observed a driver swing across 3 lanes of traffic from the left lane to their exit. I am no longer surprised by inconsiderate drivers in the U.S. Most other 3rd world countries' drivers are no different.
that are 3 or more lanes in each direction, then they usually make trucks stay out of the left-most lane, unless there's a rare left exit coming up (such as where I-97 ends at I-695 in MD...it's a left lane camper's paradise)
But on many of the interstates, once you get away from the big cities, they go back down to two lanes each way. I don't think they'd make the bigger trucks stay out of the left lane on those roads!
I have also driven in the majority of states (49), Mexico and Canada. (Europe too, but that is nirvana as far as this issue is concerned) I have also seen (in Oregon and Washington) triple trailers. When the winds kick up or when other weather or conditions come on, the third trailer can whip side to side a total of 6 ft. (3 ft per side. I can almost guarantee you, you probably dont want to be on either side of the whip end of the third trailer, when it is doing this I have also seen heavy equipment being transported, that you scratch your head and wonder how did they EVER get this on the interstate!!?? In AZ, I was unfortunate enough to get behind a mining industry ore mover, being transported. (the kind you see on "Modern Marvels") Where you literally could not use the on coming lane of a two lane AZ road.
Anymore, the majority of folks do infact exhibit almost a total lack of lane discipline. The otherway to look at it is the left (passing) lane has become the defacto "SLOW LANE". The best is not to tail gate: pass on the right, left, inside, outside, "someones other left,right" etc. It is really not worth the chances you might take and angst and possible confrontation to look for folks to keep right except to pass.
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Most blatant case recently, I was cruising 30 in a 25, coasting slightly downhill. Some suicidal maniac was dusting my bumper, then flew around me, on a curve, on a section where parking was allowed on both sides. I caught him at a red light, and called the police and forwarded his info to them. I haven't seen that car since, and this is on my daily commuting route.
Years ago, had a fellow tailgate me at 10 under limit on PA turnpike, then followed me off at the Denver/Ephrata/Reading exit, still 'gating me onto Rt 222, until my exit, where he had to cross the gravely part between the exit lane and main travel lanes...this when he realized I was exiting and he didn't want to. This car had originally been doing well over, and then just sat behind me once he came up to my bumper.
As for poorly maintained cars, the most frustrating one I ever drove behind (on a rush hour freeway with rapidly varying traffic speeds) was a car with no brake lights. That was an interesting challenge.
As for inoperable taillights..... that is tough, perhaps maybe slow down or pull over(depends on your situation or location) to let them get far enough ahead of you.
I have most of my experience with fumagators(ya know, spraying for bugs with their tailpipe
How do they manage to pass inspection and emissions???
If they get up too close on me and stay there, I'll usually roll down my window and make a hand motion for them to back off. And no, that motion doesn't involve my middle finger! ;-)
Right on. Especially since you're already going at or above the speed limit. That's the usual case with my driving on the local interstates. I begin looking for the opportunity to easily merge over to allow the tailgater to go on their merry way.
> too close on me and stay there, I'll usually roll down my window and make a hand motion
I don't acknowledge their aggression. That too encourages their behavior just the same as a playground bully likes any reaction from their victim. I believe it's dangerous to interact in anyway with all the crazies around with guns.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
A lot of them go around, then tailgate the next one on down the line. Bunch of yo-yos.
I usually drop a mile off the cruise control and get closer to the speed limit. Then another one after .5 mile or so. If they are truly wanting to get somewhere in a hurry, they pass in one of the two other lanes, or back off so I can look for a place to merge into the middle lane.
The aggressive ones stay right on your bumper to "show you" that they have their rights. I've had them keep tailing me right down to 65, the speed limit. I'm usually going 72 when in the 3rd lane unless traffic is blocking all three lanes because it's heavy. If all 3 lanes are heavy it's hard to find somewhere to get out of their way. It's easier for them to go around and take a chance on getting hit changing lanes to the right lane. Amazing how many jump right back to the 3rd lane to tailgate someone 150 feet ahead of me.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
And that's not all...when you hit your exit, there they are. Only 2 cars ahead of you, even tho they passed you all those miles back.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
He came running back telling me that motorcycles don't belong on the road. He was smoking a cigarette. I grabbed his cigarette with my leather gauntlet and crunched it out. He said, "Take off your helmet." I grabbed the back of his head and butted him with the top of my helmet.
He went down like a sack of cement. I got on my motorcycle and left.
At one point, this 16 year old girl and her mother were sitting beside us. The mother worked at the hospital, and I think the girl did too. Either that, or she hung out there alot because she seemed to know every employee there.
Anyway, the girl was there because she had back pains. She was saying that she was in a car accident, a head on collision. And naturally it was the other person's fault. She'd tell this story to everyone she ran into.
Finally though, I heard more details. Turns out it wasn't a head on collision, it was a rear-end collision. I still didn't hear the whole story, but I did hear "There was too much traffic", "The other car waited too long to stop" and "I hit the other car...twice!"
So it sounds to me like this kid wanted to blast through a light that was about to turn red, tailgating another car. That other car's driver changed their mind at the last second, nailed the brakes, and then this kid whacked her. I don't understand the twice part though! Unless someone else then hit the kid, and knocked her into the car again! Or maybe she was just so hell-bent on getting to where she was going that she never hit the brakes, so when she hit the car the first time, she knocked it forward, but then ran into it again?!
But I just love the part about "It was the other person's fault"! I tried to be quiet, but at that point I started snickering a bit, and this older gentleman next to me, did, as well! And the girl's mother even tried to explain to her that when you rear end somebody, it's almost ALWAYS your fault, and that she should have left enough space between her and the other car. But this girl just didn't want to hear it!
We got to see a few other things of interest in the emergency room at the hospital, but as far as I know, that was the only one that was auto related. This old guy came in with a dislocated middle finger. It looked like it must've been bent about 45 degrees at the joint! Looked really painful, but the guy seemed in good spirits and pretty jolly. Also got to see an old lady come in with a bloody nose. That one really bothered me. Now the sight of blood doesn't really bother me, for the most part, but I really hate to see it on an elderly person. A younger guy also came in with a bloody nose, or actually, a deep cut about where his nose joined his face. Didn't look like a fight, but I'm guessing some kind of on-the-job injury. He was there with some other guys, and they were wearing uniforms, so I'm guessing a piece of equipment, debris, or something else got him. Also got to see a woman come in with a cop, in handcuffs. Now she got instant service! As soon as she came in, the cop took her back into Intensive care, and she was out in like 20 minutes. I told my housemate that maybe he should go do something to get himself arrested, and maybe the hospital would get to him quicker!
I also discovered that there is a Toyota model that has the same wheel bolt pattern as a Ford Crown Vic. At least, I saw a Crown Vic taxi pull up at the entrance, and in the center of the wheels, there was the "T" logo that is made up of two skinny ovals.
I was hit by a lady driver with kids in her car not paying attention. I was turning left into a car dealer to shop for a new car. It was a 35 mph zone. She hit me, knocked my car forward. Because she wasn't trying to stop and hadn't locked her brakes up, she hit me again.
A car salesman was standing looking out the window, so he made the perfect witness. He said she was looking over toward the dealership instead of the traffic. Luckily none of the kids were hurt. I should have sued to neck injuries. It broke the seatback on my Mustang. Totalled the car for the insurance company.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
With cruise control set to about 5-10 miles an hour over the limit, eventually I'll come up on a slower moving car. For some reason at least once every time I drive this route, these people just refuse to be overtaken. Now, I don't mind if they increase their speed to follow behind me at a respectable distance (I like to do the same sometimes), but these people either:
1- match my speed and hold right in my blind spot, like a "wing man." Not beside me where I can see them, I can only see their front bumper. If I slow down, they do the same; If I speed up, same again, holding this formation (even to 5-10mph under OR 10-15 over). Infuriating! These are the only times I REALLY speed; I get so mad I finally drop the hammer and hold 100mph until they are dropped. But I've actually had some speed up to catch me and start the process over. Obviously I was going faster to begin with or I would never have come across them!!! C'mon.
2- They just have to pass me back, and then they slow down again (of course).
I was driving behind a minivan, with another sedan behind me, forming a little convoy to cut through the unplowed highway (divided with two lanes in each direction). There were really no "lanes" though, only tire tracks revealing the blacktop underneath the snow.
So we're travelling at 80 km/h (pretty good given the conditions) and some fruitcake decides to blast ahead on the unplowed "fast" lane at 100+ km/h (not sure of exact speed, but it was plenty quick). So there he/she goes out of sight.
Minutes later, we see the same car (truck, actually), stuck behind other traffic as vehicle density increases. I make a quick exit and head to the concert venue. I dunno if it was a case of AWD-to-the-brain or something, but driving that fast isn't smart at all.
Another incident was really puzzling to me. It happened during a bout of freezing rain. I was in the right lane, and wanted to make a right turn. The street is marked at 70 km/h, and I'm doing around 65 km/h with another car right on my tail.
I signal around 200 meters before the intersection (I got some *good* signal usage there... ) and proceded to slow down and make my turn. About halfway through the turn, the guy behind me starts honking like no tomorrow, swerves around me and speeds off.
I was kinda miffed (I didn't expect it) and that leads me to wonder what goes through these people's heads!
I have found alot of this is because other drivers have a subconscious tendency to want to slow down drivers moving considerably faster than the speed limit or the flow of traffic. The idea being, you block them in to 'teach them a lesson', etc..., and then when you reach the light and they're only two cars ahead you can say 'see what all that foolishness got him?!?!'
At least when it comes to highways, I don't think we would have anywhere near the number of tailgating issues we currently do if American drivers did not have this irritating tendency to completely defeat the purpose of the multi-lane highway by traveling for extended periods of time next to other cars at times when traffic patterns don't absolutely make it necessary to do so. As I said before, it't not just that I am tailgated infrequently. IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS to me.
Is the purpose of the multilane highway to enable the 2% of extreme speeders to get to the exit ramp 5 cars ahead of someone of is the purpose of the multilane highway to enable the maximum number of cars to travel past one point per unit of time?
The latter is the obvious answer and for that to happen cars need to use all lanes in an efficient manner. You believe that efficient manner is to not use the left-most lane except to pass. Others believe it's to use all lanes and courteously move to the right to allow those who wish to travel still faster than 7 over the limit to move on past expediciously.
When traffic is lighter than the design maximum for that stretch of road then perhaps use of only 1 lane by most cars or the 2 rightmost lanes by cars and leaving one unused except for those moving above the 85%ile, may be justified. But in most areas of interstate I drive at the time I drive them, the traffic loads are high or inclulde a high percentage of trucks. Efficient useage means everyone uses the lanes.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
After I merge and get up to speed, I come up on a clump of cars covering both lanes and travelling exactly the same speed. This is because a woman in a PT Cruiser in the left lane was holding formation with the car beside her.
Behind her is a Lincoln Towncar, behind the Lincoln is a Ford Focus and behind the Ford is me. We're all riding pretty tight waiting for the PT Cruiser to make some sort of move.
I guess (based on her later behavior) that she was trying to "teach the Lincoln a lesson" because when he gave up on her and moved right, she sped up by about 10mph and finally passed the car beside her. Now the right lane clears for a few hundred yards but nobody gets in the right lane... so I do. I move right and pass the Ford but slower traffic is incoming and I merge left behind the PT Cruiser.
Now she's really moving (15mph or so faster than when she was driving in formation) so we both pass the slower car on the right pretty quickly.
I move right again and pass her. This is where it gets bizarre. She makes a hard lane change behind me and turns on her high beams!?
Unsatisfied with only that 'punishment', she follows me off at my exit and starts laying on the horn as I wait at the stop sign.
Finally, we both stop at a traffic light (her in the left turn lane, me two lanes over on the right), and she gives me the finger. A caucasian(sp?), middle aged, slightly overweight, woman in a PT Cruiser is flipping me off and cursing at me. Then, she starts making the 'slow down' motion with her hands... I guess because anyone driving faster than her is 'dangerous'.
Keep in mind that I didn't cut her off, flip her off, honk my horn or antogonize her in any way. I WAS close behind her for a hundred yards or so, but quickly moved out from there as soon as possible and continued on my way.
Is this an example of a sociopath? or was she just an idiot.
It sounds like traffic was light and all she had to do was to ease up and get out of the way of the Lincoln. Take the plate number and notify the police; she'll probably do it again. Maybe when they get a repeat call they'll check on her.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
And you wanna know the sad thing? When she does, she'll probably be recorded as a victim of road rage, instead of the instigator that she is!
The purpose is to allow different vehicles to travel at different speeds so that traffic does not become snarled. You want to do 50 mph, you have a lane. I want to do 75, I have a lane. Things move faster when a whole bunch of people who want to drive with purpose are not stuck behind Sunday drivers. This purpose becomes defeated when two cars travel side by side for extended periods of time, or one vehicle travels in another's blind spot, IN SITUATIONS WHERE TRAFFIC DOES NOT MAKE IT NECESSARY.
"The latter is the obvious answer and for that to happen cars need to use all lanes in an efficient manner."
Most drivers in this country have no clue what it means to use all lanes in an efficient manner. An efficient manner means there's a good reason why you are driving next to a car instead of behind it. You are passing it, or traffic is so heavy you have no choice but to be there. Most times when driving I see people make stupid, silly, pointless lane changes for no reason whatsoever.
The perfect example is when I merge onto I-95 in the morning, this never fails. The merging lane becomes a clear right lane that continues uninterrupte. And yet people avoid it like the plague. They could be doing 45 mph but will immediately jump one or two lanes over into 75 mph traffic anyway, causing themselves to be the victims of... you guessed it... TAILGATERS!
" You believe that efficient manner is to not use the left-most lane except to pass. Others believe it's to use all lanes and courteously move to the right to allow those who wish to travel still faster than 7 over the limit to move on past expediciously."
Either of those makes sense to me. Except the second one usually doesn't happen. When most people on American roads hit the left lane they either decide to stay there and let everybody else find a way around them so they don't have to change lanes as frequently, or else they get lost in their day dreams or their cell phone conversation and cause a rolling traffic jam. They seem to believe the most efficient manner to use lanes is to match speeds with the vehicle next to you for 15 miles straight with a clear lane in front of you, get angry and indignant when anybody behind you gets tired of waiting to pass, and then use a combination of break checks and sudden accelaration to keep them behind you to 'teach them a lesson.
Nobody has responded to my one main point though: I live and drive in a heavily travelled urban area, often in very heavy traffic at high speeds, and cannot remember the last time anybody tailgated me. It seems to happen very frequently to people on here. I know sometimes there's just that impatient jerk back there who's gonna be on you butt no matter what, but I still submit maybe you need to analyze your own driving style to see what you could be doing to prevent this.
And this is not a rare occurrence. How come people seem perfectly comfy camping in the left lane, holding up traffic, but then the second they move over, they wanna speed up 10-20 mph?! It's almost as if they're trying to be polite and selfish at the same time. Polite in at least getting over, but selfish in the fact that they still don't want anybody to pass them!
And a great deal of the time, there's somebody who wants to go faster on my tail, so my main focus is to get ahead of the vehicle that just moved over, so I can move over myself and let the faster traffic pass. And as an end result, I end up going faster than I had wanted to, and the people in the lane following me probably do, as well.
If you want to do 65 in the passing lane, but then move over, why not just stay at 65? And I didn't do anything to antagonize this guy either, like tailgating, flashing my lights, making rude gestures, or throwing or shooting anything at him ;-)
One of my co-workers has a brother, cousin, brother-in-law, or something like that, who's a certified left lane camper. His attitude is that if he's doing the speed limit, he has the right to be where he is.
Why is it, of all the laws that are out there, the speed limit on a highway is the one that people seem to get a bug up their butt the most about, and feel that it's their civic duty to enforce?! They'll do 55 in the passing lane of a 55 mph interstate, but then at the same time they'll often to 45-50 zipping through a residential neighborhood, run stop signs, red lights, blast through parking lots, etc. But in that one instant, the least dangerous of all those things, that's the law they decide they want to enforce!
I see it a lot where you have to pass someone on the right or they do get over and once you are past them, they speed up a good chunk.
Though it could be that you just woke them from their daze and now that they're fully aware of it, they speed up to the speed they'd like to be doing. I don't know.
Another one of my pet peeves is when you have someone that's afraid to be "on point". They want to speed but they don't want to be the guy in front. I guess that is ok by itself, but you'll get these ones that get too close. You think they're wanting to get by, so you get over. They slow down and get over behind you and still creep back and forth too close for comfort. If you speed up and take off, they'll follow.....doing the same exact thing. Annoying.
I have found a good way to drop off people like that is a technique I've dubbed "scraping a turd off" (like from your shoe if you've stepped in something). I speed up quite a bit away from the "creeper" and get over in the right lane well ahead and resume my regular speed. I find that they're too afraid of a ticket to keep pace and so you won't see them again in the mirror.
I have come to realize we see the road through different-colored glasses. My experiences typically are I75 and I70. Yours are I95 and I76? I recalled DC visits and Philly. The traffic at most times was much heavier than I experience in SW Ohio unless the Reds have a good game scheduled and then traffic is much heavier on all 3 lanes.
I view DC beltway traffic as Hades on Earth from trips to Williamsburg and vists to DC. Philly drivers were generally much more driving, courtesy oriented. You exhibit that from your self description. I'm used to drivers in this area who are much more likely to harbor the left lane.
We too have the lane jumpers who immediate go to the left or middle lane rather than finishing their speed merge in the rightmost lane.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
My theory on this is that some people get nervous when they are driving right next to another car at speed (i.e. when they're supposedly passing), and slow down. When they (eventually) pass the other car and pull into the right lane, there's no one next to them any more so they relax and speed up. Generally, when people have more room and visibility, they drive faster.
There's an excellent example where I live. There's a three lane divided highway where traffic generally moves about 50-55 MPH. But on one mile-long stretch it gains an extra lane, plus you're coming down a hill on a curve so you can see what's happening with the traffic for about half a mile. Traffic ALWAYS speeds up to 60-65 MPH for this stretch, then slows down again.
That is some of the problem that has evolved here because of more frequent patroling by Ohio's police, state and locals on the interstate.
Some people want to go fast but don't want to be the one out front to get the ticket. I used to let the speeders by in the days of CBs so that they would flush the bears, especially when there was a smokey report ahead from the CB. Then I felt safer running fast behind them. Worked a few times!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
First offender was on the trip down--he (35??in silver BMW) overtook me on I-85 (two lanes each direction) in GA; I was in the right lane, doing about 71 in 65 zone IIRC, and traffic was very light for the most part. He approaches in right lane, passes in left, and then moves back to right lane and slows BELOW my cruising speed. So, I punch the Bonny's Northstar, pass on left, return to right lane at my preset speed. Here he comes again, passes, and you guessed it, settles back in front of me slower. Didn't give him another chance--punched the Northstar again, this time he decides the race is on, and well, my taillights were all he saw. I'm tracking back on preset cruise speed for about 15 minutes, and decide its time for rest stop. BMW guy pulls up and parks next to me as I am returning to my car and starts talking some "stuff" about my driving. I listened to his bunch of nonsense, and just asked a one word question Why? Answer: I was bored and thought it would be fun. Sheesh!
Second offender was guy and his wife in newer Explorer. I overtook him about 10 miles south of Montgomery, Ala on return trip. I passed safely in left lane, returned to right lane. He then passes me, settles back in to right lane, and yup, slows down, but to just below speed limit. On his third pass around me, I gunned it and kept pace in the right lane, and got his wife's attention and gave her that "What's up" look. Well, that's all it took--her hands start flying all over the place as it was obvious she was chastising the driver. He then cut his speed back and on I went. I'm stymied about that guy's "motivation".
Count me as an anti-LLC, but there are probably more reasons for some of it than simply ascribing less-than-desirable qualities to the other guy.
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2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The slow lane was in terrible condition, so drivers stayed in the passing lane.
Fortunately, the entire highway was just recently rebuilt, eliminating that problem.
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I don't recall the Indiana portion having a trucks right lane only and can't speak to that.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As for LLC, I have seen the the left lane as the slowest moving lane on many multiple lane roads. Most of the traffic is in the passing lane. I think some of them think the left lane is the "passing" lane because that's where they drive " to get passed. "
I believe some LLC's are such pathetic drivers, that they are incapable of driving in interior lanes, with the possibility of traffic on both sides of them. Then, of course, I'm sure quite a few don't know their right from their left.
I have many times observed a driver swing across 3 lanes of traffic from the left lane to their exit. I am no longer surprised by inconsiderate drivers in the U.S. Most other 3rd world countries' drivers are no different.
But on many of the interstates, once you get away from the big cities, they go back down to two lanes each way. I don't think they'd make the bigger trucks stay out of the left lane on those roads!
Anymore, the majority of folks do infact exhibit almost a total lack of lane discipline. The otherway to look at it is the left (passing) lane has become the defacto "SLOW LANE". The best is not to tail gate: pass on the right, left, inside, outside, "someones other left,right" etc. It is really not worth the chances you might take and angst and possible confrontation to look for folks to keep right except to pass.