<p>Sure, some people - including truck drivers - are aholes and speed up when you try to pass them. However, sometimes the person being passed is a little startled and hit with a sudden thought, “Gee, I didn’t realize I was going that slow” and they reflexively speed up.</p>
<p>I usually slow down ever so slightly when I am being passed. I don’t like having another vehicle (especially a truck) next to me, so I let them pass faster that way. </p>
<p>In general, drivers are much more courteous here in NC (the south?). I am always taken aback at the aggressiveness of drivers when I travel North.</p>
<p>Speaking of physics, apparently the laws of physics do not apply to people driving slow and leaving 500 feet between them and the next car while driving on top of you doing 60. Likewise with people slowing down going up hills in snow and ice. Apparently the concept of inertia doesn’t apply to these people.</p>
<p>Those are different people under different driving conditions. People leave gigantic distances between them and the cars in front of them when in heavy traffic driving slowly. Those same people in light traffic going fast will drive right on top of you. You of course realize the faster you go, the more distance you need to stop.</p>
<p>I’m not aware of that study, but I’ve seen plenty of people take their sweet time with whatever ritual it is they perform in their car after closing the door. I actually try to hurry up, myself. </p>
<p>The speed up thing is real, I think.</p>
<p>Passing on two lane roads is dangerous. I was always taught that you drove up behind the other guy, stayed long enough that he knew you were there, and gave a short horn toot to let him know you were passing. One of the classic disaster crash situations is a two lane road pass by a car that is overtaking someone who is about to turn left without signaling.</p>
<p>Proper mirror adjustment can minimize blind spots, although it is still annoying when someone drives like that, pacing you, overlapping your car, and preventing you from changing lanes on that side.</p>
<p>Are you going to remain this smug when you cause an accident? People get killed when other drivers speed up and try to prevent them from passing (aka as “making them work for it”).</p>
<p>I really hope you are joking and that you are not this big of a jerk on the road.</p>
<p>The left lane is for passing. It doesn’t matter if you are going over the speed limit, if other drivers are coming up on you going faster, get over. If people on the right are passing you, you are going too slow to be in the left lane. It’s not our job to police and enforce speed limits-let the cops handle that.</p>
<p>I’ve experienced the same phenomenon passing cars here. I’ve got no explanation for it.</p>
<p>I try to practice collaboration, not competition, while driving. If I see someone trying to do something - change lanes, pass, turn, etc. - I try to modify my driving in a way that makes it easier for them. </p>
<p>Yes, there are jerks I feel an urge to inconvenience. I try to suppress that reaction. It does me no good. I’m not their Dad, and I’m unlikely to actually “teach them a lesson.” So I let it go. I can’t think of a single instance where this approach to driving has delayed me or inconvenienced me in any significant way.</p>
<p>If someone is trying to pass me, I slow down a bit to let them pass. Occasionally, I also get the guy who speeds up to pass and then goes slow, but that is far less often than the trucks speeding up. I generally only try to pass on a straight portion of the road, and where it is flat. I really am not that adventurous, and seeing how much over 80 my car can go is not fun for me. All I wanted to do was go 65 instead of 55-60…</p>
<p>Yesterday there was a coach bus in the left lane on the portion of the highway that is three lanes for a while. He was trying to pass everyone, cars, trucks, etc. Is that within the law?</p>
<p>I think that it is safer to maintain speed when someone is trying to pass. People that pass often drive up very close to you and them try to pass. Slowing down can result in them hitting you as it changes their calculus.</p>
<p>I do that also. If I’m on a 2 lane highway and I sense that the car coming up from behind me is going faster than I am or they turn on their blinker to indicate that they are passing me, I have no problem with it. I have seen people speed up to prevent a perfectly legal pass and come very VERY close to causing a head on accident with the party trying to pass and oncoming traffic, which would NOT have been even close had they just let the person pass as they are legally entitled to do. </p>
<p>I cannot think of ONE justifiable reason for speeding up to not let someone pass. It’s incredibly nasty and mean spirited and downright dangerous.</p>
<p>In my town, my driving isn’t dangerous. In any town, my driving isn’t dangerous. I’m a great driver. No accidents. No tickets. But I have only been driving for a year. I know I can get in an accident at any time. I’m 18. I have some sense. And I know how to drive. </p>
<p>I wasn’t serious about my statement. There is some truth in my “philosophy”. Often, when I’m driving, I’m driving faster than the speed limit. I don’t get in the right lane so they can pass me. I don’t because then I’m going to be slowing down just to accelerate again. There’s no sense in me changing lanes. </p>
<p>Now, just because I say one statement about my driving does not mean you guys can jump up and down claiming I’m a jerk off and are going to get in an accident. I know how to drive. I don’t accelerate out of spite. Why would I do that? </p>
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Why would I cause an accident? </p>
<p>There are situations where when the light turns green, it’s nothing but acceleration. These situations I’ve experienced going to school and leaving school. I’ve only prevented someone from passing on one or two handfuls of times. In all those occurrences it was because the person who was trying to pass me…simply did not know how to pass. If someone wants to pass you it’s because they’re trying to go faster than you. The people who tried to pass me, we’re not going faster than me. I’m not going to slow down because they want to be in front of me.</p>
<p>I would much rather drive behind someone driving erraticallly and aggressively than drive in front of him or her. Let them pass!</p>
<p>We live in NYC and I am driving in front of, in back of, and next to crazy aggressive drivers all the time. I have learned not to follow the impulse to get them back. That’s a dangerous game and I’d rather arrive a few minutes later (and I am NOT a pokey driver!), alive, in one piece, with my car and license in the same condition as when I started.</p>
<p>Ok, this doesn’t make any sense within the context of this conversation. We are talking about highway driving. When you are on a highway, you are NOT supposed to be in the left lane unless you are passing. Once you have passed slower traffic in front of you, you are supposed to get back into the center or right lane, depending on how many lanes there are. If you are on a two lane highway (only one lane each direction, often in rural areas) and someone wants to pass you, get over and let them do it or you could cause a fatality. We aren’t talking city traffic where you have stop lights as you are talking about above. The left lane is NOT a passing lane in city traffic. </p>
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<p>NO ONE used the terminology you just used above. </p>
<p>And since you’ve only been driving a year, you clearly have a lot of practice still ahead of you and a lot to learn, as **we all did **when we were new drivers. Someone who tries to prevent someone from passing them by speeding up (“making them work for it”) is ABSOLUTELY creating potential for a serious accident, not to mention road rage. Someone who tries to prevent others from passing them is NOT a good driver. Don’t do it. Be courteous, treat others like you want to be treated and just get where you are trying to go without making the drive some kind of contest or power trip. Be prepared for the chance that other drivers are NOT going to do the right thing with regard to stop signs, proper signalling before changing lanes, etc.</p>
<p>I try to practice collaboration, not competition, while driving. If I see someone trying to do something - change lanes, pass, turn, etc. - I try to modify my driving in a way that makes it easier for them. >>></p>
<p>Me, too. This is the way driver’s ed was taught back in the Dark Ages.</p>
<p>I have been talking about regular driving. If you look back on the conversation various users were branching off and talking about annoying things on the road. </p>
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I know you mean well, but I know how to drive. Thanks, though. </p>
<p>I know I have a lot to learn. I have only been driving for a year. But I’m a great driver. Everyone gets road rage. No one on this entire site can tell me they haven’t done a not so smart choice.</p>
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Looks like I should get bullet proof windows, eh?</p>
<p>If you are speeding up to prevent people from passing you, you are NOT a great driver. You just aren’t.</p>
<p>And yeah, you could find yourself in a bad situation if you cross the wrong person with your tactics. That’s why it’s just best to let the aggressive drivers have their way. It’s just not worth it to mess with them…</p>
Why would I do that? </p>