To Pass Or Not To Pass, While Driving

Paladin1950

Paladin1950

Still love 50's & 60's music!
Location
Mohawk Valley, NY
Have you ever noticed while driving your car, some people always pass you even if you are driving 55 or 60 miles per hour? I only pass if the vehicle in front of me is driving really slow. I do pass Amish buggies all the time of course. If my side of the road has a double lane, then I will pass more often. If the car in front of me is driving 55 or 60 miles an hour, I see no reason to pass them.
 

Paladin1950 said:
Have you ever noticed while driving your car, some people always pass you even if you are driving 55 or 60 miles per hour? I only pass if the vehicle in front of me is driving really slow. I do pass Amish buggies all the time of course. If my side of the road has a double lane, then I will pass more often. If the car in front of me is driving 55 or 60 miles an hour, I see no reason to pass them.
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Well, if you are on a 70mph highway, of course people will pass you when you are doing 55 or 60.

If they are crossing a double yellow to pass, then that is totally wrong and dangerous... no matter what the speed limit and no matter what speed you are going.
 

Aunt Bea said:
I would much rather have people pass me than try to push me by riding my bumper.

I slow down, turn on my blinker, and pull to the side of the road quite often to force people to pass me. 🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌
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I do the same thing. If someone is going really slow, like 10 to 20 under the speed limit then I’ll pass them when I see a dotted line. If I’m going at a comfortable speed and someone’s tailgating me I’ll either slow down or pull over so they pass me.
 
The Human brain makes radical changes at 57 - 70 - 78!
Set the Cruise at 55 MPH. Stay safe, only one in 100,000 will get a gentle tap from behind.
 
What grinds me is when someone gets six inches off my rear bumper when I have no place to go in heavy traffic. I'm as close to the car in front of me as I can be.....where does the idiot behind me think I'm going to go or how much faster I can go?

Remember when they taught you in Drivers Ed that you are supposed to leave a full car length between you and the car in front of you for every 10 MPH you are going? Yeah, try that today on I-4 going 70 and at least 10 cars will try to cut in front of you.

I hate to drive in bad traffic, it really wears me out. Give me an open road, though, and I'm in heaven. I'll admit, I like to drive fast; I must have been a race-car driver in a previous life, maybe a moonshine-runner in the mountains....
 
jujube said:
What grinds me is when someone gets six inches off my rear bumper when I have no place to go in heavy traffic. I'm as close to the car in front of me as I can be.....where does the idiot behind me think I'm going to go or how much faster I can go?
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That drives me batty, @jujube. Like you said, where, exactly, do these tailgaters think you can go? Do they not see the traffic in front of you? Grrr.
 
I choose a 100' + clearance at 55 / 65 mph. Usually the guy having to pass me exits within a mile or so to the right.
Sits at a stop light for a bit and then turns to go home. He probably speeds all the way too. Most every government
employee in St. Louis greater area + 100 mile arch runs most every light on the side streets. Some have cameras now.
I naturally avoid the off ramp side streets mainly. Mostly a couple trips thru the Main City Area on the expressways.
Those missing license plates are probably stolen heading to a chop shop with a trailer close, within a 1/4 mile.
 
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Unintentional Karma:

Years ago and in another city, was driving one afternoon and actually about 10 over the speed limit.
I wasn't completely familiar with the roads in that city.
There was a car right up tight on my pickup truck bumper and had been for an annoying while.

He was in a car and I was sure he couldn't even see much beyond the tailgate of my truck.

Was coming up on a red light (it was red) and realized at the last second that I needed to get my truck into the left turn lane.

Well, the guy on my bumper had little to no time to react and ran right into the back of a car stopped in a line of cars at the red light when I changed lanes and he kept going straight ahead.

Truly felt bad for the car stopped at the red light. Not so much for the annoying tailgater.

On roads, I leave a respectful distance between mine and the vehicle in front.
If they are going very slow, I attempt to pass.
If I'm going faster and come up on them but they are going the speed limit ... I slow down.
I'm never in a hurry these days and haven't been for about 19yrs.
 
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After I retired from flying, I had a problem with slowing down. When anyone spends 33 years moving at 450-550 mph, it becomes a way of life. Even when I was working and driving to and from work outside of D.C., I often drove above the speed limit. My wife told me to slow down several times when we would go away together.

Today, I am much better. I try to stay about 10 over the speed limit, unless in a school district.
 
The difference in hitting a goose at 6000' and in a boat is altitude. It might really, really, really, hurt!
 
Californians live and die (intentional pun!) by the car.

I drive according to traffic. If I don't feel like going 75+ in the fast lane - which I often do, in fact, because that's how fast traffic goes on the nearest freeway in the #1 lane during non-commute hours - then I move to the right.

Passing a slower car is not a big deal. Weaving in and out of traffic, however - IS a big deal, and if the Highway Patrol sees it, they will absolutely go after that driver.

Which in itself is dangerous, as our local media has been pointing out. Cops chasing criminals for relatively minor stuff - shoplifting, for example - has been shown to have caused a disproportionate increase in bystander deaths.

State law says if you are driving on a 2-lane road and 6 cars can be seen in your rearview mirror, you are holding up traffic and must pull over as soon as it is safe, to let those cars pass.

Now if they could just enforce that law in the Wine Country and on the Coast so that tourists meandering down the scenic roads would get out of the way of the rest of us who know where we're going, LOL......
 
I think some people are driving Fred Flintstone cars, where the transmission only has a few sweet spots and seems to do all of the driving.

There is a long stretch of road here that is mostly 45 mph but has a few 35 mph zones near schools. Those driving Flintstone cars drive the entire thing at about 40 mph. So part of the time one car after another tries to pass them as they putter along. Then in school zones they try to pass everyone else.

These seem to invariably be grannies, often yammering illegally on a handheld phone. Lane wandering is often part of the mix, and when traffic lights turn green they are usually slow off the mark. This causes intersections to choke up, especially at rush hour. Lights turn red again before the traffic clears.

Madam Magoo.jpg
 
I actually find it far more stressful driving in the slow lane....

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People on the road nowadays are hyper-aggressive. They will speed up, slow down or do whatever it takes to keep you from making a lane change into their lane.
Don't EVER put your turn signal on before you start a lane change...always use the signal just as you are executing the lane change, otherwise you will die of old age before anyone yields and lets you do the lane change.
 
Nathan said:
People on the road nowadays are hyper-aggressive. They will speed up, slow down or do whatever it takes to keep you from making a lane change into their lane.
Don't EVER put your turn signal on before you start a lane change...always use the signal just as you are executing the lane change, otherwise you will die of old age before anyone yields and lets you do the lane change.
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so true....
 
dilettante said:
I think some people are driving Fred Flintstone cars, where the transmission only has a few sweet spots and seems to do all of the driving.

There is a long stretch of road here that is mostly 45 mph but has a few 35 mph zones near schools. Those driving Flintstone cars drive the entire thing at about 40 mph. So part of the time one car after another tries to pass them as they putter along. Then in school zones they try to pass everyone else.

These seem to invariably be grannies, often yammering illegally on a handheld phone. Lane wandering is often part of the mix, and when traffic lights turn green they are usually slow off the mark. This causes intersections to choke up, especially at rush hour. Lights turn red again before the traffic clears.

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I never ever see older people driving and using a phone.. NEVER.. its always younger folks..
 
I'm a pretty conservative driver when I am in my car. I probably pass about one car for every 10 that passes me. However if I am on my motorcycle it's the other way around. I pass about 10 cars for every one that passes me.
 
Tailgaters piss me off -- I run into them frequently since they're going to work or some other appointment extremely important to them while I'm doing the speed limit, or even a hair more.

I can guarantee that ANY time I get behind the wheel and travel anywhere in my location, I will get some yahoo in his pickup truck who crawls up my ass.

I never brake check, but especially on a two-lane road with no marked (legal) passing opportunity, I'll slow down to 10 mph slower (or less) than marked and watch them burn in frustration. Sometimes, actually, they'll back off, realizing they're not thinking about what they're doing.

Sometimes they'll pass illegally, but I don't care. The wreck -- should it happen -- will be on them. I'll just sail on by.....
 
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