Rant: Idiots that flash their highbeams in attempt to get you to move over...

Living in the State of Confusion known as Montana, I normally (99.99% of the time) drive on 4 lane Interstates (2 lanes each direction) or 2 lane State highways (1 lane each way). There are a few stretches that have more lanes, but not many. Yet...I live in hope....

On the State highways the custom is that approaching vehicles each dim their lights until the pass is complete, then each can return to high-beam. When an approaching vehicle hasn't yet dimmed, I'll flash the high-beams as a reminder, and they'll usually go to low beam. No harm, no foul, no hard feelings. Mostly. There are those few who will 'burn you down' with high-beams. Those I ignore and look off to the side of the road until they pass, driving from the visual that I get out of the corner of my eye, like my daddy taught me all those years ago. I've been flashed after I've put the low-beams on while driving the big van. I simply go back to high-beams for a second and let them see I'm already there on low-beam, and continue apace. In the greater scheme of things, we'll be past each other in a couple seconds, and life will go on.

I know for a fact that the basic rule gets enforced in bad weather and at night, a lot more than it does during the daytime. I don't normally have a problem with basic rule, because my big van does best mileage-wise at 69-71 mph. I'm normally in the right lane except to pass. I'll get comfortably ahead and go back to my preset speed. Because here, we measure distance more in time than in miles. It's 2 1/2 hours to Billings, and I plan for that. A 340 mile trip is 4.9 hours driving, but it's also most of 1 tank of gas, and there'll be at least one meal stop. So it goes from almost 5 hours to about 7. And that's just the way it is.

Thing is, that big van gets 14 mpg at 69-71, and about 10.5 at 75. So we run 70-ish. The difference in mileage is not usually worth it for me to run faster. On the Interstate, the truck limit is 65, car limit is 75. Long habit in MT is that under 80 is pretty much ignored in good weather. If somebody from NoDak or Wisconsin or Minnesota wants to run 80 and go past me, I'll move over and let them. And they won't even have to flash me.

Twin_Cam wrote: The only time I get worked up when this happens is when it's the "you are below me" Audi/Acura/Porsche/BMW crowd.

So, when I'm driving my Grand Caravan (as I was the other night) it would be OK to flash someone, but not when I'm driving my 325i? Does. Not. Compute.

I won't hesitate to get out of the way of someone who is showing any signs of aggressive driving behavior, even something as small as flashing brights. There is nothing to be gained by doing otherwise.

Otto Maddox wrote: I won't hesitate to get out of the way of someone who is showing any signs of aggressive driving behavior, even something as small as flashing brights. There is nothing to be gained by doing otherwise.

You are 100% correct.

The problem with that, is that the guy behind you now has no idea how much smarter, or tougher you are than him.

Ain't nobody gonna tell you guys what do do, especially if he's driving a car nicer than yours.

Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

`My personal annoyance is often seen in western Md & Pa. I' m in the left lane having just passed a slower vehicle, there is another slow moving vehicle about a half mile ahead. I check my mirrors & a car is closing from the rear so I move over whereupon he parks himself 10 feet off my rear bumper but staying in the left lane not passing. Then when I come up to the slower vehicle in the right lane I have the choice of moving over without knowing exactly how much clearance I have or slowing down to let him by. If you're going fast that's ok, if you're going slowly, that's ok but make up your mind.

In that circumstance, I find that if I can see him in my inside mirror there is room to move over. Some times just putting your directional on will make him/her speed up or slow down.

Sorry stubborn guys but I fall into the "its not your lane move over" crowd. There are so many people that get into a lane and feel it is theirs and they shouldn't have to move over for anything (including emergency vehicles!). If I want to be an idiot and risk a ticket for going 80 in a 65mph zone it is my own damn fault. Get the F out of the left lane. I usually will slow down then pass on the right before I flash the lights. I'm not sure which is more dangerous but many more people either don't move over with the flash or get pissed. I guess I'm being passive-aggressive.

The only time I get really angry is when some D.B. in a Prius is in the left lane trying to slow everybody down so they can go hug a tree or something. Something evil snaps inside of me and I waste way more gas trying to show them how much gasoline I can waste in response to them trying to save the world. Yeah...I'm a D*ck when it comes to Prius'ses's

I think this thread demonstrates why i hate driving on public roadways.

miatame wrote: Sorry stubborn guys but I fall into the "its not your lane move over" crowd. There are so many people that get into a lane and feel it is theirs and they shouldn't have to move over for anything (including emergency vehicles!). If I want to be an idiot and risk a ticket for going 80 in a 65mph zone it is my own damn fault. Get the F out of the left lane. I usually will slow down then pass on the right before I flash the lights. I'm not sure which is more dangerous but many more people either don't move over with the flash or get pissed. I guess I'm being passive-aggressive. The only time I get really angry is when some D.B. in a Prius is in the left lane trying to slow everybody down so they can go hug a tree or something. Something evil snaps inside of me and I waste way more gas trying to show them how much gasoline I can waste in response to them trying to save the world. Yeah...I'm a D*ck when it comes to Prius'ses's

Who exactly is being stubborn? This is a forum for like-minded enthusiasts. Everyone is in agreement, slower traffic should keep right. Do you really think there are people on here who disagree with that?????? To keep repeating that comment is in itself stubborn. We know, we got it, "slower traffic move right".

Its just that some of us acknowledge that depending upon the situation, that is not always possible nor does it always make sense (if you are in a line of cars that is passing a vehicle in the right lane).

Attempting to break the log jam sometimes works, sometimes it creates a more dangerous situation because the guy you want to cut in front of doesn't want you to get ahead of him. Unless the guy is a complete tool, I usually let the guy in if the guy gets stuck and is left out to dry and besides I don't want to combat childishness with more dangerous childishness. Othertimes breaking the log jam causes the sheeple in line to question why they are following someone who is going slow and won't move over. I'm all for that kind of "leadership" if it can be executed safely.

Zomby woof, good post!

I didnt read the whole thread (it's fairly predictable anyway, isnt it?) but as a sometimes aggressive/fast driver i always try to do one of two things when someone comes up behind me in the fast lane: Move over, or floor it. More often than not i floor it and see how fast they really want to go. Most times they dont bite and i move over after ive put a few hundred yards on em. Sometimes they bite and i have a little fun. Other times i just move over, let them pass, and if im still going faster than other traffic i get right in behind em and let them run interference for my speeding.

There's a RARE circumstance where someone gets SO close to me that i brake check them and THEN floor it.

But unless someone is 2 ft off my ass im not going to get all indignant and prissy about getting out of their way. I like to go faster than some people, and some people like to go even faster than me, and i dont think there's any less legitimacy in their desires than my own.

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

Apparently you don't get online much...

plance1 wrote: Who exactly is being stubborn? This is a forum for like-minded enthusiasts. Everyone is in agreement, slower traffic should keep right. Do you really think there are people on here who disagree with that?????? To keep repeating that comment is in itself stubborn. We know, we got it, "slower traffic move right".

Woah guy...I'm not looking at you. I'm talking to the stubborn people who don't move over. If you do then again, I'm not talking to you. Yes, I think there are people who disagree with that.

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

You don't know what's possible, maybe you should move over to the right lane

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

You don't know what's possible, maybe you should move over to the right lane

You assume my lane is somehow wrong? Don't put your morality on me, maaan.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

You don't know what's possible, maybe you should move over to the right lane

You assume my lane is somehow wrong? Don't put your morality on me, maaan.

S&W says I drive in whatever effing lane I want to...

Since this forum could at times be renamed GRM&F (Grassroots Motorsports and Firearms).

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

You don't know what's possible, maybe you should move over to the right lane

You assume my lane is somehow wrong? Don't put your morality on me, maaan.

Your ignorance shines through that you don't have any ground on which to question my assertion, duuuuude.

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

You don't know what's possible, maybe you should move over to the right lane

You assume my lane is somehow wrong? Don't put your morality on me, maaan.

Your ignorance shines through that you don't have any ground on which to question my assertion, duuuuude.

That is 77.891% falsity. I am a Supreme Court Justice, Physicist, Doctor of Anthropology and ex-Delta Force Commando. I think I know a little more about right and wrong lanes than you do. What ever you say next is probably what Hitler would say.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Raze wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: Honestly, I've never read so many childish things in one thread

This cannot possibly be true.

You don't know what's possible, maybe you should move over to the right lane

You assume my lane is somehow wrong? Don't put your morality on me, maaan.

Your ignorance shines through that you don't have any ground on which to question my assertion, duuuuude.

That is 77.891% falsity. I am a Supreme Court Justice, Physicist, Doctor of Anthropology and ex-Delta Force Commando. I think I know a little more about right and wrong lanes than you do. What ever you say next is probably what Hitler would say.

Don't you know that 80% of statistics are made up? Chuck Norris flashed his lights once, and there were no more left lanes...

Oh yeah, well you may be all those things but my Dad, whose a Mechanic says Miatas are gay...

I'll go out on a limb and agree with the OP's statements, as stated. We get this situation a lot in Florida with two or three lane interstates. The two right lanes are going slow...the left lane is going slightly faster, but essentially, you're just stuck in a line behind a bunch of other shlumps and you just have to wait it out until you clear the clump.... Flashing, moving over, etc...nothing works. The only thing that helps is pulling over and buying an overpriced coffee and keep on trucking. The more 'polite' you are, the further behind you get—and the flashing/tailgating guy behind you only advances one spot. How did that help anyone?

What it basically boils down to is that given excess traffic flow for a given roadway, the "slower traffic move right" mantra will no longer be appropriate. You're going to have to go slower. Deal with it.

Now, given a not-overcrowded highway where we can move over and let a faster car pass easily...or just get in the left lane to pass the occasional slower car, then great...slower traffic keep right.....

I have nothing to add here. I am just trying to get to full Dork status.

Disclaimer: I tend to drive a bit faster than the normal flow of traffic, usually 78-80 MPH (hey, this is South Carolina).

It used to be that if I was in the left lane going faster than traffic and someone flashed me I'd get pissed off. Now I just move on over when I feel it's safe to do so; if it's not safe then I say screw 'em, they wait till it's safe. If I am already running 80 in a 70 and Little Ms. Yammering On a Cell Phone In A Black Yukon With Nine Kids and a Monogram On The Rear Glass wants to run 90, well I ain't going to run 90 or risk an accident just to make her happy. She will just have to wait till I find a safe place to let her ignorant ass by. (No, the anger management classes didn't take! )

When it gets really stupid and dangerous is when coming up on an exit ramp and you can see a line of traffic getting ready to try to merge. 80% of people can't merge safely so I stay at least 1 lane over, if that's the left lane so be it. Again if Little Ms Hotshot wants to ride my bumper and flash her lights that's her perogative. I'm not going to risk a pileup just because she is in a hurry to get to her next Botox treatment.

Per Schroeder wrote: I'll go out on a limb and agree with the OP's statements, as stated. We get this situation a lot in Florida with two or three lane interstates. The two right lanes are going slow...the left lane is going slightly faster, but essentially, you're just stuck in a line behind a bunch of other shlumps and you just have to wait it out until you clear the clump.... Flashing, moving over, etc...nothing works. The only thing that helps is pulling over and buying an overpriced coffee and keep on trucking. The more 'polite' you are, the further behind you get—and the flashing/tailgating guy behind you only advances one spot. How did that help anyone? What it basically boils down to is that given excess traffic flow for a given roadway, the "slower traffic move right" mantra will no longer be appropriate. You're going to have to go slower. Deal with it. Now, given a not-overcrowded highway where we can move over and let a faster car pass easily...or just get in the left lane to pass the occasional slower car, then great...slower traffic keep right.....

+1 I can think of several occasions recently where I have started up a grade behind a line of 18 wheelers, changed into the left lane to pass, only to have one near the front yank his rig in front of me aaaaaand I'm stuck. I can't pass the rig next to me, so I can't get in front of him. I can't pass the rig in front of me. I can slow down and hope one of the other 18 wheelers will let me in, but that would REALLY piss off anyone behind me, wouldn't it? (not to mention being dangerous by its very nature) Plus, doing that doesn't guarantee anyone is going to let me in since the rigs are trying to keep momentum . Nope. I stay in the lane I'm in until what is blocking ME is out of the way and I'll be more than happy to move over when I can get past the obstruction.

On multi lane roads, sometimes the far right lane is the fastest. Did that going north on the Northway (I-87) on the day before Christmas.