Weird things happen these days.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Downshift. Their adaptive cruise will hit the brakes and wake them up.

People are just berkeleying stupid.

Even if they're not stupid, they're probably oblivious. Driving isn't something that most people are engaged with. It's a menial task they have to do between actual errands/job/school/"real" things. If life were like that movie Click then most were fast forward through driving.

I'm ecstatic to see driverless cars on the horizon.

Texas is full of "shiny happy people" who drive jacked up 4 wheel drives 20mph over the speed limit.  They roar up behind people going 10 to 15 mph over the limit trying to pass a row of shower traffic and sit on their bumper. 

If you leave a truck length between yourself and the car in front they will jinx over a lane, floor it, and force themselves into that small gap.   

The people who speed  up to block you from changing lanes to exit are the real passive aggressive one.  My tactic for that is pretend I'm not interested in moving over a lane, sucker them into leaving a gap between themselves and the car in front of them,  then floor it and take that spot so I can exit.  

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

As a former cyclist, I assume that the driver is too oblivious to notice, and I'm not gonna trust HAL to prevent a collision.

I have slowed down to as low as 45mph and still had some "person" following me with their high beams on with whatever large BMW sedan has the super bright multi element baseball stadium headlights... on a deserted Interstate with three lanes in each direction, two of them to the left of me, speed limit 70.  My sympathy approaches zero.

In reply to KyAllroad :

If there isn't anyone behind me when this happens, I just slow down abruptly and it usually scares people enough that when I get back to my cruise control speed they're still looking for whatever "cop" I slowed down for.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

That's when you empty your washer fluid tank.

I try to remember my dad in situations like these. That man has 10x my mental capacity but devotes as little as possible to driving. He tailgates without even noticing it. God bless all those people out there who never road raged on my sweet elderly father.

Unrelated, I had a fun one today. Someone driving a slow car fast rapidly approached my bumper as I'm stuck behind traffic that's slowing for an exit and then they sat there trying to will me to be faster or something. Once traffic cleared I was willing to play so I hammered it. And there they sat. In the words of Murphy, "What, you don't wanna play no more?"

And here I thought I was the ONLY one experiencing this nonsense.....sheesh.....be safe y'all 

"I have zero tolerance for people who aren't paying attention in traffic. I will be an shinny happy person about it. "

I love having the work dually out and some asshat tailgating me.

I'll find a pothole and run it right over with the rear tires.

The tailgater usually isn't so lucky.

ShawnG said:

I love having the work dually out and some asshat tailgating me.

I'll find a pothole and run it right over with the rear tires.

The tailgater usually isn't so lucky.

BWaHahahahaha!!!!! priceless Major fist bump late

Beer Baron said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Yup.

I temper this with a habit when passing semis that I think confuses the heck out of most drivers. I get into the passing lane next to the semi, and then hang back behind their rear bumper until I have a clear run in front of their front bumper. Then I make the pass as quickly as possible. I do NOT want to get caught next to a semi in a situation where they have to swerve or something.

Average driver does not seem to understand that.

Heck, even with regular passenger vehicles, I would rather maintain separation. They're just a lot shorter, so that's less noticeable.

I'm a truck driver. This is the best way to pass a semi. If a tire blows especially a steer tire and you linger beside a semi you stand a good chance to be involved in an accident. I hate when people won't speed up enough to pass me. Not to mention the blind spots around a semi. Remember to leave plenty of room in front to move over. Never linger beside the tires,if one blows out on the rear of the tractor or the trailer pieces will go everywhere. Including pieces of the truck and or trailer.

corolla2tcte27 said:

Beer Baron said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Yup.

I temper this with a habit when passing semis that I think confuses the heck out of most drivers. I get into the passing lane next to the semi, and then hang back behind their rear bumper until I have a clear run in front of their front bumper. Then I make the pass as quickly as possible. I do NOT want to get caught next to a semi in a situation where they have to swerve or something.

Average driver does not seem to understand that.

Heck, even with regular passenger vehicles, I would rather maintain separation. They're just a lot shorter, so that's less noticeable.

I'm a truck driver. This is the best way to pass a semi. If a tire blows especially a steer tire and you linger beside a semi you stand a good chance to be involved in an accident. I hate when people won't speed up enough to pass me. Not to mention the blind spots around a semi. Remember to leave plenty of room in front to move over. Never linger beside the tires,if one blows out on the rear of the tractor or the trailer pieces will go everywhere. Including pieces of the truck and or trailer.

I've always set myself up for passing large trucks like this. Just about the time I got my license, my dad told me about a friend of his that was killed when a truck tire blew out next to her VW van. 

corolla2tcte27 said:

I'm a truck driver. This is the best way to pass a semi. If a tire blows especially a steer tire and you linger beside a semi you stand a good chance to be involved in an accident. I hate when people won't speed up enough to pass me. Not to mention the blind spots around a semi. Remember to leave plenty of room in front to move over. Never linger beside the tires,if one blows out on the rear of the tractor or the trailer pieces will go everywhere. Including pieces of the truck and or trailer.

I hear that. I think I heard somewhere something to the effect of "wait until you can see their headlights in your rearview" to leave enough room for them to stop. I do not want something on my bumper that requires double my stopping distance.

I'm also that guy who, when a semi signals to change lanes, hangs back and flashes lights to indicate there's a clear space. Since I can only imagine how hard it is to judge if a vehicle (especially on your right) is behind the rear of the trailer or not.

I don't berkeley around with machinery that can kill me.

Passenger vehicles driving aggressive and being wang rods trying to bully other drivers around the road? Forget that. As much as I like my car, it's just a thing. I have rubbed body panels on track. I know what that feels like. I'm less afraid of body contact than you are. Go ahead and try to pass me on the right of the onramp or ending lane. Find out which of us blinks.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

I see it far more frequently driving the E250 or RV. It doesn't matter if I'm bouncing off the speed limiter at 85, they don't want to be passed by or stuck behind a "slow vehicle".

I doubt it is the "slow vehicle" thing as much as they can't see past you in an RV or large van.

If you have been trained to look well ahead of you on the highway a large box in your field of vision is an impediment to that. 

I don't hang out for long behind something I can't see past.

I don't care if you can't see around me. Stop passing me, only to get in front and go slower than we were both going before you passed.

I use this to my advantage. I'm a big "stay right except to pass" person. Just today there was someone hanging in the left lane, going a little fast. I was going a bit faster and closed in on him in the right lane. As soon as I was passing him (I never changed lanes, just going slightly faster) he gets on the gas and paces me. I realize what's going on so I slowly accelerate, until we are moving at a pretty good clip. I figure I will let this guys insecurity or obliviousness to my advantage, let him stay just a little ahead, thus reducing my likelihood of getting the ticket by at least 50%. We ended up going at least 15 mph faster than when I initially passed him.  

ShawnG said:

I don't care if you can't see around me. Stop passing me, only to get in front and go slower than we were both going before you passed.

 

This. If you pass me and slow down, I'm probably going to be a real ass hole about it. 

corolla2tcte27 said:

Beer Baron said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Yup.

I temper this with a habit when passing semis that I think confuses the heck out of most drivers. I get into the passing lane next to the semi, and then hang back behind their rear bumper until I have a clear run in front of their front bumper. Then I make the pass as quickly as possible. I do NOT want to get caught next to a semi in a situation where they have to swerve or something.

Average driver does not seem to understand that.

Heck, even with regular passenger vehicles, I would rather maintain separation. They're just a lot shorter, so that's less noticeable.

I'm a truck driver. This is the best way to pass a semi. If a tire blows especially a steer tire and you linger beside a semi you stand a good chance to be involved in an accident. I hate when people won't speed up enough to pass me. Not to mention the blind spots around a semi. Remember to leave plenty of room in front to move over. Never linger beside the tires,if one blows out on the rear of the tractor or the trailer pieces will go everywhere. Including pieces of the truck and or trailer.

I have heard stories of CRXs blown completely off the road by an exploding semi tire.

Yeah, no thanks.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

I see it far more frequently driving the E250 or RV. It doesn't matter if I'm bouncing off the speed limiter at 85, they don't want to be passed by or stuck behind a "slow vehicle".

I blame a lot of aggressive passing habits on this. 

When I'm in the Prius, I'll have people try everything they can to pass me, especially if we're going into a curvy section of road. Little do they know I like the curves and the Prius can maintain it's momentum just fine through them, and then they get all pissy when I'm pushing them faster than they had intended to go through said turns. 

I hate being pushed by traffic so if I feel someone is riding my bumper I will very quickly get out of their way. 

On my way home from work last night there was an older woman driving between 70 and 85 (yoyoing) in the passing lane with her lights completely off. I got up next to her and tried to tell her they were off and she said she knows and sped off. I just don't understand people these days. 

The talk of box trucks and so on reminded me of a few years ago, I was on a normal city street, behind a guy with a trailer.  I was only there for a few blocks, but I was 0leaning left now and then to see what was coming up.  He got offended as berkeley, started to brake check me, which didn't work because I was quite far back.

I'm always curious about people more concerned about what is behind them than what's in front.  There is nothing to be done about it...unless you are in the left lane.  Then, you can get the hell out of the way.

Beer Baron said:

corolla2tcte27 said:

I'm a truck driver. This is the best way to pass a semi. If a tire blows especially a steer tire and you linger beside a semi you stand a good chance to be involved in an accident. I hate when people won't speed up enough to pass me. Not to mention the blind spots around a semi. Remember to leave plenty of room in front to move over. Never linger beside the tires,if one blows out on the rear of the tractor or the trailer pieces will go everywhere. Including pieces of the truck and or trailer.

I hear that. I think I heard somewhere something to the effect of "wait until you can see their headlights in your rearview" to leave enough room for them to stop. I do not want something on my bumper that requires double my stopping distance.

I'm also that guy who, when a semi signals to change lanes, hangs back and flashes lights to indicate there's a clear space. Since I can only imagine how hard it is to judge if a vehicle (especially on your right) is behind the rear of the trailer or not.

I don't berkeley around with machinery that can kill me.

Passenger vehicles driving aggressive and being wang rods trying to bully other drivers around the road? Forget that. As much as I like my car, it's just a thing. I have rubbed body panels on track. I know what that feels like. I'm less afraid of body contact than you are. Go ahead and try to pass me on the right of the onramp or ending lane. Find out which of us blinks.

The more space you leave the better. At least 4 to 5 car lengths. Fully loaded takes 3 football fields to stop at 55 mph. I like to stay at least 4 seconds behind a vehicle if not more. The problem is cars see all that space and pull into it. Had some close calls because of that. I've lost fenders and a battery box, mud flap and once had a recap completely separate from the carcass of the tire. Not fun. Tires are inflated to at least 90psi. Sounds like a bomb going off. 

I love the horn on the Freightliner at work.

I call it "The voice of God".

I don't understand my pet peeve with people on my rear bumper. I can rationalize that it's safety related but in reality I think I feel bullied or something? Dunno, Will have to to talk to the counselor wife about that one. It's a LOT more prevalent here in MI than in the Midwest. And not even the cool kind like in NYC where everyone expects you to take small gaps and start/stop suddenly; they're just jerks about following too close here. 
 

I traded paint with a guy once. You're right, Beer Baron, most of us aren't really prepared for it. Very surreal. He did not know that I have major insecurities about road bullying and fantasize about doing a pit maneuver on anyone trying to bully me into moving out of my lane. I was as surprised as he was about it. I learned a few lessons that day:

1. I should not practice in my head something that I don't actually want to do in real life

2. I am not a fighter. "Fighting" with cars can lead to fighting IRL. If I don't want to fight IRL I should not start down that path in my car. 
 

So I am working on chilling out, or -horrors: getting out of the way of tailgaters. 

I have the no tailgating issue too.

I pull big trailers. I frequently have someone so close behind that I can only see them when I make a turn or when I see a mirror poke out. Drives me nuts.

With the work trailer, I don't want them not paying attention and hitting me.

With a load of hay... I strap my load, I hate losing anything off a trailer and I'm a guy who lost a whole trailer off the back of my truck once.

Bale stacks move around when you haul them, no matter how well you strap and tarp them. Combine that with sketchy country roads, I can only stop and check my load so often. If I drop a bale on some idiot's hood, it's my fault even though he was the jackass following so close that he wouldn't have time to avoid any problem that might come along.

A big part of me wants to drop a few hundred pounds of bales right in front of him to teach him a lesson. The other part of me doesn't want to deal with the cops, paperwork and fines, nevermind the jackass in the BMW who moved to farm country to get away from it all and now hates farm traffic.