LOL @left lane campers while I was driving a truck
 

Driving a bigass pickup to haul a sofa, I kept count. 4 out of 4 left-lane campers got out of my way when I flashed my lights at 'em. (It was night) If I were driving my miata (or even my 5-series), it would have been 1 out of 4. If I eventually get around 2 out of 4, they would express anger, with a flash, a honk, a finger, or aggressive driving. The 4th would have remained oblivious.

So left lane campers move aside out of fear, rather than courtesy. And it's irrational too - do they think truck drivers are likely to ram and kill them if they don't move aside, whereas miata drivers will just sit and wait?

Or is it they don't like the lights shining in their mirrors? Would they move aside at night if I mounted roof headlights on the miata?

Food chain. Truck wins.

If i'm doing 5-10 over the limit as it is. I'm not touching my throttle. Fuck you, slow down. Or find another way around me.



Though, i do think the left lane is for passing only, i'm going to get over as soon as i can no matter how much you flash your lights.

It's amazing how many people stopped fucking with me in traffic when I put a Smith & Wesson sticker on the back window.

It's been my experience that drivers who would otherwise be oblivious will always tend to yield to large vehicle.

I've driven across the country several times in a 16' box truck pulling a four-wheel car trailer. Despite what you might think, it's an extremely easy vehicle to maneuver in traffic, whether it's merging into a busy freeway or just changing lanes in city traffic. All you have to do is signal, and then start turning. If anybody is in your way, they will move.

It actually makes me understand why, from my perspective at least, many people who drive jacked-up F350s and the like are rude and inconsiderate drivers. They're used to traffic parting before them like Moses at the Red Sea.

Wonder who dey hatin on?

Lots of hos give you their number but you never call?

When I drive the miata around...I'm driving scared and no one ever lets me go unless they honestly nice people. In my truck Joe Perez said it best...super easy, signal and turn.

In my miata I have to be a very aggressive driver. I will get in the lane I need to be in no matter what because most people leave a space big enough for a miata or I just start merging like a truck would if I have had my blinker on and they are being a douche and not letting me in. If you just start merging in these situations people will always back off no matter what you are driving. They may play chicken for a bit longer but no one is gonna let the back end of your car hit the front end of theirs. This will always be there fault and even if it wasn't they don't want to deal with an accident anyway. Traffic is really just a game of who has the bigger balls.

On the flipside I am always curtious about letting other drivers in if their blinker is on. I also move out of the left lane if I am not passing or someone traveling faster comes up behind me, no flash necessary.

After finally doing a W2W race, I'm a lot more aggressive in traffic and don't feel bad about bitching people anymore when merging and shit.

Around here most are either too stupid or intentionally rude to you as they camp in the left lane. Meaning you're lucky if even 1 out of 4 will get out of your way. This is why I absolutely despise traffic/congested freeways/highways and avoid them at all costs.

GENIUS!

You've just given me an idea. The 24 Hours of Lemons needs to feature an exhibition race, for old box trucks! Extra points if the box contains a fully stocked bar / lounge for the judges to relax in and be bribed during tech, or a working prison cell for use during driver penalties, etc.

W2W racing have given me two things related to traffic; Scared as hell for the lack of runoffs and no problem at all to pass anyone on any side possible (at least if there are lanes that can be used). Passing on the right might annoy some (depends on area, laws etc).

If you want to annoy a camper, place yourself W2W in the next lane for a mile... But playing games on the road can be dangerous of course.

I drive faster than traffic most of the time. People confuse it for asshole driving, but I do it to be seen and (try to) be more intimidating to bigger cars. If I don't drive really aggressive (especially in miami) you get taken advantage of really easily in the miata.

I had something similar happen on my way back from Road Atlanta this past December. It was late and there were few cars on the road. I was doing 90+ due to the lack of traffic. By lack, I mean maybe 1 or 2 cars every 5 minutes. And I came up on this one guy in the left lane, no reason, no other cars nearby. I guess since it was late, and he couldn't tell the size of my car, or something to that degree, he quickly got over after a few flashes. I do think part of that had to do with the speed differential though.

I think the visibility is a big piece of it. Day or night, a big truck looms in the rear view and is more likely to catch their peripheral vision (you know, since they never actively check the mirror).

What if you are doing 5-10 over, there is no one in the right lane and someone is closing on you? They flash from a good 100 yards back.

What do you do?

What do you do?!

This is close to my driving style. I call it "enthusiastic" versus "aggressive." Just because I accelerate and corner harder than 90% of people will ever experience, does not make me aggressive. I don't block intersections, I (almost) always let people over when they use turn signals, I let people merge when appropriate, etc. I constantly scan and look ahead, trying to anticipate probable issues, I try to use the left lane only for passing and will even accelerate to move right if someone is coming up behind me, etc. I always use my turn signals - even in the parking garage, Braineack.

I usually win.

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Most people get out of my way real quick.
If you are in the fast lane doing the speed limit, or under, I will ride your ass.
I am always in control, and I usually don't get to close.
If you brake check me, its over.
This is assuming you have a lane to chance into. In traffic, ill wait until you have had plenty of time to change lanes. If you don't, i'm on you.

I never stay in the left lane unless i'm passing period.

It would be really nice if everyone would respect left lane for passing only rule.

Same experiences here, in my truck people are courteous and won't flash their lights (except one guy in a Camry following me when I was towing a boat and passing at ~15kph greater than the passee, I did not pull out in front of him).

In a miata, unless you're driving fast, you are treated like a motorcyclist, ignored and / or disrespected. Also on coming traffic tends to flash their brights at me alot when I have my low beams on (Bosch H4 conversion).

I'm also another that uses the rightmost lane I can, often the right lane is wide open for incredible distances with everyone clogged up in the middle and left. Maybe they think the right lane has cooties or it's just for those fabulous miata drivers?

I have never understood the people who feel the need to regulate traffic by driving in the left lane. The whole "No one needs to be going faster than me, so i am going to make sure no one does" is too common and is completely lost on me.

People also get so ridiculous about their strange sense of person space on the roads as well as if they "own" whatever area they are around. When I drive my truck with a 28" trailer, people assume that if I get over in front of them, I will be going 10mph under the speed limit or something. When I put on my blinker to get over, half the time they speed up to close what was a reasonable amount of space for me to get over. When this happens I give them "the trailer shake". I will go back and forth in my lane just enough with the truck that the back of the trailer is swaying enough to notice. At this point they slam on the brakes, because they think I am about to lose control and I have my space back.

Same here. You don't mess with "Big John".

http://i49.tinypic.com/34etfz5.jpg

I would get the fuck out of the way.
But if your fast enough to need me out of the way, ill get in right behind you doing the same speed, using you as a cop shield. LOL

See I used to ride people's asses and honk at them, but it never seems to help. Now I just go around them on the right when I get a chance.

In my Mark VIII it's pretty easy, but in the miata I sometimes have trouble. That's why I'm here.

I wouldn't be in the left lane.
Then again I probably would not be doing 5-10 over either. Wasting gas just isn't worth getting somewhere a few minutes early.

Also Yellowihss your truck looks just like a newer version of the one that rear ended me. He decided because I was slowing down a little early for a red light he would drive an inch from my bumper. When I down shifted he hit me. Needless to say there was a court battle and I won. I would never ever suggest tailgating anyone.

Is that what is pulling the chump car out to VIR?

A friend warned me this fall that state cops in MA were going to start actively pulling over left-lane bandits. I haven't seen it, but it's nice to think.

Crossing from Mass into CT on I-84 off-peak, you can set the cruise on the sunny side of 80, stay in the right lane, and pass pretty much everyone. It's a kind of lane discipline in reverse - everybody snoozes in the center and left lanes, only trucks and me use the right.

If it's rush hour, I treat it like I would on a track (haven't been to one yet, but from what I understand ;) ). I keep my lane near on/off ramps and I get out of the way on the straightaways to let the faster cars through.

Larger trucks coming up fast from behind are a bit intimidating. I let taller cars, in general, get around me. I hate having bright lights in my mirror.

I dunno, at night, lights closing in on you are equally visible with a miata or a big truck.

I'm with a lot of responders here - I drive "enthusiastically" but also courteously. One of my personal rules is never do something to make the other guy evade you or hit the brakes. I don't ride someone's ass unless they can move over and they don't. I don't stay in the left lane unless actively passing. I move aside for other cars, even when I'm in the right lane, someone wants to get on the road in the same direction as me - I move to the left lane if open so they can get on sooner. (BTW very, very few drivers ever do this)

I've always noticed that after a race I find myself gently, half asleep pulling into a gap that must have INCHES of extra space, and watch cars on both sides freak out... Till I realize that no one is used to it. Only lasts like the first 10 - 20 minutes on public roads, but it's kinda funny when you first notice what's happening and decide to act like a human being again.


Uh huh. It's a different experience in my $1000 van, little shiny miata and the GF's lexus SUV. In different places on the size/value/manuverability chart for sure.

There are WAY too many people here in socal (I imagine elsewhere as well) who just plain aren't aware. And a lot that hope if they don't give you room you won't take it. Basically it comes down to knowing where your car ends. I've maybe had one person not back off when I just put myself where I want to be. If they are being assholes, they are generally the most afraid. Either way, moving into what small percentage of their field of vision isn't taken up with iPhone typically lets them know that the blinking light they are seeing means you want to get over.

Don't you love driving with people who won't signal until there's an opening? Miles and miles will go by while they speed up and slow down waiting for a gap before letting anyone else in on their secret.


I think there might be something to the roof mounted headlight idea. And don't get me started on focused, tracking mirrors specifically for asshole with high mounted lights and their brights on.

But an insight!
When I had Serious Airhorns on my car, I noticed that every single time I used them, without fail, cars would instantly jerk away from me. Oh, sure, most would look over, and continue on their way. Some would look over, see a miata and get right back underfoot.

But as you're saying, instead of 80% ignoring you till they figured out who you were, they would just MOVE as if the horn was attached to a freight train. (This isn't for passing, per se, but general collision avoidance). In nutshell: Airhorns if you don't want to get run over. It really, really, REALLY works.


Heh. I was like that. When I was 16.


Never gone to court and never been to prison, but I have certainly been parked on the highway or surface streets because some truck refused to go around me more than a few times. I'll go one fucking mile an hour or park and set up a picnic on my trunk before I'll ride the ass of the guy in front of me... If there's nowhere for me to go, I'm not going. If there IS somewhere for me to go, and also a place for you to go, fuck off, go around.

I'm generally pretty good about it, but sometimes the amount of effort for the world at large is smaller if you back the fuck off. Once you turn it into a fight, it's a fight. And once you're riding that close, I'm not convinced you've got the ability to squeeze by me once I start to move over without hitting me. I'd rather stay in front where there's a good legal standing that you're 100% at fault.


Yeah - perhaps it comes from years of motorcycle riding, but I'd like to think that if everyone else on the road were blind it wouldn't change my 'flight path' at all.

Odd. True, but odd. Probably ridiculous, but I tend to think of the total amount of fuel/brake/money/environmental-impact cost to the world. Changing lanes: About a fart in the wind. Dropping from 85 to 60 mph, then getting back up to speed, for two cars? Enough to drive a mile or two.

Nice brodozer. And I mean that. I like the truck.

I thought I was the only one who did this...

Big John needs some warpaint on his face.

Yes sir.

I want to go buy a bus like that now from an auction. They are so cheap. I do not think my apartment complex would be pleased though.

the law even says get the fuck over if you're holding up traffic at any speed most places.

what drives me nuts the most? people who merge way over to the left to drive slower than everyone. derp.

Yeah in mass they're actually supposed to pull over a left lane camper before a speeder. They really need to start enforcing the minimum speed limit around here too.

TX folk love to wait to see the whites of your eyes before they pull out in front of you. Happens daily in the miata. Never once had it happen in the 3500 Ram.

lol put some cages on that black bus and type prison transport. See how many stay in front of u.

Around here theres this road with 3 lanes closing into 2. Left lane ends. Usually you get people cutting in front of you. More than once i've had people change from my lane behind me to try to over take me just before the left lane ends forcing me to brake to prevent getting side swiped. Depending on the time of day once in a while i'll pull ahead of them forcing them to merge behind me again and then its "hello exact speed limit". I've once had a cop pull over the idiot that did that trick... gotta say it made my day after the person cutting me off.

I'd never drive slower.

I'll speed up to get around a car, then set my cruise back at 70 in the right or middle lane whatever it may be. I'd never hold up traffic, you want to get around me you can wait for me to make my pass.

This is the thing that gets me about drivers like Erat: They are so sensitive and so egoistic. They take things so personally and prefer escalation to accomodation and courtesy. It's an alien thought process to me.

On the topic of egos, I drive mostly rural roads. If I pass a pickup truck in the Miata the odds are high that the driver of the truck will speed up and ride my ass as if to send me a message. (What message?)

I am a courteous driver. I don't tailgate (except left lane campers to get them to move over.) When I pass, I'm certainly not doing it in anger, but some people just can't stand to be passed by a Miata.

I remember passing a little something, Fiesta maybe? Something like that. It was going 45 - 50 on windy roads. That's fine, I don't care how fast he chooses to drive, but I wanted to go faster. So I passed. A minute later I'm going 75 and I see the little car in the rear view mirror, probably going as fast as it could, with kids in the car, trying to catch me. Why? Evidently I insulted the guy by passing him, even though I did it safely.

That's the shit that pisses me off.

Isn't passing with a miata equivalent to dropping the bar of soap in the prison shower?
You attract some attention to your rear end (from some)... :makeout:

You can take what i said, and remove the rest, you get a dumb comment.

Read everything i wrote. If i'm ALREADY going over the speed limit, screw you. I'm not, nor will i ever just ride in the left hand lane. I'm there for a reason, to make a pass. If you're so inconvenienced by having to slow down then you can go fuck yourself. Also stop speeding.

I obey the law, anyone who disagrees with me is breaking the law. Therefore your point is invalid.

I recently drove from Appleton, WI to the FL panhandle. Left lane campers probably added an hour or so to my trip. The most frustrating times are when you're in a line of 5-10 cars, all trapped behind someone who is pacing a semi. Going uphill. Lack of situational awareness abounds. I think the most appalling times are when emergency vehicles cannot pass because of inattentive drivers.

I found that flashing my brights when 7-10 car lengths back seemed to be the most effective at getting people to move over. However, I will happily pass on the right if it is open. We're all just trying to get where we're going...

This is exactly what I was referencing. It's not just a Miata. If I'm in the 3-series, the Miata or the Kia, some people still take you passing them or taking a turn at break-neck speed (you know, pulling > 0.4G) as a personal insult.

These are the people that must "teach a lesson" or "send a message" as you wrote. Totally egoistic - they take that pass personally and are offended.

Sorry. You are a law breaker, therefore your point is invalid. :party:

Screw me for screwing you. I'm not a complete dickbag.

Do 72 to pass someone doing 68.

I'll leave that to the truckers.

I'm curious. If you are already going 72 to pass someone going 68, and someone comes up behind you doing 75, why not speed up a few mph? You are already speeding. Why not have the common courtesy to speed up a bit so you don't obstruct the other driver and make him do the most annoying thing in the world: cancel the cruise control?

QFT

This line written to keep the site's auto-dumb feature from lower-casing my acronym.

I'm in a part of Texas West of DFW. I must say, drivers here are darn courteous. There also aren't many of them, and the roads are mostly two lanes, fast and go through some pretty country. Everybody likes to drive fast when they can. Sometimes they can't because they're towing a tractor or livestock, etc. In those cases, if they notice you coming up and see that you can't make the pass (oncoming traffic, double yellow, whatever), they literally pull over as far as the asphalt will let them to let you by. Even if you're in a Miata.

My BIL came into town to go with me to Austin for F1. We drove down to Austin on US 281, which was nearly empty. Nice hill country drive. I would say we experienced the "pull-over" courtesy three or four times on the way down. My BIL is from Baltimore. He was absolutely dumbfounded when he saw that.

Funny.

Erat is too important to expend the infinitesmal effort of speeding up slightly, or moving to the right to let a fellow driver by, just because he's already going slightly faster than the too-low posted speed limit.

IMHO, you're just as much in the wrong speeding, as i would be "making a pass" in the left lane.

Yeah, that's what i'm saying i wouldn't do.

I'm gonna get up and go, make my pass. In my car i can hit the gas speed up to whatever then let go of the gas and it will resume where it was set at.

Also, i'm not sure what kinda beater ass cars you guys drive, but mine has a "resume" button. So i can "cancel" the cruise, then hit "resume" and it gets back going exactly where it was set at.

I'm ecstatic on the occasions when I'm on a curvy back road or mountain pass and the vehicle in front, especially a trucker, is kind enough to pull over and let me continue my spirited driving. They do it even without experiencing tailgating. By some miracle, they have good situational awareness and act accordingly, well beyond any obligations.

It literally makes my day and improves my view on humanity.

I've yet to experience the anecdotal a-hole pickup truck driver scenario in rural areas and I drive them frequently :dunno:

I occasionally make the drive down to the Southwest Gulf Coast of Florida. Without fail, I-4 (East-West from Orlando to Tampa) is full of people that are completely oblivious to others/have no concept of lane courtesy/are too self-important to adjust their driving to accommodate anyone else (aka "I'M DOING THE SPEED LIMIT ALREADY! GO FUCK YOURSELF!").

However, I-75 (North-South) is much more what I imagine major highways in Europe are like. You still have to do the occasional lane dance, but there are way more people that actually respect others and do not place their own importance above everyone else.




:party:

I'm going to rant for a second on a similar theme.

How about the right lane campers that don't move the hell out of the way to let people merge...when the left lanes are WIDE OPEN! Some bitch blasted her horn at me today when I sped up and had to cross the white lines at the very end of an on-ramp because there was a chain of three fucking cars camping in the right lane, and none of them would let me in. The left lane had literally no cars in it for a half mile on either side. I was ready to smack-a-ho.

Why are you bitching at the camper when the cars behind her should have passed her instead of ride her ass?

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i accept you