Are we talking about the highway or the bedroom?

 

So true,

sometimes I have to apply more strategy to pass someone on the highway than to do a pass on the racetrack

 

Dude,

it happens everywhere. I am currently snowboarding in Tahoe with my kids. This idiot decided it's a good time to stand and start texting right in front of the exit from the lift. I managed to avoid him, my 11-year old didn't and fell on him. When I told him that he might not haven chosen the perfect spot to "take a rest" he developed a healthy does of self-righteous attitude.

 

I run into at least one of these left-laning aholes every night going home. The pattern seems to be mostly those with NY or VA license plates. It must be burned into their driving to stay glued to the left lane. No amount of flashing light, horns, or tail-gating gets the point across. And when you're forced to go around them on the right, they stare at you like "what is YOUR problem?"

Can you tell this is my number 1 pet peeve?

 

I just read the article, and here's the ONE quote that describes so many problems in life (not just driving):
"My old friend and former R&T colleague Rich Homan used to say there were two kinds of people in the world, those who notice things and those who don't."

Amen to that!

 

My favorite line in Cool Hand Luke applies to so much of the self righteous self entitled idiocy we see every day:

SOME MEN YOU JUST CAN'T REACH...

 

It is called "SA".....situational awareness. used to be required to survive. now that we live in a cotton ball, everyone gets a trophy, world...it is no longer a required trait and continues to vanish from the human race. the other day, my co-pilot told me that his wife strictly drives in the left lane and will under no circumstances move over. when asked why, she says it is her right?
i will however, out myself and say i was once guilty of the offense.....
i was driving in ireland with my girlfriend (now wife), just on a relaxing drive from a weekend away. i then noticed a small parade had developed behind me in the right lane. Oh f*ck...the right lane is the LEFT lane there. it was ME playing roving speed bump. i quickly moved to the far left lane and received the appropriate irish greeting from everyone that was stuck behind me.
i agree, probably my biggest pet peeve. i wish the cops would start making this a point of emphasis. it fk's up the flow of traffic and is probably the leading cause of road rage incidents.

 

Troof.

Absolutely astonishing to witness, yet you see it nearly every day.

If only "one move" applied on the street, like it does on the track. I've been on the receiving end of more aggressive defending of position on the highway than any amount of stupidity on-track...

 

Her "right"?
Yeah. And the first amendment protects my "right" to give her the middle finger as I pass.
What an *******.

 

I've noticed another phenomenon that exacerbates this "right lane is the fast lane" problem. Dive bombing. On my most recent drive up California's Central Valley on I-5 (a miserable two lane freeway), I spent a good hour plus doing the accordion, from about 50 mph to a dead stop. Over and over. Like a metronome. Why? Dive bombing. The left lane is full. Fewer cars in the right lane, so gaps to be had. Scream past a few cars while in the right lane, then jam yourself into the left lane - and I really do mean jam, as the lane is bumper-to-bumper. Everyone behind now has to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. Rinse, lather, repeat.

This mix of aggression with clueless morons was at once frightening and infuriating. I was stunned there wasn't an accident. I wished I was back on the race track, rather than towing the race car on the freeway. The race track was at least sane and predictable.

 

Its not just the highway where people are oblivious to others.

I'm in and out of the world's busiest airport, Atlanta Hartsfield quite a bit- 2-4x a month. I've noticed this phenom. In an already crowded concourse filling with streaming people, which despite the volume is moving pretty well, when a fight deplanes and a group of 3-10 people set up shop in the middle of the flow, totally oblivious to the disruption they are causing.
"How were the peanuts, Seth?
"Awesome. The Flight Attendant totally gave me 2 packs!"

Its already like Woodstock most times, but they don't seem to notice, or even care. Also done outside washrooms, or when boarding long before their group is called, or any other point of confluence.

Move, lead or step aside and get out of the way. OT rant over.

 

The left signal in the left lane works... 30% of the time here in SoCal. The rest of the time is a combination of "they never even saw you" as my wife says of my frustrations, and a mish mash of brake checks, looks of dirision, and a waving of arms and nashing of teeth. I think the latter is the self-righteousness, and the former is the SA spoken of above.

But yes - close speeds do work. Obviously it reduces overall safety if they wish to brake check.

The worst? The 991 driver that brake checked me from 80 down to 45 because there was a car to the side of me I could not go around.

I find myself in the middle and right lanes alot.

 

+1

Try owning your own business and having employees.

 

no sh*t. she does this with her kids in the car. one day she is going to bear the brunt of a road range incident. she will have earned it, but hopefully the kids won't be around.

 

OK, Since we're all diving in on this. A related issue is the person driving in the fast lane that will do a suitable 80mph but as soon as it becomes uphill, they don't add any acceleration to maintain speed and end up slowing down do 60mph. It's basic physics, squeeze a little more on the gas or get over.

Living in Northern California, there's few flat roads so this happens every 30 seconds.