I bet you didn’t misjudge. People have a bad habit of speeding up when someone tries to pass them. I’ve been stuck at 60 behind a driver in a 70 zone and as soon as I start passing the asshat speeds up to 75 in the cruising lane.
I was driving back from FL one time going up a 55mph state route (331). Some lady in one of those Lexus 2-seater convertibles was going a whole 56 in the right lane. I get up to her and attempt to pass, and just as I my front bumper gets to her car’s midpoint, she floors it and disappeared into the horizon.
About 20ish minutes later I get on I-10 going East and after a few miles of going 78+ in a 70mph highway I catch up to the same lady in the same Lexus going maybe 68. I, again, attempt to pass her and as soon I get close BAM she floors it and quickly disappears.
Even more infuriating was the person I got stuck behind that was cruising in the passing lane going too fast to pass whenever the other lane was clear, but then drastically slowing down whenever they were actually passing someone. So I’d get frustrated whenever they dropped to 65 because they were nervous passing, but I couldn’t get passed them because they’d be back up at 85-90 whenever the other lane was clear
I see this a lot in VA. They are constantly hauling modular houses or heavy equipment over Afton mountain on 64. People try to pass, but get nervous when beside the trucks and slow to a crawl. I don’t get how they feel safer hovering beside it rather than getting past it into the clear.
I’ve found this behavior to be more or less common in different places. It’s extremely common in Florida, for one. It’s pretty common in some parts of New York too. By contrast, just one state over, I haven’t encountered it in Connecticut at all (though I haven’t driven there as much as I have in Florida or New York, and I’ve mostly used the highways, where slower drivers are explicitly instructed to stay in the right lane. So there could be a sampling bias.)
I never understood it. It’s like the driver thinks that if somebody passes them, it’s a personal insult. It reminds me of those who speed up when they see that somebody might merge in front of them; like they feel possessive of the public road somehow.
I bet you didn’t misjudge. People have a bad habit of speeding up when someone tries to pass them. I’ve been stuck at 60 behind a driver in a 70 zone and as soon as I start passing the asshat speeds up to 75 in the cruising lane.
I was driving back from FL one time going up a 55mph state route (331). Some lady in one of those Lexus 2-seater convertibles was going a whole 56 in the right lane. I get up to her and attempt to pass, and just as I my front bumper gets to her car’s midpoint, she floors it and disappeared into the horizon.
About 20ish minutes later I get on I-10 going East and after a few miles of going 78+ in a 70mph highway I catch up to the same lady in the same Lexus going maybe 68. I, again, attempt to pass her and as soon I get close BAM she floors it and quickly disappears.
Even more infuriating was the person I got stuck behind that was cruising in the passing lane going too fast to pass whenever the other lane was clear, but then drastically slowing down whenever they were actually passing someone. So I’d get frustrated whenever they dropped to 65 because they were nervous passing, but I couldn’t get passed them because they’d be back up at 85-90 whenever the other lane was clear
I see this a lot in VA. They are constantly hauling modular houses or heavy equipment over Afton mountain on 64. People try to pass, but get nervous when beside the trucks and slow to a crawl. I don’t get how they feel safer hovering beside it rather than getting past it into the clear.
No, most of those trucks are going as fast as they can and are on cruise control. The governor on one might let it go a little faster than the other.
I’ve found this behavior to be more or less common in different places. It’s extremely common in Florida, for one. It’s pretty common in some parts of New York too. By contrast, just one state over, I haven’t encountered it in Connecticut at all (though I haven’t driven there as much as I have in Florida or New York, and I’ve mostly used the highways, where slower drivers are explicitly instructed to stay in the right lane. So there could be a sampling bias.)
I never understood it. It’s like the driver thinks that if somebody passes them, it’s a personal insult. It reminds me of those who speed up when they see that somebody might merge in front of them; like they feel possessive of the public road somehow.