I've always had an issue with people who insist on either riding next to you on a fairly empty road, or riding just off your rear bumper.
Here in Georgia we have I-16. It runs east/west between Macon, Ga. and Savannah, Ga. and is about 165 miles long. It's a standard Interstate, with two lanes in each direction, and, for the most part a 70 MPH speed limit, and not much traffic.
Over the years I've traveled that road countless times, and it's not uncommon to 20 to 30 miles stretches of road with no one around you. I usually cruse at about 80 mph. Inevitably there will be someone driving faster, or slower than me, who, when we get into each other's proximity, will either speed up or slow to to match my speed.
Most times they will fall in behind me, but on many occasion, I've noticed that these people find it necessary to ride next to you, or just off your rear bumper, so that if it becomes necessary to change lanes to avoid debris, or perhaps someone entering the road way from an on ramp, you can't with out adjusting your speed.
The innate stupidity of this practice does increase the chance of an accident, too. If something, anything, goes wrong, say for example, one of the cars gets a blow out, it's almost a sure bet that there will be an accident.
The idea of riding next to another vehicle at 80 Miles an hour, on a relatively empty road simply makes no sense, whatsoever.
Usually I'll ride the right lane in light traffic, and there is always the guy (girl) who is going faster than you, moving up in the left lane, and for some idiotic reason, when they get next to your car, they slow down and stay there for miles. Eventually they will either speed off, or exit the road.
There are also those who are driving slower than you are until you go to pass them, then the speed up to either attempt to stay in front of you, or match your speed for some reason. Again, they will eventually drop off for one reason or another, but they HAVE to ride next to you for a spell, for some unknown reason.
Another thing: Why do some people take a "flash to pass" signal as an insult? COMMON COURTESY of the road is to yield to faster traffic, yet I've seen so many people who refuse to yield, or take it as an insult, after being passed by faster traffic , get behind the faster car, speed up to match the other car's speed, and repeatedly flash their light, or just ride behind the faster car with their high beams on. This is a stupidity that I see very often.
"Flash to pass" isn't an insult, it's a simple common practice, and a Common courtesy. There are many occasions where I will be traveling faster than a car in the Left lane ( I never flash at cars in any lane but the left lane), and most times, as you approach them,( even without flashing) they will simply move over, let you pass, and it's done. Also in most cases when I do flash to pass, the car in front moves over and allows me to pass without incident, but there is ALWAYS the occasion when some idiot, takes it as a challenge, and either stays there without allowing you to pass, or worse yet, slows down, because they are personally insulted that you flashed your lights at them. THAT is sheer stupidity, ALWAYS.
If I'm in the Left lane and some one obviously wants to pass, whether he flashed his lights , or not, I simply let him. It's not a big deal, it's not an insult, and it's not a personal challenge. The stupidity in taking that sort of thing personally is just incredible.
I don't know anyone who gets into a car for the purpose of pissing off another driver.
I drive about 60 to 70 thousand miles a year, and I'm always amazed at the stupidity, and the
) in a 60 zone because of the bad weather. Then when we hit the 50 mph zone he slows down to 40. Ummmm so you could do 50 in the 60 zone, but no way you could go that fast in the 50 zone:scratch:
