Another A$$hole On The Road (AAOTR)

With the next lane to the left wide open, and a wall of brake lights just a quarter mile ahead, I'm still having a difficult time labeling this as an offense at all. In the absence of a tailgater behind, I would not have sped up, and may well have just glided up to the 'wall'.

 

Fuzzy, all I can do is read the story problem.

The Xterra did some bad behavior, then the prius responded to get back at him. I don't think we need to respond to trailgators by speeding, but if you are going I'm guessing 25mph under the speed limit because of traffic, then traffic gets better, you can at least speed up instead of getting mad at the tailgater. You never know if that wall is going to move, but people will weave in front of a slower moving vehicle.

And this is the bad attitude many prius drivers have. TS, I own the road.
Let's share the road everybody. That means using a little more gas, but use it, not try to be a road block. The poster said explicitly he was not responding to traffic when he didn't speed up. Responding to traffic is fine. Hyper miling in traffic or going slow intentionally is not.

 

Reading about all this has given me some insight into my own bad behaviors! I have a AAOTR story, and this time I am not quite sure how I provoked this driver and this is one of the rare instances where I am very confused about what happened.

So my typical commute involves a 2 mile 7% grade (I climb up on my way to work, and go back down on my way home). On my way to work I was going 55 mph (as I normally do) in the far right lane but spotted an 18-wheeler about half a mile ahead of me with the emergency lights on going maybe about 40 (some of them seem to struggle up the hill). Spotting this I started scanning the lane to my left for an opening and started to match the speed of the lane (which was 60 mph). When I found an opening, I slotted myself in and stayed with the speed of the car in front of me and allowed the average 3-4 second gap between our two vehicles. Not 5 seconds after I'm comfortably in the lane I hear a horn blaring and highbeams flashing against my rear view mirror. I look back to find a car FLYING up my butt which had been more than 300 - 400 feet back. Once he got about as comfortable as an egg under mother hen, he turned on his highbeams and kept his horn on. Once we passed the semi, I was prepared to move to the right to make way for him and his need to get maybe 2 car lengths ahead when he swerves over, still with his horn blaring, one finger salute out high and proud, and flies off. All the while I was still roughly 3-4 seconds behind the car in front of me, which at that speed was maybe 2 car lengths...

Maybe I'm missing something? I sometimes feel like I'm doing something wrong with no understanding of it.

 

^^^
No that was all the other car, you did exactly the correct thing.

The wrong thing would have been to slow down or flash brake lights when he started blaring his horn. Some people get behind the wheel and don't know how to act. He thought he owned the road, and you had no right moving into his lane to pass. The rules are the opposite though. That lane is there for you to pass the slow moving truck.

 

Thanks for the affirmation! It took a while for me to stop doing things like flashing my brake lights, slowing down, etc. I used to be in the mindset of "Ha, take that!" but it really does seem to make the problem worse.

I also realized that by further angering an already ticked off driver, you are increasing the chances that someone in a 1 ton block of metal will be driving even more aggressively and dangerously, increasing the danger not only to yourself but other drivers out there. It's fine if they want to take it out on me but I'd rather not send someone into a blind rage where they end up hurting someone else.

 

I agree with the OP here, the other guy was driving recklessly.


However, the OP is not completely innocent. Almost every state has a law on the books that the left lane is for passing only. Regardless whether the OP's intention was to merge into the HOV lane, his obligation was to pull out of the left lane and allow the car to over-take him.

As for the other car speeding, that is not for the OP to enforce, the Law will pull the other car over.

In states like Colorado, the OP would have been ticketed.


I don't feel sorry for anyone who complains about violating law A while they're violating law B.


Left lane laws by state (green means left lane is for passing only unless you intend to turn left):

 

I was jumping on the Bush in Dallas, going 55 up the entrance ramp (not slow) when this car got on my nice person. As I entered the tollway, I stayed in the right lane while the car blew by me. As I looked in my rear view mirror, I could see a Texas State Trooper kicking up the dust and then the rollers came on. That's the best way for one of these stories to end.

Read Sun Tzu's The Art of War for tips on driving among aggressive drivers.

 

Mount a visible video cam, such as a GoPro, where they can see it, and point to the cam. (Maybe someone should make up little bumper stickers that say "Smile, you're on video") Or just shoot video and then give it to the police. I used to have a passenger make a show of doing this, and bully drivers would cease and desist the moment they thought they were being filmed. They certainly made no attempt to retaliate or continue bullying.

 

Yeah, I agree with you, you weren't doing anything entirely wrong. Left lane laws only apply if you're driving slower than general traffic (unless you're in a black state, then you have to yield to everyone).

The guy was driving recklessly.

But in general, hypermiling in the left lane could bring out road rage in even a nun!

 

Strictly speaking, yes, but according to the official publication on the LIE HOV lanes:

"Motorists must follow all traffic rules including the LIE HOV rules. Acting courteously toward
other drivers entering or leaving the HOV travel lane is important to the safety of all LIE motorists."

Keep in mind that this is not just an extra lane that you can move in and out of at any time. There are specific entry and exit points with several miles between them and it's not legal to cross the line anywhere else, hence the request for courtesy from non-HOV drivers. In other words, if you see someone heading for the HOV entrance, let up on the road rage.

But I think the OP should still have just ignored the tailgater and moved safely into the HOV lane, rather than flicking his brake lights.

 

Looks like the victims are in a Prius (not 100% sure):

2 Arrested In Oakland Road Rage Shooting Over Cellphone Video « CBS San Francisco

 

What I tell people is that when driving in Los Angeles, assume the guy tailgating you (or the guy that you just cut off, etc.) has a gun and is willing to use it. Now drive accordingly.

Mike

 

I think so, too. What are they trying to do, give Prius drivers a bad name?

 

Things really got interesting when some folks tried this in LA the other day.