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Let's learn how to drive on the highway together!

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dank69 said:
This is a pretty good answer but I will add that you should have already known this guy was going to be on your bumper before you ever moved into the left lane. Knowing this, you should have sped up before he got on your bumper or waited to pass until after he passed you.

Also, in the future, convert all speeds to nearest 5 mph and leave out the kph. Kph isn't a real measurement of speed. It's like lb/m. You didn't convert hours to whatever the silly metric system equivalent of time measurement is.
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How do you know if someone will want to pass you if there isn't anyone near you when you initiate the pass?
 
1. I slam on my brakes as hard as possible. No one tailgates the LNDBARJ license plate.

2.Maintain lane if they continue looking like they are gonna pass, though most intelligent people, when they see the signal, slow down to let the person ahead of them in and go ahead int the left lane themselves.
 
Never speed up past what you are comfortable with, going faster than that is by definition unsafe. Don't let another car bully you into being unsafe. Only you can assess the complex interplay between the driving conditions, your driving skill, and your car's handling.
 
I don't do anything, I continue to pass the car I am passing at my current rate and move over when I am passed him
 
cbrunny said:
What do you do?

Scenario 1)

- Three lane highway, 100 kph (62.1 mph) limit. Cruise set at 120 kph (74.5 mph). Riding in the Right or Middle lane depending on flow.
- You see traffic in front of you and nobody is in the Left lane. You change lanes into the left lane and cruise past someone doing 118 km/hr (73.3 mph), so naturally it takes about a minute to complete the pass without accelerating.
- While passing, someone doing between 125 kph (77.7 mph) and 130 kph (80.8 mph) arrives behind you. They flash their lights at you and tailgate.

What do you do? Do you accelerate to their speed, even though it may be faster than you want to be driving? Do you continue on your way at the same speed you are driving at, getting back over out of the left lane as soon as it is safe to do so?
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First, I would wonder why I didn't check the left lane properly. If you checked the left lane properly you would have seen the car approaching.
If I saw a car approaching I would have planned the pass accordingly instead of being a lazy ass who won't override the cruise control for a brief second.

That's unless he started a passing maneuver at the same time trying to pass you. In that case, maintain speed. If I'm traveling at 74.5, passing someone doing 73.5 in a 62 zone, I'm under no obligation to "pick up the pace" for mister impatient behind me.

Actually, I if I'm at 74 and the person in front of me is 73, I'd just adjust the cruise control and drop it to 73 and maintain lane position instead of making using the left lane to pass.

Summary, unless the road was completely empty, I wouldn't initiate a perform maneuver with only a 1mph difference in speed.



cbrunny said:
What do you do?
Scenario 2)

- Same thing as scenario 1, except that you have cleared the car you are passing.
- Once clear (e.g. there is more than one car length between you and the car you are merging in front of), you initiate a lane change back to the middle lane, but see that the car behind you is also trying to pass you in the middle lane. You have both initiated the lane change to the middle lane from the left lane at the same time.

What do you do? Do you stay in the left lane and let him pass in the middle? Do you complete the lane change to the middle and let him pass on the left, angry that he had to change lanes twice to pass you, probably requiring that he hit the brakes in order to not rear end you?
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If both hit the blinkers at the same time and the other person hasn't started accelerating, I'll change lanes. If they have, then hold position.

cbrunny said:
What do you do?
Bonus questions: How would your responses to the above scenarios change if the speeds of the travelling cars were reduced by 10 to 15 kph (6.2 to 9.3 mph) on a highway that was still 100kph (62.1 mph) limit?
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If I'm using cruise control. I'm using it because flow of traffic is steady and cruise control is set to match the speed of flow of traffic. If flow slows down, cruise slows down. If an oddball is in from driving to slow, then accelerate to pass, the re-engage cruise control.
So no change in response.
 
cbrunny said:
How do you know if someone will want to pass you if there isn't anyone near you when you initiate the pass?
Click to expand...

How long are you taking to pass a person? You should be going a bit faster than the person you are passing to pass them. If you are only going one or two mph faster, you shouldn't be passing in the first place.

When driving, you need to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic and also avoid antagonizing other drivers. Flow of traffic is not dictated by the speed limit, despite what some legal beagles may think.
 
DrunkenSano said:
When driving, you need to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic and also avoid antagonizing other drivers. Flow of traffic is not dictated by the speed limit, despite what some legal beagles may think.
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Everyone says that until they see the cop.
Then its ALL about the speed limit.

Counterpoint - Noone is obligated to break the law to appease those breaking the law.
 
pauldun170 said:
Everyone says that until they see the cop.
Then its ALL about the speed limit.

Counterpoint - Noone is obligated to break the law to appease those breaking the law.
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Nobody is obligated to do anything. I could drive 40 in the left lane all day if I wanted to.
 
NetWareHead said:
Scenario 1.

Maintain my current speed and then merge into middle lane when you pass the car you were overtaking. No need to speed up, you will be out of the way soon enough.

Scenario 2

If you are changing lanes when there is one car length or greater distance between you and the car you are overtaking (i.e. a safe distance), then the guy behind you is changing lanes with less than a safe distance. Any accident would be his fault IMO due to unsafe lane change. I would probably continue with my lane change and let the guy angrily merge back into the left lane to continue on.
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This is what I would do.
 
In my area, the left lane of the three lane highway is often empty. Traffic is quite light most of the time, and generally people are pretty good at not just riding in the left lane within probably 40 km of my house. It is primarily used as a passing lane.

So, that is why you may check the left lane and see that it is completely empty. Someone may be riding faster than you a few cars behind you in the middle lane. You pull into the left lane to pass, and only after you do this does a faster driver pull into the left lane.

This is pretty common in my area. It is not unreasonable by any means whatsoever.
 
cbrunny said:
In my area, the left lane of the three lane highway is often empty. Traffic is quite light most of the time, and generally people are pretty good at not just riding in the left lane within probably 40 km of my house. It is primarily used as a passing lane.

So, that is why you may check the left lane and see that it is completely empty. Someone may be riding faster than you a few cars behind you in the middle lane. You pull into the left lane to pass, and only after you do this does a faster driver pull into the left lane.

This is pretty common in my area. It is not unreasonable by any means whatsoever.
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You should be fully aware of how fast all the drivers that you can see behind you are creeping up on you.
 
dank69 said:
You should be fully aware of how fast all the drivers that you can see behind you are creeping up on you.
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Yes, I get it. I can't see cars that are behind cars behind me. Can you?

When I merge into the left lane, and then someone else who was behind a car behind me in the middle lane also does, I'm already passing. That's my question.

I am NOT talking about cutting someone off in the left lane or pulling into the left lane knowing that you are driving slower than other cars around you in that lane when you pull in.
 
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cbrunny said:
Yes, I get it. I can't see cars that are behind cars behind me. Can you?

When I merge into the left lane, and then someone else who was behind a car behind me in the middle lane also does, I'm already passing. That's my question.

I am NOT talking about cutting someone off in the left lane or pulling into the left lane knowing that you are driving slower than other cars around you in that lane when you pull in.
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In this particular case it is absolutely correct to maintain your speed until you pass. You can't reward an impatient asshole by making your pass quicker.

However, as long as he doesn't tailgate you it would be proper to make the pass as quick as possible without exceeding your comfort limit.
 
DrunkenSano said:
How long are you taking to pass a person? You should be going a bit faster than the person you are passing to pass them. If you are only going one or two mph faster, you shouldn't be passing in the first place.

When driving, you need to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic and also avoid antagonizing other drivers. Flow of traffic is not dictated by the speed limit, despite what some legal beagles may think.
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Trucks seem to love doing this, passing other trucks by 1- 3 kmph when the flow of traffic is usually 15-20 km's faster than either of them
 
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