... people (driving, this time)
Nov. 17th, 2008 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
milktreeThese days I'm a real pansy when I drive the car. Right hand lane, 55mph. It's surprisingly nice; no stress 'cuz nobody gets in my way, and my gas mileage is good. (over 30mpg in a car that Honda claimed would get 29 highway, 230,000 miles and 16 years ago)
Anyway, I'm not an ass about it, I make sure that there's always ways to get by me so I'm not blocking traffic, checking the mirrors and the quantity and rate of cars passing me to make sure nobody's gotten stuck.
But sometimes it doesn't work.
This morning I was tailgated by a woman who was smoking with one hand and talking on her cell phone with the other. She was close enough that I couldn't see any ground between us in the mirrors, or her tires, or most of her grill. My usual response to this is to make sure I'm not being an old fart (driving too slow for conditions and blocking people), and if not, hit the "set/coast" button on the cruise control a couple times to slow down just a little bit at a time, to make them realize they really do want to pass. This usually works.
But not today. Today I got down to about 40mph and she was right on my ass. So I sped up to 55 again, and she sped up to match.
A couple iterations of this (just to see if it was a fluke) proved that she wasn't driving the road, or her car, but rather she was driving my bumper.
Ok, next tactic. Hazard lights for two blinks. That usually works.
Not so much.
Then, weave a little bit.
Also not so much.
Yeesh!
What finally worked was to swerve dramatically into the middle lane (clear for a mile behind me) and hit the brakes hard so she'd have essentially no choice but to pass.
That worked, in that she wasn't tailgating me and was able to drive at whatever speed she wanted.
When she passed me, she gave me the finger.
Yea, I made her think, and pay attention to what was going on outside her phone conversation, but I didn't cut he off, or slam on the brakes in front of her, or anything. I got out of her way; I just did it in a way that wasn't expected.
People get mad at the weirdest things.
Anyway, I'm not an ass about it, I make sure that there's always ways to get by me so I'm not blocking traffic, checking the mirrors and the quantity and rate of cars passing me to make sure nobody's gotten stuck.
But sometimes it doesn't work.
This morning I was tailgated by a woman who was smoking with one hand and talking on her cell phone with the other. She was close enough that I couldn't see any ground between us in the mirrors, or her tires, or most of her grill. My usual response to this is to make sure I'm not being an old fart (driving too slow for conditions and blocking people), and if not, hit the "set/coast" button on the cruise control a couple times to slow down just a little bit at a time, to make them realize they really do want to pass. This usually works.
But not today. Today I got down to about 40mph and she was right on my ass. So I sped up to 55 again, and she sped up to match.
A couple iterations of this (just to see if it was a fluke) proved that she wasn't driving the road, or her car, but rather she was driving my bumper.
Ok, next tactic. Hazard lights for two blinks. That usually works.
Not so much.
Then, weave a little bit.
Also not so much.
Yeesh!
What finally worked was to swerve dramatically into the middle lane (clear for a mile behind me) and hit the brakes hard so she'd have essentially no choice but to pass.
That worked, in that she wasn't tailgating me and was able to drive at whatever speed she wanted.
When she passed me, she gave me the finger.
Yea, I made her think, and pay attention to what was going on outside her phone conversation, but I didn't cut he off, or slam on the brakes in front of her, or anything. I got out of her way; I just did it in a way that wasn't expected.
People get mad at the weirdest things.
