That reminds me. Someone was ranting earlier about the drivers (I call them "special") who know a lane is closed ahead but zip up as far ahead as they can and force their way into the lane that's open, adding dramatically to the length of the wait for the more considerate folks who changed lanes as soon as they saw the necessity of doing so.
Mentioned along with that was the people who will strive to thwart such efforts, basically in an attempt to see who'll blink first.
When I'm in those situations and see cars coming up fast in that otherwise empty left lane, I put myself about 90% in the left lane, 10% in the right and hold my position. I've never had anyone try to take my spot in the right lane. I think they largely appreciate my efforts.
My truck, being a big ol' dually with a crunched left rear fender, definitely hollers out "I don't blink".
Same with the folks who're leaving a huge gap in a lane I need to get into, and try to close the gap up as soon as they see my turn signals. I just move on over there. Sometimes talking to them in my mirrors. Like "Ooooh. I'm so scared that Festiva is gonna hit my truck." I'm not talking about the ones that were already going fast. If I can't get into and out of the lane without slowing them down, I wait until they go by. The ones I'm talking about are the ones going slower than I am then gun it when they see me signaling the lane change.
And the tailgaters. I don't pay much attention to the speedometer. I drive as fast as I safely can, which is typically about 5 mph faster (but not more than about 10 mph faster) than everyone else on the road. As was previously observed, speed doesn't kill. Speed differences kill. Two cars doing about 100 mph next to each are much safer than one doing 70 and the other doing 45.
Anyway, so we've established I'm not a slow driver. As another aside, when I call slow drivers in the left lane "The Keepers of the Speed".
Despite my tendency to not block traffic, I do tend to get tailgated an awful lot. It's like the dude in the Geo Metro thinks he's intimidating me?
The aforementioned crunched fender was given to me courtesy of just such an individual in an old Toyota Corolla. 65 mph down a 2-lane highway (one lane each direction) and he's riding so close I can barely see the roof of his car. Van in front of me seriously checks up for a dog crossing the road, I check up even more seriously and aim for the shoulder so I don't take out the van, and this clown in the Toyota does exactly what no track-experienced person would ever do: Locks up all 4 wheels, so he's got even less stopping power and no directional control, glances off my back bumper then runs the car up over my back tires.
His car was totalled and he's lucky to have had no injuries. Could've easily been multiple fatalities, as my back tires flipped him up onto 2 wheels and he came back down in the oncoming lane, apparently populated by smart people who saw the developing situation and got out of the way.
Had I not headed toward the shoulder, rather than glancing off the left side of the bumper, he would've hit the back bumper (and the frame-mounted trailer hitch that's always on the truck) squarely and certainly killed all 5 people in that car. What an idjit!
Oh, and the part of it that ticked me off the most?
I didn't have my insurance card with me (but am always insured) and got a ticket for that. He had his insurance card, but apparently had no insurance.
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