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I just dropped my daughter off at school and I'm driving down a busy 4 lane road, cars bumper to bumper.  I am in the left lane, but both lanes are going the same speed. Guy behind me in a Civic starts  flashing his lights trying to get me to go faster and starts tailgating me dangerously. Now understand that I can't go faster, there are cars in front of me.This goes on for a minute until we get to a light in which he abruptly pull to the other lane next to me, GETS OUT OF HIS CAR, and starts flipping me off and yelling obscenities. Now I am not a hot headed person, so I just kinda looked at him like "you're an idiot". Other cars started honking at him, so after a tirade of about 30 seconds after which the light turns green, I drove off, and I saw him get in his car in the rear view and drive off. I think I did the right thing.

I concur. It doesn't help to feed #badword#s like that by raising the tension further. How old was this guy?

That's why I do not travel without my handgun on me. Sounds like this guy was all bark and bluster and could be ignored. The next one might be a little more forward.

He looked like he was in his mid thirties. Had no hair (shaved). Driving an old model civic with custom rims and a spoiler  :laugh:

He didn't come towards me or try to attack me. If he had tried that, I can defend myself.

Folks be crazy.  Glad it didn't end worse.

Easily could have if I was a hothead too and got out of the car

Probably not the right or correct thing to do, but as soon as he got out of the car my defenses would have gone on HIGH Alert.   At the time he got out of his car, I would have slowly flashed my concealed sidearm and asked him did we have a problem.

Why escalate the situation?

And if he pulls out his concealed firearm and shoots at you?

Yep.  If I'm carrying, the only time I make it visible if I'm going to use it. Definitely a last, last, last resort.

That happened to me once in Chattanooga long ago.  Going north on 75, bumper to bumper dumass behind me was flashing his lights.  Nothing else occurred, but I was like, how stupid is this guy?  I couldn't get in the right lane even if I wanted to, there was no room anyway.  LOL!

Sometimes this has happened on an almost empty interstate with the right lane wide open.  Some idiot comes up, rides my tail and flashes his lights.   Once back in college I started pumping my brakes when this occurred, which was really a stupid thing to do in retrospect, it could cause an accident but I didn't know any better then.  The guy pulled up next to me in the right lane and indicated that he wanted to fight.  LOL!  I just rolled my eyes at him and kept driving and he moved on. 

Then another time when I was in my 20s and was heading south on 65 at night...I mean NO ONE was on the interstate except me and the other car, another idiot starts flashing and tailgating.  This time I just started slowing down gradually, to force them to pass me on the right.  Well, he kept slowing down also but staying on my tail, and eventually I came to a complete stop.  This is around midnight on the interstate, lol!  Nothing happened for a minute and then I popped my door open and he took off.  I wasn't trying to come to a complete stop, but it became like a game of reverse chicken and neither of us would back down, lol.

I wouldn't do stuff like that now, but what is with these idiots that want to flash lights and tailgate (a) when there is no where for you to go anyway, or (b) when the road is completely empty and they can pass on the right.  It's crazy.  :confused:

Sorry, I thought the lane was clear in front of you.

Not to be that guy, but when the right lane is clear and you are going slower than the guy coming up behind you, you need to be the one to get over rather than expecting him to pass you on the right. This is a big pet peeve of mine.

Well played 'Nut. Gotta have two things to start a fire. It sounds like dude has some serious, serious issues.

The only time I've seen anything like that was a couple of years ago in Gatlinburg. A buddy and I were at a T intersection at a light near Pittman Center. Our light turned green to allow traffic to pull out onto 321.

Unfortunately a guy (frighteningly similar to your description) headed eastbound on 321 didn't realize this until the first vehicle (a minivan) in line pulled out in front of him. He slammed on his brakes and stopped in the middle of the intersection, hopped out, and approached the minivan.

This minivan was unfortunately piloted by a nice, but stupid woman who instead of pulling out and heading toward Cosby started to get out and converse with the Cretan. At this point my buddy and I jumped out of his truck and informed everyone to get back in their vehicles.

They complied, the woman drove off, and the guy who started it all found himself locked out of his vehicle when his light turned green. Unfortunately his girlfriend who was still in the car (?) unlocked the door and he drove off in a cloud of smoke.  

Please note nowhere in the story did I insinuate the individual was from Cocke or Hamblen County - though it is certainly possible either was his place of origin.  :smile:

I agree. I taught my wife and son to always travel in the right lane unless they needed to pass someone in the left.  Driving in East Tennessee sure is taxing on my patience.  I'm sure it's bad everywhere, though.

A good rule of thumb that any competent firearms instructor will stress over and over is to never, ever pull your handgun until you're absolutely prepared and willing to use it. The last thing you want to do is escalate a situation that could otherwise be resolved peacefully. A hothead and a concealed carry permit is never a good combination. In fact, once I started carrying I found myself being calmer than I would've been before because the last thing I want to do is yell at some guy who cuts me off in traffic, maybe he is a bigger hothead than me and things become physical, the cops get called, and there I am with a concealed handgun on me . . . even if I did nothing wrong, it's a black eye for concealed carry in general and in certain situations I may have unintentionally violated the law by putting myself in that situation while armed.

I agree with that, if there isn't much traffic. However, it doesn't work in rush hour on a busy 4 lane. Both lanes are used and you can only drive as fast as the person in front of you.

I agree with that, too.

I hate to tell you, but if you are in the left lane on the interstate with the right lane wide open -- YOU should be in the right lane.  Nothing pisses me off more on the interstate is folks that ride the left lane when there is no traffic in the right.  The signs that say "slower traffic keep right" are there for a reason you know!  If you are not passing, you should be in the right lane -- NOT THE LEFT!      But when I do run into people riding the left lane, I simply pass on the right because you don't ever know when someone has a gun with them...I don't do the blinking light thingy....  By the way, check the law in YOUR state here :  http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map (http://jalopnik.com/5501615/left+lane-passing-laws-a-state+by+state-map)

Werd!

Double werd

tripplesec

Nonsense.  In all cases I was going well over the speed limit.  It's not like I was doing 55 in a 70 or anything.  I fly past people in the right lane all the time and if it's wide open and people want to go more than the 10-15 mph over the limit I'm already doing, they can get their asses over into the right lane.  I don't even think twice about it myself, I'm just glad there is room to pass them.

That's how I see it.   :biggrin:

Sure, you can go around them in the right lane. But moving over is generally considered a matter of courtesy, something that is unfortunately in short supply in our society today.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I call it "interstate etiquette".

He'd get run off the road in Germany, and rightly so.

Let me clear something up.  Normally I do observe the right lane conventions.  That may not be 100% clear.

If I am going the speed limit or even 5 over, I am in the right lane.  It's only when I go exceptionally fast that I stay in the left lane.

Generally traffic is heavy, and so to switch back and forth from right to left would be stupid.  Thus I consider myself, in traffic, to be permanently passing people.

I don't think anyone has any issues with the above.

On rare occasions, I have the road to myself and I am going 10-15 mph over the limit in the left lane.  Sometimes I do switch to the right, sometimes not.  My logic for staying in the left lane is that eventually I will pass someone and there is no one behind me, so why bother. 

If I am IN TRAFFIC and going 10-15 mph over the limit, and someone comes up behind me, then I do get over, if I am able. And it is courtesy.

I'm really only talking about pretty rare cases where I am going really fast, elect to stay in the left lane, and then someone comes up behind me VERY FAST.  Like to suddenly show up in my rear view mirror they would have to be at least doing 95 mph.  If I see them coming, I get out of the usually.

So it's a very specific situation where the road is empty, I am already going fast, and someone approaches at NASCAR speed so fast I don't even really have time to notice them. 

That happens occasionally, but in those cases the person should pass on the right.  I do this myself all the time.  I approach cars in the left lane going 75 when I am going 80-85.  I can sit behind them and wait for them to move, or I can go around.  I go around.

It's so much easier than waiting for them to move.

Thus if I am going 80-85 on an EMPTY ROAD, and someone approaches very rapidly from the rear and FLASHES THEIR LIGHTS AT ME, that person is a complete ahole and there is no way I am moving right.  Because I encounter that same situation at least a dozen times every time I drive to Knoxville and it's so much easier just to go around.

Hope that clears it up for everyone.  I agree you should be in the right lane most of the time, but I make an exception for an empty road when I am driving fast, and often I go into the right lane anyway.

I posted this a bit more succinctly and colorfully a while ago but I self-deleted, lol.  I have been posting a lot on a war game site where such language is the norm and I got confused about what site I was on.

TRO does prefer we keep this to a family discussion.   :biggrin:

No, I would be running people over.  The only thing keeping me from going 120-130 mph now is the long arm of the law.   :naughty:

Does not matter how fast you are going, if someone is going faster, get your butt over!!!  Don't expect them to pass on the right!

I once had a retired trooper tell me that every investigation with someone going the wrong direction on an interstate, the violator was in opposing traffic's left lane; especially at night. 'Nuff said for me.

G

If I see them coming I usually do.  But the "etiquette" among those who tend to drive fast is to just pass on the right.  Almost every time I see someone coming up behind me they are in the right lane and passing me well before they get to me and I do the same when I am the faster car coming from behind.   That's just how it usually goes down. 

Okay, but what does this have to do with the topic of whether you should always be in the right lane on a four-lane highway, if possible? 

Who taught you highway etiquette?  :laugh:

You know those signs that say "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT"? Yeah, they're there for a reason.

What do you mean by "slower"?  If you're going 10-15 mph over the limit already and someone behind you still expects you to get out of their way, it can be argued that they are the ones with the problem.  This at least is how I feel when I approach someone from behind myself.  The thought is that if I want to drive way over the limit and break the rules, I shouldn't have any expectation that they will follow the rules either.

But for the record, if I see someone approaching from behind and closing the gap rapidly I usually do get over to the right no matter how fast I am going.  I typically am the fastest guy on the road though.  I have been from Chat to Ktown many times and never been passed at all.   But if I don't see them coming and they want to get around me and the right lane is wide open...no big deal, IMO. 

They certainly shouldn't be stupid and flash their lights at me, lol.

Smart move.  I've twice dealt with road trolls by pretending to yell into my cellphone while craning my neck at them like I was making a description to a 911 operator.  Both times they both quickly turned onto a side road.  Being raised in Texas, I consider every other driver to be armed (which probably isn't far from the truth) and use non-confrotational strategies.

They could be from Missouri.  I don't know if it's still the law there, but for decades the left lane were for passing only & state troopers wrote tickets for it regardless of the traffic situation.  One of my coworkers got nailed for it by a police airplane (who contacted ground units) of all things!

If yer not passin', git over in the right lane, ya dumbass!  Geez.....  :nono: :thumbdown: :banghead: :bird: :frown:

we're supposed to be adults, non-confrontational is the only way to go IMO. Your other options are getting arrested or shot.

LOL   :bow:

Agreed.  Just walk away and be the better man (like you did in your situation).  Nothing good comes from escalating the situation.

For me, a good check for myself is to think "what would I want my son to do"

A lot of times we adults think we're going to make a point or "teach someone a lesson" but the scary truth is there are a lot of unstable people out there and one could easily end up dead over such a seemingly minor thing.  I would tell my son "just diffuse the situation any way you can, it's not worth losing your life".  But there are still times I need to take that same advice.

Vinnie, I could not agree more.. I have practiced martial arts for about 20 years now, and my older daughter has been doing it for 4. I hope neither one of us ever get in a fight or serious physical confrontation. One of the first things we learn to do in martial arts is to avoid confrontation. Fighting should always be an absolute last resort.  

I would've run him the fizzle off the road and then gotten out of the car and whooped his ass.  Why?  Because that's what winners do.  And I'm just a big, hairy, American winning machine.  Nobody can touch my stuff.  I get up every morning and I piss excellence.  If you aint first, you're last.  :cool:

(http://cloudfront.bostinno.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Ricky-Bobby.jpg)

No 'etiquette' is to get over --- you are the type driver than can cause road rage.  HA!  :)   A HUGE pet peeve of mine...not only are you breaking the law in most states, you simply are being rude.  JMHO..

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

The point is, I am almost always passing.  Learn to read dumass!!!!  Geez.....  :nono: :thumbdown: :banghead: :bird: :frown:



 :nod: :nod:

To all of you who think you can tell me how to drive....it ain't gonna happen.    :dielaughing: :dielaughing: :dielaughing: :dielaughing: :dielaughing: :dielaughing: :dielaughing: :dielaughing:

Did you just call a lady a dumbass?  :nono:

I don't think RockyMtnVol is a lady -- or is she/he?   :)

 :laugh: Oops. I read that post and Bandit's reply and thought it was you. Must've been the "Rock" that threw me off.  :biggrin:

That's a C&P of what he/she said to me, though I edited it a bit.   :biggrin:

And since you brought it up, technically calling someone a dumbass is a vioation of board rules, but I CGAS.

Hmmm...  :naughty:

The situation almost never occurs since I drive fast anyway, and if it does occur, I move over if I see the person coming up behind me, assuming there is room to do so.

It's only very rare cases that someone would actually be driving faster than me AND move up on me suddenly enough that I don't see them coming.


This might happen a couple times a year, AT MOST.

Maybe it's because you become angry when people drive in the left lane and go REALLY SLOW. I don't blame you.  That pisses me off  also.  Just the other night a person was doing 40 in a 55 in the left lane and I nearly blew a gasket.

You won't ever see me doing that, I promise.  LOL!

So if you wanna bust my balls over something that happens about maybe twice in the approximately 500-600 hours I spend driving every year, go right ahead.

LOL!   

I don't really understand all the interest in my driving habits, but whatever.

Maybe it was your "bragging" about forcing people to pass you on the right....don't know, but seems I read somewhere you did that a time or two.   :dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

Glorious.   :thumbup:

You are very easy to impress.   :dance:

Well no, that's not what I meant.

The only time I would force someone to pass on the right is if they start tailgating and flashing their lights.  And that's only happened 3-4 times in the 30 years I have been driving.

My experience with years of driving really fast mostly in the left lane on interstates, is that in fact typically an even faster person (which is rare) will cross into the right lane way before I have a decision to make and that this is the norm IMO.  I'm just saying I expect them to act that way.

As for staying in the left lane, it's sometimes 50-50. Traffic in the right lane tends to clump together.  I will move past one clump, and then depending on where the next clump is, I might or might not move into the right lane.  If I move into the right lane, a couple minutes later I will just go back to the left lane so it's a judgement call in those cases.  And if I am in that situation, and I see someone coming behind me faster, then I do move over.  But if I am in the middle of passing a clump, then I wait until I am past them and then move over. And this is what 98% of the people do when I catch up to them.  I guess the rule is, if you are already passing someone, go ahead and finish and let the faster car by after that.

But if you are doing that and some ahole flashes his lights, I get really pissed lol. But that almost never happens.

 :sleep:

Whatever  :dielaughing:

You mean that those people who drive in the left lane, even when the right lane is clear and faster traffic is approaching, do not have a God-given right to do so? I just always figured that those people were more important than the 'common folk' and were entitled to drive wherever the heck they chose. This is the age of entitlement,after all.

Sure seems that way, doesn't it?   :dunno:

If they don't see the faster traffic approaching, the faster traffic is free to use the right lane and go around, and not tailgate or flash lights.

Do you have an issue with that?  Cause that's all I am saying.

Since this is such a popular topic, let me give a specific example of why you don't ALWAYS drive in the right lane.

You're headed down the interstate and passing folks on the right.  You pass one clump of cars and approach the next.  As you do so, a semi tractor-trailer pulls into the left lane and strains to go even the speed limit to pass cars that are going below the speed limit.  As you approach the semi and slow down, another faster car approaches from behind you.  There is just barely room to squeeze into a narrow gap between the semi and the next clump of cars, should you care to risk your life doing so.  Instead, you continue to patiently follow the semi, who, although he is going agonizingly slow by your standards, is in fact passing traffic in the right lane.  In the meantime, a large SUV passes your smaller car, accerlerates very quickly on the right, and just manages to squeeze into the gap between the semi and the next car.  You then think to yourself "what a fizzleing idiot" and drive on.

Now, is anyone seriously suggestng that following the semi at a slower pace is not the best decision?  Let me tell you...I have been BOTH the car following the semi and the one third in in line, lol.  But I was the person squeezing into the gap mostly when I was much younger and stupider.

So IMO neither the semi nor the person first in line behind him have to give up their respective spots in line to the ahole that is third in line (who I freely admit is sometimes me, lol.)

THOSE are the cases I am referring to when I say "free to pass in the right lane".

Hope that clears things up.

First rule of holes:  Stop Digging  :nod:

If you are not passing someone, why in the heck would you be in the left lane? If you get back into the right lane after passing someone, noone need flash lights, etc. That's all I am saying.

This would of course be non-city driving. I can somewhat understand urban area reasons for driving in the left lane even when not 'in the passing mode'.

I refer to folks who are 'first' in the left lane and have obvious faster traffic behind them, or even worse folks who permanently drive in the left hand lane. If someone is the 2nd, 3rd, etc vehicle behind this self-appointed left lane pace car, I have no issue as they are not the hold-up.

It's two things.  One, you might be about to pass someone that's a tenth of a mile ahead, and it just isn't worth it to get in the right lane for 30 seconds or whatever.  But if you see the traffic approaching from the rear, then by all means do.  If you don't see it in time, they should just chill and pass in the right lane.  Which is what happens 99.9% of the time and it's no big deal.

Two, if the road is really empty and no one is around, technically you should still be in the right lane, but does it really matter?  it's like a turn signal in that case.  You should use it, but at a country intersection with no other traffic, does it really matter?  So I see that as no big deal.  And in cases where a car does approach rapidly in the left lane, if I see it, which is most of the time, I move over.  But in those cases USUALLY the driver moves to the right before I can even react!

And as I am tooling along in the left lane with no traffic around, I OFTEN approach a slower car in the left lane!  It's very common.  I go around on the right.  No big deal.

The continuted fascination with this topic confuses me, but I like talking about stuff like this, so....

Pirate I really and truly appreciate what you are saying, but there are no holes here, lol.

I am 100% confident in my opinions in case that wasn't clear.   :biggrin:

My shovel is shelved.

Whatever that means.  :o)

False.

Huh.  I thought you were sleeping?

You know, that's the best post of this entire thread.  Me too.   :biggrin:

I can talk driving and traffic till I am blue in the face, but.....

You STILL in the left lane?!  GET OVER IN THE RIGHT LANE, YA JERK!! 
 :thumbdown: :banghead: :bird: :rant: :run:
Fer cryin' out loud.... :frown:

You are seriously that upset about it?  Jesus Christ, you don't even know me.   :frown: :dunno: :dunno:

I am actually amused that you are this pissed. 

Let me say this....you need to read the board rules.  That's twice now you have violated the board rules and directly called me a name.

Just sayin......

No offense to anyone but it's time this thread ended.

And I'm ending it.  :wave: