drivers that annoy us
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Apparently, there are some people who: A) Cannot judge their own speed except in relation to the vehicle directly in front of them, and B) Cannot hold a steady pedal for love nor money. So there we’ll be, in the agrarian hinterlands of Indiana or Kentucky; me rolling along in the left lane and passing the occasional car on the right when I notice Mr. Wobbly Throttle a’creepin’ up in my mirrors. When he gets close enough I’ll signal right and let him pass, which he does, after a fashion, but sort of bogs down once he’s just off the port bow. We’ll roll in formation like that, me starting to fume, until we come upon a car in the right lane that forces me to turn off the cruise and tuck in behind Wobbly.
As we pass the slower traffic, Mr. Wobbly Throttle, now bereft of vehicles to overtake, starts to slow down. He notices me in his mirror and sometimes darts right, sometimes slows down further and gets passed on the right (traffic gods, forgive me!) I’ll hit “Resume” on the cruise control in the left lane, but a mile down the road, sure as God made little green apples, here comes Wobbly again, as though drawn to a magnet in my back bumper. This dance can go on for over a hundred miles, and is pretty well guaranteed to have me chewing the steering wheel in frustration in only a fraction of that distance. For Vishnu’s sake, man, pick a speed and hold it!
We have this !@#$-hole in the North East too.
ARGGGGH!
January 26th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Western Canada too.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:07 am
I’ve driven in Massachusetts, you’ve got bigger problems than Mr. Wobbly Throttle.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Wobbly is going as fast as he dares — zone limit on his own, and faster whenever you volunteer your radar shadow. It’s an annoying strategy, but not an incompetent one.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Some are doing that, but I think most are operating from the brain stem and the driving behavior is more ‘social proof’ than Smokey and the Bandit.
[quote comment="230543"]Wobbly is going as fast as he dares — zone limit on his own, and faster whenever you volunteer your radar shadow. It’s an annoying strategy, but not an incompetent one.[/quote]
January 26th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I think Joshua is 100% right (note the date and time!).
January 26th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Driving down I-5 after midnight twenty years ago, a friend of mine tucked in behind a state trooper and tailed him at a courteous distance at 115 to 125 mph for two and a half hours. Our police escort exited somewhere south of Bakersfield, flashing his headlights once as his sole communication with us; we took it for a wink, coasted down to 75 mph, and arrived in Pasadena more than an hour early.
I’d never have had the guts, so it was just as well I was only a passenger that night.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
I’ve traversed our Nation back and forth from corner to middleland over a dozen times. These idiots are everywhere. My favorite was some old bat and what looked to be her grand-kids heading E on I90/94 in WI around 0200 on a trip this summer. That nut came flying up to me but wouldn’t go away. Not after me hitting 110 for a couple miles. She caught right back up. Only way was to use a Tractor-Trailer pick and high-tail it for 10 mins. Wifey won’t let me actually install the .50cal up front…but I digress.
Josh – Yes. Done that behind many a trooper/unmarked and got the wink. Also got pulled over and was told I was speeding. When I asked why the SayWa trooper was speeding, I got the “I have lights on my car and can do anything.” Of course all I got was a verbal warning after I asked his badge #. <110 IQ Indeed.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
I could never figure out why so many people pass me and then slow down. This explains it.
January 29th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
[quote comment="230549"]Driving down I-5 after midnight twenty years ago, a friend of mine tucked in behind a state trooper and tailed him at a courteous distance at 115 to 125 mph for two and a half hours. Our police escort exited somewhere south of Bakersfield, flashing his headlights once as his sole communication with us; we took it for a wink, coasted down to 75 mph, and arrived in Pasadena more than an hour early.
I’d never have had the guts, so it was just as well I was only a passenger that night.[/quote]
Ha. I did that once. I spent several hours playing tag with a convoy of cops up I-95 in Florida. Normally I don’t speed in Georgia, but when I crossed the line, I met up with them again. Only about half of the 5 or so cars were marked, so I got in behind them and we went through the state significantly over the limit.