OT: Drivers, what would you do?

OK, fair enough.

In this case, there is no answer. The question is what would you do in that situation. Since you can't imagine being in that situation, you can't tell me what you'd do.

Yes, he was. Two second lead time is not sufficient, and I don't give a damn what the law or the drivers manuals say. Such a short distance may sometimes be unavoidable on a busy road, but on the empty 6 lane highway you described, it was a stupid position for that truck to be in.

You know that.

Ernie, just when do you intend to quite jerking us all off with this tale of highway derring-do and answer your own question.........get on with it! As it is, I'm losing interest in the whole scenario.

Not sufficient for what, exactly? Remember, I said the car driver unexpectedly slammed on his brakes, and the truck didn't hit the car. Obviously, his distance was sufficient.

It's interesting, though. Rather than accept the scenario as I describe it, you substitute your own, and all this anger comes out.

I guess you get tailgated a lot, and are pissed off about it?

I used to have the same problem. I'd be driving at or over the speed limit on some twisty two-lane with no turnouts, and some idjit would come up two car lengths behind me and hold it there, or drop back, pull up again, drop back again, repeat.

One day, I got so pissed off I decided I wasn't going to let them ruin my day by getting pissed anymore. I just let go. I did what Scott in Florida calls "FIDO." But here's the really frikkin' bizarre part: after I did that, people stopped tailgating me. I'm sure it was just a coincidence, but it's a wonder of one. Oh, I still get a tailgater once in a while, but more like once a month than every damned day like it was before. Maybe I should try getting pissed again and see what happens...

As Mack just said, get on with your story. This routine is getting old.

Get away from him and mind my own business.

Each time I read one of your posts, it's like finding dog shit on my shoe. Your ignorant/belligerent routine was old before the end of your first post in this thread. I'm wiping you off my shoe.

ROFLMAO! You wrote a defective question, and you're upset.

"Ernie Sty" wrote in news:3OCdnQ1ivOIudJbanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Power games cause all sorts of needless hardship on the highway. I avoid them.

If somebody comes up behind me on the freeway, I move over. I'm doing 85 and you want to pass. Why should I care?

If it's on a 2-lane and the guy really really wants to pass, I put my 4- ways on, slow down a bit, and move closer to the shoulder as a signal for him to just be on his way.

If I gain on somebody in the left lane on the freeway and he obviously isn't going to move over, I pass on the right. This is true even in places where that's illegal: quick check for cops, then make it snappy. Makes life a lot easier.

If I want to pass somebody on a 2-lane, I have to make a guess whether or not he's the sort that's going to get pissed off if I pass him. Sometimes it's not worth trying. The occasional idiot can get REALLY insulted if you pass him and he makes sure you KNOW it, ALL the way up to his turnoff. And maybe past that...

My wife even had the last example happen to her once. The woman she passed (who was going BELOW the speed limit) got so offended at my wife's passing her that she followed my wife (at much increased speed and much decreased distance) all the way to her work, then told my wife she needed to learn how to drive. Ohhh-kay...

Wow. I can't imagine why passing someone would piss them off. Unless... Um, how much space do you generally have between you and the car you're passing when you move back over? The only time I get ticked off when someone passes me is when they pull back into my lane so close in front of me I have to slow down. And if they're passing my on a two-lane, I will have already slowed down as soon as they pulled out to pass, to help them get around me quicker. But yeah, I've had people pass me on a four-lane and cut back in right in front of me, no one was tailgating them or anything, just strange. I'm not saying you'd do that, from what you've said I'd bet against it. I'm just trying to put some sense to it I guess.

I know of someone that happened to, except at the end, the face to face confrontational point, the other party flashed a gun. Best is to slow down a bit and let them go on, or when the time is right pass without getting the other party upset. What ever you do, don't tailgate, flash your headlights or do other things that may upset the other driver. There are a lot of nut cases on the roads nowdays. Play it safe, backoff. The cops will tell you the same thing. Road rage is aggressively prosecuted in my state. I don't know what the legal charge is, but there have been some cases of it. Judges do not seem to have mercy for the participants either.

If I can, I always drop in front of the passed car in a way that doesn't turn them immediately into tailgaters. To me, that means 10 car lengths. That's usually only possible on a wide open highway. In "significant traffic" (whatever that means), that's not only possible. The main reason I'll pass in those situations to begin with is if the person I'm passing is doing things that make no sense, at which point I deem them to be dangerous and stupid (90% of drivers).

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in news:iZSOi.18695$ snipped-for-privacy@news01.roc.ny:

I have to agree with this.

We all got sucker-punched, being given half the information and then being asked to suggest an appropriate response.

Responses in any social situation (and this is one) are 100% dependent on the exact, precise circumstances.

Throw a baked potato with sour cream and chives at him (Really did, on the Merrit Parkway between New York and Bridgeport...)

=?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$B%O%A%m%=2F=1B=28B?= wrote in news:0CWOi.3594$ai2.1858@trndny05:

Had a semi-truck driver throw a cup of coffee at me once, in 1988. He missed.

Where is there a Wendy's near the Merritt Parkway??? :-)