On my way to the pool hall...

pwd72s · 12-09-2019, 11:50 AM

Thursday...going to play pool, northbound on I-5. A "truck race", one semi slowly creeping by another. We've all been there, right?

Okay, I'm behind the faster of the two, waiting for it to pull over once it passes the slower truck. I'm annoyed because my mirror is full of the grill of a huge black Chevy suburban, me inwardly cursing tailgaters. Then I looked more closely..windows tinted...something gave me a clue. "It looks cop-py", I said to Cindy. Nary a peep out of my V-1, tho. Still, suspicious, I stayed the speed limit, pulled to the right when a safe opening.

Suspicions confirmed..it was an Oregon State cop in one of their "stealth" vehicles. He glared at me as he passed.

The S.O.B. was following close, hoping I'd nail it once past the truck.

Sorry Smokey, I've had that trick played on me before.

I didn't push it, but felt like giving him half the peace sign in response to the glare.

Sooner or later · 12-09-2019, 12:01 PM

They can be sneaky son of a guns.

Back in the mid 70's I was driving to Calif. It was in the middle of the CB craze. It was about 10 PM and I called out for a Smokey report. I then noticed a black and white stopped on the upcoming overpass. I got an immediate response "Clean and green!" It was the Smokey on the overpass giving me the report!

ckelly78z · 12-10-2019, 03:37 AM

When out on the highway, it always seems the drivers who tailgate the closest, and drive the most eratic are self important DBs in black Chevy suburbans (most aren't even cops). I've noticed this several times that they get impatient at anything under 85 mph.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I didn't push it, but felt like giving him half the peace sign in response to the glare.

Which half?

speeder · 12-10-2019, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

When out on the highway, it always seems the drivers who tailgate the closest, and drive the most eratic are self important DBs in black Chevy suburbans (most aren't even cops). I've noticed this several times that they get impatient at anything under 85 mph.

If you are following proper lane discipline, (using the left lane only for passing), it's almost unheard of to be tailgated. At least in my experience. I've only driven about a million miles on the freeway or interstate, though.

If you're one of those people who parks in the left lane and won't yield to faster traffic behind you, then yeah, lots of tailgating.

icemann427 · 12-10-2019, 08:50 AM

I was once traveling east on Interstate 10 through Arizona and two semi's were playing the same "truck race" game. The one passing in the left lane took at least 20 minutes to do so. And where the speed limit was 75, the two were traveling at about 65 or so. I'm guessing the guy in the left lane was just wanting to be a butt for some reason.

But it seems to me that a greater number of truckers, nowadays, are much more inconsiderate than times of old. Very often, they travel in the two fast lanes of a four lane highway and congest traffic because they can't quite keep up...Or won't keep up.

KFC911 · 12-10-2019, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-beard

Which half?

Dale's....Yer #1

ckelly78z · 12-10-2019, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

If you are following proper lane discipline, (using the left lane only for passing), it's almost unheard of to be tailgated. At least in my experience. I've only driven about a million miles on the freeway or interstate, though.

If you're one of those people who parks in the left lane and won't yield to faster traffic behind you, then yeah, lots of tailgating.

NO, i'm not that guy...i'm doing 75 trying to get around a semi doing 70 so I can get back in my lane. I WILL NOT speed up for some azzhole like you behind me just to appease a big ego.

Impatience will kill you, and others...just chill ! I have seen these idiots pass in the median when delayed for 20 seconds.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

Impatience will kill you, but making a slow pass a few feet away from a semi-truck might do it too.

I try to minimize my exposure to large trucks and other cars too.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

The thing I hate are the guys who pass a semi, but SLOW DOWN while passing...

speeder · 12-10-2019, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

NO, i'm not that guy...i'm doing 75 trying to get around a semi doing 70 so I can get back in my lane. I WILL NOT speed up for some azzhole like you behind me just to appease a big ego.

Impatience will kill you, and others...just chill ! I have seen these idiots pass in the median when delayed for 20 seconds.

Jesus, dude...try to get laid or something. You’re wound tighter than an 8-day clock.

speeder · 12-10-2019, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeke

I drive to South Orange County frequently. Sometimes my wife will tag along so we can use the HOV lane. If I don't do 80 someone will be on my ass. With the holiday traffic starting to build, the CHP is more present than usual, IMO. I'm not the guy that wants to appease your rule and get a ticket for 15 over. What's more is that there is construction most of the way and signs warning that the speed limit in construction zones is 55. And they still do 80 even in the left normal lane when traffic is medium. That's about 2-3 car lengths between every car in line. So what do you do? Go over another lane and do the speed limit? (Forget the 55 MPH, the blinking signs so the far right lane doing 60 or better.) Or do you join the faster flow of the 2 left lanes including the HOV while doing 15 over? It's a Catch 22, and a risk of being singled out. (I think tailgating while doing 15 over will merit some unwanted attention.)

....easy....

BTW, where I'm driving it's the Bimmer drivers who weave, speed and tailgate. Not just them but if you look around there's always a BMW driving like an ass. Unfailing.

You need to reread the OP. The situation he is describing is not a 4- or 6-lane freeway. It’s a two-lane interstate outside of a city where two trucks are blocking both lanes, side-by-side. Apparently, he was just parked behind the one on the left, (instead of waiting for a clear passing situation), and then managed to become a speed bump himself because the Suburban “blew past him.” That could not have happened if the two trucks were still in a blocking pattern, now could it?

There are no shortage of schit drivers in the USA, I try not to let it bother me. I do not have tense or angry situations while driving, go figure.

Jims5543 · 12-10-2019, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-beard

The thing I hate are the guys who pass a semi, but SLOW DOWN while passing...

Then speed up after they passed and parking in the left lane.

Or the polar opposite, those that speed up as you are passing them.

With the trucks, I will never understand why the truck on the right cannot drop their speed a few MPH to help facilitate the pass on the left. There is nothing more frustrating than getting stuck behind a pass for 2 miles or more.

pwd72s · 12-10-2019, 12:35 PM

I guess Denis didn't choose to read the part that I moved over when space was available. What? I was supposed to follow the slower truck? I-5 was only 2 lanes at that point. The cop was tailgating so that all I could see in my mirror was bumper up to half the tinted windshield. Yet Denis wishes to paint me as a bad driver? Whatever...

To impede flow and complicate things, Oregon has a too low interstate 65 mph speed limit that few obey.

Mike Andrew · 12-11-2019, 06:42 AM

Sneaky???
Many years ago I was coming back from fishing in northern WI. On the side of the road, rear and front window lights flashing is a burgundy mommy soccer van with a car pulled over in front of it, trooper at the window.
Got to give them credit for stealth.