Quote:
Originally Posted by slowmover
Back on topic; it would be nice if slow moving vehicles would move over as far as practicable when traffic piles up behind them. It would be nicer still if that became so commonplace that people came to expect it, knew how and when to do it, and knew how and when to respond to it (by passing ahead of the slower vehicle).
Might be even better if the self-important didn't jam up behind someone moving legally down the highway, just slower than them . . since, as the law addresses slower moving traffic yielding when it is safe to do so the self-absorbed could then more easily pass and do so more quickly in time and distance.
Hey, a guy can dream . . . .
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Quite a few years ago I spent a few hundred miles on the Trans-Canada Highway. At the time it was two lanes wide, one lane in each direction. Slower moving vehicles routinely moved onto the (generous) shoulder to let faster moving vehicles by. None of them appeared to make any assumptions about the mental state of the drivers of the faster moving vehicles.
When I rode my bicycle in the French Alps, cars routinely moved over to allow faster moving bicycles to pass them on descents. Again, I did not discern any gestures or movements indicating moral judgements being made by the drivers of the vehicles that moved over.
I have never had a similar experience in the United States despite having driven many hundreds of thousands of miles, from one coast to the other. In fact in the US my experiences have been almost 180 degrees opposite. Drivers here seem to believe they are infused with godlike powers when they slip behind the wheel, among them the ability to judge the character of every other driver they encounter. George Carlin may have said it best; "Did you ever notice how every other driver on the road is either an idiot or a moron?"