Reverse drafting: how to slow down on the hwy and not hold up traffic

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by NoCO2

(I know I'm little late jumping in here but I just had a thought)

Wouldn't it be more efficient to just stay behind the semi? I know it's more dangerous being behind one to some extent because it's harder to see the road ahead and depending on your distance, the driver of the truck can't see you. But those things aside, from a pure efficiency standpoint. It would seem like being behind the truck would yield more aero benefits then being in front and you wouldn't be holding traffic up anymore. If you are directly behind a semi, people are not going to assume that you are holding them up because they know that trucks go slow so they will just proceed around as normal. To top that you benefit from the hole he just punched in the road for you.

The idea is to slow the traffic behind you just enough that they don't feel the need to pass and stay in line at a lower speed. Efficiency wise - this prime. You're increasing the FE of more than one car rather than increasing the FE of just one car (yours)

[101Volts]

Here's for anyone still having trouble going slower on a highway:

Why worry about people passing your car? Can worrying add a second to your life? Isn't it better for them to pass you anyway if they're tailgating you, Only to find out they still tailgate you above the speed limit which is even worse? If someone tailgates at any speed, They're tailgating even if they don't do it at another speed so it's advisable to encourage them to keep a good distance from your vehicle in whatever means possible, Even if that means allowing them to pass you.

In most instances I've seen when going 55 in on a highway, Nearly every car and semi passes (I don't recall as many as five vehicles staying behind me for a long time since I started doing this months ago) and then there were scarcely any vehicles around until the next batch of drivers; Most drivers I've seen seemed to be traveling in packs.

[gltux]

I've found that no matter how fast I drive the person behind wants to go faster, so I've stopped caring about holding people up.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by 101Volts

Most drivers I've seen seemed to be traveling in packs.

I notice that I end up between the packs, especially at night. One in front, one behind, with a huge gap in between with nothing but my little tiny Yaris in it.

Occasionally some a-hole will need to shoot the gap at 240MPH, but for the most part I just drift along in my own little world. It's really kind of nice.

[8307c4]

Originally Posted by Palionu

If the tailgating irritates me or if I anticipate it I just adjust my rearview mirror so I simply don't see them.

That's what I do...

Even then it sometimes manages to grate on my nerves.
When that happens, I usually slow down.
And keep slowing down.

The intent is to encourage the tailgater to pass.

Strangely enough, a good half of these glue balls stick to my bumper until we are both at a complete stand still.
Even on 55 mph posted roads.
With traffic everywhere.

You can call me an unsafe driver.
You can call me insane.

But then I just stopped caring, too.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by 8307c4

I usually slow down.
And keep slowing down.

The intent is to encourage the tailgater to pass.

Strangely enough, a good half of these glue balls stick to my bumper until we are both at a complete stand still.

Sometimes I switch over into a "faster" lane and pass myself for them. With me out of the way, they will often speed up. Then I switch back into my own lane and resume not being an ***hole--unlike them.

[Xist]

Our local freeway used to have a 55 MPH speed limit, which they changed while I owned my first car. Between my tires riding roughly from overinflation (they ended up falling apart) and other problems with my car, I did not feel safe driving faster than fifty-five, so I maintained that until I was stationed in Germany. If someone comes up behind me, I may change lanes to get out of their way. If they tailgate and become a nuisance, I will probably shift to neutral and wait them out. If they turn on their high beams I adjust my mirrors accordingly--I really do not like brights!

Back before gas reached the prohibitive price of two dollars a gallon people would find out that I drove 55 MPH and start yelling at me, which only provided amusement--this was only an academic problem, but they always told me that I obstructed traffic, and somehow I would be ticketed for that while they would not be cited for speeding.

Well, at least for the first four weeks of each month.

Honestly, though, I am not under any obligations to become an accomplice to a crime. If people want to speed, I am not going to try to prevent them, but I am not going to enable them.

Besides, if they are not getting better mileage while behind me, they are doing it wrong!

When I have occasion to pass people it can be complicated because they may not be using cruise control, they may speed up for whatever reason (like character defect), and if the slope changes, I may lose some speed relatively. I sometimes have people stuck behind me as I slowly pass.

I hope that I live longer. I feel like I put myself through much less stress as I drive. I just try to relax. Wherever I am going will still be there whenever I arrive and I might not really want to be there anyway.

What frustrates me are city streets. He who spends the longest waiting at a light wins? I believe that I mentioned before the time that I drove a minibus past a mall. Some kid in an old Japanese car with modifications resulting in more annoyance than performance kept accelerating hard from one green light to the next red, only to have the same minibus catch up at every single light.

[8307c4]

Originally Posted by Flakbadger

Sometimes I switch over into a "faster" lane and pass myself for them. With me out of the way, they will often speed up. Then I switch back into my own lane and resume not being an ***hole--unlike them.

True, I was thinking of single lane highways but it amazes me too...
The tailgater has a perfectly useful faster lane devoid of traffic.
All they need to do is switch, and be done.
But, they won't.
They'd rather stay glued to the bumper of my car.

Originally Posted by Xist

What frustrates me are city streets. He who spends the longest waiting at a light wins? I believe that I mentioned before the time that I drove a minibus past a mall. Some kid in an old Japanese car with modifications resulting in more annoyance than performance kept accelerating hard from one green light to the next red, only to have the same minibus catch up at every single light.

On a less drastic scale that is how I find most folks driving, like the kid in the Japanese car. Just because they didn't accelerate full throttle doesn't mean they didn't tunnel vision the traffic light up ahead.

[ali2015]

I will try this next time,i rarely see any large trucks when driving to my commute though lol//.

[hat_man]

I get a bit frustrated anymore when some jerk tailgates. I drive the speed limit (55mph) on two lanes and the same 55mph on the interstate. I still feel that it's not my fault they didn't leave enough time to get to work and have to break the law. I haven't heard of anyone getting cited for driving the speed limit but in this mixed up crazy world of "entitlement" I'm sure it happens. They post a minimum speed limit on most roads. I think it's usually 45mph even on the interstate. If you are going more than the minimum even if you are going under the "limit" (like 55mph on a 65mph road) I can't see it holding up in court. Just sign the NOT guilty line on the ticket and then make the officer explain exactly just how you were breaking the law in court. As long as you were in the right hand lane on a 3 or more lane highway or at least going the speed limit on a 2 lane they don't have much of an argument.

I can usually wait them out because I also just don't care too much anymore. It's when they get too close that I just start to practice my PnG techniques. Practice makes perfect you know. The ones who choose to ride my bumper with their brights on don't like it for very long because I have found the right angle with my rear view to throw most of the light back at them. "But officer...it must have been dumb luck that when he wouldn't turn his brights off and I reached up and slapped my mirror that it directed it mostly back at him blinding him while he was trying to blind me."

I have been known to ever so slightly press on the brakes. Just enough to make the taillights come on. I wouldn't slam on the brakes because I don't want to wreck MY truck. This and the mirror thing are really only reserved for the extreme jerks out there. Usually I wait them out and as the go roaring past me, telling me I'm #1 with a little finger gesturing, I just give them a big thumbs up and smile. Does this make me a "bad" driver? I really don't care anymore. I was a "good" driver for 25 years and "went with the flow". But now at $3-$4 a gallon for gas and a 120 mile round trip commute to work, they can just kiss......................