What do other drivers do as they pass?

[Piwoslaw]

When cars start to pass me, they suddenly slow down and hover in my blind spot for 2-10 seconds, and then resume passing. If the driver and/or any of the passengers are young (20-30 yo) males, then they will have a really stupid smile on their face. I mean stupid!
Sometimes the car will suddenly swerve onto the shoulder, stop, wait for me to pass, then pass me again armed with a cell phone. Did I mention stupid?

[Weather Spotter]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

When cars start to pass me, they suddenly slow down and hover in my blind spot for 2-10 seconds, and then resume passing. If the driver and/or any of the passengers are young (20-30 yo) males, then they will have a really stupid smile on their face. I mean stupid!
Sometimes the car will suddenly swerve onto the shoulder, stop, wait for me to pass, then pass me again armed with a cell phone. Did I mention stupid?

I had that happen yesterday on my way home.
Another time yesterday, a truck came up a was going by, got a smile from the passenger (30s woman) and then the truck slowed down (enough to see my back side) staid there for a moment and then went by me (grin on woman's face)

[Soulster]

So what would you do Thymeclock? Reck your mpg and go the speed limit? That wouldn't work well, as everyone is going 10 over! (before we started coasting there was already a bunch of cars behind us)

So why not move over? It gets both goals accomplished, and if a cop wants to give me a ticket for that, go ahead! I'll post it in my office at work!

[Patrick]

Around here the posted minimum speed on the interstate is 45. Although the speed limit is 70 in most areas, people routinely cruise @ 75+ until they see a cop. Recently I saw one area of I-10 (can't remember which state it was in, maybe Texas?) where the minimum was only 40.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

When cars start to pass me, they suddenly slow down and hover in my blind spot for 2-10 seconds, and then resume passing. If the driver and/or any of the passengers are young (20-30 yo) males, then they will have a really stupid smile on their face. I mean stupid!
Sometimes the car will suddenly swerve onto the shoulder, stop, wait for me to pass, then pass me again armed with a cell phone. Did I mention stupid?

I'm wondering what you mean by saying "armed with a cell phone"? Does it shoot at you?

I know there is no shortage of stupid people in America; I was hoping things might be better in Poland. Apparently Einstein was right: stupidity is limitless.

Why do you pay attention to other drivers' facial expressions? Why would you care what other people think?

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Soulster

So what would you do Thymeclock? Reck your mpg and go the speed limit? That wouldn't work well, as everyone is going 10 over! (before we started coasting there was already a bunch of cars behind us)

I would do what is prudent, safe and legal. Being strictly legal would not be my first consideration, but it definitely is applicable, as is all vehicular common sense. I don't put saving a few cents in gasoline spent above road safety or legal liability.

So why not move over? It gets both goals accomplished, and if a cop wants to give me a ticket for that, go ahead! I'll post it in my office at work!

I'm all for you "moving over" and driving slower in the rightmost lane, which is legal, safer, courteous and considerate of faster moving vehicles.

Why would you want to "post it in my office at work"? Does your office or workplace pay for tickets you accrue as a business expense? Or are you on a personal ego-trip or ideological crusade? Just wondering...

[Weather Spotter]

If there is another lane, I use it, Soulster was taking about using the shoulder to pull over on. Doing that is only some thing I do if doing so is:
1. Safe (no debris on shoulder and lots of stopping distance)
2. Roads are dry, no rain, snow or ice.
3. If I know traffic flow will be helped by me moving over (on roads I know I can tell how bad traffic is)
4. traffic can not pass me in the other lane.

In the case mentioned early in the tread, all 4 were met.
1. Shoulder was clean, over a car's width.
2. all dry
3. I had about 10 cars that were on my tail (did not quite pass me a mile back in the passing lane). 6 of them got past me before I turned (lets see how much gas was saved by 6 cars and suvs not accelerating from 30 to 60+MPH).

Also 2 of the cars on my tail had passed me earlier on my drive (they must have stopped) and when they had passes before they very risky spots to pass (traffic was coming so they gunned it and made the other drivers break to avoid a crash). I decided that the shoulder was the safest option.

4. I had cars coming the other way, no way I would have passed (but the driver on my tail was close to going around me).

Might I have been wrong, yes. Did I have some good justification for it, yes.
I doubt any reasonable cop would have given me a ticket.

Will I make a habit of this, No.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

If there is another lane, I use it, Soulster was taking about using the shoulder to pull over on. Doing that is only some thing I do if doing so is:
1. Safe (no debris on shoulder and lots of stopping distance)
2. Roads are dry, no rain, snow or ice.
3. If I know traffic flow will be helped by me moving over (on roads I know I can tell how bad traffic is)
4. traffic can not pass me in the other lane.

In the case mentioned early in the tread, all 4 were met.
1. Shoulder was clean, over a car's width.
2. all dry
3. I had about 10 cars that were on my tail (did not quite pass me a mile back in the passing lane). 6 of them got past me before I turned (lets see how much gas was saved by 6 cars and suvs not accelerating from 30 to 60+MPH).

Also 2 of the cars on my tail had passed me earlier on my drive (they must have stopped) and when they had passes before they very risky spots to pass (traffic was coming so they gunned it and made the other drivers break to avoid a crash). I decided that the shoulder was the safest option.

4. I had cars coming the other way, no way I would have passed (but the driver on my tail was close to going around me).

Might I have been wrong, yes. Did I have some good justification for it, yes.
I doubt any reasonable cop would have given me a ticket.

Will I make a habit of this, No.

That's a very long, elaborate rationalization. It's called "guilty with an explanation."

Let's review the exact words of what you originally posted: "The complaint was for using the shoulder to slow down on, US2 is a busy road and I did not want to slow traffic down as I coasted the .6 of a mile to my turn off, shoulder is over a lain wide so I let 6 cars go by as I slowed down".

You admit you "coasted the .6 of a mile to my turn off". By any definition, that is driving on the road shoulder or breakdown lane. Do you think any cop would buy your story while viewing the bragging rights stickers on the back of your car? (I swear officer, I've never done any coasting on the road shoulder before!)

BTW, coasting is also technically illegal in most states. (Hard to prove unless you admit it, but seeing you were driving for over half a mile on the shoulder is quite obvious.)

Nope, it's not worth making a habit of it. And if it's anything less than legal, it's best to keep a low profile.

[Olympiadis]

Meanwhile as the cop brings you your ticket his car has been running the whole time while parked on the side of the road.

Well, maybe this sort of waste will be reduced once the states have been broke for a while and can't afford the upkeep, or police are mandated to drive hybrids. lolz.

I don't want to talk about the looks I get around here while hypermiling. In Saint Louis people shoot each other over hamburgers. I think it has happened twice in the last year.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Olympiadis

Meanwhile as the cop brings you your ticket his car has been running the whole time while parked on the side of the road.

Well, maybe this sort of waste will be reduced once the states have been broke for a while and can't afford the upkeep, or police are mandated to drive hybrids. lolz.

I don't want to talk about the looks I get around here while hypermiling. In Saint Louis people shoot each other over hamburgers. I think it has happened twice in the last year.

Considering your final statement, maybe you can understand why a police car legitimately keeps the motor running and the video camera running during a traffic stop. I'm not a big fan of traffic patrol but your gripe about conserving 10 cents worth of gasoline in the idling of a patrol car is truly petty and also absurd.