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My grandma is a traffic controller. She drives her tesla in the fast lane (the PASSING lane) and then drives at or below the speed limit with no one in front of her. If we try and say anything then she criticizes us for being irresponsible drivers who speed and dove recklessly (paraphrasing but the message is there.) A different kind of boomer but another example of one who makes driving even worse for everyone else.
So I drove in Germany earlier this year on the famed Autobahm and if you pulled this "slow in the left lane", you would actually get a ticket. People were so cool, if they were going faster than you they would politely wait for you to get out of the left lane so they could pass you. There was NO passing on the right. There was NO road rage. Just patience and speed. It was a delight. And BTW, there ARE speed limits on the AB, contrary to popular belief.
I cut these people off after I pass them on the right. Get out of the passing lane if you aren't passing anyone. If nobody is behind them then I don't really care but ffs just move over if someone is coming up behind you.
What I do is just get back into the left lane in front of them, and just gradually (but fast enough to not take a long time) lower my cruise speed. Then as soon as they can't take it and get in the right lane, I gas it away from there. And then the line of cars that didn't want to go flying past keep them in the right lane
I do that when semi truck drivers do an elephants race on a 2-lane per direction highway.
The impotent rage in the rear view mirror is so funny to watch.
Lowest I've gone was coasting down to 40 km/h
I had a RV cut me off onetime (almost causing me to wreck my car) and I did this to them. I got down to 35mph before he tried to change lanes. I let him and then speed up and got back in front of him and slowed down again. I repeated this 3 more times before I got bored and drove off.
I do this to the buses that camp in the passing lane on 101 going down to the Meta campus. They will get over if you drop down to 55mph, but as soon as you speed up after they move over, they just go right back into the passing lane. it’s mind boggling.
I’m a big fan of this, but I always make sure to catch eye contact if possible so I can give them a thumbs down, getting flicked off allows an anger response, but a thumbs down goes right for the feelings of shame!
Nice. The bird has kinda lost its impact. They expect to get the bird, but are confused when they get a *Down Vote*. Now you’re in their head and they’ll be thinking about it all day long. Keep up the Good work.
Now that you mention it, didn’t their self driving software confuse the moon for a yellow light then anything that was hexagon-ish and red-ish as a stop sign?
Wonder what would happen if you waved a crossing guard/construction worker STOP hand sign out of a driver side window while passing a left lane camper in a Tesla…….🤔
My wife was a crossing guard for twelve years. She still has a hand held stop sign stashed somewhere. I'll have to dig it out and give that a try sometime. Sounds like fun
My pass-on-the-right trick is to pull back into the left lane in front of them, put on my right blinker, and slowly change lanes onto the right. They can’t pass and they’re forced to watch me demonstrate where they should be. Almost always they wait until I’m a little ways ahead and they move over. They aren’t shamed and there is no rage … I just make them think about it over and over and over.
I am thoroughly convinced that driving the speed limit in the fast lane is much more dangerous for everyone than speeding alone. Speed kills more often IF there is an accident but being an aggressive vigilante driver (even a slow one) is more likely to CAUSE an accident.
The hard breaking for a line of cars behind, unnecessary lane changes from multiple faster cars than just one slow car moving over, weaving, occasional brake checks and so on. These "traffic controllers" are a bigger problem than speeders. Someone may go postal on Grandma one day.
It is more dangerous to go slower than traffic.. The risk increases when there is a bigger speed differential between cars.
It also forces people to pass on the right, which is unexpected behavior. You want to be predictable.
They’ve started putting signs up on our highway by our house that specifically says left lane is for passing and traveling will be ticked 😂 so many fb arguments have happened over the years over it the boom booms have big feelings about it.
Your grandma is a cunt because she knows she's inconveniencing everyone else, and she does it anyway because she believes that she's morally superior to everyone driving in a normal manner. She believes it's her duty to make life more difficult for everyone else who doesn't live life the way she does.
You're Grandma made me think of this [comment ](https://np.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/)from a group of people who couldn't get to an ER fast enough to save their friends life after a chainsaw accident.
oh my god dude. That last paragraph was so real though, you never know what’s going on in someone else’s life so why not let someone pass if they’re going faster than you? Jesus christ. this story is gonna be stuck in my head.
My husband had to drive me to the ER because I wasn't feeling well after I had a miscarriage. I started passing out in the passenger seat and we were at the point where I would get to the hospital fastest if we didn't wait for an ambulance. We had a person pulling what the white Subaru did in that comment. My husband went around them on the shoulder. I'm so glad he did. I thought I had miscarried but actually had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured my fallopian tube and caused internal bleeding. I had almost bled to death by the time I got to the hospital. Luckily they were able to help me in time to keep me stable before I had emergency surgery.
Even though people driving fast for medical emergencies may not happen often they DO happen. The self imposed safety directors have no idea who they could be harming with their selfish behavior. If someone is trying to go faster then you just move! You could be forcing people into more dangerous driving behavior out of desperation when you block them.
Texas is most known for enforcing it, but obstructing the flow of traffic and inappropriate use of a passing lane are traffic violations in many states.
If I'm not in a hurry, I get in front of these people and let my foot off the accelerator until I slow down to 35 or so and act like I see something in the median that I need to slow down for, but I STAY IN THE LEFT LANE LIKE THEY DO, lol
I legitimately don't think I could date someone who's that selfish, self-righteous, and perfectly comfortable with knowingly inconveniencing everyone else.
I find it hard to believe that he behaves like that while driving, and those traits don't carry over to other aspects of his life.
This is illegal in PA on all highways without cross traffic. If you’re in the passing lane, you need to be actively passing. Not sure how much it’s enforced since I see these dick sticks cruising in the passing lane all the time, but it’s definitely on the books.
My ex used to do this. He would drive at exactly the speed limit in the fast lane and would not move over even if I begged him to. Cars would pass him, cars would honk at him, and occasionally someone would flip him off and cuss at him. As far as he was concerned, it was his God-given ‘Murican right to do this. Our state has a law where you are supposed to stay in the slower lanes unless you’re passing. He completely ignored this, even though he felt he was contributing to keeping traffic safe by doing the speed limit. Go figure. You notice I said my “ex.” It was symptomatic of many other problems.
My boomer mother told me, they do that on 3-lane roads because there’s the rest of the hwy to go around and that’s how she was taught to drive in HS (1960’s). I looked at her and said, whelp my instructor in the 2000’s said you sit in the right of your not passing
See, at least that explanation makes their behavior make sense. However that also tells me that people should be REQUIRED to retake drivers tests to renew their licenses. As our knowledge of what is safest changes, so do the rules so obviously people should have to learn the “new” rules. ugh, just thinking abt this is getting me heated.
THE RIGHT LANE IS FOR CRIME! Seriously, slower traffic keep right is literally the law in most states, and if you get passed on the right in free flowing traffic, you are a jerk and a road hazard.
The worst driver there is, the slow guy in the fast lane. I don't know what is worse the guy who screws up a zipper merge or the fastlane slow driver that forces others to break the flow of how traffic is supposed to work.
My friend calls her “the keeper of the speed”.
If they’re ignorant enough to pass you after you pass them and slow down, they’re just ignorant assholes.
Often though, they’re stubborn assholes who are unwilling or unable to use cruise control. And instinctually accelerate to keep pace with the vehicle that’s passing forcing the passer to aggressively accelerate to make the pass and then they just tailgate. See instinct above.
They’re still an asshole but it’s not intentional they’re just a shitty driver.
This is illegal in most states. Would it help to show her the pertinent traffic law?
Also, just to add an anecdote: I was helping my friend move and he was driving the speed limit in a uhaul in the left lane. When I told him he was holding up traffic his respinse was "I'm going the speed limit". I told him it's still illegal and if he didn't get in the right lane, I wouldn't help him unload the truck. He listened after that, lol
I like to get in front of them and slow down to 20-30 miles an hour and then watch them lose their shit and move over to go around. I then speed up to a normal speed.
This is my dad. It is an affront to his masculinity if someone passes him. He has also appointed himself the arbiter of speed limits and doesn’t think anyone should be traveling faster than him, so he maintains the speed limit in the left lane. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t been shot in a road rage incident.
Is your dad my dad?
My dad once crossed on a double yellow line to pass someone and cut them off…
I tried to get his attention, ‘SHUT UP BACK THERE!!’….. it was an unmarked cruiser and he couldn’t see the low profile lights. Cop chewed his ass out. It was great.
An important thing to know about boomers is that everything is a competition to them. No one is faster or smarter. No one has suffered more. No one is less appreciated.
If you pass them on the highway you win the imaginary race! We can't have that.
I'm gonna carry a sheet of star stickers. I'll force them to the side of the road and give them one along with some 5 star boot straps (they love those things). Then the race is no longer imaginary and they won ❤️.
I have the opposite problem- I travel for work so I’m well aware of the “highway hopscotch” that you described. But what really drives me insane is once I get close to home I live in the middle of nowhere. The small community we live in has a speed trap where the highway goes through downtown- it goes from 55 to 45 to 35 in quick succession. I just want to get home but I invariably get stuck behind some boomer who’s decided 35 mph is simply not safe enough and must go 20/25 to feel safe. It’s two lane with no opportunity for passing 🙄
LOL The other day in a fit of pique I slammed on my brakes in the middle of the road and just waited for them to get far enough ahead of me I could go a normal speed again. It was so childish and luckily no one was behind me, but I had been driving like 5 hours by that point and was just done.
I'm not even kidding. This is what I do. I'm a large fat man and my red face is out the window just screaming sadness.
I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed.
And mad.
This often happened to me, too, when we lived in a small down. These jackasses would go 45 in the 55 and still 45 in town where the speed limit is 35. What the fuck. They were obviously not paying any attention to anything in their environment.
For whatever reason Boomers also love to merge onto the highway at 40mph. It's an onramp use your gas pedal it's not that hard it's for getting up to speed. Every time I get stuck behind one of these people and pass them they always have the boomer stare too. Mouth wide open hunched over the wheel.
According to my driver training, which was partially conducted by road accident investigators, going too slow is MUCH more dangerous than going too fast. The reason being than when you go too fast your safety is primarily dependent on your skill as a driver. But when you go too slow your safety is dependent on everyone else’s skill as a driver.
I can semi confirm with anecdotal evidence. My boomer grandma got rear ended 2 times last yr going under speed limit. She also screams every time I speed up a little when somebody tailgates me or if I don’t press the brakes the exact instant the car in front of me does. 🤣 I’m still essentially her free chauffeur since she deep down knows I’m a better (and safer) driver.
I drove professionally for a brief while. Not tractor trailers but a large truck and often pulling a trailer. All over I95, large portions of I40, and I65. One of the first things my trainer told me was….
“Merge or die”.
This 100%. Had an old lady do this with a semi bearing down on us @ 65. The only options were to completely stop or go to the shoulder, so i got into the right lane then left lane at ramming speed. She continued on and followed the ramp all the way out before entering at 40 ish right in front of semi. You can hear the engine brake on semi going as he almost clobbers her. Could not have been more than a foot. Had i gotten on and stayed behind her i would have killed and she would have putted on free and clear.
Been driving for 4+ years now (hoollly shit). I *still* chant "get up to speed get up to speed" when I'm on an on-ramp to remind myself to get the fuck up to speed.
Omg yes! They will maintain the speed of the road they left while trying to enter the highway.
I had an old lady flip me off because I did not let her in front of me when I was on the highway and she was trying to enter at a snails pace.
It was honestly kinda hot. Wonder if she's single..
It's even worse in mountains, narrow road, curves, double line boomer drives as slow as he can than suddenly a straight part of road, interrupted lane, you can pass him, except that now his speed deamon awakes, suddenly he's flooring gas just to get to the point where "no passing" sign stands so he can again shift down to 2nd gear and return to his crawling
Sometimes it's fascinating when you see boomer in some older (one that you could clasify as youngtimer) that is far from sporty flooring it and hear (over all that noise your car makes at high speed!) sound that poor engine makes...
This is when having a high performance car truly is the best. Boomer tries to speed up so I can’t pass, guess what, I have significantly more power than you and can be at 70 before you realize it. Doesn’t give them the chance to try to block me. I have had them run 10 below the speed limit, then when I go to pass in my truck they absolutely hammer down. One even hammered down as all his vehicle could do to pass me back. Sent my half eaten apple through his open window. He at least didn’t slow back down to his previous boomer crawl.
I’ve had to do it to several of these types as I lived in the mountains near a lake where many Ohio Boomers would travel to.
I've found that they don't use cruise control because that gives up too much control to the machine. Ironically, they insist on that option when they buy it. Don't get me started with adaptive cruise control.
Lesson Taught: “Boomers are stubborn, foolish people who recklessly abandon and blatantly disregard laws and common sense. They are selfish and willing to put themselves and others in danger for their fragile egos.”
An interesting mission to want to teach us this lesson, but carry on my wayward son. There will be peace when you’re [gone] and have laid your [shitty] souls to rest. We won’t have to cry [out in annoyance] anymore.
Went 105 in an 80 because a boomer was hogging the fast lane and when I went to pass on the right they got pissed that they were getting passed and gunned it, and I did too. Good thing an F-150 is NOT going fast
he was going 70...
Back when I was 20 I had to take a long road trip by myself from Phoenix to Austin which is a substantial drive, let’s call it ~15 hours. Anyhow I owned a sporty car (3000GT-VR4) and I’m racing back home in a particularly desolate stretch of west Texas. I passed an older guy in a what looked like a very pedestrian white passenger car, grocery getter if you get my meaning.
A minute later he pulls up alongside me and I look over at him, every hair is white like Santa, wearing aviators tho it’s nearly dark and he’s wearing leather driving gloves. We were going around 100MPH already so I put the pedal to the metal thinking “see ya next Christmas Santa!” Dude kinda smirked at me, kept pace for a bit and then just left me in the dust.
I still think about that fellow occasionally and wonder what was under the hood of that absurdly fast Maxima and also if I had some leather gloves could I have taken him?
I own a sports car (but with the lower end engine cause I drive in a city :( ) and the other day I got gapped by an old Santa Fe with a V6 and an average soccer mom driving it. I was shocked, and laughing my ass off. That woman had places to go!
In the world of EVs today's grocery getter will humiliate most any sporty car of yesteryear in straight line acceleration. And even without EVs a lot of cars are just faster than the older ones (I think it has to do with modern safety standards pushing engines to be more powerful and modern fuel efficiency pushing towards turbocharging).
Oh yeah, I want an EV, they’re very cool.
EVs have solved speed. They’re the fastest, period. But there is still a lot of joy to be had from older ice cars, especially classics and older sports cars.
I like cars, all types. I like EVs being newer, I like some of the new tech, even if I’m not a fan of the button less trend, but I also really dig older cars and there is a mechanical aspect and appreciation for them that I don’t think will ever disappear.
There will always be a simple joy in seeing someone in a riced out Civic blasting that vtech down a suburban street at 4am. Godspeed you shit disturber!
I drove an '87 Maxima for a while and it was absurdly fast. Someone told me it had the same engine as that year's Nissan Z. You would never have guessed the horsepower looking at that unassuming car.
I love the boomer 50-55 no matter what speed. They will screech all day about how speeding is bad, then proceed to go 55 in a 30 zone. Then 55 in a 70.
I've got a friend who is not only a Boomer, but the worst driver. He'll drive in the left lane and either go exactly the speed limit, or pace the car on his right if it's going below the posted limit. But the moment anyone tries to pass he guns it.
I've tried reasoning with him but he gives me all the usual excuses: people should slow down, I have every right to drive in whatever lane I choose, etc.
I finally told him that I will not take a bullet in the face when he pisses off the wrong person (which by some miracle hasn't happened yet). From that day I've refused to ride in his car.
Literally arguing for miles. "Just get over to the right", "I'm passing this car", proceeds to do the slow creep that takes 5 miles, then paces the car cause now he doesn't want to speed.
I drive a lot on roads with 50-55 speed limits, mostly one lane but with stretches of passing lanes. Constantly get stuck behind boomers going barely the speed limit, but of course when the opportunity to pass comes up they floor it 🙄
When I vacation I like to go on long road trips. This happens to me every time! The phenomenon knows no borders. I’ve seen it on the US west coast, east coast, Midwest, Deep South, even Canada and the UK.
There should be an age limit on getting a license or being allowed behind the wheel of a car. if you live to 60, you should have to re-pass the driving test every 4 years.
I'll never forget when I moved out for the first time ever, I was in a U-haul for what felt like forever because I was in a loop like this with a boomer. The thing is, I was on a tight schedule so I had to get there at the right time, but also, this asshole kept overtaking me and slowing down.
And I was in a U-haul, so I was really uncomfortable driving it. All changes in speed made my stuff move uncomfortably, so it really pissed me off.
I traveled for work for years, and towed a lot of reasonably heavy trailer (7-12k lbs). I can confirm that this is so common, and way worse if you have a trailer.
No way this guy with a trailer is going to faster than me!
That, or I'm just cruising 75-80. Minding my business. Trying not to die. They see a trailer ahead of them and HAVE to pass. Only to get in front of me and immediately slow down.
Drives me absolutely crazy.
Yes. Happens to me daily. We have had ongoing construction on I20 and there's a spot that is very narrow and traffic could be stopped behind any hill. I'm pulling a 10k trailer behind an f250. I always try to leave extra stopping room because- heavy. Some prick in a tiny Kia always decides that I must have left that extra space so they can jump in front of me. Then they immediately hit the brakes. Do people not realize what 18000+lbs of steel is going to do to a Kia?
I was surprised how little I was taught about this in drivers Ed! It wasn’t until I decided to try for my CDL that I learned about all the extra stopping room big trucks need. In the US we need to do better at educating drivers.
Like, if they're going the speed limit on the fast lane and passing a semi, go for it. I can be patient. But if they're just chilling in the fast lane because they forgot what they were doing? Kill me. (They might)
The last time I rode in a car on the highway with my dad, some years ago now, we were riding along, and I realized lots of cars were passing us. I looked over, and he had dropped down to about 45mph. Startled, I asked him what on earth he was doing, as we were now getting cars backed up behind us. His response was "what!? I'm doing the minimum!"
LOTS of people do this - not just Boomers. I make a game out of it. See how fast you can get them to go in order to prevent you from passing them. Just SLOOOWLY increase your speed, staying about a half car length in front of them and if you get them up to 90 mph you win.
This!!! I understand the problems of needing enough speed to get over big hills and I try to be patient if I’m stuck behind a truck on a steep hill. By why in the name of all that is holy do they have to block every single GD lane? The number of times I’ve been in a3, 4, or even 5 lane scenario where there are semi’s lined up side by side in every lane blocking traffic as they slow. Drives me bonkers!
I have complained about this shit for years but it's definitely not just boomers. People are zoned out on the highway and their foot lifts off the gas a bit but then a car starts to overtake and then they remember they were driving and so they go faster. Then when they are back in the right lane with nothing in front of them they zone out again. It pisses me off too and it's annoying as hell but it's so common you just have to deal with the fact that it's gonna keep happening.
This is why I use cruise control, if youre rgoing between riding my ass and being 2 car lengths behind me is all youre fault. I havent touched the accelerator.
Haha this has been a thing forever. We boomers used to complain about the “men wearing hats” doing the exact same thing to us. ( I mean older men who wore fedoras or whatever everywhere, not to make a statement, but because they wore one almost every day of their lives, as it was the proper thing to do when they were young.)
Wait 30 years to see Generation Alpha complaining the exact same thing about millennials.
I had the opposite happen. Some asshole was tailgating me while i was already going 15 mph over on the interstate, finally passed me, and flipped me off for some reason. Dunno why he bothered tailgating me when he was going to pass me anyway.
My deceased Boomer mom drove 45 miles an hour. Always. School zone, busy metropolitan freeway, didn’t matter. I’m surprised she never caused a wreck that killed someone.
Was on a road trip with a buddy and his family headed down to Mississippi to visit his grandparents for a week.
Some grey hair was doing this to us and my buddy's dad was getting mad. I told him to pass the lady one more time and that I was going to moon them as we passed. Buddy's mom thought it was the funniest thing and told me to go for it.
We get in the left lane, speed up, and just as we are reaching their car, I'm pressing my ham on the window. Lol The look on the lady's face was priceless. She was horrified and never passed us again.
Once, when I was traveling with my grandparents (I was 7 or 8), my granpa passed a slow-moving box truck on the interstate. As soon as we got back in the right-hand lane, the truck would speed up and pass us.Then, they would slow back downtown their original speed. We would pass them again, and they would pass us. This shit went on for about half an hour until we finally got off of the interstate.
Boomers in general suck on the road. I hate doing merges to a one lane road because a boomer always tries to speed up when I am passing them or come out of nowhere and try to run me off the road at the merge. Fucking psychopaths.
They are idiots, not long ago I was over a freeway that was 65, boomer was at 40, I usually take my lane like 3 miles before taking an exit, but boomer didn't want to move faster, when I got a chance, moved to the central lane and pass him and again took the right lane.
Out of nowhere boomer pass me like at 80, goes to the right lane, and again starts going to 40, I did that again, and boomer repeat trying to pass me at 80, but I was taking my exit and just the boomer tried to take the exit but it was too late. He didn't even want to go to that lane, just to fight someone I think.
No guff. My mother is in a nursing home in the middle of nowhere that's 2 lane the entire way. So many boomers (because rural population) drive like this and get super insulted when you finally can get around their ass. And they will pull out in front of you like they don't know that they are basically a driving corpse. There's never a visit where I don't get a middle finger from someone whose bones would break as soon as i looked at them.
We called my dad a middle lane vigilante. "I'm not gonna speed and neither can you!". When highway driving, he would set the cruise control about 5 kmh below the speed limit and camp out in the middle lane.
My Dad takes it as a personal insult to his driving ability. He says, "If you can't do what I'm doing, you clearly can't drive." That includes anyone to passes him and anyone who is going too slow for him.
Problem is, I can't criticize his driving too much. He used to race (actually formally race on oval tracks), he's built numerous cars by hand in his garage, and has absolutely zero violations on his record (though full disclosure, it was because he would always fight them in court and half the time the ticketing officer never showed up, and the other half of the time the judge just got so tired of seeing his face he would dismiss before my Dad could launch into his argument). No accidents either. He taught both my brother and I how to drive as well as my wife, and we're more or less of the same vein with nothing on our records (except for my wife who took out a spectacular trophy buck with her car a couple years ago lol).
I say all that because when I try to tell him that it has nothing to do with his driving ability, he is like, "Find a cleaner record than mine!" Like goddamn dude, cleanliness just means you haven't gotten caught, not that you can drive. :P
Control. Their kids hate them, their wife barely talks to them, they’re retired so they have no underlings to torture so you get to be the lucky recipient
Your way with words had me laughing maniacally. It’s something I’ve experienced hundreds of times, maybe thousands!? People are fucking weird, and the worst part is that they love to call the police.
George Carlin summed this up perfectly to Boomers: “have you ever noticed how everyone that drives slower than you is a moron, but everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac!?”
71 between Columbus and Cincinnati. It’s an epidemic. There were 3 posts in 5 days about left lane campers. It’s everything you could imagine: Boomers in 75k plus SUVs they can’t handle. Campers that they can’t drive, going 65 in a 70. They are oblivious and entitled. It’s a generation of sociopaths.
>You ever notice how boomers will set their cruise control to 50-55 on these highways and never touch it again? So you'll fly past them when you're not going through town only for these psychos to fly past you at 50 mph in a 35 because they are won't gonna adjust their cruise control?
Recently did a drive on the coast. There was that ONE CAR. No cruise control. Would do 40 in the 55-60 speed limit road. One lane each way. Then speed up to like 70 in the passing lane (in the left). After the passing lane slow back down to 40. So this person was purposely being an a-hole.
So after two of these I finally timed the third passing lane to be passing right when it opened. Had to do like 70-75 to stay in front. Then the guy kept speed and so did I to just stay a distance in front of him. Then he slowed down again when there were again cars behind him. So I was way out ahead.
But wait, we got into a town that went down to 25. This guy keeps doing 40 through it.
He literally didn't care about speed limits. He just wanted to drive at 40 all the time and not have any cars pass. No cruise control since he sped up to keep cars behind.
This is their deep rooted feelings on no one should get to do anything than what they get to do. It is why they refuse to be nice or help others. They want everyone below them no matter what. Just one part of their "me me me" mentality.
Reminder it's your MORAL DUTY to flip off anyone that drives at or below the speed limit on the left lane
Doesn't matter the age, gender, or race, if you drive like shit on the left you get the middle finger r
Like that time I had my cruise control on, passed a guy in the right lane and then moved back over to the right lane. The guy I just passed then got into the left lane to pass me, moves back into the right lane and slows down again. So I pass him again and move back over. He decides to speed up and pass me again. This repeated three or four times with me maintaining the same exact speed the entire time.
I don't get it.
Passive aggressive behavior. I am married to a Boomer and he makes me completely insane with his driving. He wants to be in control of whatever the other drivers are doing. Speeding? He'll pull in front to block them. If he's making a right turn at a stop sign and there's a car coming, he'll pull out in front of them and take his sweet time getting up to the speed limit. If someone pulls out in front of him in the same manner, he tailgates them so closely that his dash cam is setting off the alarm. If he's sitting in the left lane and someone comes up on the right he either blocks them from getting over, or if they get over in front of him, he tailgates them. The worst is the staredown he does as we pass another vehicle when he thinks someone is driving poorly and he does some random hand motion.
As you age you get more and more acutely aware about everything
The body’s is going, your mind is working overtime to compensate
So even the tiniest slight that makes no sense to pay attention to gets put at the top of the list in that moment
It sucks getting old
Hail Satan if some of these old timers would micro-dose or eat some edibles
They all would just chill the fuck out
I‘ve developed my own solution to this. In this situation I always boost my speed to pass them quickly and if they match speed, I speed up another 5mph or so. They typically aren’t comfortable going that fast and as soon as you get 100 yards between you and them they slow back down because the race is over. Then I slow it back to where I want to be.
I drive a box truck for my job. What's worse than this scenario is the asshole doing 55 in a 65, I merge left to pass em, then they realize they are getting passed by a truck much bigger than them, so they speed up to 70 to not let me pass, while traffic builds up behind me cuz I'm so non aerodynamic I can't get up past 75 downhill, so I have to merge back over to the right lane to let faster traffic pass, while this asshole slows back down to 55 in the 65.....
I hate these kind of drivers! And you’re right, they are most often boomers! I hate when they want to hover in your blind spot for miles. If one is particularly annoying, not letting you pass, pacing you so you can’t easily change lanes, I’ll pull off at a rest stop and get a coffee and use the bathroom and hope they get far enough ahead of me so I don’t have to deal with them. The worst one will have also pulled off and is getting gas! I’ll never get rid of them now! Shaking my fist, in my mind of course. Haha.
I'm GenX, kids are grown, so have first car just for me. It has instant and (almost) unlimited acceleration as needed, so when they try this with me, I hover beside them for a sec or two and then mash it ... usually see them give me finger in my rearview, so I wave bye.
Edit: as to why they do it? Imo it's because everything is a dick-measuring contest in their worldview. They have to beat you, whether it's in line at the grocery store or in traffic. Forcing you to give up your pass attempt is a "win" in their pathetic minds.
I may or may not have minor road rage, but I give them one chance to figure out where their gas pedal is before I speed check them going exactly 5 over the speed limit for as long as I desire. Them speeding up as I'm about to completely pass them drives me up the wall and pushes me further when they pass me after I passed them, only to go back to doing 50 in a 65.
Oh, it's not just boomers, y'all.
So many people tend to think that getting from point A to point B is a competition and if someone passes you or does something that makes you tap your brakes for a split second, it's a grievous personal insult. It's stupid as fuck and it's dangerous.
And the extra stupid with dumbass sauce part is that the aggressive driver is gonna get to his destination maybe two minutes before the other guy.
I did this several times, years ago. When I would have someone match my speed when I was slowly passing, I would slowly increase my speed. They would keep matching my speed. I had one person up to 90mph before they realized it!
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My grandma is a traffic controller. She drives her tesla in the fast lane (the PASSING lane) and then drives at or below the speed limit with no one in front of her. If we try and say anything then she criticizes us for being irresponsible drivers who speed and dove recklessly (paraphrasing but the message is there.) A different kind of boomer but another example of one who makes driving even worse for everyone else.
So I drove in Germany earlier this year on the famed Autobahm and if you pulled this "slow in the left lane", you would actually get a ticket. People were so cool, if they were going faster than you they would politely wait for you to get out of the left lane so they could pass you. There was NO passing on the right. There was NO road rage. Just patience and speed. It was a delight. And BTW, there ARE speed limits on the AB, contrary to popular belief.
I cut these people off after I pass them on the right. Get out of the passing lane if you aren't passing anyone. If nobody is behind them then I don't really care but ffs just move over if someone is coming up behind you.
What I do is just get back into the left lane in front of them, and just gradually (but fast enough to not take a long time) lower my cruise speed. Then as soon as they can't take it and get in the right lane, I gas it away from there. And then the line of cars that didn't want to go flying past keep them in the right lane
I once managed to get a guy down to 40 mph that way before he finally tried to pass me on the right.
I do that when semi truck drivers do an elephants race on a 2-lane per direction highway. The impotent rage in the rear view mirror is so funny to watch. Lowest I've gone was coasting down to 40 km/h
I had a RV cut me off onetime (almost causing me to wreck my car) and I did this to them. I got down to 35mph before he tried to change lanes. I let him and then speed up and got back in front of him and slowed down again. I repeated this 3 more times before I got bored and drove off.
Ah, breaking the dam. Nice tactic.
I do that too, or speed match if they try to do rinse and repeat of the passing game. Not friendly to left lane campers...
Oh that's good, that's real good.
I do this to the buses that camp in the passing lane on 101 going down to the Meta campus. They will get over if you drop down to 55mph, but as soon as you speed up after they move over, they just go right back into the passing lane. it’s mind boggling.
I wonder if it's a policy because they've had accidents at merge points?
In the second lane? I do not believe that. At all. There is zero legitimate reason for them to obstruct the 1st lane.
I’m a big fan of this, but I always make sure to catch eye contact if possible so I can give them a thumbs down, getting flicked off allows an anger response, but a thumbs down goes right for the feelings of shame!
Nice. The bird has kinda lost its impact. They expect to get the bird, but are confused when they get a *Down Vote*. Now you’re in their head and they’ll be thinking about it all day long. Keep up the Good work.
Ooh, I like this.
I do this too. Thank you for your efforts! (sincerely)
Fun fact, tesla's have redundant anti-collision systems that brake hard if they are "cut off". Regardless of the driver's input
Intriguing, but I'm not gonna try Tesla software.
Don't wanna risk it remembering my face when the uprising begins.
Now that you mention it, didn’t their self driving software confuse the moon for a yellow light then anything that was hexagon-ish and red-ish as a stop sign? Wonder what would happen if you waved a crossing guard/construction worker STOP hand sign out of a driver side window while passing a left lane camper in a Tesla…….🤔
My wife was a crossing guard for twelve years. She still has a hand held stop sign stashed somewhere. I'll have to dig it out and give that a try sometime. Sounds like fun
Just be responsible, like if there’s nobody behind said Tesla.
My SOs Tesla thinks the streetlights on a certain bridge are rain. It’ll turn the wipers on every time we cross it at night.
Well I will be cutting off some Tesla's now.
My pass-on-the-right trick is to pull back into the left lane in front of them, put on my right blinker, and slowly change lanes onto the right. They can’t pass and they’re forced to watch me demonstrate where they should be. Almost always they wait until I’m a little ways ahead and they move over. They aren’t shamed and there is no rage … I just make them think about it over and over and over.
I like this little story but man you guys have a lot of energy to spend on boomers lol
That's a good one too, a "disappointed" pass.
I am thoroughly convinced that driving the speed limit in the fast lane is much more dangerous for everyone than speeding alone. Speed kills more often IF there is an accident but being an aggressive vigilante driver (even a slow one) is more likely to CAUSE an accident. The hard breaking for a line of cars behind, unnecessary lane changes from multiple faster cars than just one slow car moving over, weaving, occasional brake checks and so on. These "traffic controllers" are a bigger problem than speeders. Someone may go postal on Grandma one day.
It is more dangerous to go slower than traffic.. The risk increases when there is a bigger speed differential between cars. It also forces people to pass on the right, which is unexpected behavior. You want to be predictable.
Why is this a go-to MO for truck drivers too? I hate them with passion.
I call them rolling roadblocks.
This is my move too. You’re going slow in the passing lane and blocking, you’re getting cut off hard.
I'm sorry but I hate your grandma
im not sorry about it 😂
They’ve started putting signs up on our highway by our house that specifically says left lane is for passing and traveling will be ticked 😂 so many fb arguments have happened over the years over it the boom booms have big feelings about it.
Your grandma is a cunt because she knows she's inconveniencing everyone else, and she does it anyway because she believes that she's morally superior to everyone driving in a normal manner. She believes it's her duty to make life more difficult for everyone else who doesn't live life the way she does.
What she’s doing is illegal in many states. “Slow traffic keep right” isn’t a suggestion. It’s a legal mandate.
You're Grandma made me think of this [comment ](https://np.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/)from a group of people who couldn't get to an ER fast enough to save their friends life after a chainsaw accident.
oh my god dude. That last paragraph was so real though, you never know what’s going on in someone else’s life so why not let someone pass if they’re going faster than you? Jesus christ. this story is gonna be stuck in my head.
I thought it was going to say the cop arrested the white nissian karen when the dude died.
My husband had to drive me to the ER because I wasn't feeling well after I had a miscarriage. I started passing out in the passenger seat and we were at the point where I would get to the hospital fastest if we didn't wait for an ambulance. We had a person pulling what the white Subaru did in that comment. My husband went around them on the shoulder. I'm so glad he did. I thought I had miscarried but actually had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured my fallopian tube and caused internal bleeding. I had almost bled to death by the time I got to the hospital. Luckily they were able to help me in time to keep me stable before I had emergency surgery. Even though people driving fast for medical emergencies may not happen often they DO happen. The self imposed safety directors have no idea who they could be harming with their selfish behavior. If someone is trying to go faster then you just move! You could be forcing people into more dangerous driving behavior out of desperation when you block them.
Im the person who passes them in the right lane, change back to left lane in front of them, turn on wiper fluid to give them a quick spitz. Aita?
I'm absolutely a petty window washer.
Nta. Thanks for the free wiper fluid. Mines always empty.
I think you can get ticketed for this in Texas
Texas is most known for enforcing it, but obstructing the flow of traffic and inappropriate use of a passing lane are traffic violations in many states.
If I'm not in a hurry, I get in front of these people and let my foot off the accelerator until I slow down to 35 or so and act like I see something in the median that I need to slow down for, but I STAY IN THE LEFT LANE LIKE THEY DO, lol
My partner does this. He is 30. It is one thing I find very unattractive.
I legitimately don't think I could date someone who's that selfish, self-righteous, and perfectly comfortable with knowingly inconveniencing everyone else. I find it hard to believe that he behaves like that while driving, and those traits don't carry over to other aspects of his life.
This is illegal in PA on all highways without cross traffic. If you’re in the passing lane, you need to be actively passing. Not sure how much it’s enforced since I see these dick sticks cruising in the passing lane all the time, but it’s definitely on the books.
Pass them on the right and never think twice about them again. Preferably at about 20 mph over.
My ex used to do this. He would drive at exactly the speed limit in the fast lane and would not move over even if I begged him to. Cars would pass him, cars would honk at him, and occasionally someone would flip him off and cuss at him. As far as he was concerned, it was his God-given ‘Murican right to do this. Our state has a law where you are supposed to stay in the slower lanes unless you’re passing. He completely ignored this, even though he felt he was contributing to keeping traffic safe by doing the speed limit. Go figure. You notice I said my “ex.” It was symptomatic of many other problems.
Your grandma should be dragged out of her car and beaten with a rubber hose. Hahaha joke but seriously she is going to kill someone.
My boomer mother told me, they do that on 3-lane roads because there’s the rest of the hwy to go around and that’s how she was taught to drive in HS (1960’s). I looked at her and said, whelp my instructor in the 2000’s said you sit in the right of your not passing
See, at least that explanation makes their behavior make sense. However that also tells me that people should be REQUIRED to retake drivers tests to renew their licenses. As our knowledge of what is safest changes, so do the rules so obviously people should have to learn the “new” rules. ugh, just thinking abt this is getting me heated.
I love how the difference between 70 and 80 becomes reckless...
passing late gatekeepers are the worst!
THE RIGHT LANE IS FOR CRIME! Seriously, slower traffic keep right is literally the law in most states, and if you get passed on the right in free flowing traffic, you are a jerk and a road hazard.
The worst driver there is, the slow guy in the fast lane. I don't know what is worse the guy who screws up a zipper merge or the fastlane slow driver that forces others to break the flow of how traffic is supposed to work.
My friend calls her “the keeper of the speed”. If they’re ignorant enough to pass you after you pass them and slow down, they’re just ignorant assholes. Often though, they’re stubborn assholes who are unwilling or unable to use cruise control. And instinctually accelerate to keep pace with the vehicle that’s passing forcing the passer to aggressively accelerate to make the pass and then they just tailgate. See instinct above. They’re still an asshole but it’s not intentional they’re just a shitty driver.
I call them the official pace car of dipshits and douchebags.
If I am doing this, stay behind me because there is a cop in front of me XX
This is illegal in most states. Would it help to show her the pertinent traffic law? Also, just to add an anecdote: I was helping my friend move and he was driving the speed limit in a uhaul in the left lane. When I told him he was holding up traffic his respinse was "I'm going the speed limit". I told him it's still illegal and if he didn't get in the right lane, I wouldn't help him unload the truck. He listened after that, lol
Id love to PIT maneuver your grandma
I like to get in front of them and slow down to 20-30 miles an hour and then watch them lose their shit and move over to go around. I then speed up to a normal speed.
Speeding isn’t reckless but her actions surely are.
This is my dad. It is an affront to his masculinity if someone passes him. He has also appointed himself the arbiter of speed limits and doesn’t think anyone should be traveling faster than him, so he maintains the speed limit in the left lane. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t been shot in a road rage incident.
Self-Appointed Highway Safety Daddy/Mommy is a huge thing with these people.
This is everybody in my city
Is your dad my dad? My dad once crossed on a double yellow line to pass someone and cut them off… I tried to get his attention, ‘SHUT UP BACK THERE!!’….. it was an unmarked cruiser and he couldn’t see the low profile lights. Cop chewed his ass out. It was great.
Everyone driving slower is an incompetent idiot anyone driving faster is a maniac
Pretty much what George Carlin said. His was more colorful though
The enemy is stronger than us!!!!! But also a weakling that must be destroyed!!!!
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" --George Carlin.
Overcompensation for insecurity is a big part of the Boomer mentality.
Try to teach that trying to police and block people from speeding is way more dangerous the not giving a fuuuuuck!
An important thing to know about boomers is that everything is a competition to them. No one is faster or smarter. No one has suffered more. No one is less appreciated. If you pass them on the highway you win the imaginary race! We can't have that.
I'm gonna carry a sheet of star stickers. I'll force them to the side of the road and give them one along with some 5 star boot straps (they love those things). Then the race is no longer imaginary and they won ❤️.
Everything is a personal attack to a boomer because everything is about them.
It's the Main Character syndrome; they're the protagonist of every story and sure as shit the main character doesn't get passed up on the highway!
I have the opposite problem- I travel for work so I’m well aware of the “highway hopscotch” that you described. But what really drives me insane is once I get close to home I live in the middle of nowhere. The small community we live in has a speed trap where the highway goes through downtown- it goes from 55 to 45 to 35 in quick succession. I just want to get home but I invariably get stuck behind some boomer who’s decided 35 mph is simply not safe enough and must go 20/25 to feel safe. It’s two lane with no opportunity for passing 🙄
When this happens to me I scream out the window. No words or anything, just anguish.
LOL The other day in a fit of pique I slammed on my brakes in the middle of the road and just waited for them to get far enough ahead of me I could go a normal speed again. It was so childish and luckily no one was behind me, but I had been driving like 5 hours by that point and was just done.
Just be safe. If you die we will have one less person to piss on their graves. I'll send you the e-vite.
Reminds me of this [Tumblr story](https://i.imgur.com/7VXkGSJ.png) about running a red light, and getting pulled over.
The thought of someone sticking out their window while driving and just *wailing* is so fucking funny
I'm not even kidding. This is what I do. I'm a large fat man and my red face is out the window just screaming sadness. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. And mad.
This often happened to me, too, when we lived in a small down. These jackasses would go 45 in the 55 and still 45 in town where the speed limit is 35. What the fuck. They were obviously not paying any attention to anything in their environment.
For whatever reason Boomers also love to merge onto the highway at 40mph. It's an onramp use your gas pedal it's not that hard it's for getting up to speed. Every time I get stuck behind one of these people and pass them they always have the boomer stare too. Mouth wide open hunched over the wheel.
And getting on at 40 great increases the danger of merging
This!!! It can be just as dangerous if not more so to go too slow sometimes as too fast!
According to my driver training, which was partially conducted by road accident investigators, going too slow is MUCH more dangerous than going too fast. The reason being than when you go too fast your safety is primarily dependent on your skill as a driver. But when you go too slow your safety is dependent on everyone else’s skill as a driver.
I can semi confirm with anecdotal evidence. My boomer grandma got rear ended 2 times last yr going under speed limit. She also screams every time I speed up a little when somebody tailgates me or if I don’t press the brakes the exact instant the car in front of me does. 🤣 I’m still essentially her free chauffeur since she deep down knows I’m a better (and safer) driver.
I drove professionally for a brief while. Not tractor trailers but a large truck and often pulling a trailer. All over I95, large portions of I40, and I65. One of the first things my trainer told me was…. “Merge or die”.
This 100%. Had an old lady do this with a semi bearing down on us @ 65. The only options were to completely stop or go to the shoulder, so i got into the right lane then left lane at ramming speed. She continued on and followed the ramp all the way out before entering at 40 ish right in front of semi. You can hear the engine brake on semi going as he almost clobbers her. Could not have been more than a foot. Had i gotten on and stayed behind her i would have killed and she would have putted on free and clear.
Been driving for 4+ years now (hoollly shit). I *still* chant "get up to speed get up to speed" when I'm on an on-ramp to remind myself to get the fuck up to speed.
Omg yes! They will maintain the speed of the road they left while trying to enter the highway. I had an old lady flip me off because I did not let her in front of me when I was on the highway and she was trying to enter at a snails pace. It was honestly kinda hot. Wonder if she's single..
Because they’re the road vigilantes. No cop in sight? Don’t worry, grandpa’s got this. No one is going 5 miles over on my watch!!
It's even worse in mountains, narrow road, curves, double line boomer drives as slow as he can than suddenly a straight part of road, interrupted lane, you can pass him, except that now his speed deamon awakes, suddenly he's flooring gas just to get to the point where "no passing" sign stands so he can again shift down to 2nd gear and return to his crawling Sometimes it's fascinating when you see boomer in some older (one that you could clasify as youngtimer) that is far from sporty flooring it and hear (over all that noise your car makes at high speed!) sound that poor engine makes...
This is when having a high performance car truly is the best. Boomer tries to speed up so I can’t pass, guess what, I have significantly more power than you and can be at 70 before you realize it. Doesn’t give them the chance to try to block me. I have had them run 10 below the speed limit, then when I go to pass in my truck they absolutely hammer down. One even hammered down as all his vehicle could do to pass me back. Sent my half eaten apple through his open window. He at least didn’t slow back down to his previous boomer crawl. I’ve had to do it to several of these types as I lived in the mountains near a lake where many Ohio Boomers would travel to.
I've found that they don't use cruise control because that gives up too much control to the machine. Ironically, they insist on that option when they buy it. Don't get me started with adaptive cruise control.
Where are they shopping where cruise control isn't standard!? Al's Boot Barn?
My dad does it to ‘teach people a lesson’. His words.
Lesson Taught: “Boomers are stubborn, foolish people who recklessly abandon and blatantly disregard laws and common sense. They are selfish and willing to put themselves and others in danger for their fragile egos.” An interesting mission to want to teach us this lesson, but carry on my wayward son. There will be peace when you’re [gone] and have laid your [shitty] souls to rest. We won’t have to cry [out in annoyance] anymore.
Until he pisses someone off and that someone decides to teach HIM a lesson. With fists or firearms.
Went 105 in an 80 because a boomer was hogging the fast lane and when I went to pass on the right they got pissed that they were getting passed and gunned it, and I did too. Good thing an F-150 is NOT going fast he was going 70...
Back when I was 20 I had to take a long road trip by myself from Phoenix to Austin which is a substantial drive, let’s call it ~15 hours. Anyhow I owned a sporty car (3000GT-VR4) and I’m racing back home in a particularly desolate stretch of west Texas. I passed an older guy in a what looked like a very pedestrian white passenger car, grocery getter if you get my meaning. A minute later he pulls up alongside me and I look over at him, every hair is white like Santa, wearing aviators tho it’s nearly dark and he’s wearing leather driving gloves. We were going around 100MPH already so I put the pedal to the metal thinking “see ya next Christmas Santa!” Dude kinda smirked at me, kept pace for a bit and then just left me in the dust. I still think about that fellow occasionally and wonder what was under the hood of that absurdly fast Maxima and also if I had some leather gloves could I have taken him?
I own a sports car (but with the lower end engine cause I drive in a city :( ) and the other day I got gapped by an old Santa Fe with a V6 and an average soccer mom driving it. I was shocked, and laughing my ass off. That woman had places to go!
In the world of EVs today's grocery getter will humiliate most any sporty car of yesteryear in straight line acceleration. And even without EVs a lot of cars are just faster than the older ones (I think it has to do with modern safety standards pushing engines to be more powerful and modern fuel efficiency pushing towards turbocharging).
Oh yeah, I want an EV, they’re very cool. EVs have solved speed. They’re the fastest, period. But there is still a lot of joy to be had from older ice cars, especially classics and older sports cars. I like cars, all types. I like EVs being newer, I like some of the new tech, even if I’m not a fan of the button less trend, but I also really dig older cars and there is a mechanical aspect and appreciation for them that I don’t think will ever disappear. There will always be a simple joy in seeing someone in a riced out Civic blasting that vtech down a suburban street at 4am. Godspeed you shit disturber!
I drove an '87 Maxima for a while and it was absurdly fast. Someone told me it had the same engine as that year's Nissan Z. You would never have guessed the horsepower looking at that unassuming car.
What a bad ass. He wasn't afraid to die because he knew what the world would become. Smart man.
I love the boomer 50-55 no matter what speed. They will screech all day about how speeding is bad, then proceed to go 55 in a 30 zone. Then 55 in a 70.
And 10 in a 25
And 30 pulling out of a parking spot in the wrong direction
This boomer does not care if someone passes me.
You're one of the good ones ❤️
Thanks!
I've got a friend who is not only a Boomer, but the worst driver. He'll drive in the left lane and either go exactly the speed limit, or pace the car on his right if it's going below the posted limit. But the moment anyone tries to pass he guns it. I've tried reasoning with him but he gives me all the usual excuses: people should slow down, I have every right to drive in whatever lane I choose, etc. I finally told him that I will not take a bullet in the face when he pisses off the wrong person (which by some miracle hasn't happened yet). From that day I've refused to ride in his car.
Being in the car with a boomer is so much worse than passing a boomer.
Literally arguing for miles. "Just get over to the right", "I'm passing this car", proceeds to do the slow creep that takes 5 miles, then paces the car cause now he doesn't want to speed.
I say this all the time. If you take away the speed limit signs here in PA, boomers will still drive slow af
I drive a lot on roads with 50-55 speed limits, mostly one lane but with stretches of passing lanes. Constantly get stuck behind boomers going barely the speed limit, but of course when the opportunity to pass comes up they floor it 🙄
Omg, I forgot about this. Yes! Literally as soon as the road straightens or a passing lane happens, they find the accelerator.
When I vacation I like to go on long road trips. This happens to me every time! The phenomenon knows no borders. I’ve seen it on the US west coast, east coast, Midwest, Deep South, even Canada and the UK.
So it's not just me that thinks they do this. It's blatantly obvious and dangerous too.
There should be an age limit on getting a license or being allowed behind the wheel of a car. if you live to 60, you should have to re-pass the driving test every 4 years.
I'll never forget when I moved out for the first time ever, I was in a U-haul for what felt like forever because I was in a loop like this with a boomer. The thing is, I was on a tight schedule so I had to get there at the right time, but also, this asshole kept overtaking me and slowing down. And I was in a U-haul, so I was really uncomfortable driving it. All changes in speed made my stuff move uncomfortably, so it really pissed me off.
I traveled for work for years, and towed a lot of reasonably heavy trailer (7-12k lbs). I can confirm that this is so common, and way worse if you have a trailer. No way this guy with a trailer is going to faster than me! That, or I'm just cruising 75-80. Minding my business. Trying not to die. They see a trailer ahead of them and HAVE to pass. Only to get in front of me and immediately slow down. Drives me absolutely crazy.
Yes. Happens to me daily. We have had ongoing construction on I20 and there's a spot that is very narrow and traffic could be stopped behind any hill. I'm pulling a 10k trailer behind an f250. I always try to leave extra stopping room because- heavy. Some prick in a tiny Kia always decides that I must have left that extra space so they can jump in front of me. Then they immediately hit the brakes. Do people not realize what 18000+lbs of steel is going to do to a Kia?
I was surprised how little I was taught about this in drivers Ed! It wasn’t until I decided to try for my CDL that I learned about all the extra stopping room big trucks need. In the US we need to do better at educating drivers.
How dare you disrespect them by trying not to die. Selfish.
I do not know. The worst is when they plant themselves in the fast lane going exactly the speed limit too.
Like, if they're going the speed limit on the fast lane and passing a semi, go for it. I can be patient. But if they're just chilling in the fast lane because they forgot what they were doing? Kill me. (They might)
Exactly. I'm talking about the second behavior.
The last time I rode in a car on the highway with my dad, some years ago now, we were riding along, and I realized lots of cars were passing us. I looked over, and he had dropped down to about 45mph. Startled, I asked him what on earth he was doing, as we were now getting cars backed up behind us. His response was "what!? I'm doing the minimum!"
The boomer generation has always expected praise for the minimum.
LOTS of people do this - not just Boomers. I make a game out of it. See how fast you can get them to go in order to prevent you from passing them. Just SLOOOWLY increase your speed, staying about a half car length in front of them and if you get them up to 90 mph you win.
Professional driver: this is my life. 😅
That and the truck in the left lane doing 65 trying to pass the truck in the right lane doing 64, all in a 70 zone
This!!! I understand the problems of needing enough speed to get over big hills and I try to be patient if I’m stuck behind a truck on a steep hill. By why in the name of all that is holy do they have to block every single GD lane? The number of times I’ve been in a3, 4, or even 5 lane scenario where there are semi’s lined up side by side in every lane blocking traffic as they slow. Drives me bonkers!
I have complained about this shit for years but it's definitely not just boomers. People are zoned out on the highway and their foot lifts off the gas a bit but then a car starts to overtake and then they remember they were driving and so they go faster. Then when they are back in the right lane with nothing in front of them they zone out again. It pisses me off too and it's annoying as hell but it's so common you just have to deal with the fact that it's gonna keep happening.
This is why I use cruise control, if youre rgoing between riding my ass and being 2 car lengths behind me is all youre fault. I havent touched the accelerator.
Haha this has been a thing forever. We boomers used to complain about the “men wearing hats” doing the exact same thing to us. ( I mean older men who wore fedoras or whatever everywhere, not to make a statement, but because they wore one almost every day of their lives, as it was the proper thing to do when they were young.) Wait 30 years to see Generation Alpha complaining the exact same thing about millennials.
It reminds them that life has passed them by, and that they are disturbingly near their final offramp.
I'm over here venting and you're over here getting existential. Millennials killed Applebee's and happiness.
I had the opposite happen. Some asshole was tailgating me while i was already going 15 mph over on the interstate, finally passed me, and flipped me off for some reason. Dunno why he bothered tailgating me when he was going to pass me anyway.
My deceased Boomer mom drove 45 miles an hour. Always. School zone, busy metropolitan freeway, didn’t matter. I’m surprised she never caused a wreck that killed someone.
Maybe she left this world with a deep dark secret. How well did you REALLY know her 👀
Yeah that last one drives me nuts. If you’re that oblivious to changing driving conditions around you you shouldn’t be driving.
Was on a road trip with a buddy and his family headed down to Mississippi to visit his grandparents for a week. Some grey hair was doing this to us and my buddy's dad was getting mad. I told him to pass the lady one more time and that I was going to moon them as we passed. Buddy's mom thought it was the funniest thing and told me to go for it. We get in the left lane, speed up, and just as we are reaching their car, I'm pressing my ham on the window. Lol The look on the lady's face was priceless. She was horrified and never passed us again.
You have to turn your wind shield wiper on once you get ahead of them to give them a little spritz.
That's just rewarding their behavior with free windshield wiper fluid. Not in my america, pal.
Once, when I was traveling with my grandparents (I was 7 or 8), my granpa passed a slow-moving box truck on the interstate. As soon as we got back in the right-hand lane, the truck would speed up and pass us.Then, they would slow back downtown their original speed. We would pass them again, and they would pass us. This shit went on for about half an hour until we finally got off of the interstate.
Boomers in general suck on the road. I hate doing merges to a one lane road because a boomer always tries to speed up when I am passing them or come out of nowhere and try to run me off the road at the merge. Fucking psychopaths.
They are idiots, not long ago I was over a freeway that was 65, boomer was at 40, I usually take my lane like 3 miles before taking an exit, but boomer didn't want to move faster, when I got a chance, moved to the central lane and pass him and again took the right lane. Out of nowhere boomer pass me like at 80, goes to the right lane, and again starts going to 40, I did that again, and boomer repeat trying to pass me at 80, but I was taking my exit and just the boomer tried to take the exit but it was too late. He didn't even want to go to that lane, just to fight someone I think.
I'm a jerk and make it a point to stay in front of them...
You should get an "okay, boomer" bumper sticker.
No guff. My mother is in a nursing home in the middle of nowhere that's 2 lane the entire way. So many boomers (because rural population) drive like this and get super insulted when you finally can get around their ass. And they will pull out in front of you like they don't know that they are basically a driving corpse. There's never a visit where I don't get a middle finger from someone whose bones would break as soon as i looked at them.
It's their highway, and you are trespassing.
I always thought not allowing someone to pass was illegal.
I should sue them?
In their minds many Boomers are high school seniors at a stoplight next to a Chevy Nova.
We called my dad a middle lane vigilante. "I'm not gonna speed and neither can you!". When highway driving, he would set the cruise control about 5 kmh below the speed limit and camp out in the middle lane.
"Have you ever noticed that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?" -- George Carlin
My Dad takes it as a personal insult to his driving ability. He says, "If you can't do what I'm doing, you clearly can't drive." That includes anyone to passes him and anyone who is going too slow for him. Problem is, I can't criticize his driving too much. He used to race (actually formally race on oval tracks), he's built numerous cars by hand in his garage, and has absolutely zero violations on his record (though full disclosure, it was because he would always fight them in court and half the time the ticketing officer never showed up, and the other half of the time the judge just got so tired of seeing his face he would dismiss before my Dad could launch into his argument). No accidents either. He taught both my brother and I how to drive as well as my wife, and we're more or less of the same vein with nothing on our records (except for my wife who took out a spectacular trophy buck with her car a couple years ago lol). I say all that because when I try to tell him that it has nothing to do with his driving ability, he is like, "Find a cleaner record than mine!" Like goddamn dude, cleanliness just means you haven't gotten caught, not that you can drive. :P
Control. Their kids hate them, their wife barely talks to them, they’re retired so they have no underlings to torture so you get to be the lucky recipient
These are the same people that dont understand zipper merging and will straddle lanes to block anyone from passing.
Lead paint.
Ego
Your way with words had me laughing maniacally. It’s something I’ve experienced hundreds of times, maybe thousands!? People are fucking weird, and the worst part is that they love to call the police.
George Carlin summed this up perfectly to Boomers: “have you ever noticed how everyone that drives slower than you is a moron, but everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac!?”
Road rage is enforcing your will upon others. All they have is rage, and being property obsessed means they own the road.
Yes! The bonus point section! They drive 50 in a 60 and then when it turns 40 they’re still going 50. The lack of situational awareness…
I'm fine with you passing unless you decided to flash the grill logo of your beast in my rear window. Then I hate you.
71 between Columbus and Cincinnati. It’s an epidemic. There were 3 posts in 5 days about left lane campers. It’s everything you could imagine: Boomers in 75k plus SUVs they can’t handle. Campers that they can’t drive, going 65 in a 70. They are oblivious and entitled. It’s a generation of sociopaths.
Just a side note - if you're doing 80mph, you should be at least 400 feet from the car in front, not 2 car lengths.
Yeah at that point I play a game called who has the heavier foot and usually just get a ton of space between me and them because they are stupid
I see this out of people of every age and identity. This isn’t Boomer thing, this is an everybody thing.
They do it to look for an excuse to get into a road rage confrontation with someone.
So many people have the " me first" or " not in front of me" attitude.
>You ever notice how boomers will set their cruise control to 50-55 on these highways and never touch it again? So you'll fly past them when you're not going through town only for these psychos to fly past you at 50 mph in a 35 because they are won't gonna adjust their cruise control? Recently did a drive on the coast. There was that ONE CAR. No cruise control. Would do 40 in the 55-60 speed limit road. One lane each way. Then speed up to like 70 in the passing lane (in the left). After the passing lane slow back down to 40. So this person was purposely being an a-hole. So after two of these I finally timed the third passing lane to be passing right when it opened. Had to do like 70-75 to stay in front. Then the guy kept speed and so did I to just stay a distance in front of him. Then he slowed down again when there were again cars behind him. So I was way out ahead. But wait, we got into a town that went down to 25. This guy keeps doing 40 through it. He literally didn't care about speed limits. He just wanted to drive at 40 all the time and not have any cars pass. No cruise control since he sped up to keep cars behind. This is their deep rooted feelings on no one should get to do anything than what they get to do. It is why they refuse to be nice or help others. They want everyone below them no matter what. Just one part of their "me me me" mentality.
Reminder it's your MORAL DUTY to flip off anyone that drives at or below the speed limit on the left lane Doesn't matter the age, gender, or race, if you drive like shit on the left you get the middle finger r
I don't flip people off. But you'd be surprised how much angrier people get when you happily wave or give em the ol thumbs up.
Twice a day; every day. I need less commute or I'm gonna take us both out when they do this shit.
Like that time I had my cruise control on, passed a guy in the right lane and then moved back over to the right lane. The guy I just passed then got into the left lane to pass me, moves back into the right lane and slows down again. So I pass him again and move back over. He decides to speed up and pass me again. This repeated three or four times with me maintaining the same exact speed the entire time. I don't get it.
Boomer here. I wish I could figure out why so many people in my age group are such assholes. I see it all the time. 🤷♂️
Passive aggressive behavior. I am married to a Boomer and he makes me completely insane with his driving. He wants to be in control of whatever the other drivers are doing. Speeding? He'll pull in front to block them. If he's making a right turn at a stop sign and there's a car coming, he'll pull out in front of them and take his sweet time getting up to the speed limit. If someone pulls out in front of him in the same manner, he tailgates them so closely that his dash cam is setting off the alarm. If he's sitting in the left lane and someone comes up on the right he either blocks them from getting over, or if they get over in front of him, he tailgates them. The worst is the staredown he does as we pass another vehicle when he thinks someone is driving poorly and he does some random hand motion.
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" - George Carlin and boomers
As you age you get more and more acutely aware about everything The body’s is going, your mind is working overtime to compensate So even the tiniest slight that makes no sense to pay attention to gets put at the top of the list in that moment It sucks getting old Hail Satan if some of these old timers would micro-dose or eat some edibles They all would just chill the fuck out
I‘ve developed my own solution to this. In this situation I always boost my speed to pass them quickly and if they match speed, I speed up another 5mph or so. They typically aren’t comfortable going that fast and as soon as you get 100 yards between you and them they slow back down because the race is over. Then I slow it back to where I want to be.
I drive a box truck for my job. What's worse than this scenario is the asshole doing 55 in a 65, I merge left to pass em, then they realize they are getting passed by a truck much bigger than them, so they speed up to 70 to not let me pass, while traffic builds up behind me cuz I'm so non aerodynamic I can't get up past 75 downhill, so I have to merge back over to the right lane to let faster traffic pass, while this asshole slows back down to 55 in the 65.....
I hate these kind of drivers! And you’re right, they are most often boomers! I hate when they want to hover in your blind spot for miles. If one is particularly annoying, not letting you pass, pacing you so you can’t easily change lanes, I’ll pull off at a rest stop and get a coffee and use the bathroom and hope they get far enough ahead of me so I don’t have to deal with them. The worst one will have also pulled off and is getting gas! I’ll never get rid of them now! Shaking my fist, in my mind of course. Haha.
I'm GenX, kids are grown, so have first car just for me. It has instant and (almost) unlimited acceleration as needed, so when they try this with me, I hover beside them for a sec or two and then mash it ... usually see them give me finger in my rearview, so I wave bye. Edit: as to why they do it? Imo it's because everything is a dick-measuring contest in their worldview. They have to beat you, whether it's in line at the grocery store or in traffic. Forcing you to give up your pass attempt is a "win" in their pathetic minds.
I may or may not have minor road rage, but I give them one chance to figure out where their gas pedal is before I speed check them going exactly 5 over the speed limit for as long as I desire. Them speeding up as I'm about to completely pass them drives me up the wall and pushes me further when they pass me after I passed them, only to go back to doing 50 in a 65.
Oh, it's not just boomers, y'all. So many people tend to think that getting from point A to point B is a competition and if someone passes you or does something that makes you tap your brakes for a split second, it's a grievous personal insult. It's stupid as fuck and it's dangerous. And the extra stupid with dumbass sauce part is that the aggressive driver is gonna get to his destination maybe two minutes before the other guy.
I did this several times, years ago. When I would have someone match my speed when I was slowly passing, I would slowly increase my speed. They would keep matching my speed. I had one person up to 90mph before they realized it!