Did EyeSight incite road rage?

[Se7enLC]

I was driving in the center lane of a three-lane highway. Adaptive cruise was set to 75, car in front of me was doing 70, so I was doing 70 as well. Tractor Trailer truck comes up behind me right to my rear bumper, flashing lights and honking the horn. I slow down a little (not quite a brake check). The truck changes to the right lane and passes, blaring the horn the entire time he passed.

I took down the plate number and called the company, but I'm more curious about WHY so much rage. I was in the middle lane doing more than the speed limit (and according to the person I talked to when I called to report him, more than the governor should allow their trucks to go). I was going a fairly constant 70mph, or so I thought.

All I can come up with is that maybe the adaptive cruise control was tapping the brakes to maintain speed, and that was causing the driver behind me to wig out? I know I'd go a little crazy if the car in front of me kept hitting the brakes for no reason. Anybody ever seen this before? I'm thinking about installing an LED on the dash to let me know when the brake lights are on just so that I'm aware of it.

(as an unrelated side note, on the same trip, the EyeSight may have saved me from rear-ending somebody that decided to stop at the end of an on ramp instead of merging. I was looking for my spot to merge and saw no reason to slow down since the lane was mostly empty. I guess the guy in front of me had a different opinion!)

[subiesailor]

You were driving on a holiday weekend and wondering why you experienced road rage? Your kidding right?

I did SF to LA on Wed afternoon along with several thousand other people on a two lane I5 for nearly 300 miles of nothing but stop and go traffic on a road with a posted limit of 70mph which is almost never obeyed. On the way down we had several SUV's and trucks and a few small cars tailgating and end up in the center median crumpled up when traffic slowed to a stop and they didn't. On the way home we had a guy in a BMW honking at people - passing on the shoulder of the road I actually saw him three times by simply staying in the slow lane and creeping along LOL. After him nearly hitting us the second time we reported him. 30 miles down the road he was standing handcuffed on the side of the road with a very nice CHP officer doing his part in making the roads safe. Didn't see a single wreck on the way home and the traffic was even worse than it was going on Wed. It's nice when people chill and drive safe knowing they aren't getting home any faster driving like an complete ASS.

[mpnret]

In NJ we have a keep right except to pass law and also no trucks in left lane on a 3 lane highway. That trucker would do that here because he wanted you to move over, EyeSight or not.

[sounddevisor]

Originally Posted by mpnret

In NJ we have a keep right except to pass law and also no trucks in left lane on a 3 lane highway. That trucker would do that here because he wanted you to move over, EyeSight or not.

Having driven a fair amount in Europe as well as the U.S., I am amazed at how often people in the U.S. insist on driving in the left or center lane, even when they are clearly impeding faster-moving traffic. Both the Driver's Ed. course I took in the early 80's, as well as my parents, impressed on me the basic courtesy, regardless of the law, of staying to the right.

And, because I live in Brooklyn and do a fair amount of driving in New Jersey, I can confidently say that there is no way one could deduce the existence of that law through observation of actual drivers in the wild

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by sounddevisor

Having driven a fair amount in Europe as well as the U.S., I am amazed at how often people in the U.S. insist on driving in the left or center lane, even when they are clearly impeding faster-moving traffic. Both the Driver's Ed. course I took in the early 80's, as well as my parents, impressed on me the basic courtesy, regardless of the law, of staying to the right.

And, because I live in Brooklyn and do a fair amount of driving in New Jersey, I can confidently say that there is no way one could deduce the existence of that law through observation of actual drivers in the wild

In most high traffic locations I have yet to see any case where you can drive fast even in the fast lane. LOL

If traffic is light yes move your ass over to the right. If you think NJ is bad try Florida where truckers drive in the fast lane and blue haired old ladies drive 300hp Caddies in the middle lane at 45mph while 70mph traffic wizzes by on both sides.

[rockthebeef]

Originally Posted by subiesailor

You were driving on a holiday weekend and wondering why you experienced road rage? Your kidding right?

I did SF to LA on Wed afternoon along with several thousand other people on a two lane I5 for nearly 300 miles of nothing but stop and go traffic on a road with a posted limit of 70mph which is almost never obeyed. On the way down we had several SUV's and trucks and a few small cars tailgating and end up in the center median crumpled up when traffic slowed to a stop and they didn't. On the way home we had a guy in a BMW honking at people - passing on the shoulder of the road I actually saw him three times by simply staying in the slow lane and creeping along LOL. After him nearly hitting us the second time we reported him. 30 miles down the road he was standing handcuffed on the side of the road with a very nice CHP officer doing his part in making the roads safe. Didn't see a single wreck on the way home and the traffic was even worse than it was going on Wed. It's nice when people chill and drive safe knowing they aren't getting home any faster driving like an complete ASS.

Love the story. On that stretch of highway if you just maintain a steady pace, you will encounter the same jackasses over an over again as they try to magically "outsmart" traffic. It's even better when you see them pulled over. Good work.

I love BMWs, but do not own one. I have several friends that do and I do not discuss the stereotypical driving habits with them as if the topic was on the same level as politics or religion. Around here, they are the most self-centered drivers. Turn signal usage with them is 50/50. It's the full size pickups and SUVs that apparently have broken blinkers. You certainly see a lot of patterns on the I-5.

[Hudsoner]

Originally Posted by sounddevisor

Having driven a fair amount in Europe as well as the U.S., I am amazed at how often people in the U.S. insist on driving in the left or center lane, even when they are clearly impeding faster-moving traffic. Both the Driver's Ed. course I took in the early 80's, as well as my parents, impressed on me the basic courtesy, regardless of the law, of staying to the right.

And, because I live in Brooklyn and do a fair amount of driving in New Jersey, I can confidently say that there is no way one could deduce the existence of that law through observation of actual drivers in the wild

Same here, people around here seem to think the middle lane is the slow lane. The right lane is the driving lane, all other lanes are passing lanes!

I would have been as mad as the above described trucker!

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by rockthebeef

Love the story. On that stretch of highway if you just maintain a steady pace, you will encounter the same jackasses over an over again as they try to magically "outsmart" traffic. It's even better when you see them pulled over. Good work.

I love BMWs, but do not own one. I have several friends that do and I do not discuss the stereotypical driving habits with them as if the topic was on the same level as politics or religion. Around here, they are the most self-centered drivers. Turn signal usage with them is 50/50. It's the full size pickups and SUVs that apparently have broken blinkers. You certainly see a lot of patterns on the I-5.

By the way not kidding when I write this. The guy was sporting gold wire framed Aviator sun glasses - expensive looking button up shirt and equally expensive looking shorts and shoes. Given we took a very close up picture of his license plate just after him nearly taking us out- his license frame was a Hollywood BMW dealer. HA HA

My wife cracked a joke said "Classic SoCal type thinking that Napa was just a short ride up I5" Some of her family never leave Socal unless its in a first class seat on a fast plane the concept of driving beyond the 405 traffic jam is not their thing. HA HA

The old days of cheap South West tickets from SFO to LA are long gone. Would have cost us nearly $1000 in tickets not counting the years of life shaved off dealing with two small kids at the air port. Instead it cost us about $100 in gas and a few hours together each way talking about why cows stink so bad ie Cattleman city slaughter house - why Dora speaks Spanish the 3yr old watching her DVD player. Or why her little brother always busts up laughing at her when she starts throwing a fit ha ha. Ahhhh family time in the car a classic American experience.

[nagarjuna]

Road rage is extremely common.

Eyesight is extremely uncommon.

I don't see any reason to speculate that one caused the other in this case.

[wutbürger]

Originally Posted by sounddevisor

Having driven a fair amount in Europe as well as the U.S., I am amazed at how often people in the U.S. insist on driving in the left or center lane, even when they are clearly impeding faster-moving traffic. Both the Driver's Ed. course I took in the early 80's, as well as my parents, impressed on me the basic courtesy, regardless of the law, of staying to the right.

And, because I live in Brooklyn and do a fair amount of driving in New Jersey, I can confidently say that there is no way one could deduce the existence of that law through observation of actual drivers in the wild

QFT

Lived in the Stuttgart/Freiburg area for quite some time and driving so much less stressful, even in larger cities. The best was hopping on the A5, cruising around 110mph-120mph and nearly everyone was methodical at all times regarding "go left to pass, accelerate while doing so to ensure that you get by, and move over as quickly as safely possible" thus allowing you to keep speed and others as well. As with anything, there were multiple exceptions but in general it's stay right unless you really need to pass. It was less fun paying $500 for a driver's license (thank god I could skip the $2,000 in the normally required driving course thanks to a Missouri arrangement), but given the generally higher level of situational awareness and rule observation, I didn't mind it one bit.

Come back here to Missouri and the general rule is drive in the left lane at all times and repeat "well I'm doing 5 over the speed limit, so by god you can go around me!" which just drives me f*cking fruit. Oh well.

In any case, I suspect this was a "holiday driving scenario" and a lack of moving completely to the right. In many states, it's illegal for trucks to drive/pass in the left lane as well as the right lane, so it's imperative that you remain as far to the right as possible to allow them to pass on your left if needed (and everyone else for that matter). Maybe the guy was just a d*ck, a highly likely scenario