People who speed up when you try to pass them - what are they thinking?? (tires, pickup truck)
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Twice on my way home today, I encountered people who appeared to be perfectly comfortable driving the speed they were driving. As soon as I attempted to pass them, this seems to have somehow bothered them and they both sped up and tried to prevent me from getting in front of them.
I do not understand this!!!
I like to speed, but if someone wants to pass me, I am happy to let them by,
What makes people do this???
This happens to me on the freeway every day... i switch lanes to pass (in a respectful way... i don't get right up on their bumper and switch lanes fast like im a nascar driver) and they speed up... so i switch back over behind them and they slow back down
This. A thousand times this. It's my biggest driving pet peeve. You're not too important to wait your turn like the hundred people you just passed before attempting to merge at the front of the line of traffic.
I confess to doing this as part of my normal driving. But I don't cut anyone off. Once I get to the last 30 cars, someone is always asleep, or distracted, or just slow and I can easily and gently slide in without cutting anyone off. It is possible to be courteous and aggressive. Some people don't mind waiting in a line, others do. As long as it's done safely, I am fine with cutting the line.
I confess to doing this as part of my normal driving. But I don't cut anyone off. Once I get to the last 30 cars, someone is always asleep, or distracted, or just slow and I can easily and gently slide in without cutting anyone off. It is possible to be courteous and aggressive. Some people don't mind waiting in a line, others do. As long as it's done safely, I am fine with cutting the line.
If you always do it that way, then you're not who we're talking about. Many drivers force their way in when there's no space.
Or what about the people that are in such a hurry to pull out of a driveway, business, side street etc. in front of you, then proceed to drive 5 mph under the speed limit?
I have never understood this behavior. I think it is ridiculous. Left lane hogs are ****ing obnoxious. I had this happen yesterday to me. I was driving along and this guy slowed down and then I passed him. Later on he kept trying to pass me and then would slow down and then trying to pass me. So odd.
One of my big pet peeves. You can follow somebody who is driving below the speed limit for quite a while, and then when there is finally a passing lane (going up a hill), they will pull over into the right hand lane, but then speed way up!! And then as soon as they merge back in front of you, they slow back down to what they were doing before. You can tell that the driver is doing it intentionally, because they will also speed way up when you come to a good place to pass, then slow right down again when you get past that stretch of road.
I see it so often.
I think it is pure ego. They don't want to be passed.
Total jerks.
This is a great list of reasons with science behind them, and an awesome site overall. I'm bookmarking it, thanks!
1) Mirror neurons: Inside our minds there are those cells called mirror neurons. Their main function is to let you experience the feelings of another person by just watching him. Remember how you felt during the last spider-man movie? Didn't you feel scared when he was jumping from a building to another? its because your mirror neurons was in action. When you see someone speeding up your mirror neurons fire and motivate you to do just like him (see also How fears and phobias are learned)
2) Driving and personality: In my previous article What your driving style says about your personality i explained how the dominant personality traits you have control your driving habits. A stubborn person for example will never allow a car to bypass him if it kept flashing its lights or beeping so many times. A stubborn person will only allow you to bypass him if you did it politely
3) Perceived competition: You might be wondering why not all cars that bypass you motivate you to speed up. When you believe that someone is challenging you then you will become eager to speed up and just as you might have already guessed the way someone bypasses you is the factor that lets you decide whether its a challenge or not
4) The cheap victory: In the solid confidence program i said that people seek refuge in cheap victories when they fail to feel worthy in the important areas of their lives. When some people see an exotic car or a car that seems much powerful than the ones they are driving they become jealous. These feelings of jealousy fuel the feelings of inferiority and make them feel uncomfortable. In such a case some of those people try to speed up with that car just to get a cheap victory. This is how those people see it "Yes you are driving a Ferrari but i am still better than you because i bypassed you!"
5) The psychological identity: The psychological identity is the thing that defines who you are. Each person has many psychological identities but two or three of them will be the dominant ones controlling his behaviour. If a narcissist for example had the identity of "always being the first" then he won't accept it if anybody tried to bypass him. For him its not just a car racing challenge but its a threat to his core identity
Yesterday....I84 in Ct......driving 70mph in a 55 zone.....middle lane passing traffic to the right....cruise on....came up on somebody in my lane (middle) doing probably close to 65mph.....look to the far left passing lane....folks slowly gaining.....I've got time to move over to the left lane and pass without shutting down the cruise control....move to the left lane, get side by side with the guy I'm passing....he paces me....cruise off and drop back behind him to let left lane pass without slowing them down.....what the hell, the cruise is off anyhow....once the left lane drives by, out to the left I go, and blow by the idiot....not gonna play that game today
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