Be a considerate driver!

[PNW Judy]

I wasn't sure where to put this but just wanted to touch base on a driver's safety issue.

We drove around the Olympic Peninsula last weekend where most of the road is 2-lane, windy, narrow, etc. Several times we found ourselves trapped behind very slow drivers going as much as 10mph UNDER the speed limit. Even though this road has many designated turn-outs for slow drivers to use to let faster vehicles pass, they didn't seem to realize this applied to them. At one point, I counted 15 cars stuck behind a very slow mini-van.

During this time, I saw several near-miss accidents occur when people tried to pass and move up in line to pass this slow driver.

Another slow driver later on that day decided to pull just partly off the road to let faster cars go by. The car immediately behind him was following very close and, since the slow driver didn't pull all the way off the road, this faster car had to slam on his brakes to avoid collision. The 5-6 of us behind them also had to slam on our brakes. I was just about standing on mine! If anyone had brakes that weren't in good shape, there could have been an accident or 2 or 3.

So, I guess I just wanted to give a friendly reminder to slower drivers to considerate and pull over when faster drivers are behind you. And, when you do pull over, make sure you are doing it in such a way that doesn't cause a pile-up behind you. Whether it's one car or 15 cars, accidents can occur if those wanting to go faster get too impatient about trying to pass. And, remember, in many states you can technically get a ticket if you are holding up more than 5 cars behind you.

And don't go thinking that you're going as fast as any car should and think you should set the pace. Some drivers are quite aggressive and may cause a terrible accident by passing on corners, etc. to get around you. And they may collide with someone innocently coming the other way.

I've seen way too many near-misses over the years in these situations so I just felt like it was a good thing to remind people about. Take care out there!

I think you're absolutely right!! During my roadtrip I noticed that many some Americans weren't very friendly in terms of driving. They know you're right behind them and would like to pass them, but just won't move of the fast lane. So you have two options : or you dim your lights and the slow driver finally realises that he's not alone on the Interstate or you take the slower lane to pass him which isn't really safe and sometimes against the law and you may be blocked at the last minute by the above said driver who don't want you to pass him for God know why.

I saw many people, many Americans and Ontarians doing that here in the Montreal area, but Montrealers usually aren't very tolerant for that kind of thing unless a little kiddo with a red Honda civic wants to make someone mad or do a little race with you. I don't say that all Americans are like that, many Canadians are slow drivers too and non conscious of their driving behavior, but it's just that it was much more noticeable in the US, especially in Florida where I actually saw an accident involving a slow driver and an impatient one. It wasn't very pleasant to see that kind of thing, especially when there are kids on board...:-(

As soon as we pass cars, we get to the slower lane if we're done and tailgating won't make it either...Judy's right, it's too bad that all these kind of drivers won't read your post! Ok, now:-) no analysis please : I like Americans, I really do, not all of them (bad drivers) but many of them :-)) Is that enough? No? Ok I admit it I've been a Dallas Cowboys fan for years, just don't tell:-)

Drive friendly and have a great day!
Gen:-)

[Robert Schaller]

If nothing else, think about the risks posed by having an impatient or angry driver following you too closely! That's reason enough to give someone the immediate use of the roadway, even if you have to pull off to do it! Gen's note about the collision she saw illustrates the point. Bob

[PNW Judy]

Good points, Gen. However, the problem isn't too bad when there's a slow lane. The situations I'm describing were all one lanes each way. No slow lane and on curvy roads with no good line-of-sight to pass, and a few folks going way UNDER the speed limit testing the patience of even the most patient drivers, I'm sure. In both cases I observed last weekend, the driver immediate behind the slow drivers were really tail-gating them. Gee, that only would make me pull over. I don't know why these people didn't 'get it'. Ah, well...let's hope we all remember to be considerate while on the road, right? :-)