That guy's my hero. I never saw such a thing. I was in the passenger lane, with a blue BMW sedanwagon in front of me. There's this mo-ron teal Honda Civic in the passing lane who is basically pacing the BMW. He's not passing, just staying a little bit ahead - keeping his rear bumper level with the front bumper of the car in the right lane. Ahead of this little rolling roadblock, a mile of pretty clear road.
Suddenly here comes my hero in the tan Camry! At first he looked just like an asshole - what's he doing? Zooming up in the passing lane with his right turn signal on! Passing me, drawing about level with blue BMW, riding Teal Civic's ass. But then the whole thing unfolded miraculously - and I think it was because of the turn signal! I'm sure Civic would have felt very smug about himself to just sit there forever resisting Camry's progress. I've seen that play out a thousand times. We all have. But something about that turn signal being on...it woke everyone else up to the realities of the situation. BMW sees what's going on, he starts slowing up. The gap is widening, Civic has the choice to either move it over or sit in his lane and get blown by on the right. He sits. Camry blows by courteously. After a few moments, Teal Civic sheepishly follows suit and moves over.
It never even occurred to me to do that! But it really does send a nice message. It fosters good communication all over the road. To the idiot in front, sitting in the passing lane but not passing, it's a little pointer, a little hint - get over! I plan to get over. You should get over! To the good drivers already in the passenger lane, it broadcasts your intention clear as day. You're not some asshole tailgater, you're the simple victim of a mo-ron who shouldn't be blocking everything up in the first place. When a good driver sees that...he's going to help you out, create an opening for you. Good drivers know it takes teamwork out there on the road, to help circumvent the morons.
One crucial point, and Camry even got this right: if you're in the passing lane, and you're not passing, get over. Everyone knows that. If you're in the passing lane, and you're not passing because of a moron ahead of you also not passing, still get over. Once you find yourself in the passenger lane with a clear road ahead of you, it's not your fault that you pass the guy on the right, just going your comfortable and safe speed. But - and this is the crucial point - once you get past him, DO NOT immediately swing back over into the passing lane! Only move back over into the passing lane if you're coming up on another car to pass.
Because if you immediately swing back into the passing lane, despite a perfectly clear road ahead, you are basically saying to the moron: hey, bud, you're doing nothing wrong. It's perfectly okay to be in the passing lane when you're not passing. It's okay to have a mentality that says, "the passing lane is my lane, by divine right!" It's okay to be an asshole.
But if you keep it in the right-hand lane as you glide down the road, then you're saying "check it out, peoples: only a real DICK hangs out in the passing lane when he's not passing." That's what I call, "Good Exampling" them. Tan Camry good exampled 'em. He taught the whole road a lesson that day.
My eyes are misting up.
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