Any ideas why??

[_Gina_]

You may know the situation....you are driving along on the open road, the 3 cars in front of you are travelling at around 80kms p/h, up hill down dale round the bend....no faster no slower. Nice gaps etc between them. Then ahead you see the overtaking lane approaching, great you think, I will be able to pass and proceed with my drive at a more respectable 100kms p/h.

But NO, all of a sudden the 3 cars are doing an average of 120kms p/h - WTF! Frustrates the shit out of me and I usually end up speeding to overtake anyway. Then the overtaking lane ends and as I proceed at 100km/s p/h I look back to see that the 3 said vehicles have slowed back to their 80kms p/h with nice gaps in between.

I am usually a pretty relaxed driver but this type of driving behaviour really irks me. I find myself wondering WHY? To what end?
Any thoughts on what causes this behaviour? Or are you one of those people who do this?

Gg

[Big Dave]

Any thoughts on what causes this behaviour?

Gg

A primal need to win.

[_Gina_]

A primal need to win.

True!
But why the fuck don't they wanna win anywhere else? Like the straights and and and......LOL
I mean what gets me is that the two cars behind the front one who is leading at 80kms don't attempt to overtake or anything, quite happy in their own little world.....until the passing lane arrives!!

[Maha]

Billy Connolly commented when he was here last that '' if i go to overtake you, at a passing, dont take it personally '' he got caught up in the same situation and it pissed him off enough to say something......it happens to us all GG, strange phenomenon.............

[_Gina_]

......it happens to us all GG, strange phenomenon.............

And the strangest bit is that I can almost guarantee that everybody would say that it happens to them too.....but where are those three car drivers in it all....

[smokeyging]

I drive a truck for a living and this does happen a hell of a lot. It’s as if [wide-open spaces...GREAT, I can put my foot down].... or as one silly bugger said on a radio talkback one night that they like to prevent everyone from getting a ticket, BLOODY HELL. the silly buggers don't give a shit about the traffic hold-up in behind them, what’s worse, is 5 cars back there will be one that wants to pass the lot. Scares the living shit out of me. Another night on 'talkback' this clown said something like he had witnessed 32 accidents???...32??? I’ve driven over 3 million km in trucks and I haven’t seen that, it’s obvious why he’s seen 32 I would think.

[Kendog]

It's the same three that just cruise around the country trying to piss us all off. I know exactly what you are saying, happens constantly and I too don't understand it. I find it tends to be elderly people who do it, and they get really pissy when you pass them too! Another pet peeve is those who slow down excessively for every corner or break for every tiny little bend in the road and then speed like hell on the straight so you can't pass them, even though you end up right up their ass on the next corner! ARRRH, don't even get me started! lol

[c4.]

I too despise the irratic driver.
I recently had a trip down country where I was enforced passage.
The trip had me being driven by a 60yr old male who had been quite a contender in rugby/surflife saving and multisports. He was a great guy with great stories, and a SH*T driver.
We left central Ak at 0730, spag junction freaked him.
He told me stories all the way down to rotovegas.
On the way down he would sit in the 'fast' lane of mway doing 80k.
story finished he would speed up to 95km. Stayed in same lane whole time.
People were swerving past us giving him the finger.... no idea.
Open road was worse. He'd sit behind traffic right thru passing lane, then 50m before end, he'd have a (dangerous) go.
It took us 4 hours to get to Rotorua from Ak... WTF???
He taught me that some people just do not concentrate on any of their driving AT ALL!!!
I love Driving/Riding. I read the traffic, I watch the people with sh*t hanging off their mirrors.
I do time/speed/mileage equations as I drive.
Unfortunately, many, many people do not.
P.s. trip back I convinced him to let me drive out of Rotorua (to save him the trouble). Prick never got to touch the wheel til I parked outside mine 2.5 hours later. Speeding.. No. careful driving ..Yes Attention to traffic... you know it!
He will never get to drive me anywhere again.

[Finn]

A primal need to win.

I'm not so sure. To be primal, one would have to be part of evolution. I see absolutely no signs of intelligence from the kiwi driver at all. Sure they can connect their pointer finger with their thumb but not much else. What is even more astounding is that they can vote and breed.

[Motu]

A lot of passing lanes are on hill - a gutless car (or bike) could be making a run on to gain speed for the hill...I do this in my Pajero,but then I'm usualy doing 100kph if at all possible.

[Edbear]

I too, drive a (small) truck with not a lot of power, so you can imagine the frustration level when we finally get to a passing lane, such as up the Viaduct South of Warkworth, and I simply have to watch as they cruise up it at 80km/h when I can only do 70km/h up there, knowing I'll catch them along Windy Ridge and have to follow them until maybe I can get by on the passing lane at the Bottom of Schedewy's Hill! Another phenomenon is that without fail, the traffic will slow right down just as a passing lane opens and then all hell breaks loose! Inevitably coming South up the Waiwera hill! If in a truck, that slow down just kills any momentum I have and I then have to downchange and crawl up in third gear! Now that the Doc has me on blood pressure medication, I have to try nd chill out and relax!!!!!

[James Deuce]

(snip)Another pet peeve is those who slow down excessively for every corner or break (sic) for every tiny little bend in the road and then speed like hell on the straight so you can't pass them, even though you end up right up their ass on the next corner! ARRRH, don't even get me started! lol

Sounds like a KB ride.

[bobsmith]

Why I was on my way up to auckland once, was following this stupid ford something (hatchback) and it's doing around 90km average and slowing down to 10km BELOW posted speed on every bend... there wasn't many good places to pass (it was around the by pass of Hamilton 42, or 43 I think) so when there was one I had to take it. I felt that the stupid car started to accelerate (it was downhill) and for me to JUST pass it, I was doing 140 by the end (maybe a little more but I dont wanna say that) now the car must have been doing at least 130km/hr or more.

Then after I pass the stupid blonde (I saw her staring at me as I passed her) she flashed her lights, etc... needless to say, after I passed she slowed down and after a couple of bends I never saw her again...

[Kornholio]

Theres always somewhere to pass........

[riffer]

Another possible theory I've read is that the drivers subconsciously feel more comfortable with the width of the road and tend to speed up as the road becomes two lanes.

Buggered if I know what causes it, but it irritates me tool. I usually find that I end up shifting down two gears and nailing it past them, which means I end up going waaaay faster than I really should...

I guess its the price you pay for having to share the road with mouth-breathers...