Do you really need to pass?

Absolutely. I was thinking about this over the last couple of days. I think what started it was the Prime douchebag that I passed -, wanting to maintain top speed through a 45 mph construction zone 2 miles down the road. Real smart - would have been a nice ticket to help shorten his career.

Then the muppet that decided to take 3 miles to pass ( worry not, there was nobody behind ), then cut right over in front of me to exit off to the truckstop.

Then - the white Volvo brigade early Saturday morning that figured, despite a huge expanse of real estate and no traffic, that all 3 of us should cuddle up together and step all over each other - just stupid.

It's pretty simple - and they obviously need to hammer it into students in training - "Your governed speed is not the speed you HAVE to drive 100% of the time!" I regularly alter my speed in order to maintain a safe stopping distance, and reposition myself in what I call "pockets" of space - you'll never see me crammed in a pack.

Maybe I'm running 72 - maybe it's 55; my mash pedal is a safety feature.

 

I blame the van driver in front of him for going unnecessarily slow and taking forever to pass on purpose.. hugging the left lane. I don't condone what the guy did, I would've waited, flashed my lights honked or simply back off since unfortunately you're at the slow asholes mercy... Then move on with my life.. we need to get these slow left lane huggers slow as mergers off the road... Traffic and things happen because of slow/scared people or w/e.. drive faster.. less traffic... Learn how to merge/pass don't hug the lane...

 

Whenever someone wants to pass me, I'll hit my marker interrupt lights a few times, and tap my brakes to show them I'm slowing down. When they're actually passing, I downshift a gear and hit the jake brake. It's the safest thing to do. There is nothing more dangerous than a driver in a hurry, with their anxiety impairing the decisions they make.

It's the same with Class C vehicles who want to pass me. Although lately I've been getting the idiot who wants to pass me on a 55MPH, double-solid line, curving road--road raging on me and flashing their lights for 15 miles because I can't magically float away and let them pass. Every time the start to cross that double solid, I hit my brakes a little bit and put on my blinker to make them think I'm turning. The real desperate ones try to pass me on the blind-side shoulder with 5.5 feet of room. Real idiots, that's for sure.

 

Despite @double yellow making a great post with simple math. Some people will just never get it. Sigh...

 

Most of my companies trucks are not governed mines run at 75, but doesn't do much since I am local here in NY/NJ so for speed don't mean much except on 95 or 78 to give myself space from the ones who want hang in a pack next to. Even with my power I still let anyone who wants to pass go ahead not worth it for me when they can't and start swerving next to you to see if they passed you.

 

I'm starting to get the hang of this 'entitlement generation thing', a.k.a. - " ItsAllAboutMe.com".

 

We have Cascadias with the DD13, and they're dialed down to 350hp, according to the field tech that I talked to. It's adequate for our needs, we can make it uphill, but I would be happy just to be at 400hp minimum (the DD13 is factory rated up to 505hp). I would think such a mild increase would at least keep me from dropping that gear uphill without affecting longevity or fuel economy to a concerning degree..?

 

In hindsight I should have just stuck to my child hood dreams and been an astronaut and Race car driver....Anybody who can pass either one of those is someone I'd gladly let right on by and if they can't..then no goldfish crackers for them.

Safe travels everybody!