Idiot Of The Week: Tailgating, Illegally Passing

"Chris Kasinskas" (chriskasinskas)
10/14/2015 at 22:34 • Filed to: Idiot Of The Week

Tonight I was tailgated and illegally passed on a dark, winding, residential road. I guess the person in the Chevy Trailblazer didn’t think I was going fast enough for their liking and felt the need to tailgate and then illegally pass me. The speed limit on this stretch of road is 25 MPH, I was going around 30 MPH. It seems most people easily drive 40 MPH+ on this particular road. Anyways the driver of this Chevy Trailblazer is a idiot, probably drives like this on a daily basis. He/She was lucky not to of killed someone.

DISCUSSION (21)

Urambo Tauro > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 22:47

That’s a solid line, and you weren’t even driving slowly at all. What is wrong with people?

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 22:56

It’s actually not illegal to pass on a solid yellow line. Still a bad driver though.

marshknute > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 23:07

Unrelated, but we both own 2015 WRX’s in WRB!

As for the article: Whether or not Mr. Trailblazer crossed the double yellow, his cruising speed was likely the same as it always was on that road. And unless it’s a dirt road, 40mph is probably the safe 85th percentile speed for that road (speaking as a fellow rural CT resident).

And it’s arguably safer to overtake at night since the lack/presence of oncoming headlights makes it way easier to tell if there is any oncoming traffic. If the sight lines are good and the coast is clear, it’s safe to overtake.

So I honestly don’t take any offense to him illegally overtaking. Tailgating on the other hand...I just can’t understand why people do it. Not once in all of human history has a driver sped up as a result of being tailgated. And tailgating makes it so you can’t see around the car in front, and now you have no room to accelerate before merging into the oncoming lane for the overtake.

marshknute > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 23:08

Unrelated, but we both own 2015 WRX’s in WRB!

Urambo Tauro > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
10/14/2015 at 23:11

It’s actually not illegal to pass on a solid yellow line.

Never heard that before, but I’ll keep it in mind. Might come in handy...

Chris Kasinskas > marshknute
10/14/2015 at 23:14

Awesome! I love my WRX! I wasn’t driving my WRX tonight when this happened.

marshknute > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 23:15

I would hope not!

BigBlock440 > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 23:20

Lots of speed limits are low, that one doesn’t look like a 25er. I may have passed you too.

Also,

“Chevy Trailblazer is a idiot,”

Really takes away from your point.

Chris Kasinskas > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
10/14/2015 at 23:20

Kinja'd!!!

From the CT DMV driver handbook. Passing isn't allowed when there is a solid yellow line.

Chariotoflove > marshknute
10/14/2015 at 23:24

Or he could, you know, obey the law. I know that sounds like a low speed limit for a rural road, but you usually only see a solid line when there truly is no room to see oncoming cars/deer/pedestrians/etc. He may or may not normally be a dick, but this sounded like a dick move to me, in the absence of more information.

Chris Kasinskas > BigBlock440
10/14/2015 at 23:24

You don’t think he is an idiot? You can see lights from an oncoming car coming up the hill a few hundred feet ahead. Yes, the speed limit is 25 MPH. It’s clearly marked, I drive on this road a few times a week.

Chariotoflove > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 23:26

Even more glad that potential someone wasn’t you. You did the right thing letting him go past. Gets him farther away from you. Impatient people are dangerous behind the wheel.

Chris Kasinskas > Chariotoflove
10/14/2015 at 23:33

Agreed. Most of the time if someone is tailgating me I try to find a safe place to pull over and let them pass.

lunr > Chris Kasinskas
10/14/2015 at 23:51

I used to own a Trailblazer and most definitely would have done the same thing. That SUV tended to bring out the worst driver in me.

I've had my Subaru Forester for 8 months now and I'm a happier man for it.

BigBlock440 > Chris Kasinskas
10/15/2015 at 07:49

Yes, it’s marked 25, but speed limits are often wrong, and if, as you say, people usually go 40, it sounds like that one is probably wrong too.

And I was just saying that calling someone “a idiot” isn’t really effective because it make you look like “a idiot” yourself.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Chris Kasinskas
10/15/2015 at 08:00

Yes, it’s not allowed, but you can’t get ticketed for it.

Chris Kasinskas > BigBlock440
10/15/2015 at 09:52

Speed Limits are often wrong? Never heard that one before. So signs are just recommendations now?

Chris Kasinskas > Chariotoflove
10/15/2015 at 09:56

I never said it was rural. I said “dark, winding, residential road.” It's 25 MPH because it's residential.

Chris Kasinskas > lunr
10/15/2015 at 10:00

That is what I was driving when this happened. Subaru Forester.

BigBlock440 > Chris Kasinskas
10/15/2015 at 10:17

https://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.h…

Traffic engineers have a recommended way to set speed limits and the local government often ignores it and sets whatever speed limits they want. Pulling a number out of the air and putting it on a sign is the wrong way to do it.

Chariotoflove > Chris Kasinskas
10/15/2015 at 11:01

My bad.