yell03

Yesterday I had to take the grueling 2 hour drive (110 miles) back from the Jersey Shore on a Sunday night, if you don't listen to the traffic report this can easily tun in to a 3 to 3&1/2 hour drive.

It was a warm night, perfect for the C7 Vert top down cruise.

I took a lot of smaller roads, instead of 3 and 4 lanes I was on 1-2 lane roads.

Usually I will not pass on a 1 lane road, even if it is dotted to do so, but if it is safe and I have a snail in front of me I will.

Last night was one of those nights.

I had a guy in front of me, he was a bit on the slow side (not too bad) on a one lane road, I looked to go around him, but there was not enough room so I tucked back in behind him.

Finally, the opening for the 2 lane highway comes up and he gets on in front of me and of course gets in the left lane and drives right next to somebody in the right lane, no way to pass.

It is a 65 zone and both drivers are doing 70, but there is clear sailing ahead if they move over.

I politely flash him the brights and he does not move over, however he does speed up to 75 or so to the next line of cars and then does not leave enough room for me to go around.

Again, if he just moves over I can take off, so he flash him again, but he insists on blocking me.

Finally I get an opening and I pass on the right and take off and settle in at a comfortable 80mph.

Now he is on my ***?

So I pull to the right, he I'll follow him and let him risk the ticket.

He does not pass, so I get back up front and I am doing 80-85 and we come up to another group of slow traffic, I flash to pass, people move over to the right, I go by, get some thumbs ups and keep moving.

Now this guy staying behind me puts his brights on, it is not dark out so it really isn't annoying me too much, but it still is a bit uncomfortable.

I speed up a bit to get away from him and his Chevy Cruze and I manage to weave in and out of traffic and put distance between us, I look back, he turns his brights off, but sure enough, he flies up and gets on my azz again, brights on.

This is going to be a road rage incident, I don't need it, life is too good to waste it on this moron. I am a big guy (muscle wise, not height), but not worth fighting some idiot.

This goes on for 10-15 miles, me getting around traffic away from him, he trying to keep up and get behind me with brights on.

Finally I see a State Trooper lights on on the side of the road pulling somebody over, I start to pull over and so does this guy.
Hmm, might I end up with a ticket or will this trooper radio ahead and have somebody ticket me up ahead?

So I figure, if this State Trooper is here, I know I have a 10 mile shot until the road turns to one lane up ahead and where traffic backs up, most likely there will be no other Law Enforcement ahead.
I also know if I get in stop and go traffic, chances are I will have no choice but to get into it with this guy.

I decide to go for it, I ease down on the pedal and easily put a mile on this guy in no time. Traffic was clear, what traffic there was let me go, more thumbs ups, I did not endanger anyone else. Just praying no deer around. I will not say what speeds I hit, but it wasn't that high, just more than a Chevy Cruz can comfortable cruise at.

In that 10-15 mile stretch I easily put 1-2 miles on him, and sure enough, when I hit bumper to bumper there was no incident.

By the time I hit the Philly bridge and highways there was no sign of him.

I was very impressed with the highway prowess (passing power and handling) of the C7.

Best car I've ever owned. Gets me out of trouble as easily as it gets me in to trouble.

So, am I a stereotypical Corvette Jerk or just a jerk period?

Seriously, I thought the proper way to pass is to flash the brights once or twice?

Corgidog1

I think he thought he did his part by moving up to 75 and when you flashed him the hi beams that ticked him off and generated some road rage. You never know who you might come across. I always use the example of Chris Montalasani from the Soprano HBO show. Imagine if that was Chris who you gave the hi beams to- he might pull a gun on you. There are plenty of real life Chris type nuts out there and it just isn't worth it.

jerryv

The world is full of crazies. Sometimes it's best just to drop back and go with the flow. In a sense, by continuing to try to pass even after he speeded up, you engaged him in a "who's first" contest. I understand that wasn't your intent.

Glad it worked out ok.

ddman718

Yea... don't think he appreciated you "politely" flashing the high beams at him. Seems like he was trying to one up you by doing it back to you. But all it takes is doing that to the wrong person for that to escalate into something bigger. Definitely not worth it. Lucky thing you were in a c7 and not a Prius.

Mike Campbell

I've had the same type of incidents several times. The biggest problem, and also regarding crazies, is we live in a society where most people are just rude and inconsiderate. They are selfish and really hog the road. The worst is when you do pass them then they ride your ***. I don't understand their reasoning, but, then again just be careful out there.

dbdave

Another story of people doing stupid things from both perspectives. Glad no accidents happened.

2vette2

80 to 85 mph on back roads?? Not sure that is too smart either. To your point however, flashing your lights is what my father would do when he wanted to pass someone in that situation. In todays world, I go by the Saprano rule. I happen to live in south jersey too.

mjw930

Happens all the time here in FL. People get in the left lane and as long as they are going the speed limit or slightly above they refuse to move over. 90% of the time they also speed up once they do decide to move over.

Many times people have intentionally blocked me in by pacing a car in the right lane, both going ~ the speed limit and it doesn't matter what I'm driving though in a sports car they seem to do it more. Many people, especially the retirees' seem to feel the need to be the surrogate police. They figure blocking me since I want to exceed the speed limit is their civic duty. I'm not making this up, I had one elderly gentleman actually tell me that at a light when I pulled up next to him after he blocked me at every passing zone on a local 2 lane (passing zones have an extra lane). He told me I needed to slow down because I was endangering everyone racing around in the new fangled sports car (his words, not mine and not the Corvette).

I will flash to pass but if they ignore me I back off and wait for an opening, I usually get one. And yes, many times they decide to ride my bumper but usually their Hyundai or Civic just isn't comfortable cruising at my normal speeds so they back off after having a thrill for a few miles.

Honestly, I don't think you did anything that bad and know the stretch of road you were probably on in NJ. The likelihood of finding someone like that is pretty high. I would find it odd if you could make it back to PA on a Sunday without at least one asshat getting in your way.

Nonstop

I think this is an opinion thread so..
Yup yer a jerk, sort of, but I'm still on yer side. I grew up in NJ, miss it.

75 is plenty quick on any road, past that we're just hauling ***, save it. Cruising on major highways can mean 80 but...patience will save your azz every time.
The other guy was a giant douche, but you won't win this argument, that moron thinks he was right, and will tell the story as such.
He could have made room, you could have waited, doesn't matter if one of you slips and gets dead. He should have moved.
That cop would have laughed, silently, then stroked both of you for something, you would have talked yourself into a ticket, or worse if you raised your voice, easy enough, or he'd have told you to be on your way. He was busy.

Again I'm on your side, there are many types of drivers. In FL when a cat jumps in the road most people crap their pants and swerve into oncoming traffic causing god knows what accident, I weigh the facts real quick, do I risk the lives of the drivers around me, do I have room?, or kill the cat? I like cats but you might want to close your eyes, I won't blink.
Not everyone is a driver some are attitudes holding a steering wheel, don't be one of them.

Just because you just saw an officer doesn't mean jack. Decades ago I went to driving school, there where stories that started with, I just saw a cop so I....and, I figured since I was following the cop I was fine. I never forget that.
Remember the car is a 2 ton weapon, accidents don't happen as often when we use good judgment, aggression will make them happen real often.
I'm still on your side, in the right environment one flash maybe two means please, after that they're just intentionally being ignorant, nice word for it.

By any standards I am an accurate and observant driver, even courteous but not slow or polite.

Nonstop

PS Florida recently passed the slow driver law.
It's a $60 fine for going 10mph under the limit in the left lane, I think out of like 10k other citations issued since its inception, few months, it's been used once maybe twice, I've been behind 3 drivers in the last week going that slow.. Think it was in Broward

Before anyone gets bent out of shape, you must take a ride on 95 from Boynton Beach to Miami one day. Could take an hour, or six. You're likely to be sideswiped once, maybe the little boy racer playing need for speed in traffic, you'll have someone flash there lights at you while you're doing 90, pull over nicely, and you'll have to avoid at least one thing fallen of a truck in front of you, likely a ladder or the insides of a washing machine. Saw a lady coming UP the off ramp last week. This is not a joke. Be safe

Innocuous

As a rule, I don't flash my lights to get people to move out of the left lane. They know you're behind them and if they're good drivers they'll move over without flashing, if they're jerks they'll just get pissed and block you for spite.
It's funny, when I'm in my everyday F150 I live in the left lane going as fast as the traffic allows, but when I'm in the C7 I like to cruise in the slower lanes. Go figure!

yell03

No, I was only doing 45-50 on the back roads, the speed limit, 80-85 was on the 65mph speed limit highway.
I usually cruise 10 over the limit on the highway, 5 over on regular roads.

It sure felt like it was block the sports car.

Everybody here made great points, I guess I was in a hurry and I ran in to a jerk who wanted to slow me down.

Cruiter

Like 'Nonstop', I"m on your side but you'd lose the argument most times with the police unless there are strict laws in your state governing left lane driving. RE: flashing your lights, you might want to re-consider. I have the HID's in two cars now. My 2010 Lexus and my 2014 Stingray. They're excellent and I've done some research in their operation. One thing for you to consider is it usually takes up to a minute or so for them to reach full operating temp and max lumins. Flashing them as we 'retired' people back in the day are known to do, can and probably will shorten a very long (expected) normal life span for these lights and the replacement cost with labor can be like buying a set of rear Z51 tires. Just saying... It's a consideration to keep in the back of your mind.

Now if the lights are already on and burning brightly then it's of no consequence, flash away. They always burn at the same level. High and low beam is actually a shutter lowering out of the way for high-beam and rising to partially cover the lens for low beam.

Just some factual trivia to store away .

quadeddie

This is the exact behavior expected of people driving on the autobahn. I saw firsthand how the left lane is for passing, not for cruising. Everyone keeps to the right and plays leapfrog on the left. Imagine that the left lane was lava and was doing damage to your car and you can imagine how that looked.

I was pretty impressed on how everyone followed that rule over there.

70454

I agree. I spent a week in Germany late last year. I was very impressed at the high rate of speed and cooperation on the roads, even from the large trucks.

It's unfortunate that people in this country have to have an attitude regarding driving. They make driving personal. This left lane offender, well....was offended. Was it a case of have and have not's? Maybe. I'm also from the SE PA area and this happens too often. I almost always flash my highbeams when coming up on an "unattentive" driver i the left lane. 95% of the time they understand what's about to happen. The other 5%.....well....let's say it never ends well. As the OP mentioned, these cars are great for getting us out of trouble.

george vee

I like to cruse at 8 to 10 mph over the limit . This happens to me a lot on 4 lane highways,2 lanes each direction, a car is doing 10 under the limit of 65 and they won't move to the right when they can and if I try to go around them on the right the intentionally speed up so i can't make the pass. Guess what, they are in for a big surprise when the C7 blows by them.

Modshack

Yeah...I always get away from these types however I can....Even if it involves pulling off the road to let him go...

70LQ4

Something like this happened to a good Friend of Mine , while driveing His almost new 1985 Corvette. It was in a big City on one of those 5 lane (center turning lane) Roads . He must of pizzed off Someone in a Buick battle barge when He passed them , this Guy planted Himself a foot of His back bumper and stayed there no matter what speed . He finally saw His chance to get rid of Him , up ahead was a stopped Idiot making a left turn from the traffic lane. He waited till the last second and made His lane change , the Guy in the Buick didn't

Michael A

Wrong country for flash to pass.

It's considered rude in the U.S.

I always stay several car lengths back, not tailgating, but a bit closer than if I had the intention of just following the person in front. Works almost every time for having someone let me by. They know I want to get by without being rude. They return the courtesy by letting me by.

Michael

ersin

Don't flash your lights. The proper thing to do is turn your left blinker on, but I don't think that works in the US. The other guy is jerk for sure. But so are you. But if you're going to be a jerk, better to be a Corvette jerk.


Cheers.