You may have noticed I always insist on keeping a good two second gap between myself and the vehicle in front of me, no matter what the situation. Some will not wish to do this as it lets an aggressive driver in front of them when overtaking. I want to share a tip and a situation I found myself in that confirmed this rule to me.
There will be times along the highway which you will encounter a slow moving vehicle in the right lane. Sometimes this will occur in a crowded traffic situation. As soon as you can detect the situation ahead and it is safe to do so get into the passing lane to prepare to overtake the slower moving vehicle. Do not pull right up to the rear of the slower moving vehicle passing others who are in the passing lane preparing to overtake the vehicle. This action will cause the people in the left lane to pull close together in an attempt to box you in. This situation creates an unsafe riding environment for yourself and all others around you.
In Seattle I was confronted with three separate single vehicle accidents, which had slowed my day down very much, and I was getting a little frustrated with the entire situation. Finally when leaving the city the roads started to open up and I was happily on a flowing interstate.
Not long after getting moving again on the Interstate, though it was still busy I came across an truck climbing a slight hill. There was a row of cars in the left lane preparing to pass the truck which was currently being passed by another truck but not at the speed the cars could pass it but still moving faster than the truck in the right lane. I got over to the left lane and joined the row of cars waiting to pass. Behind me more cars joined into the left lane as we were still moving faster than the obviously struggling truck in the right lane.
Up from behind me I saw a little gray two door trying to ride the right lane as far as she could up behind the struggling truck and passing the cars in the left lane who were waiting for their turn to get around the struggling truck. Everyone including me was bunching up trying to box her in. I had neglected my two-second rule and pulled up close to the car I was following. As fate would have it I was the next to pass as the aggressive two door reached the rear of the truck. She just pulled right against me pressing her drivers side window up against my mirror and sending me off to the shoulder. The shoulder of the highway was accented with those rumble strips or what I like to call shutter bumps. To make it worse there was now a road sigh approaching ahead. Even though I was slowing there was still no room to regain my lane and I had too veer off into the wet grass to avoid the sign. I was able to maintain my balance in the grass and regain the highway surface as the car that was behind me had slowed down to allow me to do so.
If I had followed my two-second rule to the letter the aggressive driver could have just slipped in front of me. That would have aggravated me yes but I would have gotten over it lot sooner. There are going to be times as we ride that we can think of good reasons to break the safety rules and there are times we will get away with it I will admit that; but in reality there are no good reasons to break safety rues and when we get away with it we are pressing our luck. You never know how aggressive the aggressive driver is and to what extent they cherish that 20 feet of highway they will totally disregard your life for.
