Yes, other than when you get the truly special case of the right lane driver who speeds up when someone is passing on the left.
I’ll never forget this incident which was probably a Top 3 “closest to committing a homicide” moments in my life.
Freshman year at MSU, one Friday night me and a buddy were driving down to Baton Rouge for the State-LSU game. He worked late before we left town, so we probably didn’t even get out of Starkville until 8:30 or 9:00 that night. First several hours of the drive went fine….hardly any traffic at all on we got past Jackson, which you would expect at that time of night and particular section of highway.
By around midnight or 12:30ish we are just south of McComb, and come up on a very late model Buick that was going a smooth 50mph in the right lane down I-55. I can tell from several hundred yards how fast I was gaining on him (I was doing 78-80 or so). So by the time I get within about 100 yards of him I went ahead and signaled and moved over to the left lane. I proceed to start passing. My car’s gradually gaining without his changing speeds. When I get about 15 yards from his bumper, the dude just floors it. The speed difference between us at the time was such that I still advanced to where our front bumpers were even as he continued to speed up…..but then he took off. I sped up more to continue the pass, got up to 88-90, and he just left like I was standing still. Had to be at 120+….in the right lane the whole way.
Idiot continues at this speed until he gets about a half mile ahead of me, then…..completely lets off. Slows all the way back down to 50. So here we go again….my cruise is still on 78-80. I start passing again. Same thing. Dude takes off for another 30 seconds. Then again lets off. Then it happens a 3rd time. And keep in mind we are the only 2 cars on the road for miles.
By this point, I’m cussing and yelling so loud at this 17ing **** that I’ve woken up my buddy who fell asleep an hour before. I legit feared for my own safety due to nothing more than how angry I was while barreling down the interstate. Thought briefly about testing which of the two of us had the most gas and then tracking his *** until I had a perfect opportunity to send him into a ditch or off a bridge. Thought the better of it, and pulled off at the next exit to grab a snack and a Red Bull for the rest of the way. Didn’t see the 17er again.
