Safe Driving with Driverthink

“I don’t like anyone in front of me ... Guess he would consider that Road Rage, Yikes!”

My wife received this comment from a friend reviewing Driverthink.  I responded, “Nothing wrong with wanting to be the leader of the pack – as long as you can do it safely – and as long as you have a good Bird Dog (radar detector).  Cheers!”

But lets Driverthink about this a little more – it was a pretty interesting comment.  The first “Leader of the Pack” thoughts that come to mind are:

1.  Are you a fast or slower driver?

2.  Are you in congested, local traffic, or are you on an open, less congested highway?

3.  Are you a skilled, competent, smooth and courteous driver?  Or are you willing to throw both caution and any respect for fellow drivers, to the wind?

It probably matters.

If you’re caught up in slow or congested traffic, your quest for Leader of the Pack status is most likely going to be a futile endeavor.  No matter who you put behind you, you’re still going to have lots of metal in front of you.  You can either continue to frustrate yourself, or succumb, chill out, and enjoy the scenery.

If you’re on an open highway, however, it gets more interesting.

The slower driver can become leader of the pack by, well – being slower on the road.  Traffic piles up behind him and if there’s not another lane to pass in, he becomes Leader of the Pack by default.  If there is another lane, he’ll need another slower driver to pull along side of, thereby setting up a “Rolling Roadblock”.  Ah Hah!  Now the traffic can’t get around either driver.

This technique of course, will potentially subject him to Road Rage or at the least, some substantial hate and discontent from those stacked up drivers, but what the hey, there’s no one in front of him – until someone loses it and decides to run him off the road entirely.  Nope.  Not good for slower drivers to play “Leader of the Pack!”

This takes us to the faster driver on the open highway with the addiction under discussion

Assuming you are of the skilled and courteous ilk, the desire to achieve leader status is really all about Forward Look and Smooth Driving.  Ask any racecar driver.  They all want to be “Leader of the Pack.”

Looking far ahead of you will allow you to see which lanes are moving faster.  You can then select the desired path in plenty of time to take advantage of it, especially in states where passing on the right is not at least a felony.  How many times have we watched an impatient driver swing out from behind us, only to see her run smack dab into a slower lane of traffic and get squeezed as multiple drivers then pass her by.  She wasn’t looking ahead.

Curves offer excellent possibilities for passing – as long as, and only if, you have the requisite skills and highway conditions to do so.  While you’re Throttle Steering through the curve, you may be smoothly and confidently gaining advantage over much more powerful vehicles with perhaps less skilled drivers, who haven’t quite figured out yet, that horsepower isn’t quite everything.

So what are the advantages of being the Leader of the Pack?  What are the disadvantages?  There don’t seem too be many of either.

Advantages:

• There won’t be any accidents happening directly in front of us.  Accidents are much easier to avoid when they’re in our rearview mirror.

• Constantly analyzing the traffic flow and strategizing where to position ourselves will keep us alert.  We’re driving the car.  We’re not just along for the ride.

Disadvantages:

• We’re probably going to be the number one target of the radar gun.

• We’ll be first to come across wildlife.  Might be better to let a car in front of us, take that “Bambi” through the windshield.

In any event, if we’re so obsessed with our quest that we’re cutting people off, driving erratically or tailgating others to gain our new position, then at the very least we’re a Road Hazard.  And yes – we could develop Road Rage in the process.

If we really don’t have to be the leader but simply like to move quickly, remember.  The highway is not a racetrack.  We can develop the skills to be higher speed drivers safely.  We don’t have to be first to be fast – and we shouldn’t have to strike fear into hearts of our fellow earthly inhabitants in the process.

Keeping a slightly faster car in front of us can possibly protect us from those disadvantages we just considered.  Won’t slow our progress much either.

Leader of the Pack.  If you’ve simply got to be there, cool.  Just be there safely!