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Why Do People Speed Up As You Pass Them?

February 2nd, 2009 | Comments |

You know how it works.  You’re driving along in the left lane at some reasonable speed – OK, it’s usually above the posted limit – and you get stuck behind someone driving more slowly than you are (usually in a Subaru, but frequently in a Volvo).  You pray they realize that you’re about to scrape the chrome off their bumper with yours or are blinded by your headlights causing them to pull over.  Usually, this takes forever, but eventually, most drivers get the message and move to a slower lane.  Then, as you’re passing them, they speed up.  WTF?

Sometimes they increase their speed just to match your speed, sometimes they actually end up going faster than you.  But in all cases, they are going way faster than they were when you got stuck behind them.  Once you get sick of this little cat and mouse game, you speed up even more to get the whack-job further behind you.  It’s then you realize that they are imploding into a spec in your rear view mirror – once you were by them, they returned to their initial plodding velocity.

I can’t be sure, but I suspect I might do this unconsciously as well.  Or, at least, some slightly less insane version of it.  What in human psychology causes this to happen?

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February 2nd, 2009 | Category: Stuff with a Motor | Comments |
  • Hey Sarah,

    I totally agree. Generally speaking, the way I handle most situations on the road depends on how the other driver has been acting. Sometimes, this escalates into a vehicular pissing contest, but because drivers here in the states are so awful, it's generally not a problem :-)
  • Lol to the above ^

    I won't be in the 'fast lane' if I'm not gunning it. But on the normal roads this is a kiwi philosophy also.

    The only thing that makes me want to (or actually) speed up when myself and a following vehicle come to a passing lane is if said vehicle has been a prick by following too close or being stupid on the road.
  • john bower
    This is due to the "tractor beam effect". Most vehicles emit a tractor beam that pulls other vehicles toward them. It explains why most cars slow down slightly as you pull up behind them, as their and your tractor beams suck the momentum of the vehicle in front and transfer it to the vehicle behind.

    The tractor beam is of limited strength and reach though. The limited strength causes it to have little effect on large trucks. Or in the event you are passing in an adjacent lane, if the speed differential is more than about 10 MPH, you will pass through the zone of it's influence on the other car, before the beam has had a chance to accelerate the car up to your speed. It is not unlike pulling a table cloth off of a set table, do it slowly and all the plates will move with the table cloth, do it quickly and the plates and glasses don't even know what happened.

    This is why I suggest you perform the passing maneuver with substantial alacrity, in order to limit the "locking up" of the tractor beams between the passor and passee.
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