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Why Do People Speed Up As You Pass Them?

February 2nd, 2009 | 11 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 | 11 comments
  • 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.

  • 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.

  • http://www.sbyles.blogspot.com/ Sarah Byles

    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.

  • http://www.sbyles.blogspot.com Sarah Byles

    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.

  • http://www.2-speed.com/ Will

    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 :-)

  • http://www.2-speed.com Will

    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 :-)

  • http://antiquetractorsale.org/ Vintage Tractors for Sale

    Nice looking blog. Which template are you using? Nice post as well!

  • Shane Crisante

    You dont own the road people. If you are in the fast lane & you look into your rear view mirror and another vehicle is close to you that means get out of the way pull over to the slower lane. You are a hazard by driving slower than the person behind you. You should never cruise in the fast lane. What are you thinking peoiple? And doing it based on how he was driving that is just stupid. Grow up and stop playing games.

  • http://2-speed.com/ Will

    Thanks for the comment, Shane! When people park themselves in the left lane, I wonder if it’s just indicative of the horrible driver training in the US, the driver’s total ignorance of what is going on around them, or is the driver just being an asshole. I actually think the last one is a rarity and the first two are in a contest for the leading excuse. Not that there should be an excuse, of course. 

    I’ve gotten to thinking about it this way – which is not one bit healthy for me – what *right* does the person blocking me have to delay me and take up my time and energy. They are taking something from me and that shouldn’t be tolerated. OK, maybe I’m not all that serious about it, but I do let that thought pass through my head for a fleeting second while I flash them or pass in the right lane.

  • http://www.irrelevanttheories.com/ Raff

    Good one Will. It looks like its a world wide affliction because we have the same problem here in Australia. You catch up to someone even on a dual carriage way, and not necessarily even going close to the speed limit, put the blinker on to overtake and then you find that their speed increases also….you accelerate a bit more…and so do they… I dont know why but maybe the other driver soon realises that they were going too slow and decide to speed up…who knows…but it is annoying…and even worse if they are in the fast lane.

  • http://2-speed.com/ Will

    I guess bad driving doesn’t have a nationality :-) What’s scary is that your explanation is probably right – they’re just not paying attention.

    Tanks for the comment!