Rude Overland Vehicle Etiquette

[buz1nonly]

I was driving my wife’s car (just a normal car) when a modified white 4-runner pulled up behind me and proceeded to tailgate my rear. Already going 75 in the left lane on the freeway and traffic appearing in front of me he decided to flash his high beams at me. I decided to ignore him since traffic in front of me was going the same spend. He proceeded to go around me and noticeably annoyed decided to cut me off since I didn’t move out of the lane. Flashed his rear bumper lights at me. He is then stuck in traffic as well for the next 20 minutes going the same speed as the rest of traffic and continues to tailgate everyone else trying to weave from lane to lane.

My question is why!!! What a douche bag idiot driver. Our trucks look so different, don’t give us a bad rap. It’s not like we build our trucks to be race cars. Have some patience and understand you don’t need to drive like an idiot.

I snapped a picture of his truck (looked like it had temporary tags), so not sure if the truck was fairly new to him, but won’t post it. It’s the holiday season and raining in California, just be safe and respect everyone else. Don’t be that idiot driver with that built rig that has to weave lane to lane to gain that extra minute to your designation. Have some respect.

 

[Tundracamper]

I had no idea there was a “fraternal order of ovelranders.” So when I go out in public in my vehicle I am representing all overlanders? I don’t recall signing up for that level of responsibility. Maybe it’s time to find a new hobby…and just in time for the new year. I’m sure I can find a hobby where everyone that participates is kind and pure.

 

[Flipper]

Want to see some Idiot 4x4 Drivers? Come to Truck week in Daytona. Daytona even made a public announcement that they don’t want them back. The Police made it very clear that they were not welcome.

 

[MOAK]

Unfortunately you experienced something that goes on every day in every city all across ‘Merica. Karma will get them, it always does. Not only do they pay the price in premature wear of brakes, tires, steering & suspension components, they will have an accident. Interestingly enough, people that drive like that on congested freeways are generally clueless on an open road.

 

[MOAK]

I had no idea there was a “fraternal order of ovelranders.” So when I go out in public in my vehicle I am representing all overlanders? I don’t recall signing up for that level of responsibility. Maybe it’s time to find a new hobby…and just in time for the new year. I’m sure I can find a hobby where everyone that participates is kind and pure.

Unfortunately, yes you are. There are lots of people that would be joyful to close down our access to public lands and make the vehicles we drive so strictly regulated making any modifications illegal. All they need is an excuse to justify their negative stereotypical opinions of our hobby/lifestyle. Your attitude reminds me of a story from long ago. A guy I worked with, Eddie, not a friend, was driving an 18wheeler up I-95 in Connecticut. He was a relentless habitual tailgater, and drove in a manner that fulfilled the negative stereotype that John Q Public has of truck drivers. After a few miles of this, the car in front of him moved over into the left hand lane. Eddie stuck his hand out the window and gave em the finger. Eddie got back from the trip & was told to go clean his truck out, you are fired. That car that he tailgated, harassed and gave the finger to was the personal vehicle of the wife of the Attorneys General for the state of Connecticut. If you don’t want to have, as you put it, “ that level of responsibility” then maybe you ought to contemplate. Some of us take this “ overlanding “ thing quite seriously and no matter what we drive, want to and need to be welcomed by the general community. So yea, I agree, maybe it is time for you to, as you stated “ find a new hobby “

 

[grubworm]

Already going 75 in the left lane
noticeably annoyed decided to cut me off since I didn’t move out of the lane.

I snapped a picture of his truck

lot to unpack here, but what i get out of this post is that you are already speeding and breaking the law for starters; and according to California Vehicle Code (CVC 21654(a)), you aren't supposed to travel in the left lane if its impeding traffic. ( a lot of states its not legal to travel in the left lane unless you are passing slower vehicles that are in the right lane and then you get back in the right lane after passing). you said that you "ignored" him, which you clearly didnt. you saw he was tailgating you and being problematic and yet you chose to stay right there in the left lane in front of him because you felt justified and annoyed, just like the driver behind you was feeling. then, while speeding, you are fiddling with your phone and taking pictures.


you are right...there are dangerous drivers out there!

 

[zgfiredude]

It's a general behavior, not an overland specific behavior, right? It's everywhere.

And I agree with @MOAK that we all do have some level of responsibility to "lead by example" in our rigs......which oddly enough, I try to make general practice in my life.....if you see some one broken down on the side of the road, why not stop and check to see if they need help type of thing.......we're all in this together.

I sound a little preachy and just woke up, so I'll stop, LOL. Happy New Year Y'all!

 

[Smileyshaun]

Just because someone has lights and bumpers and a 4Runner does not make it a overlander , just like most jeeps are just accessories magnets that will never go off the pavement not every built rig actually goes off-road .

 

[FishinCrzy]

Since I retired and rarely have to be anywhere at a certain time it has become easier to drive the speed limit and let the poor stressed fools be on their way. I keep a sharp eye on the rearview mirror for those that are closing fast and weaving in and out to stay out of their way. I can't even guess at the number of times when out touring and rubbernecking that I pull over to let someone by. It has been very liberating to just slow down and enjoy the scenery. That said, if I am in traffic and not exiting the highway, I am probably going to be following the left lane traffic whatever speed they are going. The vast majority of the speeding weavers seem to be younger persons driving smaller sports cars or or rednecks in big trucks with Georgia license tags, JKNR. I don't remember ever having an overlanding rig driving excessively aggressive. Probably because their gas mileage, like mine, makes it rather prohibitive!

 

[ZombieCat]

Courtesy seems to be a fading virtue, particularly on the roadways of the U.S. Everyone’s in a hurry and you’re an easily identifiable, jacked up 4WD impediment. While that may create or reinforce some stereotypes, we cannot control the behavior of folks we don’t even know. Having driven approximately 38K miles on “overland” trips in ‘21 & ‘22, my advice is…CHILL. Take a deep breath and release. Repeat. A bit if your favorite essential oil while inhaling helps, too (I like cedar or juniper, for the scent of wild, wonderful places). Maybe old age is creeping in on me, or possibly it’s just the knowledge that my multi-day journey will be 3000 mind numbing miles of mediocre podcasts and repetitive music, but I’ve learned to relax and dismiss these chuckleheads. I simply move to the right lane and imagine heading off to my next exciting adventure. No need to get all assed up and raise your cortisol levels over one jerk.
If anyone watched the series Limitless on NatGeo, the final episode about acceptance of aging was profound. It laid bare how fragile and fleeting our lives are, how important it is to accept the shortcomings of ourselves and others, to recognize what is/is not truly important and dismiss the rest. You’ll be happier and quickly forget the incident. Happy New Year, y’all!
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds,”

 

[Jim SoG]

Idiots everywhere and sure I been labeled as such and maybe bunch of us..........

If anyone comes up on you in the left lane, move over. No matter the speed.

Maybe he just stole it and needed to get away, maybe his wife was ready to deliver, maybe he had family in the ER, maybe he is a jerk. NO matter, get out of the left lane if another is approaching you, he is faster, move over. IMO.

Jim

 

[OTH Overland]

Currently on a trip thru Montana with 80mph speed limits, driving a fully loaded JK with more aerodynamic drag than a brick and a gutless V6 we enjoy spending 99% of our time in the right hand lane, and get back over to the right as soon as we can on the rare occasion that we actually find something to pass...lol

 

[MMc]

[B]buz1nonly[/B] You know that guy is drinking coffee and eating a donut right now and has not thought of you after he passed you, right. Here you are posting and thinking about what a butthead he is, who is in charge, the guy pissed off or the guy who was rude. I find it is easier to pull to right and not give a butthead my energy, or time thinking about him twice. I was taught the right lane is for driving and the left is for passing. I was an outside salesman in So. Cal. for 40 years so I know what driving in So. Cal. can be like. I long ago decided to focus on what is important to me not give a butthead the power. Buttheads drive all kinds of autos and come in all shapes, sizes and whatevers.

 

[grubworm]

i already said my piece, but another thing to consider is that you never know why a person is acting the way they are...

years back, i was cutting red iron with a giant cut off saw and the blade shattered and hit me, severing an artery. one of my employees loaded me in his truck turned on his flashers and took off for the hospital. i was bleeding very bad and trying not to pass out as im holding a dirty leather glove against the wound. we get up to a traffic light that is red and nobody is turning right, so he takes the shoulder to go around the line of vehicles so we can turn right and save precious minutes. well...someone saw him coming up the shoulder so they made it a point to scoot over a few feet so we couldnt pass. they were going straight at the red light, so us coming up past them and turning right had ZERO effect on them, but yet the driver of that vehicle was "offended" and if he had to wait on the light...so do we. so we had to sit there blocked by him until the light turned. im sitting there bleeding out while the driver that blocked us is feeling good that he was able to stop us from being "rude". we weren't passing on the shoulder to be rude and inconsiderate to others, but rather so i could get to the emergency room before dying. so, for those who are so easily offended: NOT EVERY INDISCRETION IS A PERSONAL ATTACK AGAINST YOU!

obviously not every "rude" person on the highway is experiencing a medical emergency, BUT there are a lot of other reasons why they might be speeding and since when is it up to the general public to determine when its OK for a person to speed or not to speed? the OP stated he was already speeding himself, so one person can go 5-10 mph over the speed limit and its OK when THEY do it, but someone else wants to go faster and they are wrong for it?

not beating up on the OP because we are ALL guilty of it to some degree, but this is the mentality that is killing us as a country...justifying what we do while getting offended at others for doing the same thing.

 

[MOAK]

i already said my piece, but another thing to consider is that you never know why a person is acting the way they are...

years back, i was cutting red iron with a giant cut off saw and the blade shattered and hit me, severing an artery. one of my employees loaded me in his truck turned on his flashers and took off for the hospital. i was bleeding very bad and trying not to pass out as im holding a dirty leather glove against the wound. we get up to a traffic light that is red and nobody is turning right, so he takes the shoulder to go around the line of vehicles so we can turn right and save precious minutes. well...someone saw him coming up the shoulder so they made it a point to scoot over a few feet so we couldnt pass. they were going straight at the red light, so us coming up past them and turning right had ZERO effect on them, but yet the driver of that vehicle was "offended" and if he had to wait on the light...so do we. so we had to sit there blocked by him until the light turned. im sitting there bleeding out while the driver that blocked us is feeling good that he was able to stop us from being "rude". we weren't passing on the shoulder to be rude and inconsiderate to others, but rather so i could get to the emergency room before dying. so, for those who are so easily offended: NOT EVERY INDISCRETION IS A PERSONAL ATTACK AGAINST YOU!

obviously not every "rude" person on the highway is experiencing a medical emergency, BUT there are a lot of other reasons why they might be speeding and since when is it up to the general public to determine when its OK for a person to speed or not to speed? the OP stated he was already speeding himself, so one person can go 5-10 mph over the speed limit and its OK when THEY do it, but someone else wants to go faster and they are wrong for it?

not beating up on the OP because we are ALL guilty of it to some degree, but this is the mentality that is killing us as a country...justifying what we do while getting offended at others for doing the same thing.

Oh jeeze; you just had to get me started on people that are so easily offended.. Nah; no time for em, I gave up, if they are so easily offended they can find their own little campsite to be all by themselves so as not to be offended. Happy New Year to all. Peace out.

 

[pluton]

If anyone comes up on you in the left lane, move over. No matter the speed.

Correct. You are obligated to move over for any and every idiot that wants to go faster, even if you can clearly see that the idiot's behavior is going to acheive nothing.

 

[MidOH]

You expected good behavior in cslifornia?

Its blocked off, of our overlanding plans for a reason.

 

[MOAK]

You expected good behavior in cslifornia?

Its blocked off, of our overlanding plans for a reason.

Ha! Metro NY drivers, ( DC - Boston; it’s all one big city along the I-95 corridor ) are the worst drivers, By far.

 

[FishinCrzy]

Ha! Metro NY drivers, ( DC - Boston; it’s all one big city along the I-95 corridor ) are the worst drivers, By far.

Ha! I vividly remember a cab ride from LaGuardia into Manhattan 20+ years ago. That's when I learned what big city driving was all about! Then I noticed that all the cabs had dents and push bars on the front. A foot gap? No problem. Just stick it in there!

 

[Correus]

Y'all haven't driven till you've driven in downtown Cairo!! LOL

There's a reason I avoid driving on the freeway at all costs, especially in the Land Rover. Mine was not built for speed so I take the back roads and enjoy the scenery.