We've all had this happen. You're on the highway, you're stuck behind this guy doing 50, so you pull out to pass him, and as you attempt to pass him you realize you've managed to slowly speed up more and more to try to get around him, until you've finally hit your uncomfortable speed (the speed that you start worrying about cops). For some people that's 75, for others it's 80, 85, or even a billion.
Any way you look at it, you're trying to pass a guy going 50, and you can't manage at 75. What the hell just happened?
You just met a Speed Matcher.
That's right. We're talking about somebody who sees another car in the corner of their eye and manages to adjust their speed to the speed of whoever is passing them. It makes it incredibly irritating, not to mention dangerous to actually get past them. Imagine the frustration of the people behind you trying to get out and around, thinking look at this asshole in the passing lane, can't he go faster? Little do they realize what you're up against: a speed matcher.
The good news is, their greatest strength is also their biggest weakness, and speed matchers can be over-come. Here's how:
-To pass a speed matcher, you must first understand speed matchers. Understand their reasoning, their thinking, their logic. Once you can understand this, then you can pass.
-If you pull out to pass the speed matcher, you will have to accelerate from the roughly the speed
he was going to the speed YOU need to be going. This gives him ample opportunity to start matching your speed without thinking about it. The only way to bypass this is to either:
A. Never slow down and pass everyone at an extreme speed. Or-
B. Pull out to pass, and then accelerate rapidly, to the point where it's noticeable that you've done so. Speed matchers tend to match the speed of traffic around them because they don't realize it's getting faster.
OR - Use their strength against them:
Once you are directly beside a speed matcher having trouble getting around them, decelerate slowly. Bring the speed from 75 to 65 or even 60 very slowly. The speed matcher will slow down with you, it is a law of speed matchers, but this technique will only work if you're very subtle about it. As soon as you hit 60 mph, hit the gas and pass his ass! He'll realize he's been had.
There you are, a proven method (methods) for defeating the modern speed matcher. Up next: How to get rid of tailgaters using a series of empty pipes and a light that says "oil slick."
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Speed Matchers
