Passing

I try to keep my road rage in check, but I usually fail miserably.   I’m really far too impatient when driving.  I recognize this, but have so far been unsuccessful in remaining calm behind the wheel of a car. I have several pet peeves about driving.  One of the biggest is around speed and passing.

I have two houses, one in Portland and the other in Redmond, OR.   My house in Redmond is a vacation home that I try to visit a couple of times a month.   It’s about a 3 hour drive from one house to the other.   Most of that drive is on a two lane highway.   (One lane in each direction)   Traffic can be heavy at times and it’s often an exercise in frustration.    There are a few passing lanes along the way. (where there are temporarily two lanes in one direction)  What drives me crazy is how much cars speed up when they hit these areas.    Cars that have been driving along at 50 mph, suddenly are going 65.   I realize that this is because there is suddenly more room and it’s usually on a straight away, but I’m still incredibly frustrated by having to go 75 myself in order to try and get by.    I have pretty much given up on these passing lanes and now just look for opportunities to pass in areas with a broken yellow line.  (spots where you pass by moving into the lane of oncoming traffic)   This can be problematic for a different reason.   Why are there so many people that won’t pass in these areas?   Instead of passing, they stack up bumper to bumper.    This means that not only are they not passing, but they haven’t left any space for anyone else to pass them.   I had to pass 7 cars at one point yesterday as I drove to Redmond.   I was in the oncoming lane of traffic for about 30 seconds (that's a long time) doing just over 100 mph (that's really fast) in order to get by clogged traffic.   What’s amazing to me is that no one else passed.   They are stacked up 7 deep and there is enough room for me to get by all of them (barely) and no one will pass.   Chickens!