What SHOULD I have done ?

[bob dirt]

Nothing wrong with going 5 over. Nothing worse then someone I'm passing tries to help me by adjusting their speed. Maintain what you are doing and let the other driver make the adjustments. If you would not have slowed down and maybe almost causing a wreck behind you, the other driver was adjusting to get back behind you. Kinda like me stepping over my dog and having her try to move out of my way and making me trip.
Another thing...vehicles slowing down evertime they are being passed makes no sense. That causes havoc behind them. Just drive your own car. JMHO

[lbmaples]

Thank you to everybody for your input .

I'm a human ,and sometimes I act that way . By that , I mean , I found myself feeling defensive when some of you suggested that my hitting the breaks pretty hard was a bad idea ... upon more reflection , I have come the conclusion that , it probably was the wrong choice to hit them as hard as I did ... It did not occur to me that others behind me could end up plowing in to my backside . Point taken ... lesson learned ( I hope ) . The sad thing was that there was truely no where for that guy to go , he was the third car back when he started ... forward was the only way he could go ... thank goodness for the reflexes of the guy coming the other way . ( who's getting defensive again .. sorry )

thanks again

[ependydad]

I haven't read any responses and have no criticisms to what you wrote that you did. It's easy to say from my keyboard here and now and not in the situation.

I think what I likely would have slowed down before hard braking is required. On single lane roads where I'm passing, I actually almost always slow down to make it easier on the person passing me.

The only other thing I have done is even if I am exceeding the speed limit but am stacking traffic up behind me for a stretch is pull over to let folks pass. It may have saved this passing situation in the first place. (Again, it's easy to write that from here without being behind the wheel then and there.)

[phillyg]

If I see someone passing I reduce speed a bit and stay as far to the right as I can. Doing something unexpected, like hitting the brakes, might make things more confusing.

[Seasonal]

Originally Posted by ependydad

The only other thing I have done is even if I am exceeding the speed limit but am stacking traffic up behind me for a stretch is pull over to let folks pass. It may have saved this passing situation in the first place. (Again, it's easy to write that from here without being behind the wheel then and there.)

I do this too and wish more people did.

When I'm on a two lane and have a faster vehicle behind me, I also let them pass if we get to a small town. I'm always amazed by drivers that race me when I attempt to pass or go around them in town when the road shifts from two to four lanes.

I have no issue with people driving faster than me and will help them get past safely if I can, where I can.

[CedarCreekWoody]

On occasion I've seen people slow down and drive on the shoulder to allow people to pass. Although their intentions are good DO NOT do this. It is very dangerous plus, if you are in an accident, you will be judged at fault even if was not your error. Once you pull onto the shoulder you give up all rights to the roadway. If you are in a crash as you re enter you are in the wrong, the same as though you ran a stop sign. Pull over and stop if you feel the need to leave the roadway.