How You Treat Other Drivers Can Be Contentious

I was in heavy traffic and I saw some weirdness in my rear view. Not wanting to play frogger and try to leap around traffic in front of me, especially as there really aren’t many places to get away on the King’s Highway in Toronto (The 4-0-1), I tried to give him some distance, let him pass. Keeping him in front of me to do whatever he’s doing at a safe distance and position.

Apparently, there are people who think otherwise.

Way back in 1990/1991, I learned to drive and took driving lessons with Young Drivers of Canada in a little Plymouth Sundance, turbo charged edition. My instructor, Steve, was all for driving with the flow of traffic even if it meant 15-20kph over the limit on the 400 series of highways.

I had at least one lesson on the highway with him and remember him clearly and emphatically telling me to “gun it” and getting up to 130-140kph while on the ramp to get well ahead of a couple of tractor trailer trucks and then being berated for my logic of wanting to keep those fast moving billboard vehicles in front of me rather than behind.

In the early to mid 00s, I was in Scarborough, westbound on Eglinton by Midland in Scarborough late at night with a buddy and saw an erratic driver approach. We were getting to a red light with cars already there and decided to stop further back. The car slowly swerved from behind us, took the space in front and then tried to sandwich himself between a cube van and a car but swiped them both and then continued on. (Yes, there’s a police station on the north side of the road. We didn’t stick around.)

Early this year, 2022, at a workplace where there’s a mix of teens, 20 somethings and old guys like me, one young guy recently got his driver’s license and we were talking about the process and driving when I mentioned my highway experience with instructor Steve. A co-worker who is my age chimes up and quite passionately tells us that “Under no circumstances do you keep an erratic driver or a truck or anything in front of you. You get out and get away from him as fast as possible.”

I don’t know…. I’d say it depends.

If the truck is doing below the limit or slower than the flow, sure. If it’s going 10-15 above already, what’s the point of going another 20+ kph just to get away and keep it well behind you?

As for the erratic drivers, I certainly don’t want them ploughing into me. I’ll turn off and call it in to police or stay well back enough so that I’d rather pass them after they get into an accident rather than trying to negotiate traffic to try to put distance behind me and them.

But, people being what they are and I guess motivated by the fight or flight instinct, some would rather be trying to get ahead and get away and feel strongly about it.