this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2024
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My mother always said "let them have their own accident somewhere else."
If someone is driving unsafely around me, I absolutely feel offense and the desire to punish them in some way, but it seems best not to do so. Unsafe drivers probably won't learn anything good from other drivers no matter how the other drivers respond. If you try to create consequences, the other driver may well escalate - for example, as you described, passing on the shoulder and creating an unsafe situation for others; but also possibly by taking issue with you personally and acting to endanger you directly through various methods.
So in summary, if someone is driving unsafely around me, my goal very quickly becomes getting the lack of safety away from my passengers and myself as soon as possible.
It's not really about punishing someone, more of trying to get them to cool off.
You also have to realize that someone stupid/crazy enough to shoulder-pass at highway speed could easily be the same type to preemptively pass while you are mid lane change and make it look like it's your fault, either purposefully or after the fact. So, I prefer keeping an eye on someone riding my ass to be alert to them, waiting for them to back off.