Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Whenever I get on a suitable road to drive at consistent speed, I like to use cruise control. Mainly I do it to avoid tickets–if I’m locked in at the limit I can’t roar up to ten over while watching some ‘70 Road Runner tear up a frontage road on a sunny day.

This device also highlights other vehicles’ varying speed. Most drivers not using cruise control slow down on upgrades and speed up on declines like clockwork. Presumably they drive with constant pedal pressure. The result is that other drivers fall behind me going uphill, then go past on the downhill. In rolling terrain, they pass me this way many times.

Funny thing is, because of perspective, they think I’m cruising past, then letting them by, cruising past, then letting them by. In short, they think I’m messing with ‘em. Sometimes, as happened this morning on my way south of Lakeville, they’ll accelerate hard and disappear in an apparent huff, all because they were doing exactly what they thought I was–speeding up, slowing down, speeding up, slowing down….

Next time you think the car beside is toying with you, watch your speedometer and see who’s mixing it up and who isn’t.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Car stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.