Driving west on I-70 between Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction. We were out of the mountains and to the section where the roads are straighter and the speed limit goes up to 70.

I moved to the left lane to pass a car. After passing, I admittedly stayed in the left lane too long. The car I passed was probably 100 feet* behind me when an SUV coming up behind me and started flashing their lights. I moved over quickly and the SUV passed. After a brief moment, another car passed me going faster than the first. It wasn't long before the 2nd car was within 2 car lengths of the car that had flashed me, with plenty of room in front of me for either or both to move over to the right lane. After about 5 seconds of close tailgating, the 2nd car moved to the right lane, passed the flasher, then got back in the passing lane and went on his way.

I was secretly hoping the 2nd car would slow down and box the SUV in. I just had to shake my head at the obliviousness/obnoxiousness of the guy who within 30 seconds was flashing me to get over so he could pass, but then didn't get over so the car behind him could pass.


(*note - a safe following distance at highway speeds is at least 2 seconds, and preferably 3. At 70 mph, 100 feet is about 1 second - so although I could have safely moved over to the right at about 100 feet since I was moving faster than the other car - doing so would have created a potential unsafe condition for the car I passed. So, while I could have moved over before the SUV flashed me, I was still within a margin of error for moving over safely.)