Franklinsanity

9:20 am, Lynnville, Iowa – I feel it’s important to record some separate thoughts on long-distance driving, and the apparent general habits of different drivers in different states:

• Western Pennsylvania:  these people are psychos.  Interstates basically have two lanes each way.  Folks in far West PA basically like to play chicken with each other – and you – tailgating, breaking, and swerving – all at 80-plus MPH.  The tunnels and hills in the edge of that state make all this very interesting.  Awesome Wife begs to differ.
• Ohio, Illinois, Indiana:  stubborn and seemingly unaware of important safety technology in their cars, e.g., turn signals.  The general pattern as we drove through these states was for people in the right (slow) lane to drive super fast right up behind a massive truck, then dart left.  Then pass the truck much more slowly then they approached it.  Then stay in the left lane, oblivious to people who had been going about 20% faster than their current speed.  Those people in turn try to tailgate the would-be passer.  This results in a massive line of cars in the fast lane, all driving within 6 feet of each other at 80-plus MPH, trying to prevent more would-be passers from cramming themselves in – and those passers sitting right behind trucks on the left.  You can see how huge pileups occur here.
• Iowa:  normal driving, so far.  Except for the asshole in the 1995 Pontiac Grand Am, who keeps tailgating and stalking us.