Incident West of Sanford, ME

[scrapser]

I was on vacation this week and traveling on 202 from Rochester, NH to Portland, ME. A quick way to get there is on 202 which goes from Rochester to Saco, ME just south of Portland. This road is a two lane highway with a full breakdown lane on each side. The speed limit is 55 and there are plenty of long stretches 1/4 mile or greater with passing zones. So I'm on the road maybe 5 minutes when I come upon 4 cars ahead traveling maybe 45 to 50, all of them spaced well apart making passing all at once impossible. But I figured I could leap frog and move up a slot as each passing zone came available. There was hardly any traffic as it was around 2 PM. I passed the first vehicle (a Toyota Takoma) and slid into the slot between it and an SUV ahead. After about 5 seconds, the truck suddenly accelerates right up on my backside and starts blaring his horn endlessly. At first I figured he didn't like my passing him. But then the SUV in front starts hitting his brakes. I couldn't hit mine for fear of the idiot behind me rear ending the car so I let off on the gas and slowed gradually. At first I thought the SUV thought I was tailgating but he continued to brake and the three of us began slowing down to less than 30 mph. At this point I knew they must know each other and decided to mess with me. I swerved to the left and the SUV pulled to the left to block me, then I swerved right and he did the same. We did this three times and the passenger in the SUV stuck his arm out and gave me the finger. I just waved back as I don't let that stuff bother me. I was worried about my car getting damaged or the two cars succeeding in bringing us all to a stop and not knowing their state of mind decided the gloves were off and the rules no longer mattered. I started looking for a road ahead where I could just quickly pull off and lose them. As luck would have it, the road was curving very slowly to the right so I could see an intersection ahead with a traffic light. Later I looked it up on a map (Depot Road). The light was red for us and there were 4 or 5 cars stopped at the light in our lane. There was also a left turn only lane and it was empty so I had my out. I quickly veered right as a feint then quickly pulled left. The SUV was fooled but not long enough and he literally turned 90 degrees to the road as he tried to block my going around him. I had to use the breakdown lane on the opposite side of the road. My engine torgue kicked in and I shot around him and pulled into the left turn lane and stopped. As soon as I stopped the light turned green and I punched it and left everyone behind. No damage to the car just some feelings of annoyance at having to deal with morons on the road. I did everything legal up to and including passing the first vehicle. It just goes to show you can never be too careful. I was out of state and driving my Z. I'm sure that's what sparked the whole thing in retrospect. So be careful if you have a Z and are driving in Sanford, ME. You never know what sort of idiot you will meet. I'm tempted to ask the police what violations those people had commited. I'm thinking reckless driving, driving to endanger, and maybe even some degree of assault.

[NismoZR]

Good thing you got out it without damage. Those guys are jerks.

[Mike_G]

Sounds more like they were going to run an Insurance scam.
Get you to hit the car in front and claim injury. You would be cited for following too close. They would of cashed in on your insurance..
Luckily it ended differently

[scrapser]

I'm pretty sure they were just some local yocals screwing with someone out of state. The guy behind me laid on his horn for about 30 seconds or so non-stop. Thinking back on it, I believe it was intended to get the attention of his friend in the lead car because once the front car started braking he stopped using the horn. They were also slowing down gradually and I didn't want to get caught at a standstill with my car trapped (think of a really tight parallel parking situation).

It's funny how you think back on things and come up with what ifs. I had my cell phone with me and it has camera/video capability. I didn't think of it at the time but now I wonder what would have happened if I stuck it out the window and aimed it at each of them as if I was taking pictures. Either they would have backed off and drove away or maybe it might have escalated things. It's hard to say with morons. You would think if someone was recording their actions they would not do something stupid that would land them in jail but then again, they could be dumb enough to think hitting me or worse was the answer.

I used to live in NH and I've known a lot of people from Maine. It's sort northern red-neck country if you know what I mean. The movie "Deliverance" comes to mind and the area where I was driving is sort of removed from the major population areas.