But alas, we can’t attend to all escape route positions 100% of the time. It’s literally physically impossible (as we don’t have insect eyes surrounding our head).

So yes, try to keep zones clear. But also, know what to do when someone creeps into one before you have time to notice.

Also, when you can’t get them out of that zone (as happens a lot).

I think Roger Crew is conveying the same point I’m making. I didn’t see his reply before I posted my own.

That’s all spot on. But alas, sometimes people creep into the zone before you notice it.

You can’t count on always being in perfect position. So you need to plan on what to do when you aren’t.

Um…, so,… that right there is arguably a Defensive Driving Fail.

NEVER drive in formation: You have buffer zones to your left and right and you do whatever it takes to keep them empty so that you can swerve into them if you need to. (yes, there are urban rush-hour situations where this is clearly impossible, but the situation you described where you had lots of open space behind you was evidently not one of these)

If someone insists on pacing you, then it’s up to you to break things up; go a Different Speed for at least a short time, which then means you have a decision to make: Pass With Honor vs. Let ‘Em Go. And if you’ve been paying attention, learning the personalities of the cars around you, or at the very least keeping track of whether this is somebody who’s caught up with you vs. somebody who you’ve caught up with, the decision will usually be obvious.

Pass With Honor means if you’re going to pass somebody, then you just do it, and get it over with as quickly as possible, and put a bit of distance between you. An extended period of creeping by someone at a 1-2mph differential due to fear of going over the limit is generally WAY worse than a BRIEF stint of going the 10-15 over the limit — precisely because the former allows way too much opportunity for dead chickens and other shit to ruin your day.

(yes, there exist drivers’ ed courses that teach the exact opposite of this; they are simply wrong. And yes, if a cop happens to be watching the moment you make your move, then you’re just Screwed, but this is, or at least should be, statistically very unlikely — if it’s not statistically unlikely for you, then you’re driving too fast/aggressively).

Let ‘Em Go is the converse of this, in which your #1 job is to get them in front of you as expediently as possible… and this is often the Right Thing — if they’re generally going faster than you, then they’ll disappear soon enough, and if not, then you’ll have this nice Radar Shield that’ll last for a while.

I was driving north on I-95 south of Philly one morning, minding my own business, doing about 65mph in the right lane, listening to Howard Stern, when somebody rear ended me so hard that it pushed me ahead violently! I looked out my back window and see an SUV swerving all over the road, front end smashed to hell.

I pull over, and he pulls behind me. A well dress yuppie type of guy gets out and starts apologizing, and saying he fell asleep… He had to be doing over 80mph to push me so hard. I look at his new SUV. The hood was smashed up so you couldn’t see out of the window, his coolant was running out all over the highway, and the entire front end was a mess. I look at my tailgate, which was a steel work platform with a vise mounted to it…there wasn’t even a scratch in my paint!

About this time, a woman stumbles out of the passenger side, bleeding profusely from the face, so much so that the whole front of her blouse was soaked in blood. I immediately went for my phone to call medical help. But the guy insisted that I didn’t, in between screaming at her to get back in the vehicle!

It became obvious that he had no interest in having the authorities involved… So I took another look at my tailgate, and said have a nice day… As I was driving away, I could see him trying to make his way along the guard rail to the next exit, and wondered if he’d make it before his engine seized up.

Lesson: You meet some really fucked up people on the road.