# Tech bro versus traffic One morning many years ago I was driving Highway 280 North towards Palo Alto, California. There's a point where the carpool lane markings end, and if you immediately jump into the left lane, it's pretty much free sailing for a while until other cars eventually filter into the lane. ![[cars-tech-bro-01.png]] ↑ Orange car is me, blue car is older gentleman So on this particular day, I did the usual: I jumped into the left lane and accelerated (orange car in diagram) – only to quickly come upon an older gentleman driving a humble 25+ year-old Honda (blue car in diagram) that was barely able to keep up with the speed of traffic. ![[cars-tech-bro-02.png]] I'm all for reserving the left lane for faster traffic, but having owned my fair share of sketchy cars in the past, I felt for the guy. I slowed down, and followed him at a reasonable distance. ![[cars-tech-bro-03.png]] ↑ Green car is the tech bro However, just a few moments later, some tech bro come flying up behind us (green car in diagram) and starts aggressively riding my bumper, flashing his brights and weaving left and right to try to intimidate me into speeding up ... which was impossible given the traffic situation. I glanced in my mirror and threw my hand up in a "what can I do" gesture, but to no avail, as tech bro had Somewhere Important To Be. ![[cars-tech-bro-04.png]] ↑ Ooh! Tech bro on my bumper! However, while he was singularly-focused on polishing my back bumper, I happened to notice that a gap was starting to open in the next lane over – and, properly executed, I would be able to jump right one lane, pass the older gentleman in the Honda on his right[^1], get back into the left lane, and leave them both far behind. ![[cars-tech-bro-05.png]] So I moved into lane 2 – and, true to form, tech bro immediately started riding the older gentleman's bumper and flashing his brights at him. I also noticed that the gap in front of me might be closing up, so I accelerated to make sure I could get ahead and back into lane 1. ![[cars-tech-bro-06.png]] ↑ Red car is State Trooper (police) As I'm accelerating quickly to clear the gap, I happen to glance in my rear-view mirror ... only to see a State Trooper (red car in diagram) that had just come in behind me from lane 3. I was certain that I was busted for acceleration. Glancing in the mirror, I saw the Trooper look at me, then tech bro, then me, then tech bro ... until the Trooper hit his brakes, dropped into lane 1 behind the tech bro, and hit his lights to pull him over and ticket him for aggressive driving. Final score? Older gentleman 1, tech bro 0, and I got the assist. Nice. [^1]: Yes, passing on the right is legal in California. ∎