5 reasons people speed up when you try to pass them

By M.Farouk Radwan, MSc.

you will never get past me!

When was the last time you were driving you car peacefully then suddenly you started speeding up like crazy when someone tried to bypass you?

when was the last time you were driving fast then noticed so many cars speeding up as soon as you bypassed them?

When was the last time you saw a speeding car coming from behind followed by 2,3 or even 5 speeding cars?

Why does the same thing always happen? Why do cars start speeding up as soon as a they see a speeding car? If that was a race with a prize in the end then there would have been no mystery, but why do people do so even if there seems to be no reward?

If you want to know the answers to these questions then you need to get a brief idea about the way the human mind works.

5 reasons people speed up when you try to pass them

  • 1) Mirror neurons: Inside our minds there are those cells called mirror neurons. Their main function is to let you experience the feelings of another person by just watching him. Remember how you felt during the last spider-man movie? Didn't you feel scared when he was jumping from a building to another? its because your mirror neurons was in action. When you see someone speeding up your mirror neurons fire and motivate you to do just like him (see also How fears and phobias are learned)
  • 2) Driving and personality: In my previous article What your driving style says about your personality i explained how the dominant personality traits you have control your driving habits. A stubborn person for example will never allow a car to bypass him if it kept flashing its lights or beeping so many times. A stubborn person will only allow you to bypass him if you did it politely
  • 3) Perceived competition: You might be wondering why not all cars that bypass you motivate you to speed up. When you believe that someone is challenging you then you will become eager to speed up and just as you might have already guessed the way someone bypasses you is the factor that lets you decide whether its a challenge or not
  • 4) The cheap victory: In the solid confidence program i said that people seek refuge in cheap victories when they fail to feel worthy in the important areas of their lives. When some people see an exotic car or a car that seems much powerful than the ones they are driving they become jealous. These feelings of jealousy fuel the feelings of inferiority and make them feel uncomfortable. In such a case some of those people try to speed up with that car just to get a cheap victory. This is how those people see it "Yes you are driving a Ferrari but i am still better than you because i bypassed you!"
  • 5) The psychological identity: The psychological identity is the thing that defines who you are. Each person has many psychological identities but two or three of them will be the dominant ones controlling his behaviour. If a narcissist for example had the identity of "always being the first" then he won't accept it if anybody tried to bypass him. For him its not just a car racing challenge but its a threat to his core identity

How can you make use of such information?

First of all you can get more self understanding by just watching yourself driving. Each and every action that you do while driving can tell you a lot about your own personality.

In addition, you can understand the personalities of the people you care about by just sitting beside them in their cars while they drive.

Many people ask me how to understand people better and my answer is always the same, each and everything that a person does spills some information about his personality.

2knowmyself is not a complicated medical website nor a boring online encyclopedia but rather a place where you will find simple, to the point and effective information that is backed by psychology and presented in a simple way that you can understand and apply. If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself.

The Solid confidence program was launched by 2knowmyself.com; the program will either help you become more confident or give you your money back.

Want to know more?

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