this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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[โ€“] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 8 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

I think this is also a psychological effect. Back in gym class, our teachers used to tell us that slower runners should pair up with fast runners for the 100m dash, because running behind someone pushes you to run faster. The same happens in traffic, where simply driving behind another car makes some drivers want to overtake it, even if they're not actually going faster. I also observe this effect when I cycle to work and feel the same urge when I'm behind someone else, until I remind myself that, sure I can push myself briefly to go faster, but do I actually want to maintain that speed afterwards? My usual answer is "no".

[โ€“] oyo@lemmy.zip 3 points 13 hours ago

True, except it works both ways. The passed car also tends to speed up during/after being overtaken like it was some unforgivable insult.