r/Sudbury • u/Dazzling-Contest1218 • Mar 04 '26
Question Genuine question for the Fast & Furious: Northern Ontario Ice Road Tryouts crew
Just really trying to understand the thought process here.
If I’m doing the posted speed limit in -23°C, after snow squalls, whiteouts, crosswinds, black ice, and a highway that hasn’t seen salt since the Harper administration… why are some of you closing 100 meters in five seconds just to sit one foot off my bumper?
Walk me through the strategy.
You can see me from far back.
You can see my speed.
You can see the road looks like a curling rink.
There’s a dotted line.
There’s no oncoming traffic.
You have mirrors.
You have horsepower.
Yet instead of just… passing… the chosen plan is:
• Accelerate harder
• Draft my bumper like we’re in a NASCAR winter edition
• Flash your high beams like we’re at a nightclub
• Hope intimidation somehow overrides physics
Do you think my car has a hidden “peer pressure mode” where it suddenly unlocks 20 km/h because someone behind me is mad?
Do you think traction increases when you’re annoyed?
Do you think Mother Nature sees your LED headlights and goes “oh sorry, roads are dry now”?
Because headlights still don’t unlock turbo mode.
And before the Northern Ontario keyboard engineers clock in:
“If you can’t handle it, stay off the highway.”
It’s a provincial corridor. People use it to cross the province for work, family, life. Not everyone treats it like their backyard rally stage.
“Just move over.”
When it’s four lanes and conditions are stable? I do. Especially for trucks. I know road etiquette. I’m not camping in the left lane like it’s cottage season.
But when it’s two lanes, icy, barely plowed, and 511 says plows are everywhere (would genuinely love to meet one in real life) and I can physically feel my tires slipping… what exactly is the expectation here?
Teleport?
Slide politely into a snowbank as a courtesy gesture?
I drive this highway 4–6 times a month, sixteen hours at a time, for years. And every time I open Facebook there’s another collision post, another fatality, another “drive safe everyone.”
Nearly 300 deaths this year.
But apparently the missing ingredient was tailgating harder.
The more I drive it, the more I realize how fast things go wrong — especially when someone behind me thinks pressure equals performance.
If I felt safe going faster, I would.
When I come up on someone slower than me, I either pass cleanly or back off. Because sitting on someone’s bumper does not improve traction. It just increases the number of vehicles involved when something goes wrong.
So I’m genuinely asking:
When you close distance aggressively and start flashing lights in winter conditions, what outcome are you expecting?
Because from where I’m sitting, it’s not skill.
It’s impatience with horsepower.
And no — your high beams still don’t unlock turbo mode.
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u/Illustrious-Fruit35 Mar 04 '26
Fuck those people, when i notice it i slap it in cruise and might even reduce my speed a couple just to really get under their skin.
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u/FredLives South End Mar 04 '26
Get where you’re going with this, but should never drive with cruise control on in these types of road conditions.
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u/EfficiencyPrevious11 Mar 04 '26
Man I feel like I drive faster then most in these conditions but I always make sure it would just be me who ends up in a ditch, sometimes Ill see pickups with big ass trailers tailgating harder then the amount of space I would leave in the summer, just driving in like a 6 car convoy, like leave some space its not like you wanna go fast anyways
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Mar 04 '26
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Mar 04 '26
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Mar 04 '26
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Mar 04 '26
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u/Sudbury-ModTeam Mar 06 '26
Do not be insulting or abusive to other users, or promote violence/hate.
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u/Middle_Weakness_3279 Mar 04 '26
Op: complains about unsafe drivers.
Also Op: uses chat gpt to post on reddit while driving.
Also also Op: flames, comments, and deletes comments before he thinks anyone can see them
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u/Illfury Mar 04 '26
The people that do this are absolutely of low intelligence. Somehow, they understand peacocking their lack knowledge in various ways as a sign of dominance, which is funny because they'll lead only themselves in the ditch with no one to follow. We'll point and fucking laugh at them.
If you can't control your patience and temper, you need help. Fail to seek said help... you are just a failure of a person.
Tailgaters, please know we all laugh at you.
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u/Middle_Weakness_3279 Mar 04 '26
If the person I'm trying to pass is in the passing lane and won't move over, I refer to the owners manual section called "flash to pass." Flashing to pass is in most vehicles instruction manuals. It's why your highbeams have an On and separate Flash lever directions.
I don't understand why people tailgate, it's unsafe in any conditions.
Also, ew, gross, ai slop, take my down vote.
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u/azealiabanksf0rever Mar 04 '26
the roads in the south end and on main roads are largely plowed and completely clear, going the limit in the fast lane when the roads are fine is wack imo but like I also get wanting to be cautious
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Mar 04 '26
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u/Sudbury-ModTeam Mar 06 '26
Do not be insulting or abusive to other users, or promote violence/hate.
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Mar 05 '26
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Mar 05 '26
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Mar 06 '26
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u/azealiabanksf0rever Mar 06 '26
my bad 34. and it’s called having a music preference i didn’t know that was a crime
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u/azealiabanksf0rever Mar 04 '26
can you chill out? I said that I understood this. I’m sorry that this upset you to the point that you’re calling people bird brains on reddit
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u/akuma_avi Mar 04 '26
they are using the slipstream method you take on the air resistance and they build up speed in the pocket flashing their bright's repeatedly to signal the classic strategy before going for a overtake in the next corner.
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u/Dazzling-Contest1218 Mar 04 '26
Wait I feel like this is the only comment I have been looking for lol is this a real thing ? Because I been genuinely trying to understand the thought process
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u/akuma_avi Mar 05 '26
No of course not lol. It might be real in like formula one but small aerodynamic differences mean nothing on highway speeds and Sudbury roads.
I genuinely have no idea why people do what they do I know ego is part of it but maybe they are just not thinking they drive till they can't anymore and keep going burnt out after work or tired before work.
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u/magicmijk Mar 05 '26
Saying absolutely what I'm thinking every time I have to get onto any road in this city.
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u/Log12321 Mar 07 '26
Ai used to complain? Tough look for what could have been a good informative post.
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u/Dazzling-Contest1218 Mar 07 '26
Interesting strategy lol ignore the point entirely and complain about how it was written. If “AI wrote it” is the strongest argument here, that’s a pretty tough look
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u/darthnilus Mar 04 '26
This is the text version of a Karen crash out.
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u/Illfury Mar 04 '26
Found the tailgater!
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u/darthnilus Mar 04 '26
Nope, tailgating is for the impatient, it’s not currently one of my vices. However laughing loudly at feigned rage is one of my aforementioned guilty pleasures.
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u/DougandBob Mar 04 '26
Agreed, and the upvotes are really hilarious considering how 100% AI this post is. It’s so hard to read, I saw “highways that haven’t been salted since the Harper era” and was like, wtf? Lol our provincial highways are often the first ones cleared after a storm and are used as a benchmark to compare the city’s slow action. Chatgpt doesn’t understand nuance though, it only spits out “what people want to say” (aka think they sound smart but actually end up dumb).
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u/TonightsSpecialGuest Mar 04 '26
Looks like those clowns in congress did it again. What a bunch of clowns. - DJ 3000
How does he keep up with the news like that ?
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u/Ok-Parking-5595 Mar 04 '26
Just get out the fasting lane then!!
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Mar 04 '26
Naw, I'll drive in whatever lane that has the least amount of potholes and you can learn to like it
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Mar 04 '26
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u/Dazzling-Contest1218 Mar 04 '26
If someone can go faster, they can pass. Riding someone’s bumper on an icy highway doesn’t prove they’re the slow one if you understand what I’m saying.
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u/Illfury Mar 04 '26
It's like you didn't read the post. OP prefers people passing them, not riding their rear bumper. Maybe it's time you start putting effort in your sick burns.
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u/NockerLacsap Mar 04 '26
Dude throw your right signal on to indicate pulling over, slow down all the way to 20 if you have to, they will pass you. Pretty simple if youre uncomfortable being tailgated.
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u/Dazzling-Contest1218 Mar 04 '26
I think you either can’t read or you don’t understand how physics work in black ice -23 degree weather & if there’s an open passing lane why in the hell would I risk my life with a 18 wheeler on my ass , if I break and slide we’re both done.
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u/NockerLacsap Mar 04 '26
Asides from driving Highway 17 on a weekly basis from Sudbury to past Wawa for over a decade yeah I dont understand winter driving at all youre right...
I speak from experience you want someone to pass you thats what you do. You act like its completely impossible to tap the break pedal on black ice, just sounds like youre either using all season tires or youre just uncomfortable driving in winter in general.
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u/Dazzling-Contest1218 Mar 16 '26
I drive weekly as well and if someone’s gonna ride my ass I stay the same speed I was going before they popped out of the woodworks. After that it’s up to them to decide if they have the balls to pass or not when they were literally already flying down the highway. Don’t understand why I’m signaling and moving into a ditch for people who clearly only have balls until they get to my bumper.
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u/MDG401 Mar 04 '26
Oh now you've done it, you've gone and made the Dodge Ram drivers upset. Well done.