Crazy highway truck driver

05-07-2025

On a Friday morning in April, I was driving on the highway with my wife and baby daughter. I look in my rearview mirror and from afar see a pickup truck closing in on me fast. It comes up and tailgates while flashing it's headlights repeatedly. I'm baffled at this point and unnerved. Why it didn't just switch to the lane next to me to pass me, I don't know. The lane to my right was an exit lane, so I couldn't go there as I wasn't planning on exiting. To the left were the passing lanes. I very lightly tap my brakes repeatedly to flash my brake lights as a signal to it to back up. Shortly after, the truck swerves into the lane next to me, and I'm relieved as it starts the pass me by. However just then, while it's mostly adjacent to me, it partially swerves into my lane. It came enough into my lane that I got scared it was going to ram into me. I go left but have to come back before crossing the lane lines because there's a car there and instead brake abruptly a bit. Before I know it the truck is back in his lane and exits the highway. I think it wanted to scare me because I flashed my brake lights at it. For a while driving I was incredulous. I couldn't believe someone would do that. I couldn't stop thinking that my wife and baby were in the car. What if I reacted differently and crashed? I have no idea what was with that truck.

I think I'm a relatively tame driver. This might sound funny, but perhaps the truck was a sign for me to be even more careful driving now that I have a baby daughter. Maybe I should be driving extra cautiously and defensively, letting people in lanes, giving a lot of space in front, etc.