[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Retiring

A rare instance where I get to use my Harvard Medical School education. The reason I rarely use it might be because I didn’t finish.

Anyway, I can appreciate the OPs frustration. You know there is enough room to pass yet you pass wide. The problem might also be age related. As we age, our vision starts to experience problems. A person’s visual acuity can be normal (e.g. 20/20) but other visual factors can present, light sensitivity, glare, poor depth perception, poor side vision, and diminished color perception.

When you pass that GC you (OP) can see there is plenty of room. To a person with “aging eyes” the GC might appear closer than it really is. I say err on the side of safety. If you think you’re too close, pass wide. If it looks like crossing the double yellow will conflict with oncoming traffic, slow till you see a gap in oncoming traffic and pass. Do not pass a vehicle so close as to make you uncomfortable. The last thing we want is you looking down on a bleeding GC occupant saying, I thought I had enough room. As we say in the airlines, when in doubt, take a safety pause.