Don't Deserve To Drive A BMW And (apparently) Have Little Use For Rear-View Mirror

BMW claims to be, "The ultimate driving machine" and while I haven't driven one in a while, they are very good. When I owned one, I felt a responsibility to drive it rigorously. Naturally, mine was a stick-shift. I looked at BMW when I went to replace the one I had and the salesman indicated that most of what they sell now are automatics and then gave me some malarkey about how they are actually faster and more efficient than manuals now. Well, I like the fastness but the reason for owning a car like that is to be engaged while driving.

On the way home from work, I fell-in behind a new BMW. This alone was not a gripe, since the speed limit on that road is a ridiculous 30 MPH and I usually go between 35 and 40. So, the BMW driver could have been going the speed limit and I would have caught up to him. Once I got behind him, I noted his speed at 20-25.

He gradually stopped at an intersection. The side-roads had stop signs, but the main road we were on did not, so there was no reason to stop. He didn't signal, but kind of angled to the right--like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to turn here or maybe the next side road.

I wasn't going to just sit behind him while he figured out how to dislodge his thumb, so I swung widely around him on the left to pass. There was no oncoming traffic and he was clearly a moron, so even though I thought he would go right, it seemed best to give wide berth. Good thing I did: As soon as I was abreast of him, he started forward and to the left. I gunned it and swung further left, avoiding a collision.

Two notes: As I continued on, I looked in my rear-view and saw that he had no turn signals going and was stopped in the middle of the intersection. The road has no lines and no signage, indicating that it is legal to pass.

Final note: I was driving a GMC Yukon XL and always have my headlights on. How do you not see that in your rear-view mirror?