Sure it was a dumb thing to do, but that's what happens a lot of the time. As I've said before, brains go to sleep and you cannot rely on being sharp...
Then there's guys like me that never grew up and like to embarrass our wives by giving a good shove, hopping on the lower rail, and riding them down...
I believe in Germany it's called "drive right". As in drive in the right lane except to pass and move over when someone faster than you is coming up...