I wouldn’t put too much stock into the actual numbers. Even in just the US, the same middle class lifestyle might be $50k in one location and $200k in another.

Case in point, I live in a comfortable single-bedroom apartment in a low crime rate area for $650 a month. OP’s figure is almost triple that.

Funnily enough, $2500 AUD is almost exactly $1750 USD. That’s still an extremely high rent in my experience though.

People need to get to work. To, you know, earn the money to pay for the car repair, and food, and such.

This can very well apply to the people behind too.

Anyway, I think “it’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility” applies here.

Personally, I just expect people to have some self-awareness, respect for other people’s time, and respect for the two-ton death machines we’re all driving around. (Slow drivers can be just as much a safety hazard as fast drivers.) In most cases of driving slowly, putting the hazard lights on is enough to fulfill all the above.

As an example of a more extreme case, it’s customary in my area for vehicles slowing traffic where there are few opportunities to pass to pull off the road periodically to relieve the traffic built up behind them. That’s also perfectly understandable.

The leeway can only go so far though. If you get yourself into a situation where you have to be a significant obstacle for other people and don’t at least acknowledge it, it doesn’t matter if you’re working two jobs and only have 15 minutes to drive between them or whatever. It’s your responsibility to make yourself not an obstacle and reasonable for others to take issue with you if you don’t.