I wasn’t trying to teach that t-bird jerk a lesson. I knew he wouldn’t go faster
I was just making life more enjoyable for me . . . and it worked
I realize I wasn’t doing the right thing by tailgating that guy, but legality aside, he got exactly what he deserved
If I’m doing 25 in a 35 for absolutely no good reason, I deserve to be honked at and tailgated
@jtsanders, the answer to that question depends on whether you act in a subtle manner or slam on your brakes. If the driver thinks you are trying to teach him a lesson, he will ride your bumper. If the driver thinks you are just driving normally and not using cruise control, he is more likely to come to his senses and realize what he is doing could cause a mistake that will lead to the loss of his livelihood.
You seem to believe this truck driver has nothing to lose by attempting to run you off the road with his truck. To the contrary, he has everything to lose, especially if driving a truck is the only skill he has, which is kind of common in the industry.
The downside, if you rear end him it is your fault in most states. That is the beginning of road rage. I remember one guy in some old beater that appeared not to be able to go over 45 on the interstate, he had a big sign in his back window, “Pass Kindly Please” guess he must have gotten a few angry responses.
Yeah, if I rear end him, it’s my fault. No doubt about it
The funny thing is, I wasn’t even upset when I was tailgating the guy . . . at 25mph!
I was actually enjoying the fact that he was getting worked up!
@db4690: Can think of two cases where it isnt…there may be more.
Getting hit and push into the car ahead.
Car violates ROW of faster car by pulling in its path such that car cannot stop in time.
I bring this up because 2. actually happened to me: 4-lane road at a light-controlled intersection. Two cars in the left lane; the first is waiting to make a left. Car #2 gets tired of waiting, pulls into my path (30 MPH differential.)
I only avoided collision because I anticipated the possibility…guy behind ME wasnt so lucky, which was a shame.
Road rage begins when two drivers are each trying to teach the other driver a lesson. You try to teach the slow driver a lesson by tailgating him and he’s trying to teach some jerk who’s tailgating him a lesson that tailgating is counter productive and if you get closer, it will become even more counterproductive.
I used to regularly encounter a particular slow driver whom I dreaded getting stuck behind, it meant a 25 mph drive all the way to town. One day, seeing him up ahead, I decided not to catch up with him and was surprised at how fast he actually would drive when there was nobody behind him.
Tailgaiting puts you at risk, not him, and chances he was oblivious, as long as we are getting in to road rage the one that burns me most is on a 55mph road, there are people that go 45 in the no passing zone and 65 when you can pass. After 20 minutes of following the tard I am like I am passing you dude, 85 if I have to.
“following the tard”
Now, now . . .
I thought the latest term was “mentally challenged”
LOL
@db4690 Junior Grease Monkey6:32PM
I wasn’t trying to teach that fool a lesson
I was merely tailgating him
No more and no less
Neither was I. I didn’t even think I was tailgating him, I just thought he always drove that slow. So did everybody else. I was just surprised at how slow he didn’t drive when no one was behind him. I’ve even gotten a ride from him once and he didn’t seem to drive that slow when I was in his truck.
Some people have a different tailgating comfort zone than others and when you invade that space, they react.
“Road rage begins when two drivers are each trying to teach the other driver a lesson”.
@B.L.E. Here in Indiana we don’t teach someone a lesson, we “learn them a lesson”. I thought I should clarify this point.
This maybe habit forming. In the last two weeks, I have “waited” what seemed eternal periods of time for lights to change that never did, on three occasions. Two were in the same place in an adjacent town. In all the cases the entire line we were in, just picked a spot when everyone else appeared to be stopped…and trucked on through. Now, it seems like no one complained enough to get it fixed, or there were enough law abiding and careful drivers to work around it.
IMHO, in a few reasonable situations, traffic lights and signs, are just suggestions.
You know and I know you can play with statistics, but according to NHTSA the traffic fatality numbers from 1970 were 52,627 and in 2012 there were 25,580. The fatality rate per 1,000,000 miles went from 4.7 to 1.1. As far as I’m concerned, these numbers are as good as any and they show a huge improvement. Driving is much safer, for lots and lots or reasons, and blaming everyone else for your reckless habits is nonsense.
We lose the power a lot in our area this time of the year. There are a couple of very difficult intersections just 100 yards apart. When the power goes out, the traffic never backs up and everyone seems quite reasonable and traffic moves very smoothly. But, just about everyone is a routine traveler without the summer traffic. In the summer, everything is different and occasionally some tourists never pay attention to lights. You take nothing for granted when you have green then. You still slow down and look both ways and cover the brake, as everyone should at all intersections.
I don’t know about others, but when someone admits to deliberately tailgating someone, regardless of the reason, I don’t care why he is doing it. That person is a deliberately unsafe driver, and really shouldn’t dispense advice to others about how to drive. Would you take health advice from a doctor who smokes?
‘Here in Indiana we don’t teach someone a lesson, we “learn them a lesson”.’
@Triedaq–I wonder…do folks in that area also ask, “Can you borrow me some money?”
;-))
Would you take health advice from a doctor who smokes?
I’m sure lots of people did years ago. Wouldn’t surprise me if some doctors didn’t recommend a good cigarette every now and then.
Yeah, I just recently watched an episode of Mad Men where a doctor smoked while he gave a woman a pelvic exam. Times have indeed changed.
Save expen$ive fuel and reduce pollution and brake wear.
On STAT bloodeliveries, I also continue when there is no traffic: vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians.
When I am turning left, I signal 5 seconds before slowing and, if no opposing or crosstraffic, I move left into the opposing lane so traffic behind me is not slowed by me.
@robert gift
You need to get a dash cam and make a video of a Blood delivery.
I treat several red lights as stop signs during the weekends blizzard, There was no other vehicles on the road when I did so, and I was responding to calls for work.