Go back and re-read the posts…I’m NOT the one who said the person in front was at at fault…I quoted what Ken said…and then argued AGAINST it.
MikeInNH February 9 Report
50 % of the time I can clearly see the fault is with the vehicle IN FRONT.
Littlemouse, on a motorcycle it’s not pacesetting, it’s distance. My post wasn’t worded well.
I can stop faster on the bike than most cars so I need to leave more room than I need between me and the car in front of me so that I can brake gently enough so the car behind me has enough room. So when someone rides on a biker’s rear, they slow down long enough to let the space in front of them grow, then resume speed to what the traffic bears.
BTW, on my bike, I’m rarely in the fast lane, so this tailgating is going on in the middle or right lane where it is completely unconscionable because I’m not in the passsing lanes. There’s a big difference between pacesetting in the passing lane and in a travel or slow lane. And that’s where road rage usually occurs, some idiot in the left lane going 5 mph over the speed limit, on their cell phone eating a cheeseburger.
Statesboro: If you slow down on a motorcycle to make the car behind you back off (which can only be done by his slowing down) you ARE pacesetting, and YOU are decreasing his following distance. You’re making a bad situation worse. Bonus points if the guy in the car is having a bad day.
If someone wishes to push me I S-L-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-W D-O-O-O-O-W-N. In fact, as I said in the other thread, if the opportunity presents itself I pull along side a car that I intend to pass and D-W-E-E-E-E-L for a while. before passing. I don’t intend to be “paced” by the car behind me.
If you’re on a motorcycle and want to decrease the following distance of the car behind you, have at it.
Of course I don’t mean to imply that you’re an agressive driver, no sirree bob!
With the snow storm we had Wed into Thur…I personally witnessed 2 accidents…Both were because someone was driving too close to the vehicle in front of them. They were driving too close if the roads were dry. And sure enough…the car in front slowed down and the car behind didn’t notice in time and tried to stop…but lost control and either ran into the car in front or went into a ditch.
Often the only safe option is just to slow the situation down. Better to be rear ended by a car at 30 mph than 75 mph.
Littlemouse, it must be nice in your part of the world where you know everything. Slowing your motorcycle when someone is tailgating you is the recommended course that riders learn in safety training programs. I’m sure I’m not explaining the logic well enough otherwise someone as smart as you are would understand it by now.
You are correct, Statesboro, I agree; that’s just what I was taught when I first took a motorcycle course. I’ve also taken Defensive Driving courses from time to time, for a lower insurance rate, and one of the concepts taught in that course (regardless of the vehicle you’re driving) is to slow down when being tailgated. This will prompt the tailgater to pull around and pass you, since the person wants to go faster than you.
Sorry, I just can’t accept that REDUCING the following distance is part of the solution to tailgating when you’re on a motorcycle.
http://bikerlawblog.com/2007/05/11/what-should-you-do-if-a-car-or-truck-is/
"The first thing that every motorcycle rider knows or should know, is that no matter how big, tough, muscle bound, and bad assed you are, grandma driving her 1980 Buick can easily take you out with just a slight press of the gas pedal or a flick of her wrist on the steering wheel. This also goes for the 16 year old school girl on her cell phone. If you do not know this fact, than you should not be riding a motorcycle. The bottom line is that any time there is a situation where a car meets a motorcycle in an accident, the car will always win. This fact should be self evident.
Your goal as a biker and a motorcycle rider is to avoid impacts with cars at all cost, even if your ego is bruised, and even if you have to give way.
If you are being tailgated by a car, the first thing that you should do is to put your turn signal on, switch lanes, and get the hell out of the way as fast as reasonably possible. This is not rocket science, this is common sense. When the car passes, you just let it go."
Slowing down will generally prompt a tailgater to pass you. This does not mean “brake check” them or try to get them to hit you or tailgate worse. Tailgating is an irrational act, and speeding up usually will not help. They will continue following at the same distance at the increased speed. The best way to deal with a tailgater is to try to get them to pass you, hence the slowing down, and slowing down means a gradual decrease in speed, not slamming on the brakes to get them to close in on you fast.
But you also need to pick your battles.
IF slowing to entice passing is your intent…PICK an appropriate area in the roadway to allow such.
I have had this done for me once or twice, ( big truck -vs- small car and they feel they’re being tailgated though they’re not ) the person slowed a bit and even pulled half over on the birm. I got the point and went cheerfully on around when I could.
Otherwise you are just a boulder in the stream.
Especially when you look in any of your three mirrors and there is more than one behind you.
Think a bit and investigate your situation.
It could be…yes it could…that you’re sandbagging them.
It seems that very often drivers set their cruise control and become somewhat “fixed” in their determination to not alter the programmed speed. If at 75 mph they approach several vehicles travelling 72 mph they move to the left lane and expect to pass unimpeded at the constant speed. But what about the car that was fast approaching from the rear at 80 mph? That driver also feels determined to not be interrupted from his/her “fixed” speed. Keep your eyes open for that phenomena.
The best way to get a tailgater off your bumper is to move over so you are no longer in front of them.
It is not the job of the slow jerk in the wrong lane to set a pace. If you are going slower the the car behind you in the inside lane, who has been signaling for you to let him pass, then you are the jerk for driving too slowly in the jerk. Not the one behind you.
I do hate it when the “fast lane” is the far right lane because there are jerks going slow in the far left lane, the nominal ‘fast lane’.
Here is a new one, If you are going 15 miles per hour slower then the speed limit on a two lane road (one lane for each direction of traffic) and there is a double yellow line so no on can pass you, then you are the jerk to any people behind you by not being polite and going as fast as you legally can.
Look in your mirrors, if you see someone behind you catching up, that means you are going slower then them and you should change lanes to let them by if you are on the far inside lane. Thus, you do not become The Jerk that is holding up traffic.
Also…If you are the car right behind The Jerk that is holding up traffic, it is your job to let The Jerk that you want to pass and that he should Get Out Of The Way. I’ve seen a bunch of lemming drivers lined up in front of me behind that one Jerk way up front holding the ten-twenty cars back cause they are going slow.
Cruse control with faster car behind me… I accelerate till can move over to let the faster car by, if I can. there might be cars line up in front that would of slowed the faster car down anyways. All situation dependent.
My favorite is when I’m going about 65 or 70 on a quiet freeway and someone approaches rapidly from behind, probably 80 or 85, and then slows to my speed, follows on my bumper for about a half-mile, and then gets in the left lane (which was clear the whole time) and punches it. I’ve always wondered what those people were thinking; it isn’t a rare phenomenon.