Come on, YOU TAILGATERS, you’re out there! Let’s hear your side of the story. COME ON, tell us why! You can, also, tell us what has happened, if it did, at a time when you didn’t tailgate. Come on! Defend your actions!
Good thought JT. Rocketman
Yeah, Yeah, what he said! Cowards!! 8^P
As a truck-driver, I can say there are many, many truck-drivers who DO drive recklessly without care or respect for the drivers of “4-wheelers” and are not thinking of what will happen to their driving record (DAC). The only thing on their mind is making it to their destination on time whether they are over their hours or not. This is a direct result of companies making unrealistic delivery times that unfortunately, many drivers attempt to make anyway,
Back to the original question. Think about this. If you didn’t have mirrors, how would you know they were tailgating? The person behind you has no desire to damage their car or themselves. What exactly do you think they are going to do? “Get up under you and put you in the wall”? To paraphrase a common racing technique. They are either going to pass you or stay where they are. Neither of which are endangering you. Yes, there is a possibility they might rear-end you if you have to stop suddenly but, the impact won’t be as great as you think especially if they are very close. Ignore them and drive YOUR car. It is not your responsibility to school them on the law. Also, stay the heck out of the left lane!!! In nearly all states, it is ILLEGAL to drive in the left-most lane unless you are passing or in an emergency-vehicle. Talk amongst yourselves:)
Hmmm . . . “letting the long line of cars pass”. Sounds like you might have been driving less than the “local” speed limit. This is the speed limit that everyone tolerates, even law enforcement, for traffic flow reasons and is always a bit higher than the posted speed limit. I’m not an advocate for exceeding speed limit laws, but truth is, there is a flow of traffic speed for each road and byway that regular users come to expect. If you’re uncomfortable with driving more than the posted speed limit, and there is a long line of traffic behind you, the polite and safe thing to do is let them pass you at the first safe opportunity. Hitting the brakes is dangerous and stupid. Fist clenching is equally dumb because you have no idea who you’re dealing with. Life is too short to get upset about something so minor. Let 'em pass and let it go.
“The person behind you has no desire to damage their car or themselves.”
I agree that those jerks who tailgate don’t intend to damage their car or themselves, but their lack of knowledge of both braking distances and the law leads them to engage in unsafe practices and these unsafe practices can damage their own car as well as the car of the person in front of them.
In my area, where deer are incredibly numerous and where the roads are almost all two lane roads with no passing allowed, almost every day I wind up being tailgated by someone even though I am driving about 3-5 mph over the limit. If a deer runs out in front of my car, I will brake instinctively. The jerk in back of me will not be able to react in time, and he (or, more recently SHE) will wind up plowing into the back of my car.
Despite the presence of a large number of deer carcasses on the shoulders of most of the area roads, these jerks do not seem to perceive that there is a real possibility of deer collisions in the area and their tailgating habits could turn a one-car accident into a multi-car accident.
They are either going to pass you or stay where they are. Neither of which are endangering you. Yes, there is a possibility they might rear-end you if you have to stop suddenly but, the impact won’t be as great as you think especially if they are very close.
Really? The average car going 65 MPH can stop in about 100’. A loaded semi takes 360’ to stop at the same speed. Also, consider that momentum is a function of speed and weight. The weight differential between a truck and a car is HUGE. Lastly, you don’t have to be in the left lane to be tailgated. I have had a semi on my tail in the slow lane. Whose fault is that?
Ignoring a taligating semi can be a fatal mistake. A tailgeting truck driver endanger’s the lives of those he tailgates. You cannot change the laws of Physics!
“Officer, I wasn’t tailgating. I was just trying to get close enough to that speeder to get her/his license plate number to report them!”
Or: “I was driving along, and suddenly, there was a car in front of me!”
I live on a street where the drivers are very aggressive and the neighborhood I live in has a lot of druggies, drunk drivers, gang members, etc. So, I don’t try to do anything that would make the situation worse. But, there are people on this street that drive almost twice as much as the posted speed limit. The cops pull people over from time to time, but I’ve seen flagrant violations done right in front of them and nothing is done.
Most of the time, I just stay steady and keep my eyes ahead. But, I have had problems with people passing me and nearly side-swiping me when they pull back in the lane. I’ve also had people pass me on the right when I try to make a right turn and nearly colliding with me.
Pulling over is fine, but if you are following the rules of the road, then why should you be punished by being late for work, etc, because of these scofflaws? Just drive steady.
Pull over when you can safely, until then slow down gently but do not force the idiot to pass in an unsafe place because he might involve you in the accident that’s going to happen eventually!!
Living in a college town, I’ve found that driving off-peak hours is best [if it fits your schedule] to avoid ignorant drivers all together.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this or not, but an entertaining exercise is to hit the tailgater with a windshield full of your wiper fluid (best results are at higher speeds). This excersie can either make them irate or hopefully chill them out until you can get out of their way. I like to think that I’m not special b/c I’m being tailgated and that there is a possiblity that the person tailgating is truly in a rush.
Here’s my trick - wash your windshield! Even if it doesn’t make them pass, I get a chuckle when they have to turn on the wipers!
I’ve even seen cars back off after I wash my windshield.
Really? The average car going 65 MPH can stop in about 100’. A loaded semi takes 360’ to stop at the same speed. Also, consider that momentum is a function of speed and weight. The weight differential between a truck and a car is HUGE. Lastly, you don’t have to be in the left lane to be tailgated. I have had a semi on my tail in the slow lane. Whose fault is that?
Ignoring a taligating semi can be a fatal mistake. A tailgeting truck driver endanger’s the lives of those he tailgates. You cannot change the laws of Physics!
I should have been more clear. I was referring to cars not big trucks. Even so, the impact would be the same initially whether it’s a pinto or a kenworth. It’s the continuation of the force that would do the damage especially if the front vehicle stayed on the brakes instead of letting their vehicle roll.
I just saw something on the road yesterday that is worth mentioning. I saw a Cadillac Escalade that had LED tail lights and an LED brake light. When the driver hit the brakes, it was almost blinding (not really, but it did get my attention!). It was kind of nice to see these bright brake lights rather than be behind a car whose third brake light was burned out, which I see a lot. I also often find myself behind a vehicle with a single working brake light or none at all. I wish I had an opportunity to tell the Escalade driver that his LEDs are extremely cool and effective, but I didn’t. I think having bright LED brake lights that get the attention of the driver behind you can be effective for discouraging tailgating. I will see if I can get some for my car.
One time, on my local freeway, this guy decided to “brake check” someone who was tailgating them. Well, the car behind him actually hit the first guy and both cars were completely totaled. I think both people were OK and even got out and started fighting, I’m not sure.
I am sick of being punished for obeying the law. Some of these guys get so aggressive and will deliberately try to pick a fight with you.
check jcwhitney.com, http://www.mrtaillight.com/ , jegs, or any other aftermarket website, they’ll most likely have some LED(euro?) taillights
My oldest son had a variation of stronzo’s idea. He ran a long hose from his window washer (duct tape included) to the rear of his vehicle. Whenever the offending vehicle got a little too close for comfort, he’d give 'im a lil squirt, mate! Some of the reactions were priceless!
I have an electrical engineering degree and a simple solution to your problem. I never tried this myself, but perhaps you can install and wire a dashboard switch that’s connected in parallel to your brakelight switch. You can flash the tailgater your brakelights without stepping on the brake pedal yourself. He’ll step on his brakes as a reflex reaction and give you some separation. Maybe it’ll work best on a slick surface and cause him to skid and spin out of control.
Advocating, installing and using any device that would “cause him to skid and spin out of control.” might be illegal and opened yourself to a whole bunch of legal issues that would ruin your life. Not to mention , did you think of the people killed or maimed by this accident YOU cause? As much as we might want to “get even” with the tailgater the simple solution is to move over when safe to do so. When you get behind the wheel get rid of the ego.