Well, yes, sorry, I am just counting the lanes on “my” side.
I am surprised at the amount of anger that people display if you are doing the speed limit. I got a fine about 6 years ago and really stick to 30 mph in a 30 zone. However this enrages a lot of people who tailgate. Sometimes I pull over depending on how safe it is to do so.
Unfortunately we have a McDonalds near us which is the headquarters for the local street racer wannabees ( tho in the UK they are sometimes called “Boy Racers” ). Their tricked-up cars generally have the Xenon headlights, fog lights and more besides. When they are behind you, you know all about it. Seeing as these morons are testosterone driven they can get all macho, especially if theres a carful of them. So, I tend to find somewhere to pull over.
In Massachusetts…you’ll be permanently stopped in the break-down lane…have a break-down…On my 40 minute commute to work…I’m tailgated 35 of those minutes.
On a four lane road or highway I think it is pretty straightforward. If a car is gaining on you, change lanes and let the person go by. Why make a political or ethical statement about going slower, braking, bumper stickers blah blah blah…
GREAT idea…now go tell the 2+ million drivers in MA and NH.
It kinda depends on the situation, if there is line of cars behind you, then you need to speed up, in that case you aren’t keeping up the prevailing speed of traffic and you are the problem, not the twenty cars that are backed up behind you.
If it’s just a single car behind you, and you can’t be bothered to speed up, simply allow the following car to pass you once you get a passing zone, if that’s not possible, then the decent thing to do would be to pull off onto the shoulder breifly and allow the other car to pass.
The Provost Marshal - an Army Installation’s equivalent of the town sheriff - published a warning for Soldiers assigned here in Europe. A tactic used by Eastern European carjackers is to tailgate a vehicle until they pull over. Then they jump out, jack the car and escape across the border. If you’re lucky, ALL they’ll take is your car. This crime happened to four Soldiers assigned to USAREUR in 2010 and many Soldiers driving to Czech and points east have come back reporting suspicious vehicles following them. If you do pull over, ensure that there is easy egress or it’s at a public place like a crowded truck stop. If you have a passenger, they can call police, or pretend to call the police. One Soldier was followed by a suspicious vehicle. His wife made a show of being on the phone and looking at the plate. If you call the police, or at least if the person in the other car THINKS you’re calling the police, then they’ll move on and look for easier prey. I’m not suggesting all or even most tailgaters are carjackers. It is a very real danger, though.
Addendum. There are lots and lots and lots and lots of European plated cars on the streets of Iraq. Wonder how they got there? Well, no. I don’t.
Ich komme aus Deutschland. Es ist hier normal.
This is the perfect time of year in the snow belt to potentially show people the negative ramifications of tailgating- POTHOLES. If someone is riding so close that it bothers me, I simply drive straight at the biggest pothole I can find. They tend to track directly behind you. At the last moment, swerve just enough to miss the hole and then watch the show in the rearview mirror. Priceless entertainment…
If that person means you harm, you had better get out of there pronto. Slowing down, holding them up more, might just piss them off. Stopping is just going to make it easier for them to get at you. Build up a cushion of as many cars between you and them as possible. Do not give them the opportunity to ram your car from the side. Do not let them get in an angle where they can push you off of the road. Distance is your greatest alley.
The safest thing is to lose them if you know how.
LOL…SEGMENT ONE IS FUNNY!!!
Another: “Following distance corresponds to IQ”
In the Northeast of the USA it’s much worse than in the west. I think tailgaters come in two categories, the jerks and the clueless. The jerks we all know about (big jerks in the case of truck drivers). But the clueless are ones who don’t seem to know how to drive and they don’t even know they are doing something wrong in following so close. They follow close just to make their drive easier, so they can follow the car in front of them without thinking much. You can see in their faces (unfortunately it is possible to see their faces in the rear view mirror!) that they are not angry or psycho drivers, they are just clueless people who have learned from friends or family to drive this way. I have experienced this much more in the east coast than in the west coast.
…and in my experience, a very large percentage of those clueless ones are women–particularly young women.
More often than not, if I am being tailgated, I find that the offender is a woman.
If I had to pick a stereotype, it would be a woman in her 20s or 30s, driving a BMW 3-series, and holding a cellphone to her ear with one hand.
I honestly think that this is the sum total of two factors:
Having NO CLUE about how much distance it takes to stop a car traveling at 45 mph (the typical speed limit on our local roads).
Being totally detached from the task of driving as a result of focusing on the cellphone conversation.
It should also be noted that it is a “Moving Violation” to use a hand-held cellphone in my state, and this reality has been publicized extensively. This leads to some inevitable questions:
[b]You (or your indulgent parents) could afford to buy that Beemer, but you can’t afford $35 for a Bluetooth headset in order to avoid getting a $100 ticket every time that you are stopped by a cop?
That expensive car does not have Bluetooth capability built into the audio system?[/b]
He/she might be from Houston and that is just the way they drive. 35 or 85 they stay on your bumper. Hard telling why. I’m from Colorado and have a hard time maintaining a decent space in front of me as people keep pulling in. I know in general if one has to cram more vehicles on a given mile of crowded highway there has to be less space between them but it is not comfortable.
Warning: Random Unintended Deceleration
I’m sorry but if the left lane is free what is stopping you from moving left? Or is that too obvious an answer?
I THINK IT IS DANGEROUS TO SLOW DOWN THAT MUCH BUT IT IS OK TO SLOW DOWN TO 40 AND WAVE THEM BY HOPING THEY WILL PASS. IT IS HARDER TO KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN AN 18 WHEELER COMES ROARING UP TO 10 INCHES BEHIND ME IN MY LITTLE PRIUS WHEN I AM GOING 65 IN A 65 MPH ZONE. SOMETIMES IF I WAVE THEM BY ANOTHER JUST TAKES THEIR PLACE. DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? BARB CHAFFEE BINGHAMTON NY
My first suggestion is to turn OFF your “Cap Lock” key.
Typing in all capital letters is the internet equivalent of shouting.
Don’t slam on the brakes, don’t slow down, don’t speed up when he tries to pass, don’t throw stuff at him, just drive your car. Dont play games. If you’re worried about it, pull over and let him/her pass.
Yes.
Turn on your hazards.
Everyone will go around you if you stay in the right lane.
BC.