Tailgaters ??

Ain't just blondes, or females, 4 lane highway around here, running the speed limit and some dope catches up with you and parks right on your bumper. They get the idea they can go around though when you let out of it and light up the brake lights. Or they catch up with you and instead of moving over 100 yards back to pass, wait till their right on you. Or catch up with you on a blacktop road, 1/2 mile of good open road and the just stay on your bumper.
 
@ 70 MPH she will run into me cuz I don't drive that fast. If a car comes up behind me I just drive slower and slower til they go around. And no, I don't look at them when they pass. They are probably flipping me the bird. I don't figure I have to be in such a big toot and get my shorts all in a wad just because somebody else does.
 
There is no common courtesy anymore. I see more and more bad driving nowday's. People coming on to the expressway, going right to the passing lane and staying there, not using turn flashers, tail gateing, rolling through stop signs. I blame it on the drivers training teachers. Bad drivers teaching people to drive bad. Morons teaching morons.
 
I wish faster traffic would STAY in the fast lane. I don't understand all this business the last few years that all of a sudden it a passing lane only and they have to weave in an out?
 
I operate a 80 ton crane, on the two lane roads a lot. 48 mph top speed, 20 in the hills. Awile back a pu with two women in it had to follow me a couple miles before they could get around and when they passed the woman on the pass side flipped me a bird. Bout ten miles up the road they were in the ditch with a blown front tire, both of them standing in front of the pu looking at it when I went by. I honked and smiled at them, If looks would kill I'd be dead.
 
When I haul fertilizer. I am allowed to only go so fast. Always some idiot that will get as close to the buggy as he can. Then will not pass when the road is clear. They always wait until the yellow line is in my lane or we are going up a blind hill. Even when I am on the section of road where I can move over. They still sit there,even had one guy move over with me.

When I was in the Navy. Had a friend that had his brake lights hooked up to a switch.He could light up the brake lights and never hit his brakes. Got rid on many tailgaters that way.
 
dont know if its so much bad driver teaching others to drive bad as it is a change in atitude of a lot of people. everybody just in a big hurry to get no where fast. when i get someone on my a$$
tailgating and its safe for them to pass i signal like im pulling over and when they pull out to pass i slow down so they can pass easier. point is to not get your shorts in a knot just cause worlds got a lota a$$holes in it dont mean you gotta be one too.
 
Tailgating has to be about the stupidest thing you can do while driving. I just don't understand what they're thinking when I see an empty road except for two vehicles doing 45 mph, and one is 15 feet off the other's tail. WTH?

But I do agree on just slowing down until your speed makes the distance between them and you safe for stopping. One of the local guys has a bumper sticker that says "The closer you are, the slower I drive". 'Nuff said.

On the other hand one of the reasons that people will drive too fast in the right lanes on a multi-lane highway is because of the people who insist on driving too slow in the left lanes and refuse to move over. The rules are simple: 1. If there's no vehicle on front of you and there's vehicles behind you, move over a lane. 2. Stay to the right unless you need to pass. 3. If you don't understand these rules stay off the highway.
 
...and you same guys try to tell me that the roads aren't way more dangerous now than they were in the 1970's?
 
As a general rule, I can usually get a tailgater to move on. It's all in the attitude.
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It's not just the impatient car drivers, there are a lot of 18 wheel drivers out there that will get to within inches of your bumper at the traffic lights, and if you are going too slow will come right up to about 6 ft off your bumper....
 
I've got a 6 speed manual in my pickup, and my pet peeve is stopping at a light on an uphill incline, and some chucklehead stops about a foot from your bumper. I'm OK at "heel and toe", but you're bound to drift back a LITTLE bit when you start out. Haven't crunched anybody yet, but I'm sure its been close.
 
Two sides to this.
While yes most of the time it's somebody behind that is impatient and has no clue about the laws of physics.
There are occasions when some dolt is out there putting along for absolutely no good reason backing up traffic.
The dolt may think they are saving fuel by driving 5-10mph under the posted limit on dry,bare roads.
Worse yet however is the timid driver who do to poor health, age, lack of experience, mental capacity, mental issues etc. They are in a near panic during heavy traffic, fast traffic, rain, snow, unfamiliar surroundings, lack of night vision etc.
If tailgated I just lift the foot off the throttle and touch just brake pedal just enough for tail lights but no braking. And just coast to a slower and slower speed until they pass.
 
As a 15yr old kid,(in 1959), I had the priviledge of riding,for a week, with a neighbor who was a long distance trucker. I learned much about good driving that week which I've never forgotten. It put me in a good position when I took my driving test to get my drivers license.The best lesson I learned was that you'll never out run traffic. Go with the flow and give yourself distance between yourself and the next guy.
 
I bet your one of the guys that I have to follow for miles in the semis. I can't pass because I am loaded but they can't drive even close to the speed limit. IF you want to take your vehicle for a walk do it in your drive way!!!!

I get these guys that want to drive 50 MPH that is against the goveners in 9th and lugging the He$$ out of the engine in 10th. Plus then I don't have any run at any hills and am down to 35 MPH. It drives me crazy.

The best ones are the ones you come up behind driving 50MPH and then when I get beside them to pass they will drive up to 70 mph just not to be passed!!!
 
Tailgaters come in all hair colors, ages, male & female.


P.S. - I'm a blonde. I don't tailgate and rarely talk on my cell when driving.
 
When we were about to get our drivers license, we were required to sit and watch several films on what happens in vehicle accidents. I still remember 45 years later the blood and dismembered body parts scattered in and around the accidents. These were real life news footages. Some of the girls actually threw up in class. After each class it was hard for me to go over 25mph for a time. This should be brought back. This would make a difference on how some people drive.
 
i look in my at the car behind be, if the front end is damaged, i move over and let them pass, it tells me that they are not watching and in control their car, that"s why the front end is banged up,,,now if the person in front of me rear end is banged up, it tells me that someone else doesn"t know how to keep control of their car, hench rear end wreck...
 
Yup, use the brakelight tapping deal to give most of them the hint... What burns me even more is the idiots who decide to pass you , then pull in inches from your front bumper, then go about 1/2 a MPH faster than you were going in the first place. Had hundreds of 'em doing that to me on the interstates between NY and TX last week.It's the ME FIRST generation we are dealing with here I guess.

I was hauling a loaded tandem trailer behind a full pickup truck, and I would have been charged with tailgating if someone saw me right after the morons passed me. Now backing off the throttle till you have a good following distance works, but then the next idiot does the same thing. I ended up cruising a couple MPH over the limit just to stop this foolishness.
 

It's no longer the "Me First" generation - that was 15 years ago. It's now the "Me Only" generation. What was "Me First" is now the good ole days...
 
I treat tailgaters in one of two ways----

1. Keep right foot on the gas pedal to maintain speed and tap the brake pedal with the left so that the stop lights come on. Usually doing this no more than twice gets them the message to back off.

2. If that doesn't work I start slowing up until the interval between the vehicles is proper for the speed being driven. If they slow up and back off I then return to the former speed unless they do it again.

When I'm following a vehicle the two second rule works well at any speed--when the lead vehicle passes an object you start counting one one thousand, two one thousand. You should be able to get the second count said before your vehicle passes the same object. I allow more count for wet or icy conditions.
 
I always feel bad about holding people up when I drive in the big cities. I live on a gravel road, and I have to admit that I'm not good at multiple lane fast traffic in unfamiliar territory. The GPS unit has helped a bunch by letting me know (to a degree) what's ahead and which lane I need to be in. I guess it's all relative when you think about what you have to do to make other drivers happy. I remember driving through Cincinatti - speed limit was 45 - traffic was flowing 70, and a loaded school bus passed me. Or Atlanta - 7 lanes IIRC - 45 speed limit - 70+ traffic flow. I try to go with the flow, but I'm apt to be a hindrance in those conditions.

I try to be tolerant of other drivers. It only affects ME if I get impatient. They're usually blissfully unaware of any problem. We all screw up once in awhile.
 
When in Germany, in Army avation in 1966, I
wired up a push button switch to the brake lights
to keep the tailgaters back. Once a Mercedes
taxi was riding my rear bumper, so I pushed the
button, and observed, through the rear view
mirror, that the passenger flopped over the seat
and almost landed in the drivers lap, as he, the
driver, abruptly braked! The taxi stayed well
back after that. Probably curseing "Crazy
Americans"
 
It"s illegal in Michigan to drive in the passing lane unless you are actually passing a vehicle.

I learned this from a State trooper who teaches a "Driver Improvement" class. I was required to attend this class as a result of running a stop sign at 2 mph(as stated at the hearing by the officer who gave me the ticket) at 5:30 a.m. on my way to work. There was no other traffic besides myself and the officer parked down the road.

The driver improvement class costs $40, payable at the time of the class. This is in addition to the $100+ cost of the ticket itself. The officer conducting the class stated that over 1500 people had attended his class during the three years he had been giving it. Let"s see, 1500 x $40 = $60,000. Where does that money go? My guess is that it trickles back to the judge who orders attendance of the class as well as the officer who writes the ticket.

I have a very poor opinion of the Jackson County Sheriff"s Dept. after this experience.

End of rant.

Thanks,

Anthony
 

Driving just aggravates the hell outta me period......

Can't stand someone on my bumper and will slow down and make them pass... Next is the ones that drive in the left lane forcing you to pass on the right which I just won't do... Then it's the ones that DO pass on the right.... And people on cell phones really get to me.....


Couldn't be that we are getting cranky?????
 

Many have NO Clue....!!!!

How many times (Coast-to-Coast) have people followed me for an hour or more, passed me and IMMEDIATELY Slow down..because they suddenly realize just how fast I have been taking them down the road....!!!
Problem is, they forget about every 1/2 hour and do it again..!
Always remember, if a truck catches up with you, passes you, he WILL be leaving you eventually...so..Stay behind him..
I know, there are some real idiots out there who have a lot to learn..
I would have been pretty happy with 6 feet of space behind me many times..!!
Just grab a handful of Trailer-Valve and see what they do..!!!!

Ron..
 
I once had a guy literally a foot from my rear bumper while doing 60 kmh in a 60 zone. He did this for several miles, so I lost patience and flipped him the bird in the rearview. He whipped past me, cut me off, stopped in the middle of the road so I couldn"t get by, ran to my window and proceeded to scream at me about driving too slow. I pointed out the speed limit sign to him, but didn"t say a thing. Just glad the guy wasn"t armed. Definitely had a few screws loose upstairs.
 
I don"t care what color their hair is, it bugs the he!! out of me.
One of the most important things I learned in Driver Ed back in '58 was to allow one car length for every 10 miles of speed between yours and the car ahead of you.
My daughter took driver ed in 1980 and she said that was still being taught.
They also showed us those "gory" movies in driver ed class; they were extra bad as there were no seat belts or airbags back then.
 
(quoted from post at 09:41:09 12/30/11) <<give yourself distance between yourself and the next guy>>

Here in CA as soon as you do that another car will pull in front of you and take up the space.

Here too..............
 
<<give yourself distance between yourself and the next guy>>

Here in CA as soon as you do that another car will pull in front of you and take up the space.
 
Scariest ride I ever took. I was 18 yo, working at a McDonalds outside Washington, DC. I only lived a mile and a half from the store, so I usually just walked home. One of the coworkers was leaving the same time as me, so he offered me a ride. Okay. Just had to stop at the bank first. Still, it would get me there quicker, so fine. This guy was an immigrant from Pakistan by way of West Germany. It was just a few miles driving.... The whole way he was literally right on the tail of the vehicle in front of him. Swerving in and out of traffic, cursing and swearing in a mixture of English, German and I guess his native language. I have never been so glad to get out a car in my entire life! I almost kissed the ground. Needless to say, I didn't need a ride at any point in the future.

Christopher
 
(quoted from post at 10:05:55 12/30/11) Scariest ride I ever took. I was 18 yo, working at a McDonalds outside Washington, DC. I only lived a mile and a half from the store, so I usually just walked home. One of the coworkers was leaving the same time as me, so he offered me a ride. Okay. Just had to stop at the bank first. Still, it would get me there quicker, so fine. This guy was an immigrant from Pakistan by way of West Germany. It was just a few miles driving.... The whole way he was literally right on the tail of the vehicle in front of him. Swerving in and out of traffic, cursing and swearing in a mixture of English, German and I guess his native language. I have never been so glad to get out a car in my entire life! I almost kissed the ground. Needless to say, I didn't need a ride at any point in the future.

Christopher

My wife aggravates me to no end.... she'll get behind someone and start yacking about their driving skills etc.... When I have enough, I pull the brake handle or turn off the ignition...She mellows out now with just a warning...... She's German.....
 
Some will cuss at me. but i get a chuckle every day. Live about 5 miles from town. Last 4 miles is curvy, follows lakeshore, lots of houses. Posted at 40, double yellow. Drive a white Blazer, ham radio plates, 2 extra antennae on roof, set cruise about 41 or 42. Sheriff Dept has white Impalas, Tahoes, Blazers. Hot rodders come blasting up, see the odd plates & antennae on roof, drop back 100 yards.
WJ
 
Most kids have no concept of a car length. I teach 4 second rule, or even easier, "IF YOU CAN READ LICENSE PLATE, OR ANY LOGO ON THE CAR AHEAD, YOU'RE TOO D****D CLOSE! - BACK OFF TWICE THAT DISTANCE!"
 
THERE'S NO CURE FOR TAILGATERS....

Best thing to do is to force them to pass you even if that means that you have to pull off the road. Note then they'll be right on the bumper of the car ahead. Only other solution you can do is to back way off the vehicle ahead, so you have plenty of time to react to the acrobatics of the car ahead. Then you can slow down very gently with plenty of brake lites for the IDIOT behind.

37 years teaching driving has taught me a little!
 
Funny, I have a dark blue Blazer, ham plates, antennas, they never pay me no mind! For many years, I also carried a police radio in the car too.
 
Yup,them europeans don't like left lane hangers or passing on the
right.I got some folks pretty upset in Switzerland on both
counts.Don't ask about driving down pedestrian only streets.That's
a whole different story! LOL

Vito
 
I feel exactly the same. Hate driving in heavy traffic any where and when in unfamiliar areas it gets to be white knuckle time. I just try to give everyone a chance to get around me if safe. Hey, I was young once and if you live long enough, we all get older. I do recognize my reactions are not what they used to be so try to avoid situations but on the other hand , I feel for 75 I am very active and can't just go crawl in a hole and die.
 
The driver improvement class costs $40, payable at the time of the class. This is in addition to the $100+ cost of the ticket itself. The officer conducting the class stated that over 1500 people had attended his class during the three years he had been giving it. Let"s see, 1500 x $40 = $60,000. Where does that money go? My guess is that it trickles back to the judge who orders attendance of the class as well as the officer who writes the ticket.

Like most government programs, it probably doesn't even begin to cover the administrative costs. The instructor, judge, and officer who pulled you over are pulling their money from the taxpayer general fund.

Contrary to popular belief, traffic tickets don't contribute revenue to the system. It costs MORE to process and administer the traffic enforcement program than it brings in in fines. Traffic tickets are nothing more than a way to justify the employment of thousands of public workers, from judges to pencil-pushers to police officers.
 
(quoted from post at 14:58:55 12/30/11) I feel exactly the same. Hate driving in heavy traffic any where and when in unfamiliar areas it gets to be white knuckle time. I just try to give everyone a chance to get around me if safe. Hey, I was young once and if you live long enough, we all get older. I do recognize my reactions are not what they used to be so try to avoid situations but on the other hand , I feel for 75 I am very active and can't just go crawl in a hole and die.
ight as well add my pet......two lanes each direction, 3 vehicles only in sight for miles, 2 insist on driving side by side as 3rd fumes behind them. I guess the 2 are the "enforcers"?
 
If your driving to slow you should get tailgated.Nothing worse than some old fart driving an old ranger or chevy S10 pickup driving 10 miles under the speed limit.They usually pull out in from of you then make you follow slow behind them.That's why most of them are broke driving junk cars and trucks.They live there lives in slow motion to.
 
I drive 18 wheels. A fellow company driver was behind me yesterday so close I couldn't see his headlights at 65 mph. I slowed down for him to pass. Still right there. I finally pulled over to the left lane and let him by. I hate tailgaters!!
 
Why I don't deal with out local Mopar dealer any more. I'm in Milwaukee, 6 lane expressway (three lanes each direction) Or local dealer (Riverside Automotive) has an older couple from their sister store (Toyota) driving a Tundra with a trailer behind it hauling a new Camry (dealer trade my guess) DOING 48 MPH in the left lane. Guess I'll go to the Dodge store in the county south of us for van service and new trucks, don't like doing business with folks trying to kill me, but I'm shure they saved $15 or $20 by hiring Grandpa Slow poke, and they wanted to leave the dealer plates on for all that good free publicity.
 
i dont let them bother me, after all, you just cant fix stupid, all my trucks are at least 20 years old and have shop built solid iron flatbeds on them, any blond [ or other color hair] that hits one of those with todays plastic cars is gonna lose big time, if they get hit hard enough, and survive, they'll learn something
 
RayP is correct. Help the tailgaters to go on past. Make sure that their accident does not happen near you.
My wife says that certain types of dyslexia cause some tailgating. The person has problems judging distance and direction. So they hang onto the vehicle in front of them. Those are the ones that do not pass.
 
I have never understood why tailgaters get so many peoples undies in a bunch. Driving down a 2 lane highway at 55mph you are within 1 to 2 feet of cars coming the other direction at 55mph. Combined crash speed of 110 mph. Nobody freaks out, but 1 to 2 feet between cars going the same direction and people flip out. Think about it. Someone from behind going 60 hits you going 55 its a 5mph crash speed.
 
i wished i had my camera with me,,going from brighton to denver colo. on us highway police passes me up and 1/2 mile at stop light i see a import bumper, grill, plastic all over lane, look to right, car smoking from rad, driver [sorry ladies--she was a Blondie] over looking/talking to truck driver and looking at the rear of his trailer, [huh] no damage to the 20-wheeler equipment hauler, maybe scraped off dirt,,beacon lights still flashing on top rear of trailer showing long/wide, even thou it was empty,,,well what does Blondie have in her hand, [duh] wounder what she will tell cops for the report about not seeing trailer.....
 
Enlighten me.......what is the 4 second rule.
Kids must be really stupid nowadays not to have any idea how long a car is?
 
This time of year in Michigan the problem is not so much our normal idiot tailgaters as it is the ones that think they can run 5-10 over on snowy, icy, slushy roads. I seem to irritate a whole bunch of them, but I'm always friendly when I pass them in the ditch later.
 
surprised ya didn't know that one.. 4 seconds between cars at any speed will give second car time to react in case the one in front gets out of control.
 
pete, in 1996 i was driving my new mustang cobra along a highway were the traffic was rather heavy with a young lady right on my bumper, we had to stop and and she almost hit me, as we went on she got even closer, then the truck in front of me stopped abruptly and i new she couldn't so i drove to the right side of the truck and she got stopped about a foot short of hitting the truck ahead of me. maybe she learned something that day. chuck
 
In the mid 70's I had a chevy blazer. I had been to visit my folks and headed home after dark. I was going down a 2 lane rd. at faster than the posted limit. Soon I had a Cadillac tailgating. I slowed down, He stayed on my bumper. I slowed more, he was still there. I knew that the next road I was going to turn on had a railroad crossing that was about a foot above the rest of the road. Being a kid, I knew just how to hit that crossing to jump it and keep going. When I turned the corner, I stood on it with the cad following. I jumped the tracks at about 75. I watched the cad in the mirror. I saw red light as he hit the brakes, and a shower of sparks as the front end hit the road. He never tried that with me again.
Tim in OR
 
Had a kid tailgate me toward work one morning. I wasn't out of the lane more than 1/4 mile and he was tripping out on my exhaust fumes. Every few hundred yards, I'd see his left front in my rearview, but he didn't pass. This went on for about 4 miles. I approached a knoll in the road at about 35 in a 30 mile zone, and cresting the knoll had another car coming in he opposite direction. As soon as it came past, this kid goosed it. Around me like I was sitting still! Double yellow line. Fwwoooommm! 1/4 mile down the road were two deputies with a kodak. Noticed he also had out of state plates. Guess he made those cops donut break---
 
I have a big azzed trailer hitch on the back of my pickup. Anyone smacks that at 60 mph and it"s going right through almost everything and it won"t even knock the dust off it. It"s hillarious to see cars back off when they get too close. One thing about tailgaters, they will get theirs sooner or later. The odds are not good for them. I usually just point and laugh like hell when they do. Have a goodun.
 
(quoted from post at 07:08:03 12/30/11) There is no common courtesy anymore. I see more and more bad driving nowday's. People coming on to the expressway, going right to the passing lane and staying there, not using turn flashers, tail gateing, rolling through stop signs. I blame it on the drivers training teachers. Bad drivers teaching people to drive bad. Morons teaching morons.

Apparently you have never been around a kid learning to drive then. They know the rules and they follow them when they need to. However, just like the rest of us they knowingly break those rules when they so choose.

As much as some people would like to you cannot simply put everything wrong you see in the world squarely on the shoulders of those who have educated and trained the offenders.

Keep in mind that new drivers learn more from watching you and others around you drive than they do from the instructor sitting in the seat next to them.
 
I ease off the gas when someone begins to tailgate me, hoping they get the idea and pass or back off. If they continue to tailgate me, or just get closer, I make the decision to clean the windshield. I give it a good washing too. About 10 or 15 seconds of wiper fluid washing the windshield and blowing back onto the tailgater usually makes them back off especially if their car is newly washed.
 
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