Tailgating

[Ash]

When I'm behind the wheel of my car, there is nothing that infuriates me more than a tailgater.

I'm usually a very calm driver.  But when someone rides my ass like there's no tomorrow, it sets off something inside me.
My emotions churn to a boil almost instantly.  
I swear and curse out loud and use the F-word a lot.
Maybe it's because tailgating is such a selfish and intimidating thing to do to another driver.

Under ideal road conditions, bringing your car from a mere 25-30 MPH to a dead stop requires considerable distance.
Something like 4-6 car lengths.  (I forget the exact number)
That measurement is doubled and sometimes tripled or quadrupled when driving in inclement weather.

Here in Iowa, we've been getting hammered by snowstorms on a weekly basis.
It doesn't take a genius to understand that being able to stop suddenly, especially in 3-4 inches of snow and ice is darn near impossible.
If I'm alone on a city road, I'll slam on the brakes for a second to see if my car slides...to test how slick the road is.
Not only does it slide, it sometimes fishtails a bit.

Earlier yesterday, in over 4 inches of fresh snow, I had some jackass riding me so close that if I had to brake...not stop...just brake...he would've hit me.
It made me even angrier when I saw this guy yacking away on a cell phone when he eventually passed me!
I used the F-word multiple times.  

The highways and interstates are even worse.
They're like playgrounds that are full of bullies who want to make your life miserable.

I'll be going almost 65-75 MPH (already over the speed limit) only to look in my rear view mirror and see these people come flying up behind me...their front bumpers merely feet from my back bumper.
Most times they'll pass me and give me dirty looks.
Sometimes they won't pass and keep on me as if to goad me into going faster.
That's when I hit the brakes for a second and scare the hell out of them!
That always gets their heart racing.  

Yes, I know that's a dangerous thing to do, but it works!
Almost all of the people I do that to back off and/or switch lanes.
They don't want their precious SUV slamming into the back of my car because they know that in 90% of rear end collisions, the person who hits from behind is almost always at fault.

There are exceptions though.
Such as when a (usually elderly) driver is going well below the speed limit...say 25 in a 35 MPH zone and you can't pass.
That's almost as frustrating as being tailgated.
It's like having a huge slow cow in front of you.  You just want to rip your hair out!
But fortunately, this doesn't happen often and you can easily pass them.
And I understand that elderly or disabled drivers don't go as fast as the rest of us.

What gets my goat are the people who are blatantly speeding and tailgating.
It's like they don't realize that they're in control of 2 tons of steel.
They don't think ahead to what the consequences might be if they hit me.
They don't think period.

I don't condone violence, but I'd love to just once run a driver off the road and do what Mr. Eddie (Robert Loggia) does to the tailgater in the video below.
Take a few minutes to watch it. (it's about 6 minutes long)

NEVER EVER TAILGATE!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8YRKmuCfS0
	Small | Large

(NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!)

How about you?
What do you think about tailgaters?
What do you do when confronted by one?

[Trevor]

You've mentioned it already, Ash: we in South Africa like to apply the principle of the "sudden brake test". Always works and the only accident that happens is to the driver of the car behind me when he messes his undies. 

PS: I never tailgate, it isn't safe. I have been driving for nearly 20 years and have never had an accident.

[Pilgermann]

I tried to select all but the last option.  If I'm driving by myself I tend to do the quick brake-tap or I let off the gas and start going slower.  Once they try to pass me that's when I speed up.  If I don't do these things I at least curse aloud and whatnot.

I tend to be more conscientious of safety if I have passengers.

Otherwise I'm a cautious and curteous driver, I think.  Oh, and hopefully you can keep up your record, Trevor!

[Mr. DS]

I'm the sudden break type depending on how far I get pushed.  I personally can't stand when these idiots in big SUVS do it while its snowing.  

[Killer Bees]

I don't drive.  I can, but I don't have a vehicle <insert random highly charged rant about how expensive consumer goods are>.  But I know it's dangerous and stupid.

[nshumate]

I'll admit it; I tailgate.  Did it today on the way home from work, in fact.  But I never do it in bad weather, and I only do it to try to convince the doddering senior in front of me that YOU NEED TO BE GOING FASTER IN THE LEFTMOST LANE, GRANDPA!

[Shadow]

Could we combine this topic with the one on super powers so I could describe what I'd like to do to tailgaters?

[odinn7]

Same thing around here. I normally drive 10 mph over the speed limit and it never fails that some ass comes riding right up on me. The worst ones are those f'ers that will ride up on your ass, then back off a few feet, then ride up on your ass again, then back off....over and over....like they're trying to intimidate you.

Of course, there are the ones that will ride your ass when there is someone slow in front of you...ok, so exactly where the f**k would you like me to go?

I had a motorcycle for years and you would think people would be a little more cautious with a bike...no way, they are worse. Being tailgated in a car is enough to p**s you off...being tailgated on a bike is damn scary.

Then there is the one other thing that drives me absolutely crazy...at least once a week, sometimes more, I will be going along and see a car stopped, waiting to make a turn out into my lane. As I get closer, this loser invariably decides to pull out in front of me now, causing me to slow down. As usual, there is nobody behind me at all and this jackass could have waited another 7 seconds and pulled out behind me without bothering anyone at all. To finish it all off, not only did they pull out directly in front of me but then they decide to drive 10 or 15 mph under the speed limit.

Sometimes I seriously wonder how I don't go off and kill people...

[Patient7]

Could we combine this topic with the one on super powers so I could describe what I'd like to do to tailgaters?

Okay Mr. Shadow, here is an erethreal link between dimensions that I have set up using my erethreal linking ability.  (I mentioned this in the super power thread)

http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,118047.0.html

[Shadow]

Karma for you, for taking my old senile self seriously!

[flackbait]

Personally I think how often your tailgated depends on the vehicle you drive. For the longest time when I was a kid my dad drove and old volkswagon golf. I always remember someone tailgating us. Then when i was 12 or so he got an old chevey truck. Some how the number of people tailgating us went down a lot. 

Of course that never stops some people.  But one time we had a tailgater learn his lesson the hard way. Now I was about 16 at the time this happened so weve had this truck for a while now. There was a problem with the tailgate where it would open down if it got jolted too much, by.... say a pot hole. Now this one moron was tailgating our truck and I was just learning to drive so I was pretty rattled about a guy in a four door sedan about 3 ft behind me. He kept at it for about 3 miles so I decided to turn down a country road full of potholes and sure enough the moron tailgated me all the way until we hit a big pot hole and BOOM! Down came the tailgate just 3 inches from the hood of his car ! His face still cracks me up today!

[Jack]

I haven't had any problem with tailgaters in a long time.  When I was younger and wilder I'd hit the brakes and that would back them off, but now I'd probably just wait until there was a turnoff and get off the road a bit and let them go by.  It always amazes me how many idiots are on the road.  The other day I was driving in a snowstorm.  Only the right lane was plowed, the left lane had an inch or two of snow on it.  So I'm doing about 63 in a 65 zone, and I see these skid marks in the snow.  Somebody got off the road to the right, lost control, skidded off to the left, and there's she is in her car, perched atop the snowbank between the lanes.  And seconds later, here comes two semi's barrelling past me in the unplowed left lane.  Of course I got a total whiteout for the next several miles, but what the hell do they care, they probably saved themselves 30 seconds by taking that ridiculous risk.

[Sister Grace]

Last summer, my mom, daughter and I were driving thru Logan, WV and this guy kept tailgating us for about four miles, he was so close that i couldn't even see his headlights or the grill of his big redneck truck.. The car infront of us stopped suddenly and I had to hit my brakes to keep from rear-ending an elderly man that probably shouldn't have been driving in the first place. Well, the guy behind us starts blaring on his horn and throwing up the finger when it was his fault that he almost hit us...next thing i know mom jumps out of the car when we come to a stop light. My mom is about sixty and pretty easy going, not to mention she had a cast on her arm at the time. There she was pounding on the guy's window yelling you could have killed my grand-daughter in the back seat you big f'n redneck fat@#$. The guy turns into a total yellow belly and locked his doors and starts calling someone, presumably the police.. I literally had to put her back in the car.  well, i get her in the car and then he decides to get out of his truck and yell obsenities calling my mom a motherfu#$%!! I guess he thought i was going to get in my car and pay it no mind. i don't think i've ever turned around so fast..I start heading to his truck, which he hops back in and locks his doors once again.. all in all..if you think you are such a bada@#, you shouldn't be so intimidated by a sixty year old woman with a limp and a cast. But it does really burn my cookies when someone starts giving you the pinky while their lips are moving rapidly in what i am sure is not the process of a prayer, when its thier fauly they almost caused the accident!! Its always the jerks that think they own the road and can get away with anything. Its no wonder car insurance is so deathly high..

[Derf]

Tailgating is annoying, though I generally just let it go after hearing some of the horror stories of friends, like the one where the driver tapped the brakes in front of the tailgater, and the tailgater followed her until she stopped and threatened her, even, beating on her car with something.

But it does really burn my cookies when someone starts giving you the pinky while their lips are moving rapidly in what i am sure is not the process of a prayer, when its thier fauly they almost caused the accident!! Its always the jerks that think they own the road and can get away with anything. Its no wonder car insurance is so deathly high..

On several occasions, some $&^%^*&( | )  has pulled out on top of me (when I have the obvious right-of-way) and then flipped me off, apparently for noticing that he is a jackass. People are amazingly selfish and stupid sometimes...

[AndyC]

The only thing that bugs me more than a tailgater is somebody who tailgates at night, with his headlights shining right in my mirrors. It's not even like you can give them a blast of the horn, for all the good that does. A couple of times, I've thought about buying one of those scrolling LED signs for the back window. Then I could flash something like "Back off, douchebag" or whatever.

I've stomped on the brakes the odd time, but only for a genuinely aggressive driver - the guy in the expensive car who flies up behind you when you're already speeding and weaves in and out impatiently, looking for an opportunity to pass. In my younger, stupider years, depending on the circumstances, I'd get mad enough to initiate an impromptu drag race when the guy finally pulled out. They never back off when that happens, because at that point, it's all about getting around the other guy, and has nothing to do with how fast someone actually wants to go. I'd usually only do this in a couple of locations outside of town, near places cops liked to sit. The guy gets up to 130 or 140 kph in an 80 zone, and you finally back off and let him pass, hoping that a speed trap is just around the next bend. Sadly, that ploy never succeeded. But it would have been so cool.

What's far more troubling, is that most tailgaters don't mean any harm. I figured out years ago that they aren't thinking about it at all. It came to me while I was watching a parade in my hometown one Christmas. Each band was preceded by two kids with a banner bearing the sponsor's name. Unfortunately, you couldn't read it because they were walking 50 feet ahead of the band, against the back of the float in front of them. Someone might occasionally move them back, but they'd always end up tailgating the float in front. They were just walking at a comfortable pace (slightly faster than a parade pace) until they came up against something. They weren't trying to do it. They just weren't thinking about what they were doing. What's worse, being pushy and paying attention, or just carelessly blundering along?