Maybe played too much project gotham racing 4...oh wait that was me

 

I agree with the right/middle lane thing. Sometimes my age catches up with me and I do the speed limit in the slow lane....yea I know can you believe it?

 

it was a R53!!!

 

chili_red07, see it's these situations that infinitely **** me off. Getting tailgaited in the left lane is one thing, you most likely deserve it (no offense). But to be driving at the speed-limit in a right hand lane, then some a*shole legitimately chooses to endanger you rather than moving into the lane which is meant for passing? That's just pure stupidity.

 

are you really? ha ha.. nice rape analogy. yeah cuz rape and tailgating are totally the same infraction

 

It's not hard for them at all, but I pretty much assume that everyone on the road is an incompetent ****, so drive pretty defensively. I see someone coming up behind me, if it looks like they have no intention of going around me, I move. Doesn't matter who's right or wrong, it's just something that needs to be done. I don't usually get pissy with them, unless they do something just like you describe (which THANKFULLY has never happened).

In your situation, there's just not much that can be done, except hoping/wishing divine intervention on them.... something like the Monty Python foot.

 

Common sense and courtesy go a long way, both out on the road and here on NAM. So does civility

Mark

 

Here. Here!

 

I'm not promoting tailgating and I agree it's wrong, but many times there's a reason for being tailgated. If you're an attentive driver who isn't trying to prove something to all those "agressive drivers," you'll rarely be tailgated.

Chillired,

The encounter you describe is pretty scary and that kind of behavior can never be justified. Sounds like you handled the situation perfectly.


Yes, I believe you should have added a little throttle to minimize his deceleration. You do not have a god given right to the fast lane just because you're going a couple of miles per hour faster than the guy in the slow lane. You were so proud of screwing this guy you wrote about it here. He was in the wrong because he tailgated you but you were in the wrong because you ignored a faster moving car and did nothing to help him out.

 

Um, I always thought that the emergency brake didn't trigger the brake lights. Have I been wrong all this time?

 

I assume that she puts the ebrake on to keep the car from rolling while she pumps the brake pedal to flash the lights.

 

I dont recall saying that I was "proud" of screwing the guy. Fact is, I felt nothing one way or the other. I was operating my vehicle in a safe and legal manner, and he was the one who was illegally tailgating me. In light traffic I made a conscious decision to limit my speed to 5mph over the speed limit since I didnt want to be ticketed for speeding. I chose not to increase my speed because I did not want to risk getting pulled over just to let someone who is too rude to wait a safe distance behind my car for an extra 15 seconds until I could safely pass and pull over. I am not arrogant and I dont believe that I have a God given right to do anything let alone travel whenever I want in the fast lane. I posted my comment to offer an example of what I felt was unsafe driving by the other driver. I dont understand how you can read a paragraph that I wrote and you can instantly KNOW exactly what I felt and why I behaved the way that I did. You are making assumptions based upon information that you dont have. Maybe you would have been better served to actually ask me what my attitude was rather than assuming you knew exactly what it was. In this situation, there was NO reason to tailgate me. The other driver was in a hurry and too impatient to wait 15 seconds for me to complete my pass and pull over. I did NOT cut him off when I pulled out to pass. In fact, he was not even close to my vehicle. I upheld my responsibility to help the guy out by moving out of the passing lane AS SOON AS it was safe to do so. I have no problem with you stating that you believe it is appropriate to increase your speed slightly in order to help out the driver who is behind you. Under most situations I would agree with you. In this situation it wasnt worth the risk to help a rude, discourteous driver.

 

There is nothing to forgive but I appreciate your humility and consideration. I am at fault here also as I did not fully understand the point you were trying to make. I should have asked you for clarification rather than assuming that you were reprimanding me. The written word is often powerful but lacks substance when trying to communicate the nuances the come with speech. If I have learned anything from the internet it is that miscommunication is much more prevalent online than in person since in person you can HEAR someone's meaning and SEE their non-verbal communication. I suspect if this conversation had happened in person there would have been no misunderstanding.

Cheers,

Aaron

 

You are right, they aren't the same, but I don't think he was saying that. I took the point to be that blaming the victim is just as wrong in tailgating as it is in rape. It is believing that the victim deserved it that is the same in both. The crimes don't have to be the same to make that point.

IIRC, California has a law that says if you are going slower than the speed limit and five or more cars are lined up behind you, you are required to pull over an let them pass.

A very very longtime ago I was the second car in a line of about 20 cars on Carmel Valley Road. The first car would speed up to about 45 mph, then slow down to about 30 in a somewhat random manner. The speed limit was 55. After awhile, I got really annoyed and started tailgating to try and get them to pull over.

A CHP came by the other direction, so the situation and pulled me over. He claimed that he would usually stop the car holding up traffic, but I was causing more of a danger than the lead car. I didn't argue, and apologized. He let me off with a verbal warning.

The point is, holding up traffic is an annoyance. Tailgating in an endangerment. No way are you justified in endangering someone's life and property because they annoy you.

The CHP suggested flashing my lights as an alternative to tailgating. It seems to work about 50% of the time, but then tailgating isn't terriby effective either.

 

I don't think you understand what I meant. You don't have to be tailgaiting someone for them to move over for you on farm to market roads here. Really, they notice you were going faster than they were, and get onto the hard shoulder before you are even within several car lengths. They really are that polite sometimes. Who knows, it may be because many of them have followed a tractor or two down the road.

Besides, unless you are a cop, what are you gonna do with their plates? Even if they have run into you, until they have committed a felony or injured someone in a wreck, the police in my area aren't going to be interested in your report.

 

It happens everyday dude. Just pull over, catch your breath and take some nerve tonic. You will be ok.
chuck

 

Thank You!

 

To off set the ever presence of annoying drivers who think they own the road or give little or no concern for others .... A long time ago in a far away land.............I got behind a diesel spitting out unburned petroleum all over my windshield and front of my car. Then my ride a 215 V 8 stuffed 79 MGB Limited Edition perfect black Emoron paint and white stripes. My head in a tail spin I hit the wipers only to make the tiny spots smear all over my windshield. The washer fluid had no effect on the crap*. Later I thought what a clever idea !!!! With about 50 bucks in parts this toy will install on any car. At a flick of a switch spraying out the back end in the air a fine mist of very warn engine oil to cover the unsuspecting tailgater or road offender. They can only slow down and get away from you*. It never looks as it were deliberately being done and you get the satisfaction of 1) getting even 2) getting even and 3) pure satisfaction that flipping off a highway offender could never give you. Ingredients to be posted




Ingredients: small normally closed 12 volt solenoid, 30 amp relay, 10,14 gauge wire red, black, white and green, 12 volt momentary button or switch, lighted 12 volt on/off switch, 1/8 npt- OP tee,6 mm to 1/8 adapter, nylon or copper 1/8 tubing,power jet or equivalent jet size .006 or smaller a couple of misc. parts and about 2 hours labor. And you have the Tailgate Deterrent System TDS As a disclaimer the TDS can never really be used on the highways and streets. Testing has shown that it causes the re-thinking of rude inconsiderate azz ols into realizing that they share the road.

 

A number of years ago I used to travel for business, and I rented interesting cars from a specialty company. One time I had a Volvo, and was driving from LA to SFO, along the coastal highway, about as lovely and twisty highway as one could ever want. I was stuck behind a camper, and couldn't pass, though. A CHP came along behind me, flashing those wonderful lights, and I figured I was REALLY stuck--that is, until he pulled the camper over! I didn't know about the slow-car law, but I DID know that he cleared the way for me for the next...oh, 20 or 30 minutes. What a wonderful drive!

 

but an easy way to get shot.

 

so i got tailgated while i was traveling at 80mph this morning.

what's the verdict?

 

Your car had less drag being in the slip stream of the vehicle in front of it, saving fuel and therefore the planet

 

The world is full of idiots.

 

amen..

 

The Mini's speedometer is off by a certain % so you weren't driving 80