The Tailgate-er Deterence Thread

[ghsnu]

Am I the only person that understands him?

He was overtaking slower traffic and had no where else to go. What do you expect him to do? Turn back into the lane and take someone out?

I understand him, especially since I've been in a similar situation before.

Everyone who thinks he's a 🤬 for what he did ether didn't read the entire first post or doesn't understand.

 

[ZR1fan]

I understand him, especially since I've been in a similar situation before.

Everyone who thinks he's a 🤬 for what he did ether didn't read the entire first post or doesn't understand.

Honestly ghsnu (and everyone here) I'm quite sure all of us have been in that position where trying to be the perfect driver would just end up doing nothing more than potentially getting someone killed, like hawkeye with the truck, or even me with the Buick. Honestly, I was doing the speed limit, which was 50 mph, and could not go any faster if I wanted to because of the Explorer in front of me, considering that it was a two lane road, the only way for me to have made room to go quicker and open up a gap between me and the Buick without blowing over the double yellow wouldve been to literally either take out the Ford or blast my horn until he moved over, which is unnecessary and illegal. There was no sense in pulling over to let the Buick past because he woulda ended up in the tailpipe of the Ford that was in front of me, we probably woulda ended up going slower because he would've likely slowed down when Id pull over to let him by, even when I set him up to strand him I never went below 40-45, and when I did that it had turned to a 45 zone. Those of us who take driving seriously will do the best thing that we can in the given circumstance with the provided challenges, and do so in a timely manner. There is no such thing as a "perfect solution" to every circumstance, like move over like the world is gonna end, for a left lane bomber, because sometimes, like hawk experienced, that right lane is gonna be packed, and as such you need to improvise. Everyone also has their comfort zone, and for me, I like my back end clear, if I don't like your distance from my bumper, I'm gonna make you back off, I don't care if you don't like how I do it. Why am I so OCD about this? Because, I have a habit of checking my rearview mirror frequently (how often depends on the type of road I'm on), and ALWAYS before i stop, and If you're up my bumper, I feel like I would not be able to give it a lot of brake if I needed to (say if someone cut me off), and it makes me nervous, so thus my solution is to eradicate the problem if it can be done in an effective, safe fashion, (no excessive speed and the like), like my three stories. Honestly, I'm 20, and the car I use is paid for by my dad while I take my college classes. I don't have the option to make a choice to get out of a situation that could potentially risk the car, the consequences (insurance premiums and the like) would not be on my dollar, and frankly thats not fair to my dad at all. To be honest, I love this one, its my first, i have many memories with it, dates, proms, my first kiss (it was in my sight), memorable outings with friends and the like, not to mention its my ride to school, and as such i will do absolutely anything I can to make sure it stays on the road that much longer, its old, and if it takes a good whack, my dad is not gonna fix it because of its age, and sure as 🤬 the 🤬 🤬 behind me is not gonna be the reason i lose the car, oh 🤬 no. It's my goal to drive that thing until its wheels fall off from having driven so many miles. Sorry if what I did came off as abrasive, and sorry if what some of us here did comes off as a shock, but reality check here guys, it's not a perfect world out there, and as such "you shoulda done this or you shoulda done that" means absolutely bullsh:censored:t in this world we live in, the world of real life. Likewise in the moment where some jerk is presenting me with an unsafe circumstance, im gonna think for me first, along the lines of "what is the safest thing i can do in my circumstance fo rid myself of the road hazard?" the first thing that comes to your head is obviously not gonna be what others want to hear, but in the case of smart drivers, it's what works for the moment, in the presented circumstance, and what will get the job done in the safest manner, but yet effectively. Weve done what we've done and were gonna do what we're gonna do, and that's that.

For those of you who are getting their pants in a knot over these stories, check this out- the Are You Prone to Road Rage thread of the day at Motor Trend, these looney tunes are positively suicidal- http://wot.motortrend.com/thread-of-the-day-are-you-prone-to-road-rage-202159.html

Now tell me, what's worse, this thread.. Or the Motor Trend one? Exactly.

 

[Zenith]

Am I the only person that understands him?

He was overtaking slower traffic and had no where else to go. What do you expect him to do? Turn back into the lane and take someone out?

We all understand him perfectly. He is was not using proper highway etiquette.

If there's slower traffic to your right and you see a car gaining on you in the mirror, you slow down (if necessary), move over, wait for the car to pass, and then you can come back to left lane and accelerate if you desire.

It it has come to the point where the faster car is up your tailpipe it is your fault for sitting in passing lane for a minute or so while faster traffic has caught up to you.

As said before, some of the few exceptions are if the faster traffic rapidly changed into your lane or if your passing a traffic jam in a carpool lane.

 

[hawkeye122]

We all understand him perfectly. He is was not using proper highway etiquette.

If there's slower traffic to your right and you see a car gaining on you in the mirror, you slow down (if necessary), move over, wait for the car to pass, and then you can come back to left lane and accelerate if you desire.

It it has come to the point where the faster car is up your tailpipe it is your fault for sitting in passing lane for a minute or so while faster traffic has caught up to you.

As said before, some of the few exceptions are if the faster traffic rapidly changed into your lane or if your passing a traffic jam in a carpool lane.

Exactly. My only explanation on how he caught up so quickly is he must have been in the right lane as well. When I pulled into the left lane, there was noone behind me. I got on with accelerating, to pass the people who were going slow, and I look back up and see this truck barreling towards me. I could not slow down quick enough to get back to where I had been in the first place, and at that moment, I was across from 2 Big rigs.

I was worried that if I tried to keep the pace of the people in the right lane, in order to signal back in, the man behind would have hit me.

I tend to be a bit anal about highway etiquette, anyone who saw my post in the "Autobahn in America" thread would know that it really irritates me when people don't use the freeways properly.

I live in a rural area. There are 2 lanes going each direction. I had no choice but to remain where I was

And I wasnt "sitting" in the passing lane, I was trying to get ahead of the train of cars and trucks, to the next empty spot so I could merge back in.

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

What if that faster traffic is faster because they're going 90-100MPH in a 65 or 75 zone? If you want to risk your life and that of everybody else on the road by driving like a reckless moron, I am under no burden to facilitate that.

There is also absolutely no excuse for sitting 4' off of somebody's bumper just because you want to go faster than they are. I'm generally the faster car in most situations, and if I come up on slower traffic, I slow down and follow them from a reasonable distance until they get over, or just deal with it.

The other thing is that, in the vast majority of situations, when I'm being tailgated I'm in a whole line of traffic that's all going the same speed, so letting the guy pass will accomplish nothing. In many other situations, the tailgater passes and immediately slows down to the same speed or slower that I'd been doing. It seems to me like almost every tailgater I encounter doesn't actually want to go fast, they just have some sort of inferiority complex that makes them go freaking nuts if they're not in front.

 

[Thatman]

Yeah that would just be a total d-bag move. Just kidding around. The accident with the tree really happened though.

Yup and they did it because I was going slow in the SLOW lane with nobody else around, but you find people like that...

 

[Vinyl Scratch]

All you do is tap and hold your brake pedal enough to light your taillights, but not enough to actually brake. That should get them to back off, and it's not illegal because there's not really a way for a cop to tell, unless you're speeding up with the brakes on.

 

[ShobThaBob]

You obviously aren't paying attention to what I'm saying.

I WAS faster traffic until the other guy showed up. I was doing 70, and everyone in the right lane was doing 55. I was passing them. Mid-Pass, someone faster than me came along.

So people continue to say "Oh, you were in the wrong lane"
At that point, yes, I was. Was there anything I could do about it? No.

You were in the correct lane. If you're passing people on the left and not being passed on the right, you're doing it correctly. The correct way to respond to someone who is being in a jerk in that situation is to ignore them and continue passing at whatever speed you feel comfortable doing. Making the pass faster isn't necessarily the wrong decision, but it's not something you should feel any pressure to do if you don't want to.

 

[poolhaas]

All you do is tap and hold your brake pedal enough to light your taillights, but not enough to actually brake. That should get them to back off, and it's not illegal because there's not really a way for a cop to tell, unless you're speeding up with the brakes on.

Foglights usually gets a few of them aswell.