Dear tailgaters:

[Blitzkommando]

I have some questions to ask and statements to share with you morons.

Firstly, why do you insist in following behind me at less than 5 feet? Does that make you feel you'll reach your destination 2 seconds faster? Do you think I'm intimidated by your little Chevy Lumina? I think not.

Let me tell you something. I drive a truck. Not a big one, but a decent mid-sized truck. A Dodge Dakota if you must know. Now, my truck weighs 5,200 pounds with nothing in it. That's a pretty heafty weight there, over 2 and a half tons. (two tonnes for our English friends) Your Lumina weighs, what, 3,000 fully loaded down, right? Do you really think you'll win against the rear steel of my truck if I were to stop and you don't? I think not.

My truck is not only heavy, it's got a ton of heavy steel in it. The rear bumper for instance has none of that cheap rubber crap, it's a giant hunk of forged steel with a chrome exterior. Now, last I checked it's higher off the ground than the front of your Lumina. Meaning, if I stop, you'll go right under the rear of my truck and have your face planted in my bike rack mount or rear gate, which is also over 100 pounds of steel.

I don't stop quickly. I can't, I don't have anti-lock breaks and my truck as stated before is too damned heavy to stop that fast. But, believe me, it can stop faster than you can if you're 5 feet behind my rear bumper. I'm also fairly light in the rear, which means it goes up when I stop fast. That means it will come back down on top of your little car should it be there.

Another thing for you to keep in mind is that a growing number of places in this country have "no excuses if you hit the car in front of you it's your fault" policies. I live in one such place at the moment (Florida). And, in the event you do hit me from behind, I will press charges. Not only that, if you don't have insurance (which I can't imagine you could with the way you drive) I will be the owner of what's left of your belongings when all is said and done. I will not feel sorry or have remorse. You were a moron and got what was coming to you. If I'm injured I guarantee you'll lose, and considering that you tend to fly behind me there's a good chance that while my truck may very well survive, I will get some sort of injury.

This message brought to you by that guy in the oversized Dakota that you decided to chase in your Lumina. If you still don't want to stop tailgating at least look up some basic physics to find out just how much energy is involved when you hit me even at 20 MPH.

[DikkyRay]

I fucking HATE tailgaters. You are lucky you drive something so big. I have to drive my sisters tiny Chystler Sebring. its great when that Dodge is going 80 mph when the speed limit is only 55, and he gets PO'd at me and honks/tailgates/gives me the finger when im going 70.
Fucking cop....

just kidding. it wasnt a cop. I was though, once passed by a cop while going almost 80 at a 55mph zone

[AlexCraig]

I read this and laughed. It is true, and you put it in such graceful words http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif

[Zorafim]

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:
I live in one such place at the moment (Florida).



You poor soul. I used to live in Miami (hence my water fetish), and I saw a "Drive Safely" grave an average of once a block. Many of these graves I wonder how they even got there.

And yet, I still have tailgaters who insist on speeding past me when I hit the speed limit. I can understand if I'm driving slowly because I'm tired, but damn it it's speed limit 30!

[Sekani]

Tailgaters are one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to driving. I have two ways of dealing with them, depending on what I'm driving.

When driving my personal car, I gradually slow down from my usual five-to-ten over the speed limit by taking my foot off the pedal (no brakes) until I'm driving at a relative crawl. This gives them the opportunity to go around me if they're in that much of a hurry. After I've crept along for a few seconds, I then speed back up to however fast I was going before. Ninety-five percent of the time the tailgater will get the message and keep their distance. I drive in an area with lots of two-lane roads and high speed limits (45 to 65 mph), so this may not be that effective depending on where you live.

When driving my work vehicle (a 20,000-pound FedEx truck), I just hit the brakes. This leads to a variety of comical results.

[McLaughlin]

On 2007-10-02 20:16, Sekani wrote:
When driving my work vehicle (a 20,000-pound FedEx truck), I just hit the brakes. This leads to a variety of comical results.



You are awesome.

It's the people who drive like that (the Tailgaters) that make me hesitant about getting my License.

[opaopajr]

heh, that reminds me of another tactic i have done before -- but is very bad and danegrous and shouldn't be done because you can hurt someone and blah blah blah yackity smackity blah blah blah yackity smackity. when driving and someone is riding my ass looking for the care instructions on my clothes i just drop down a gear... yes, you guessed it, it drastically slows down the car without turning the brake lights on. and since most states are either 'no fault' or 'back driver pays' i'm all good. they either slow down, get the fuck away, or end up buying me a new car: every way i win. well, unless i die, but then that doesn't really phase me either. just means my student loans go unpaid. screw the fucker who's trying to profit off a poor struggling student. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

bt i'm usually very nice on the road, honest! i'll let you merge and everything. well, unless you're that dipshit who actually *stops* at the end of an onramp of a freeway -- in which case you should be shot by the highway patrol.

[BlaizeYES]

i try to steer clear of driving downtown, even though its where i live. outside of the parking at my apartment complex, i'll and walk rather than being stopped at a light nobody pays attention to every block. i dont even pay attention to tailgaters anyway. i would rather have someone tailgate than drive 20 feet behind me on the interstate at 3 in the morning with their fucking brights on. outside of major cities, south carolina is all hills so apparently they have a reason to need the brights. in michigan, nobody ever used their brights regardless of area and everyone was happy. at least if they are riding my ass with their brights on, i dont have to see the inside of my car looking like i'm in the center of the sun

[Jaspaller]

I admit, I do this sometimes, usually when I'm in a rush or the guy ahead of me pisses me off in someway. A Hard Brake does the job good though.

It's funny to watch when it's a two lane highway and two people are going the same speed next to eachother while some idiot in their gimped out Honda is struggling to get through.

[amtalx]

Solution: ACME brand oil slick.

[Allos]

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:

I live in one such place at the moment (Florida).




I fully relate to your woes.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:
Firstly, why do you insist in following behind me at less than 5 feet? Does that make you feel you'll reach your destination 2 seconds faster? Do you think I'm intimidated by your little Chevy Lumina? I think not.

Maybe he's not tailgating you. Maybe he's drafting you. Y'know-- trying to improve his gas mileage, by using your vehicle to break the wind, so that his vehicle doesn't have to, thereby, reducing wind resistance and increasing energy efficiency.

http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[Powder Keg]

This happens to me a lot on the way to work, there's a hill leading to a highway-ish road that's only 25 MPH. I understand that it's tough to do 25 since it's almost all open road and it's all downhill, but when I know that piggy likes to hide around the area to catch speeders (I see at least one stop a week), I'm doing the speed limit, bottom line.

All the time the person usually gets frustrated and rides my ass all the way til the 45MPH sign, and then they'll try to cut over to the left lane behind me when I try to as well....several times I was almost rear-ended, and it would have been their fault for moving to the left sooner than they should have. I'll usually piss 'em off more and keep pace to whoever else is in the right lane so they can't pass.

[Blitzkommando]

On 2007-10-03 13:45, HUnewearl_Meira wrote:

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:
Firstly, why do you insist in following behind me at less than 5 feet? Does that make you feel you'll reach your destination 2 seconds faster? Do you think I'm intimidated by your little Chevy Lumina? I think not.

Maybe he's not tailgating you. Maybe he's drafting you. Y'know-- trying to improve his gas mileage, by using your vehicle to break the wind, so that his vehicle doesn't have to, thereby, reducing wind resistance and increasing energy efficiency.

http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif


Too bad my truck puts off a massive backwind because the rear is covered and not open. I guess I get the last laugh? http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

Still, drafting is still a moronic thing to do outside of (legal) racing.

In any event, I want them to go and draft off of the semis at 80 MPH. Preferably at night. With lots of deer around.

[jcm5]

yup i live in miami those hurricanes games used to go crazy with tailgaters.

[Broodstar1337]

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:
I don't stop quickly. I can't, I don't have anti-lock breaks and my truck as stated before is too damned heavy to stop that fast. But, believe me, it can stop faster than you can if you're 5 feet behind my rear bumper.


I can stop pretty damn fast...

[Nyreal]

Whenever I have a tailgater, I slow down. It's win for me!

[Uncle_bob]

On 2007-10-13 17:45, Broodstar1337 wrote:

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:
I don't stop quickly. I can't, I don't have anti-lock breaks and my truck as stated before is too damned heavy to stop that fast. But, believe me, it can stop faster than you can if you're 5 feet behind my rear bumper.


I can stop pretty damn fast...



Not as fast as he can. Enjoy your future financial woes.

[KodiaX987]

If there is a tailgater following you, try this method:

Progressively reduce your speed. Do 60 MPH. Then slowly drop to 55... 50... 45... 40...

Remain at a rather slow speed for about 30 seconds, then pick up your usual pace again. This usually makes tailgaters less aggressive.

[Broodstar1337]

On 2007-10-13 19:07, Uncle_bob wrote:

On 2007-10-13 17:45, Broodstar1337 wrote:

On 2007-10-02 16:01, Norvekh wrote:
I don't stop quickly. I can't, I don't have anti-lock breaks and my truck as stated before is too damned heavy to stop that fast. But, believe me, it can stop faster than you can if you're 5 feet behind my rear bumper.


I can stop pretty damn fast...



Not as fast as he can. Enjoy your future financial woes.



You must've missed the part where I said I tailgated in the first place...

I can stop fast. Most likely faster than a motorist who admits he cannot. In the event that I end up five feet behind someone who can't brake worth a shit, I have nothing to worry about. Then again you'd have to be pretty retarded to get that close to anyone to begin with...

[Kion]

what annoys me is tailgaters when there's a line of cars. i like to drive fast, but i give people their distance. so when there's traffic or a single lane that's going slow, i back off and give people their distance. on the highway, backing away from the car infront of you allows people to merge and it allows people to go arround you if they're really impatient. (they can go drive up their blood pressure on the person in front of you) but backing off for a while like that usually breaks up traffic or at least allows the cluster to get sufficently fast in front of you so you can drop back into gear and go 60 mph to your hearts content.

on a single road when there's no way to let them go around you, i tap the brakes a few times. not enough to slow the car down, but enough to make them think i'm slowing down for no reason. then they think it's an old person who could suddenly brake for no reason. they wise up to following so close and they generally back off after that. if they keep giving you trouble; then give them trouble; drive at 5 mph then if they get out of the car to yell or something; speed off.