When I’m driving at night, especially if the highway is fairly deserted and someone is going fairly close to the speed I’m going, I’ll do this. Why? Well, if they are in a truck, once I pass them I’m going to essentially be blind once I pass them, because my car is so small that their headlights reflect into my eyes (I’ve adjusted mirrors to various positions, and never gotten all three mirrors to not do this).
Also, I have this fear of coming up on a curve and not realizing it’s there and running off the road. Unlikely? Yes, but the fear is still there. So I follow someone, but I don’t tailgate - just leave enough distance that I can see when their headlights bend.
Finally, I do avoid driving at night because I don’t have the best night vision. When it’s unavoidable, I do this, because I see far better with them in front of me than with only my headlights. Again, I avoid tailgating when I must do this.
For a long time I did have a tendency to tailgate. I have worked really hard to stop it, and most of the time I’m aware. But every once in a while I’ll find that I’ve crept up on someone and I’ll have to back off.
I sometimes try to accelerate a little to open lanes which might be blocked by cars on the left of the right of you. Let the schmuck pass and use him as a pace car. Heh heh…
I’ve ridden with quite a few drivers who had no idea they were tailgating (my wife being one). They don’t understand that it is annoying and dangerous.
A few months ago my friend tapped his brakes on the beltway in DC, this led to a horrible case of road rage where the person followed him home and stabbed him (my friend is a large Marine).
Along the beltway I’ll make an attempt to move over if possible, but it really doesn’t seem to matter. Every lane is a passing lane here. I usually just try to stay with the flow of traffic in whatever lane I’m in. If someone is really on my ass I’ll get off the gas and slow down, then speed up to try and get some distance between us. Hopefully by then, one of us can move over.
As per usual around here, I’ll get lots of fingers and the occasional swerve. I just let them go.
What is this about people not wanting to let speeders pass? I love let speeders pass. They flush out all the cops looking for speeders in front of you. Let them pass. Three times in the past 4 years or so I’ve let a speeder pass only to see a cop pull out after them. Last one happened last week when I let a red Silverado riding my bumper pass and a cop pulled out after him within seconds. It was glorious.
BlinkingDuck, I don’t think it’s that no one wants to let the speeders pass – at least I hope not; if so, then they’re wrong for not completing their pass and getting out of the left lane. I think most of them are referring to not being able to get out of the way or two-lane roads.
I don’t tailgate, but I don’t leave a full three seconds of space between the car ahead of me either. I can’t leave too much space because then every butt-hole that passes me on the right will want to cut in. If I can get out of the way of a faster vehicle behind me, I will, unless I’m waiting to pass too (i.e., waiting for the slowpoke ahead to get out of the left lane). I only pass on the right when it’s a true idiot that has no concept of what left lanes are for. For some reason, people that tailgate me don’t really bother me, other than in principle (e.g., “idiot, you’re not supposed to do that”). But I don’t drive a little tiny Honda or Focus or anything, and live in a no-fault state with a paid insurance policy.
Any ideas about getting back at the tailgater with some of the posts previously mentioned merely transfers the stupidity/arrogance from the tailgater to you. (You also might be the one pulled over by the cops!)
The potential road rage incident is not worth it.
Let him pass.
No room to pass? At the next intersection or exit ramp, put on your turn signal and exit. After the jack-ass has gone by, get back on with your driving and your life.
Now if the jack-ass “magicly” appears behind you when you get back on the road again, he’s not a tailgater. He wants something else. CB radio, cell phone or stop at the nearest open and full of people location and call the police. Let the cops deal with him.
The Texas solution to tailgaters involves the following steps (do not try this at home :))
Buy a shotgun and put it on the dashboard of your car (or preferably your full sized 4x4 truck).
When someone tailgates you, simply pull up ever so slightly on the emergency handbrake, which does not cause your brake lights to come on. The tailgater will not realize that you are braking and will hit you or go around, at which point he or she will be pissed. That’s where the shotgun on your dashboard plays a part by intimidating them out of following you / flicking you off / road rage.
After all, I’d like to see their road rage compete with a 12 gauge.
And before anyone starts nagging me, no, I do not employ these methods myself. The sad thing, however, is that I know numerous people in my area that do (seriously).
When someone tailgates me I see what kind of car they have and if it is lesser than my 2000 yellow mustang I simply get in the lane beside me and double clutch, leaving my tread on the concrete and them in the dust.
I am not going to turn off onto a gravel road and drive five miles out of my way just because the guy behind me doesn’t think 65 in a 55 is fast enough. And before you ask: Yes, on my drive into town that is the only way I could follow your suggestion.
I’m a big fan of slowing down til they pass - it’s nice to see it’s endorsed by the guys who are in charge of giving me tickets, too.
I did have one rather satisfying incident when I lived in Maine, though…
The city of Bath was about to resurface the road to my home. In preparation for the resurfacing they went through and raised all the manhole covers a couple of inches. This particular section of road was borded on one side by a steep hill and on the other by an inlet of the Kennebec river. It was very twisty and ran through a rather populated area - hence the 30 m.p.h. speed limit. As usual I was doing about 35-37 which obviously was not fast enough for the Masshole behind me, and he made his displeasure known by making sure I could not see his front bumper, headlights, or grille.
Sometimes it is a lot more than 5 miles. There are a lot of exit ramps without corresponding entrance ramps here. I move right and let speeders pass when I can, especially if the road is clear in front of me, but there are jerks that tail gate just to scare people.
I also don’t see why I should get into the slow lane when the row of cars in front of me is traveling the same speed as I am. Lots of jerks tail gate to force one car after another pull right and let him pass when the road is quite crowded.
That’s my theory. I don’t care if I’m the only other driver on the road or if there’s so many other people that there’s no possible way to move. There is still no good reason to drive that close to somebody, period. It’s dangerous and annoying. I still wish police and sherrifs (or state troopers or whatever) would have more unmarked cops out on the road giving out “asshole tickets.” That is they would drive around and give out tickets for following to close, not yielding right of way, not using blinkers etc… Anything that not only pisses off other drivers but also would be alot safer if you did/didn’t do.
As a side story. my brother’s girlfriend was driving her dad’s SUV down a city road minding her own bussiness and going the speed limit when all of a sudden she saw the lights and heard the siren. She pulled over and asked the officer what the problem was. Turns out he didn’t pull her over, but rather the Corvette that was following so close to her SHE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT WAS THERE.
Another funny thing I had happen, I was leaving Tinley Park (World Music Theater?? Q101 Jamboree) I was driving a Tahoe trying to get out of the parking lot after the concert knowing it was going to take quite a while. We got to a point where two large groups of cars were merging into one lane. I could see it was very nicely going: one car from this side, one car from that side, one car from this side, one car… Well when it was my turn to go, someone from the other side decided that she was going to sneak ahead of me. Since she was driving a firebird and I had a Tahoe, I figured I could “intimidate” my way in, which I did. She ended up spending the next 20 minutes (or about 50 yards) with the front of her car UNDER the back of mine. I never had anyone tailgate like that. So a couple of times while we were at a dead stop, with my foot firmly on the break, I tossed the car into reverse to give her a good scare, she did eventually back off. Now if I only had the nerve to put the car in reverse when someone is riding my ass on the highway…
Left foot breaking - Acelerate with your break lights on.
Works every time. If you know the exact point that the lights are on (or can see them in the rear window mid-breaklight) they don’t slow you up much. Soon enough there is more space and you’re not going much fast then before.
OR
I’ve NOT tried this, but think it would work: If you’re in a manual put it into reverrse with the clutch down (this bit is important) - We hey! White lights at the back.
Alternativly, if in England you can break suddenly (invent rabbit / fox excuse) & if HE drives into YOU it’s HIS fault, 'course, my car is 13 years old now so his damage would outweigh the value.
Which lane were you in? If you were in the left lane, you were being an asshole by blocking the passing lane. Sure, someone can pass you on the right, but they’re not supposed to, because it’s safer if everyone follows the “slow on the right, fast on the left” rules, since everyone knows what to expect. A polite driver who wants to pass will give you some time to pull your head out of your ass, and then will either flash their lights or start crowding you if you don’t move over. Expecting them to pass you on the right is rude.
Granted, some people’s idea of “crowding” is more extreme than others, and it’s very annoying and rude. If this happens to me and I’m in the wrong (i.e. I’m blocking a fast lane), I move to the right. If I’m not in the wrong, I start coasting and slowing down.
If you’re in a position where someone wants to pass you and they could pass you on the right, then you’re in the wrong lane and should move to the right. And if you find yourself on a deserted highway and you’re driving in the left lane, you’re being a jackass.
Haven’t done a whole lot of cross-country/highway driving, have you? Many of the state highways and even interstates have broken or bumpy pavement in the right lanes for miles upon miles. If the highway’s fairly empty and you’re doing the speed limit, there’s no reason you can’t spare your shocks and tailbone by driving in the left lane.
What I do with tailgaters? Slow down a few miles at a time until they pass. Simple as that.
Sorry, I should have qualified that. If you’re in the left lane for no reason other than you just feel like driving over there, you’re being a jackass. If you have reason (i.e. avoiding crappy pavement), it makes sense. But you should still move to the right if someone comes up behind you, rather than making them slow down and try to figure out whether they should go around you to the right.
The thing was, she had no intention of passing me. I did at one point move, and she didn’t pass me. I sped up at one point and she stayed where she was, until a few miles later when she was right behind me. To be honest, I think it was one of those cases where she didn’t know that she was doing it. She was driving down the road talking to her daughter and when there was a car in front of her she let off the gas. I don’t think she wanted to pass me, but not knowing that your tailgating is more dangerous then knowing that you’re doing it. At least when you do it purposley, you’re usually prepared to slam on your brakes if something happens.
If you’re on a four-lane highway, and can’t figure out what to do about a tailgater, I can’t help you here, so we’ll assume you are on a two-lane road with oncoming traffic in the other lane.
a) Wait until you can see pretty far ahead, there is no oncoming traffic, and you are in a passing zone.
b) Signal left, assuming you’re in the US or other drive-in-right-lane domain. If you’re in UK, signal right. Pull smoothly into the other lane, keeping one eye in rear-view mirror and one eye ahead for oncomine traffic.
c) Decelerate. Start your deceleration gently. Add more brake as you decelerate, but don’t try to bring the speed of the vehicle down to less than 2/3 of the speed you were going originally. This should be sufficient. Remember that you can decelerate more rapidly than you can accelerate, and the goal is not to park your car in the oncoming traffic lane!
d) Complete your UnPassing Maneuver. As the tailgaiter procedes past you, wait until that party’s rear wheels are visible in front of you, then signal right (UK = left). Pull smoothly back into your regular lane, and accelerate gradually back up to your normal cruising speed. Let the other party go on ahead; do not accelerate so as to be close on their tail, lest your actions precipitate panic and therefore unpredictable behavior on their part. You may even consider waving at them as they go past you.
