# Braking to teach a tailgater a "lesson" ends in two deaths. I pit everyone involved. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 12, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813 "2007-04-12T16:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/61 "2007-04-12T23:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] [Grammar Advisory]The pedal you step on to slow down and/or piss someone off is the **brakes**. When you flip over, are ejected and die, is the **breaks**. We now return you to a Pit Thread, already in progress. [/Grammar Advisory] [/QUOTE] I know, I know. Even the linked articles can’t get it right. It makes my prescriptivist soul sicken a little each time. But for Gaudere’s sake, it’s really a _spelling_ issue; “breaks” in this usage is still a plural noun. Them’s the breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/62 "2007-04-12T23:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] Sebring people owned a rottie? That pretty much puts the finishing touches on the aggressive nutjob sterotype duddnit? [/QUOTE] I bet he was a cat declawing Pubbie too. You were joking, right? Bringing in topics of older kerfuffles in an attempt to mock this one in progress, right? Right? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/63 "2007-04-13T00:25:36Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Even if the pickup driver braked “to teach the other drive[r] a lesson about tailgating” the Sebring driver should have been able to keep control of his car. In other words, was the pickup driver liable for braking suddenly? (He might have been driving recklessly prior to that, but was he at fault for braking? [/QUOTE] What planet are you driving on? In almost any large city in the United States during rush hour you could slam on your brakes and kill or maim the driver following you. Since when is this justifiable in any case? 95% of people do not follow the “2 second rule” because it is simply not practical and nobody but a homicidal asshole will slam on their brakes to teach someone a lesson. I pray that you do not live in California. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/64 "2007-04-13T00:44:25Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Point is, if you want to lessen your chances of dying a horrible death, wear your seat belt. Oh, and don’t get into a car with a machismo-fueled road rager. All three had some blame in the situation, some more than others. But there is just no excuse for not wearing your seat belt. She could be alive right now if she had done that one simple act of personal responsibility. We are all in charge of our own personal safety. [/QUOTE] The point is that you, **nyctea scandiaca** , started pitting this women while they were probably still scrapping her off the roadway. Tell me, when you watched those films in driver’s ed, did you notice how you were the only one laughing? Sure, she illustrates your point that people are responsible for their own safety but PITTING her before her body even cools to ambient temperature just shows what a royal cunt you are. It’s not enough that she is dead. It’s not enough that for probably the last several minutes of her life were filled with terror. You are superior to her, so you get to piss on her mangled body because she didn’t wear a seat belt. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/65 "2007-04-13T13:29:38Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] My first thought? GREAT! It’s always some slick-haired yuppie hotshot driving a convertible that tailgates, swerves in and out of traffic even though it’s rush hour, goes 90 even though it’s pouring rain or snow. And you know what? It’s always some frosted bimbo riding shotgun, enabling by the bastard by being his girlfriend and stoking his ego. Time to die! [/QUOTE] My thoughts exactly. And what if two minutes later the dead asshole had caused a wreck and a really innocent person died? What if you had the proverbial crystal ball and knew for a fact the dead guy was going to cause a wreck two miles down the road that killed a family of four? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/66 "2007-04-13T14:15:33Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] My thoughts exactly. [/QUOTE] Someone is in accord with **VCO3** on this point, based on the evidence available to us? Man, the superflu is overdue; population density is making people batshit crazy, and we need some thinning out. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/67 "2007-04-13T14:24:34Z")
[QUOTE=Wolfian] I bet he was a cat declawing Pubbie too. You were joking, right? Bringing in topics of older kerfuffles in an attempt to mock this one in progress, right? Right? [/QUOTE] Well…only kinda joking. But my warped sense of morbidity wants to see if one or the other of them did indeed own a cat…if so I’ll put money on the declawing issue. Bet the Sebring couple both had tattoos too. And there was a gun rack and NRA sticker in the truck window. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/68 "2007-04-13T14:33:12Z")
All, Break: is what the the driver’s head did Brake: is what stops a car ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/69 "2007-04-13T14:40:42Z")
Someone driving a car too fast and reckless is no different than someone waving a gun and shooting it around. They are risking other peoples lives unnecessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/70 "2007-04-13T15:08:50Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] You are superior to her, so you get to piss on her mangled body because she didn’t wear a seat belt. [/QUOTE] I never said any of that. I only said that if you want to decrease your chances of dying in a car crash, wear a seat belt. Let her death be a lesson to everyone who doesn’t buckle up. Then maybe she will not have died in vain. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/71 "2007-04-13T15:59:36Z")
Bullshit. Fist off, you started a PIT thread. This isn’t MPSIMS. Did you put this here by accident? No you did not. [QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Lastly, I pit the couple in the convertible for not wearing seat belts, especially in a convertible whilst participating in this road rage incident. In this day in age,\*\* how stupid \*\* do you have to be NOT to wear your seat belt? [/QUOTE] Then there is this gem. [QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Point is, if you want to lessen your chances of dying a horrible death, wear your seat belt. Oh, and don’t get into a car with a machismo-fueled road rager. [/QUOTE] Here, you blame the woman for her own death for her poor choice of boyfriend. Do you have any proof that he engaged in this sort of behavior all the time? No, you don’t. You came across a news article that you thought proved your point about not tapping the brakes on tailgates, which it wasn’t, and came here and pitted the one live person and two dead people. You sit there clucking your tongue and shaking your head and you say “I don’t understand why people don’t wear a seat belt”. The answer is that for one thing, wearing a seat belt is not a bit of knowledge a person is born having. It has to be learned. Yes, there are somethings, some very important things, that people don’t learn in their life time. Secondly, when a young couple starts off on a romantic weekend, death is the last thing on their minds. The 'in this day and age part is really ridiculous. People didn’t wear them when the windshield was plate glass, the dashboard, was metal, there were no anti-lock brakes or airbags. What makes you think that they are going to wear them now? Of course, nobody bothered to answer your question because everyone knew it was rhetorical. You were only using the question to call the dead stupid and to give yourself a tiny bit of reassurance that you won’t die in a horrible car accident because you always buckle up. You may have never actually wrote the words, “I am superior to her” but your every posts says it for you. ---
**Author:** ![guppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@guppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guppy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/72 "2007-04-13T16:04:19Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Fist off [/QUOTE] You fist off. Sorry, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/73 "2007-04-13T16:36:41Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] Whoa there, Bruce, “tapping on your brakes to teach a tailgater a lesson” _is_ Road Rage. [/QUOTE] Whoa, yerownself! Since when is a tap of the brakes, which flashes your brake lights but doesn’t do much to slow your car, “road rage?” It’s not like you have a horn back there you can tap to communicate your concern that he his following too close. I prefer slowly removing my foot from the pedal until I’m going so slow he passes me. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/74 "2007-04-13T16:55:15Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] They road raged each other? I’m Shocked…! _your winnings, monsieur…_ [/QUOTE] I love you. > [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > But there is just no excuse for not wearing your seat belt. Road head. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/75 "2007-04-13T16:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] The answer is that for one thing, wearing a seat belt is not a bit of knowledge a person is born having. It has to be learned. Yes, there are somethings, some very important things, that people don’t learn in their life time. [/QUOTE] Wearing a seat belt is common sense. It is also the law in many states, including Maryland (and there are signs everywhere, so there is no “ignorance” defense). So, if you lack common sense and personal responsibility, and you don’t follow the law, the your chances of dying in a crash increase. That is not my opinion, it is a fact. Sadly, because this girl didn’t learn that lesson in her lifetime, her lifetime was cut drastically short. That should serve as a lesson to everyone to buckle up. On a sidenote, this is one less couple who will have kids who they don’t buckle up, and who they don’t teach to buckle up, and on and on. The cycle of ignorance is cut short, and hopefully others take this as an example. [QUOTE=Zebra] Secondly, when a young couple starts off on a romantic weekend, death is the last thing on their minds… [/quote] Well, putting your seat belt on immediately when you get in a car should be the first thing on anyone’s mind, regardless of whether they’re a young couple going on a romantic trip, or an old couple just going up the street. [QUOTE=Zebra] What makes you think that they are going to wear them now? [/quote] Because it’s the law? Because we, as a society in 2007, know better? Because in general, people don’t want to die in horrible car accidents? For the same reason that people thought smoking was good for you 50 years ago and now we know it is unhealthy? I did pit everyone involved, but yes, the girl was the least culpable of them all. I admit that the fact that she was not wearing a seat belt lessens my sympathy for her. In fact, when I read about people dying in car accidents who were not wearing a seat belt, I always feel less sympathy for them. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/76 "2007-04-13T16:56:02Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] You sit there clucking your tongue and shaking your head and you say “I don’t understand why people don’t wear a seat belt”. The answer is that for one thing, wearing a seat belt is not a bit of knowledge a person is born having. It has to be learned. [/QUOTE] You’re right. While she was old enough that she ought to have figured it out for herself, she should have been taught it by her parents. By the time my own kids were 3 or 4 years old, not only did they know that they should wear seatbelts, but they were uncomfortable not wearing seatbelts: they would demand to be buckled up, and didn’t understand why they didn’t wear seatbelts riding on a bus. > [@](#): > > “How could something so stupid lead to this?” Charles Bender, Lindsay’s father, said last night in a phone interview. Well, if Charles had taught Lindsay to wear seatbelts as a young girl, perhaps his daughter would still be alive. No, he’s not a bad person – but (at least in this respect) he is a stupid person. Unfortunately, this kind of stupidity is very common. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/77 "2007-04-13T18:49:09Z")
Wow, the stupidity affects even our top government officials: [Injured NJ governor apparently did not wear seat belt](http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070413/NEWS03/70413005): > [@](#): > > A spokesman for New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Friday said that it didn’t appear the governor was wearing a seat belt during a crash that left him critically injured. > > Corzine was in the front passenger’s seat of a sport utility vehicle driven by a state trooper when a white pickup truck swerved to avoid a red pickup truck that had moved onto the highway from the shoulder, State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said Thursday. The white pickup hit the passenger side of the SUV, sending it skidding into a guardrail. The red pickup left the scene. And he was in a car being driven by a state trooper!! :dubious: Wow. Just wow. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/78 "2007-04-13T19:49:52Z")
Damn, I wanted to come in here to post about the idiot Governor, first. Seriously, I don’t see anything wrong with Pitting stupid behavior, even if the person being Pitted for it was killed in a horrible way, in part because of that stupid behavior. It doesn’t change that the behavior was stupid, especially when it is a relatively common behavior. ETA: Isn’t NJ a mandatory seat belt state? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/79 "2007-04-13T19:51:55Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] ETA: Isn’t NJ a mandatory seat belt state? [/QUOTE] Yes and for a very long time now. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813/80 "2007-04-17T23:11:22Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Wow, the stupidity affects even our top government officials: [Injured NJ governor apparently did not wear seat belt](http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070413/NEWS03/70413005): And he was in a car being driven by a state trooper!! :dubious:. [/QUOTE] [And the trooper was doing 91 in a 65 zone](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4724004.html). Meeting with Imus and the basketballers was really _that_ important? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/braking-to-teach-a-tailgater-a-lesson-ends-in-two-deaths-i-pit-everyone-involved/399813.md?page=3)