# BWAHA: Driver's cooperate against tailgater! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 20, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750 "2005-05-20T15:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/21 "2005-05-20T17:25:25Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > This was a group of people, likely otherwise law-abiding, engaging in a high-speed shoving match because of nothing but ego. Neither the OP nor Blue Truck Dood would have been victimized in any way just by letting the woman in the SUV pass. 1. Its “Blue Cool Dude”. I expect my nicknames to be respected. 🙂 2. You’re right about it being a high-speed, egotistical shoving match. Once again, I didn’t say it was a good thing. But it was funny at the time, and thats why I wrote about it. Please, no preaching about “its always funny 'till someone gets hurt”. I already know. 3. Kids, don’t try this at home. 4. I’m leaving town today, and will have no internet access until Sunday night. That is why I won’t respond any more for a few days. I’ll be back to defend myself then. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/22 "2005-05-20T17:26:38Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Incorrect, I think. Following too closely is, at the very least, a citable traffic violation. Coupling that with the high speed involved, and you have a good case for Reckless Endangerment. Just because there’s no victim doesn’t mean I am obligated to facilitate your behavior, especially when it’s proscribed by regulation. > > Bullies are bullies, whether behind the wheel or on foot. Displaying aggression in an attempt to intimidate someone into yielding to your will is bullying at its purest. What do you do for a living? State trooper? Deputy sheriff? Police officer? If the answer isn’t any of these, then it isn’t your job to try to enforce safe behavior on the part of others on the highway. If everybody worries about his own driving, drive defensively, and leaves it at that, fewer people will end up in in plastic-lined nylon bags. I guarantee it. Do you honestly believe that SUV woman is going to change her driving habits because of this? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/23 "2005-05-20T17:27:29Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Robbers? Warring nations? “Obstructing aggression?” Please. Get over yourself. > > If they’d ended up in three-vehicle accident at highway speeds then it would be a righteous blow against the evils of tailgating? And if another vehicle was involved the accident, they’d be just another noble martyr for the cause? > > Do yourself and everyone on the road a favor and get some perspective. Cars are not toys. Traffic is not a game. Enough people get hurt and die on the road without self-appointed vigilanties creating even more dangerous situations. On the contrary, I think it lessens the dangerous situation created by the tailgater. But hey, do as you like. I just don’t recommend tailgating me if you’re trying to get somewhere fast. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/24 "2005-05-20T17:29:51Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > What do you do for a living? State trooper? Deputy sheriff? Police officer? If the answer isn’t any of these, then it isn’t your job to try to enforce safe behavior on the part of others on the highway. If everybody worries about his own driving, drive defensively, and leaves it at that, fewer people will end up in in plastic-lined nylon bags. I guarantee it. > > Do you honestly believe that SUV woman is going to change her driving habits because of this? And if I were actively trying to pass her, get in front of her, slow her down, this might be an accurate analogy. And to be fair, Gabe did say he had that idea. That’s not what I’m doing. Me, I’m just not cooperating with her. It’s like passive resistance. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/25 "2005-05-20T17:37:59Z")
You still haven’t explained how it harms anybody to simply let somebody who is hell-bent on passing do so. Whether actively preventing it or through what characterize as “passive resistance”, I don’t see the overall level of highway safety increased. What I do see, is you have somebody behind you who is likely getting increasingly angry. The angrier that person gets, the higher the potential for somebody needing scraped off the highway becomes. To this, I will add that interfering with the “aggressive” driver presumes perfect knowledge on your part. How do you know why that person wants to pass? Maybe it’s ego. Maybe it’s a trip to the emergency room because s/he just found out a spouse has been admitted. I’m not psychic, so I can’t tell those things. When somebody is driving agressively, I just get out of the way as safely as possible and let them rush to meet their fate. ---
**Author:** ![EarthStone777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@EarthStone777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarthStone777)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/26 "2005-05-20T17:39:49Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > This was a group of people, likely otherwise law-abiding, engaging in a high-speed shoving match because of nothing but ego. > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I see this kind of nonsense on the 10 everyday too and from work. Two jackasses, each trying to block the other from getting ahead, swerving in and out of traffic. Somehow I failed to notice any _high-speed shoving match_ or _two jackasses swerving in and out of traffic_ mentioned anywhere in the OP. All that people did was either speed up or slow down to teach a lesson to one jackass. Everyone else involved was described as driving sanely and within (or nearly within) the speedlimit. (70 in a 65 is a normal speed near me although I don’t know if it is where ever the OP took place). The only one doing any dangerous driving was the ESM by tailgating and driving much faster than 70 in a 65 zone. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/27 "2005-05-20T17:41:40Z")
> [@EarthStone777](#): > > All that people did was either speed up or slow down to teach a lesson to one jackass. We’re back to the idea that “teaching lessons” isn’t part of safe driving. It’s ego. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/28 "2005-05-20T17:49:53Z")
As dangerous things that really should not have been done go, this one’s pretty awesome. Go Blue Cool Dude. ---
**Author:** ![EarthStone777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@EarthStone777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarthStone777)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/29 "2005-05-20T17:53:24Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > We’re back to the idea that “teaching lessons” isn’t part of safe driving. It’s ego. On the contrary, I always act as if everyone would do the same as me. If everyone who tailgated was blocked from passing, then they would learn not to tailgate. … Uh, so Yes, I agree with you. I am teaching a lesson. Where I disagree is that my doing it is dangerous. I would never doing anything reckless while doing it. Pacing the guy to my right usually involves slowing down to the speed limit (as I said, I’m usually 5 MPH over it), I would not swerve or suddenly change lanes, or do anything else unreasonable. As for the jerk recieving the lesson, ze was already driving recklessly, speeding and tailgating. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/30 "2005-05-20T17:55:43Z")
As much as I sympathize with putting dangerous drivers in their place, this kind of activity has no place on the highway. When I buckle my kids in the car, I don’t want people playing games like this on the highway. Let her pass, and perhaps you’d have had the greater satisfaction of seeing her pulled over. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/31 "2005-05-20T17:56:48Z")
> [@EarthStone777](#): > > On the contrary, I always act as if everyone would do the same as me. > > If everyone who tailgated was blocked from passing, then they would learn not to tailgate. > > … Uh, so Yes, I agree with you. I am teaching a lesson. Where I disagree is that my doing it is dangerous. I would never doing anything reckless while doing it. Pacing the guy to my right usually involves slowing down to the speed limit (as I said, I’m usually 5 MPH over it), I would not swerve or suddenly change lanes, or do anything else unreasonable. > > As for the jerk recieving the lesson, ze was already driving recklessly, speeding and tailgating. Is there such a term as “passive-aggressive driver?” I think we need one if there isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/32 "2005-05-20T18:12:33Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > You still haven’t explained how it harms anybody to simply let somebody who is hell-bent on passing do so. It encourages aggressive driving. If aggressive driving is a successful tactic - IE, people get out of your way - then more people will do it. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/33 "2005-05-20T18:14:27Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > It encourages aggressive driving. If aggressive driving is a successful tactic - IE, people get out of your way - then more people will do it. That’s an explanation. Not one that I’m buying into, but an explanation. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/34 "2005-05-20T18:16:10Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > 1. I don’t consider going over the speed limit to be “moseying”. If someone else doesn’t think its fast enough, fuck 'em. It’s not your job to be policing the speed limit. If I’m in the fast lane, and I see someone barreling up my ass, I just move over. Then again, this rarely happens to me as I’m never in the fast lane unless I am actually passing traffic. That’s what the leftmost lane is for. The only time I ever get pissed off is when I’m passing up a semi-truck and somebody hugs my bumper. _There’s no place for me to fucking go!_. That may warrant me taking a little longer than usual to pass. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/35 "2005-05-20T18:20:48Z")
I was all set to bash the OP but I was disarmed by its resemblance to a modern day faerie tale. I’m afraid all I can muster is a finger wag. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/36 "2005-05-20T18:41:50Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > On the contrary, I think it lessens the dangerous situation created by the tailgater. How? Did the maneuvers in the OP stop this woman from tailgating and driving dangerously? No. They only prodded her on to greater speed, more tailgating, and more aggressive driving. Soon, everybody’s going faster than they ought to, jockeying for position, switching lanes back and forth, and all because some idiot with her hair on fire is late to pick her brats up from soccer practice and some assholes don’t want to let her get around them. Do you think she left the encounter thinking, “Oh, my! Slower drivers did not let me pass and that man gave me the naughty finger! Oh heavens, I shall never tailgate again!” Probably not. It’s a darn crying shame but there is no sure, safe way to serve justice to rude drivers, but life ain’t fair. If you think someone’s reckless driving is dangerous to others on the road, make note of their license plate number, pull over in a safe area, and call 911. But that’s not nearly as fun or macho as playing games with them, is it? > [@](#): > > But hey, do as you like. I just don’t recommend tailgating me if you’re trying to get somewhere fast. I don’t tailgate. I just hope that you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else when you decide that it is your duty as a citizen to punish aggressive drivers by driving dangerously yourself. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/37 "2005-05-20T19:06:59Z")
Who said that what happened is being touted as the solution for tailgaters? I read it as the OP relating a story about an incident that he was involved in. I doubt that anyone is advocating playing ego games with other drivers at high speed. That would be irresponsible, no? My take on it was that **cynicalgabe** was pleased that Cool Blue Dude _worked_ with him–they were on the same wave length–and brought about a result that warms all our hearts: the foiling of an asshat driver. Am I missing something? Where does it say: do this, be like me, take risks behind the wheel? Why do these threads turn into arguments? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/38 "2005-05-20T19:19:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s not your job to be policing the speed limit. I stopped back home briefly after class to grab my duffel bag and get my fix of Dope for the weekend, so I am in a hurry and will jsut say this: How is refusing to facilitate the breaking of the law by others “policing”? ---
**Author:** ![empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/empty_filing_cabinet)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/39 "2005-05-20T19:26:04Z")
Interesting variety of offenses. Let’s see, if we leave out driving attitude, and consider only driving maneuvers in the abstract, which is worse: tailgating, or not passing in the passing lane? I think tailgating is worse. The tailgater puts you at risk, and you have no control over the risk. By comparison, a car clogging the passing lane generally does not put you at risk, unless you (or somebody else …) do something stupid. But I bet ESM still has no idea why she got the gesture. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/40 "2005-05-20T19:29:22Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > It encourages aggressive driving. If aggressive driving is a successful tactic - IE, people get out of your way - then more people will do it. I hate to tell you this but what you and Blue Cool Dude were doing is also agressive driving. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750.md?page=3)