# 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:** 7
**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 23, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/121 "2005-05-23T23:45:25Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > We both agree that Semi Driver was wrong. However, him being wrong doesn’t make you right. You were both wrong. Factually, ethically, inarguably. I wasn’t. It was physically **impossible** for me to **safely** make way for him. It’s a fact, jack. Gotta love your blame-the-victim mentality that you cling to, though. You should be a rape counselor. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/122 "2005-05-23T23:50:17Z")
How was it impossible for you to increase your speed allowing you to merge right at the head of the line? ---
**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 23, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/123 "2005-05-23T23:53:35Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > How was it impossible for you to increase your speed allowing you to merge right at the head of the line? I was going at the highest rate of speed that was safe in my judgment already. I made the determination based on the road conditions, the handling of my vehicle, and my own knowledge of my driving abilities. In the curvy road conditions in that particular stretch, I don’t like to push my luck in a pickup. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/124 "2005-05-24T00:03:40Z")
Speed limit of 70. Right hand lane going somewhat less than 70. You in the left lane going 74. Semi going 80. Unless the semi driver was a total wackjob, driving an unsafe speed for the weather/road conditions, 80 was reasonable. It’s only 6 mph faster than you were going, after all. Perhaps if your vehicle can’t safely handle anything over 75, you shouldn’t attempt to pass a long blockage in the right going lessthan70, since it’s quite likely someone with better driving skills or a vehicle that won’t shimmy apart at speeds greater than 75 will come along to pass in the freaking passing lane. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/125 "2005-05-24T00:04:43Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > How can she _not_ slow down when you take your foot off the gas? I guarantee you that she would have, then you (or whover) could have just merged right and gotten on with your life. Are you saying that you are smarter than those stupid putzes who insist that, according to so-called scientific laws, that amazingly: – There is a physiological delay of up to half a second between a situation and reacting to it. Let’s call this variable “U”, for “U R A dumbass”. – Objects in motion relative to each other, in which the differential velocity between the two is parallel to the unit vector of the displacement between one object and the other, tend to approach each other at a definite speed. Let’s call the magnitude of this velocity S, for “Suck my cock”. – One can therefore calculate, the distance at which a collision is unavoidable, given by S \* U. – If we assume the deceleration, S, to be instantaneous (as well as the braking,) at 1 MPH and U to be .5 seconds, we get an unavoidable collision distance of approximately 8 inches. Okay, you win. I am not a good enough driver to tell the difference between a car tailing me at a foot versus at 8 inches. Sure, I can drive so that only the edge seam of my right tire goes over a gutter but apparently, when my life is at stake, I have a crazy desire to not assume I can measure distances 100% accurately 100% of the time. High school. Apparently it’s so unimportant that you forgot to take physics. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/126 "2005-05-24T00:41:37Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > I can’t say this any simpler. > > There is no such thing as tailgating in the left lane. If someone is ‘tailgating’ you in the left lane then you’re driving too slow. Get over. As I’ve stated before, I was _unable_ to move over, due to the location and speed of the blue truck. The “lady” riding my ass can just fucking sit back and wait as far as I’m concerned. And again, If I’m doing greater than or equal to the speed limit, anyone riding my ass can go fuck themselves. I’ll move over if I see someone gaining on me, and patiently waiting for me to do so. Riding of my ass, honking of the horn, and flashing of the lights annoy me and incur my ire. When someone appears out of nowhere and sits 2 feet off my rear bumper, 1. When they are that bloody close I _can’_ switch lanes safely and 2. Fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/127 "2005-05-24T00:45:57Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > . When someone appears out of nowhere and sits 2 feet off my rear bumper, 1. When they are that bloody close I _can’_ switch lanes safely and 2. Fuck 'em. Explain again how you knew that she was not responding to somekind of emergency. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/128 "2005-05-24T01:19:23Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > When they are that bloody close I _can’_ switch lanes safely Bullshit. If someone is two feet from your bumper and you ease off the accelerator (which, btw, is pretty far from instantaneously slowing down 1mph), they have plenty of time to slow down as long as they’re paying attention, as someone riding two feet from your bumper at 70mph must be doing by definition (or they’re going to hit you regardless of what you do). > [@](#): > > Fuck 'em. This is your rationale. Don’t try to bolster it with crocodile tears about safety when you’re out there actively cutting people off at 70mph. Nobody’s falling for it. The lady annoyed you with her overly-aggressive driving and you said, “fuck her”. The end. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/129 "2005-05-24T01:57:48Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Suddenly, out of the gloom, I see in my rearview mirror Evil Soccer Mom in SUV (ESM). So really, she didn’t appear out of nowhere… > [@CynicalGabe](#): > > In the slow lane, there is a blue pickup truck loaded down with a motorcycle in the backseat, the bed of the truck is so low you’d swear it was scraping the rear tires. **This truck is travelling at about the same speed as myself.** (bolding mine) So what were you doing in the left lane again…? > [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Blue Cool Dude is now sufficiently ahead of me that this maneouver is theoretically possible. So he’s travelling faster than you. In the slow lane. Gotcha. > [@CynicalGabe](#): > > The ESM is now in the fast lane behind a gold sedan. Blue Cool Dude is in the slow lane, almost next-to, but slightly behind the sedan. The sedan begins to pull away from Blue Cool Dude at a significant rate… Seems like gold sedan had the right idea. Get out of the way of faster moving traffic, and let an obvious road hazard pass him by. Sorry Gabe, but like you said, when you drive, you tend to be an asshole and an obstructionist. People are agreeing with you. I still say you were “wronger”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/130 "2005-05-24T02:29:16Z")
> [@galt](#): > > Bullshit. If someone is two feet from your bumper and you ease off the accelerator (which, btw, is pretty far from instantaneously slowing down 1mph), they have plenty of time to slow down as long as they’re paying attention. I don’t condone cutting people off, but I can tell from first-hand experience that it is pretty much an instantaneous slowing down of 1 mph. By the time they _notice_ it, and have a half-second to make their move, the car certainly will have slowed down by 1 mph if you take your foot all the way off the accelerator. Of course, with _two_ feet, by my calculations, which arent set in stone especially w/r/t the “u” variable\*, you’d be okay, but do you want to take the chance that they have natural reflexes of less than half a second, or it’s closer than 2 feet, or that they aren’t paying attention. Or even worse, they might be an asshole themselves and accelerating at the same time! \*Although, depending on what type of brain transaction, it can take an **average** of .2 to **1** seconds to process! [That’s why sometimes you see your hand pushing the door closed in your locked car with the keys in the ignition and you can’t do anything about it. The truth is that a different part of your brain didn’t have time to relay that information till it was too late, and later, the parts of the brain that put your experience into a timeline were fooled into thinking that the “warning” and the shutting were simultaneous.] ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/131 "2005-05-24T04:04:05Z")
As a driver and a pedestrian, I operate under one simple, basic rule “Do not ever force someone else to swerve, slow down or stop to avoid hitting you, because they might not.” On a few occasions where I have ignored this rule, much sadness ensued. I prefer driving in the left lane. In Texas, until just recently, the rule was “Slower traffic keep right”. In the last year, the signs have changed to “Left lane for passing only”. IMO, this puts undue wear and tear on the right lane necessitating more repairs to said lane, resulting in greater traffic congestion and potential for accidents. Frankly, if I’m in the left lane, I am more than happy to speed up and move over to let a faster vehicle pass. They make a great radar detector. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sharky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/132 "2005-05-24T04:14:38Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Did I miss a memo? Do two wrongs actually _make_ a right now? No, but three lefts do. ---
**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 24, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/133 "2005-05-24T12:31:45Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > Speed limit of 70. > > Right hand lane going somewhat less than 70. 'Bout 67, 68 as I recall. > [@](#): > > You in the left lane going 74. > > Semi going 80. > > Unless the semi driver was a total wackjob, driving an unsafe speed for the weather/road conditions, 80 was reasonable. It’s only 6 mph faster than you were going, after all. A Semi holds to the road better than a pick-up. A semi driver likely has more driving experience than myself. And he may well have been a total whackjob. > [@](#): > > Perhaps if your vehicle can’t safely handle anything over 75, you shouldn’t attempt to pass a long blockage in the right going lessthan70, since it’s quite likely someone with better driving skills or a vehicle that won’t shimmy apart at speeds greater than 75 will come along to pass in the freaking passing lane. You cruised right past ‘facetious’ territory and into grossly inaccurate assumptions. The vehicle can handle speeds over 75, and was in no danger of shimmying apart. _I_ can’t safely handle that _type_ of vehicle on _that_ segment of road at speeds much higher than 74. We have these things in West Virginia called ‘hills’’ - they’re large mounds of dirt. The road winds this way and that way as it passes through them. Some of the curves can be touchy, especially in a pickup at high speeds. Your opinion not withstanding, the fact remains I was being tailgated in the left lane without having done anything wrong, contrary to Uncommon Sense and Debaser’s assertions that that is impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/134 "2005-05-24T12:50:41Z")
Fuck all the rationalizations and weaselings. The OP and his supporters just don’t _want_ to let somebody else pass. That’s all. Why? Who knows? Not breast fed enough? Tiny genitalia? A domineering boss or spouse? Got pushed around in Junior High? In the end, I don’t really care why. I do know this: Your need to assert your dominance on the highway is wrong. You are placing your grubby little ego over the lives of others who aren’t involved. One night I spent nearly an hour searching with a flashlight in the weeds beside a highway for a kid’s head. He was a passenger in a car that was part of one of these “When an irresistable maniac meets an immovable asshole” situations. That was a little over 20 years ago. That kid would be an adult now. He’d have gone through school, maybe have kids of his own. He never got the chance, though, because there are dumbasses who just don’t fucking grasp that the purpose of cars and highways is to get from point A to point B, NOT to give their fucking pitiful ego some tiny particle of power. Fuck your highway games. Fuck your rationalizations. I hope nobody ends up in a bodybag or a wheelchair because of you. ---
**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 24, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/135 "2005-05-24T13:10:29Z")
That’s tragic, Scumpup, but I still believe the passive blocking of an aggressive driver provides the greatest safety in the long run for all involved. It’s not the sort of statistic we can objectively collect, unfortunately, but it’s my honest gut feeling, and I’ll continue to go with it. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/136 "2005-05-24T13:13:06Z")
**Candid, Gabe** , now I never said you should make an unsafe maneuver to ‘get over’. We’ve all been caught in the right lane at some point when we should have yielded to the faster auto, if you haven’t then you’re lying. You may be whipping along in the right lane coming up on slower traffic when you begin to merge into the left lane to pass, but, there is a guy behind you that is doing the same thing as you but at a higher rate of speed. He’s gonna catch you in the passing lane, it happens. Shouldn’t piss you off though. Shouldn’t cause your panties to get all twisted up. Just speed up a little and get over and quit acting like it’s some gawdawful impossible stunt. No reason to drag the driver trying to pass you (trying to pass someone else) into the pit for doing the same thing you’re doing only at a higher rate of speed. It isn’t that big a deal. I think what’s irritating many of the posters in this thread if your unwillingness to accept some of the blame. Again, not that it’s a big deal, but why post to a forum that others respond to if you’re not willing to concede a little, especially when you’re outnumbered 7-1. And what **Stranger** said too. PS If someone’s traveling too slow in the passing lane, I’ll pass them in the emergency lane and then swerve back into the left lane, cutting them off. Just Kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/137 "2005-05-24T13:19:14Z")
Whatever, CandidGamera. I’ve been to traffic school, I’ve been through several driving programs, and you are just flatly wrong; but I know that having your ego inextricably tangled with your vehicle will not permit you to acknowledge that. ---
**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 24, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/138 "2005-05-24T13:23:15Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > **Candid, Gabe** , now I never said you should make an unsafe maneuver to ‘get over’. We’ve all been caught in the right lane at some point when we should have yielded to the faster auto, if you haven’t then you’re lying. You may be whipping along in the right lane coming up on slower traffic when you begin to merge into the left lane to pass, but, there is a guy behind you that is doing the same thing as you but at a higher rate of speed. He’s gonna catch you in the passing lane, it happens. Shouldn’t piss you off though. Shouldn’t cause your panties to get all twisted up. Just speed up a little and get over and quit acting like it’s some gawdawful impossible stunt. No reason to drag the driver trying to pass you (trying to pass someone else) into the pit for doing the same thing you’re doing only at a higher rate of speed. It isn’t that big a deal. I think what’s irritating many of the posters in this thread if your unwillingness to accept some of the blame. Again, not that it’s a big deal, but why post to a forum that others respond to if you’re not willing to concede a little, especially when you’re outnumbered 7-1. > And what **Stranger** said too. > > PS > If someone’s traveling too slow in the passing lane, I’ll pass them in the emergency lane and then swerve back into the left lane, cutting them off. > Just Kidding. I wasn’t dragging anyone into the Pit, actually. And all my latest responses have been directed at your bold, incorrect assertion that “if you’re being tailgated in the left lane, you’re doing something wrong” - which, by my count, isn’t benefiting from a 7 to 1 ratio, more like 2 vs. 2. Maybe I missed somebody. As for the opinions-at-large regarding passive blocking of aggressive drivers - I’ve got my opinion, which support’s Gabe’s action, and only came here to give him a thumbs-up. I really don’t give a rat’s ass what the rest of you think on the subject. ---
**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 24, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/139 "2005-05-24T13:25:56Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Whatever, CandidGamera. I’ve been to traffic school, I’ve been through several driving programs, and you are just flatly wrong; but I know that having your ego inextricably tangled with your vehicle will not permit you to acknowledge that. Then post some facts. Start with number of accidents caused by failure to yield to a tailgater. Then number of accidents prevented by refusal to yield to a tailgater. Then psychological profiles that show trends indicating whether or not being blocked increases, decreases, or has no effect on an aggressive driver’s tendency to tailgate. What’s that you say? You don’t have those facts? No one does? That’s what I thought. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750/140 "2005-05-24T13:33:33Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > No room to slide in amongst them with a sufficient safety margin on both sides. Since when did this become a for concern you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bwaha-drivers-cooperate-against-tailgater/304750.md?page=8)