I had about enough of pinheaded bullies in pickup trucks.

The BBQ Pit
41

I live in a mostly rural county and there are a lot of pickups on the road. We own one - mostly for hauling stuff to the dump or when we buy lumber and such for projects, but that’s neither here nor there.

Back when I drove a Scion and today in my Sonata, the vast majority of drivers who tailgate, then whip around me on the country roads are in pickups. No, I don’t poke along, tho I won’t go more than 10MPH over the limit, especially at night. Doesn’t matter - apparently them folks in them trucks have places to be, like right in front of me at the next stoplight. They may not be bullies, but I can’t say they’re not pinheads…

42

The funny thing is, Pittsburgh drivers as a group are about as chill and courteous as they come, in my experience. Letting people merge etc. is standard, whereas in many other places I’ve lived or traveled trying to merge or make certain turns required a willingness to sustain body-work damage of varying degrees. Some of my friends originating from New England and Chicago have expressed a fear that they will not be able to effectively function in traffic if/when they return.

43

Makes you homicidal, does it?

44

“If anyone says he hates violence more than I do, well,
he’d better have a knife is all I’m saying.”

Jack Handey

.

45

Here ya go:

Scumpup…who or what is he/she?

Who wants me to go away?

The guy clearly has some very serious anger management issues, as illustrated in the OP and in many other threads, and for recreation amuses himself by saying utterly vile things to anonymous people on the internet. I’m horrified that this guy has been allowed anywhere around children, especially special needs ones, regardless of the fact that he claims to be good with them. It’s obvious his own self-assessment can’t be trusted.

46

My driving situation is kinda strange. I’m either dodging deer or log trucks. I get road rage over the deer. And yes, I really do want them dead. They are actively trying to kill me, that’s my reason…
There are just 1000s of pickups here in the backwoods of Arkansas. I’m sure some are pinheaded but mostly they are just working stiffs. It’s the teens and young men who get red-necked and ass-y driving pickups, in my experience. I just ignore them.

47

It’s hard for me to have much sympathy for Scumpup, considering other things I’ve seen him post. But I do have sympathy for the originating topic, regardless of the originator, and I do have sympathy for the students/clients who are subjected to the misbehavior of those drivers of trucks (as opposed to Truck Drivers) that the OP keeps encountering. I wonder if the OP is repeatedly encountering the same (or same set of) drivers.

A dash cam is definitely a prudent idea – and could probably be written off as a business expense. You’ll want to learn to operate it from either front seat. Reaching forward from a back seat seems like a really stupid idea, especially when an inexperienced driver is at the wheel. :eek:

Around the Lost Angels area, it’s tough to merely change lanes without a gun-fight; tailgating is considered the right way to drive. On the other hand, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles website has an on-line form where you can report dangerous drivers and polluting cars. I haven’t used it in over a decade, but maybe they’ve updated it so you can upload video and license-plate images that support your case. Especially-shitty drivers are# required to renew their license in-person rather than just via mail/website.
Not that this is a defense of the shitty behavior of those drivers of trucks, but I thought this might be a decent post in which to explain the issue of perspective and perception:
The essence is that the farther you are from the ground…

  1. the farther ahead you can see
  2. the slower you perceive yourself to be traveling

This is something I was taught in high school Drivers’ Education class and again in the Basic Motorcycle Training Course given* by the National Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Nevertheless, a lot of drivers don’t comprehend this, and their driving habits are correspondingly bad.

In practical terms, what it means is that, because the operator of a motorcycle or a truck, particularly those huge “compensator” trucks, sits higher off the road than the drivers of the average sedan, that driver can see farther ahead (over the tops of other cars) and believes he is traveling at a less-dangerous speed in relation to the surrounding landscape (and traffic). A lot of drivers in such a situation will unconsciously respond by driving faster to ‘get back to’ that sensation of speed that they consider(ed) normal from the perspective of a sedan. Plus, since they can see the road ahead from over the tops of surrounding cars, they often feel they will be able to perceive and react-to impending danger sooner and, therefore, they start feeling comfortably safe about driving faster than everyone else anyway. Those two psychological adjustments make a very dangerous combination; motorcycle$ and truck operators really do tend to drive more dangerously (faster, tailgating more, etc.) than the drivers of the average sedan.

Again, I’m not justifying or excusing the behavior. However, if you can understand someone’s misperception and the causes thereof, you might also find yourself able to forgive the person and accommodate their idiocy before it becomes a hazard to you or a legal/medical problem.

I’m very sure I wouldn’t need that knife – largely because I’m such a pacifist. Plus, I’m very non-competitive – really, I swear.

In fact I bet I’m less competitive than you!

–G!

*Well, not given; I had to pay for the class…
#or WERE, back when I was filing my reports. I suspect it was somehow based on the number of reports and citations, which is why I wonder if the OP might be encountering repeat-offenders.
$prudent motorcycle operators will off-set the sense-of-speed issue with the realization that they have a lot less protective material surrounding them than “cagers” have and, ideally, they’ll slow down accordingly.

48

A few observations.

  1. Tailgating is boorish and stupid and I have been been tempted to jam the brakes but that is playing a dangerous game that endangers more than just the offending vehicle. It is particularly irksome in heavy traffic when I can’t readily move to another lane and there are slower cars ahead of me.

  2. I find, though, that it isn’t just pick-up trucks. Some of the worst offenders are drivers in pricey vehicles whose attitude reflects their general attitude that we proles should stay out of their space.

  3. OTOH I understand the frustration of trailing a vehicle that doesn’t even drive the speed limit, especially on a primary road. I believe Washington state has a law that requires a vehicle to pull over if there it being trailed by more than five other cars. IMHO that should be the law everywhere.

  4. Quite often these pokey drivers are oldsters. Before you scream ageism, I’m 72 and when I get to the point where I’m too frightened to drive the speed limit, I’ll stay off of well traveled roads. I have no hard evidence but I suspect that many of these folks are “stay off my lawn” types. This suspicion is increased when the old dudes speed up when we get to a passing lane.

  5. Despite the fact that I usually travel 5-9 miles over the speed limit, occasionally a vehicle will appproach rapidly from behind. Even if the vehicle doesn’t tailgate, if we are on a two lane highway, I will pull over and let the other car pass. I picked this up when traveling in western Canada back in the 90s. It seemed like the polite thing to do.

49

And here I thought the thread was going to be suggestion of just what sort of vehicle pinheaded bullies ought to drive.

You know, like those Jeeps with 50 cal. machine guns in the back? Or Big Wheel Monster Cars?

50

When I took my traffic safety course (in Washington) that was given as the rule, yes. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean people actually follow it. :frowning:

51

Someone much nicer than me said this when one of the regular assholes started a thread in the Pot to bitch about something.

It’s not an exact quote, but the essence was that the person’s online persona made any sort of sympathy difficult.

52

Heck, there have been times when I moved the left to let someone pass. I used to drive a nifty little Toyota Tercel (and would be driving it still if some hit-and-run asshole hadn’t totaled it) and typically stayed at or slightly below the speed limits on highways if driving during a winter night because I while I liked and trusted my Tercel (which, if human, would have been almost old enough to rent a car of its own), I didn’t feel like tempting fate.

Anyway, if the road was otherwise empty and an 18-wheeler started gaining on me, I would on occasion move to the left lane and slow down a little, letting the truck pass me without the driver having to change lanes or speeds, then I’d settle back in behind him on the right and resume travelling at the speed limit. I would only do this if I was certain the left lane was completely clear as far back as I could see.

I suppose this was risky if someone was coming up fast in the left lane and had no lights on at all. Still, I lived to tell the tale and now with my newish Rogue, I have more options.

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I had about enough of pinheaded bullies in pickup trucks.

How do you feel about Snakes on Planes?