I’ll sometimes try to get around people even though I know it won’t actually gain me anything. If I’ve got my nose stuck in the ass end of an SUV or a delivery truck, or the person in front is tippy-tapping their brakes every 2.1 seconds, or is wildly varying speed, it’s a lot more comfortable for me to get in front of them, even if all it means is that I’m the one in front at the next ten stoplights.
EGGS-actly!
If the asshole is going to drive five feet from my rear bumper no matter what, then i figure it’s safer if this is occurring at 30mph rather than at 50mph.
Also, the OP never slowed down; s/he simply refused to speed up.
Typical fucked up safety nazi response.
Slowing down (in this case lets say, oh, down to 15 mph) becomes hugely dangerous for several reasons. Tail gater may feel safer (and now even more justified) to close in. They may try to pass (and by passing I mean cutting you off to within an inch of your bumper). They may also take this as a big “fuck you” and just decide to shoot you.
I dont slow down for anyone tailgating me. I don’t react at all because the safest response is to keep your attention focused to stuff in front of you. Fucking with the guy behind you does nothing but endanger everyone else you’re fucking ignoring because you’re busy playing “fuck with the tailgater”. Getting nailed from behind (no pun intended) is far safer than bothering too much with the guy behind you only to smack into a parked car (and I’ve actually SEEN this happen).
Y’know, you can slow down without removing your attention from the road in front of you. I’ve actually seen it happen.
I have been rear ended a number of times. In learning from my errors as a young driver I realized a few things about driving safely. A safe driver doesn’t just pay attention to what is going on in front of her. A safe driver pays attention to what is going on in all directions. Pointing your nose straight ahead and ignoring the driver behind you is about the stupidest thing in the world you can do when driving. That is the way to get in an accident.
I don’t play “fuck with the tailgater”. I play “lets not get in an accident if I can avoid it”. If I am going to get nailed from behind I would much rather it happen at a lower speed then a higher one.
I don’t understand people like you who think that every action someone takes is purposely designed to annoy you or fuck with you. If I choose to slow down it is my decision based on the driving conditions, much like I might slow down if it is raining or if it deer season
In my neighborhood, we seem to have a lot of control-freaks who DO deliberately fuck with anyone they perceive as being a “tailgater”, or often apparently just because they don’t want anyone to pass them. I have seen people hit the brakes hard for no reason, just to “punish” the person behind them; I’ve seen people deliberately align themselves with the car in the next lane just to prevent anyone from passing; and I’ve seen people deliberately wait at green lights, or take off at a painstakingly slow pace, just to “punish” a car behind them that they perceive as approaching too quickly (Only to floor it once the other car gets in a position where they can pass.) Of course, these actions often have the effect of making the situation more dangerous. For example, if you’re at a light that just turned green, and a car is approaching from behind, that driver is probably anticipating that you will start moving, and so by the time they catch up to you, you should already be in motion. But if you fuck with them and deliberately slow your pace so that they catch up too quickly, then YOU are creating the dangerous situation. I’ve seen it a million times.
YMMV.
Oh, and in anticipation of all who are going to say, “Well you don’t know that’s what they’re doing”, I say bullshit. We’re all intelligent human beings here (hopefully), and we can all tell when someone is fucking with us, or fucking with someone else.
blowero, I don’t see anyone advocating the behaviors you describe in your post. Doing any of the things you mention is stupid and dangerous.
OTOH slowing down to a safer speed when someone is tailgating you is just common sense.
Where did I say anyone here was advocating it?
I was responding to GoingToCalifornia’s
If you’re too busy worrying about the tailgating car, you’re worrying about the least dangerous issue. Yes, you can slow down if you’re approaching something that might hit you (I always slow down going around large vehicles I can’t see around) but slowing down because there’s a car behind you is really dumb.
Hey, isn’t that fucking funny to hear? I’ve never been rear ended nor have I ever rear ended someone. Yet I drive fast.
Funny you give this sort of advice while you youself admit to getting into accidents. Shit, I’ve driven a good 400,000 KM in everything from a full size car (Bonneville) to a small station wagon (Matrix). I’ve raced on tracks, raced on the highway, autox and I’m in Toronto were the winters make the roads into ice rinks. I’ve never hit a person/car/cat/dog (although I did hit a bird in my mini-van once).
People like you giving advice about accident avoidance is a fucking joke. Stay off the road. I could cause (rear hit) accidents to if I wanted to, regardless if the driver behind me is tailgating or not.
OK, I was with you, you were doing the right thing, until this point. I assume the road you pulled onto was two lanes in both directions? If so, and you turned left onto this road, you would be in the left lane, and then immediately move to the right. If it was a right turn, you should have turned into the right lane and stayed there. Why “get into the left lane”, where you shouldn’t be, and make him pass on the right.
If you’re in England or Japan, etc., please completely disregard this post.
I noticed people giving me odd looks the other day as I waited for the crosswalk light at Forsyth and Central in Clayton, as if to say, “What are you standing there for? Play chicken with the buses! It’s fun!”
Something similar to the OP happened to me recently. I was driving on a residential street (In Webster Groves, Bompart between Kirkham and Lockwood) when some jagoff in an SUV decided to ride my ass. After about 10 seconds, he got impatient with me - driving 25 in a residential area, the nerve I had! - and passed me, going over the double yellow line.
… Just as a cop car pulled out of a side street to catch him.
Ah, sweet, sweet justice. Every once in a while, you get to see it for yourself. 
I have to agree with badmana. First we get this:
(bolding mine)
And then this:
I get the mental image of GoingToCalifornia while driving:
“Oh, crap! I just missed my exit. Lets slam the brakes without looking if anybody is following.”
CRASH! BANG! SLAM!
“Curse those tailgaters! I got rear-ended again!”
That would have made my day!
It is the expectation of all of us to not tailgate, so just in case someone suddenly stops (for a hazard in the road, or because they are a moron and missed their turn), we don’t rear-end them. It is every person’s obligation to not hover over the bumper of the car in front of us, for exactly this reason. Anyone who hovers anyway is a moron.
Who is to blame if they get rear-ended after they are forced to suddenly stop (hazard in the road, the person in front of them suddenly stopping to avoid something, etc.)? Not the person who was forced to stop. It’s the fault of the person who did not allow enough room between them and the car in front of them.
I’ve only been rear-ended twice (and they were both so minor as to not be of much consequence), and each time it was because I had the audacity to stop at a stop light. The audacity. The light was red, I stopped, I got rear-ended. Was it my fault that the person behind me was not paying attention, driving too close, and failed to stop in time? Bloody hell no.
Well, sometimes you get the wrong mix of tailgater with a person who doesn’t want to pay attention. My feeling is though that most tailgaters* only tailgate to piss off the car in front (so in a way, these drivers are paying more attention than average). I base this belief on the fact that tailgating is very common but accidents caused soley by tailgating is rare (only in my experience though, I’ve only seen 2 rear end accidents, one not caused by tailgating).
But I’d want to review my driving techniques if I was in so many rear end accidents. For instance, I slow down early if someone is tailgating me for a light.
I rarely allow tailgating because I usually travel at the speed of traffic and if I’m behind other vehicles I open some space (but not more than 3 car lengths/2 seconds) to allow for a buffer incase I do get hit/have to stop. I basically give no reason to bother me because I’m either moving as fast as I can (in traffic) or I’m moving at the acceptable max speed (school zones are the only time I don’t speed at least 5 km over the limit).
And yes, I know the OP was specifically speaking about residental/school areas. I’m just talking in general. Most rear end accidents do not happen on your average 25 mph road. All the rear end accidents I’ve seen have happened on the highway.
*Most people think anything closer than 2 seconds/2 car lengths is tailgating so with that in mind, everyone on the highway today was tailgating except for about 5 people.
That’s just a block from my office. If you’re in the area too, we should meet at Bandana’s or Posh Nosh or one of the other numerous restaurants for lunch sometime.
And they’re assholes for tailgatiing.
Was the other one caused by tailgating?
I’m pretty good about slowing down for a light. Besides, even if I didn’t slow down way early for a light, (but I do), one would have to assume that the tailgater has eyes and is aware that there is a light coming up, and that this light could turn red at any time. Therefore, it’s their own damned fault if they rear-end someone who is stopping at a red light. It is their (the tailgater’s) obligation to be prepared to stop.
I believe the rule is 3 seconds according to some sources. And 3 car lengths is not enough in unless you are going 30 mph or less. Sounds like you might be tailgating.
2 car lengths or 2 seconds is not enough. That’s still tailgating in most cases (faster speeds). By the way, I give more than 2 seconds/2 car lengths and I believe I’ve noticed more than 5 people on the road doing the same thing.
Cite. Quote from cite:
Another cite:
I’ve said before, driving is not a race – it’s a dance. Some people are Fred and Ginger, and some people are Fred and Ethel. Getting from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time, without smashing into anyone else, should be the goal of everyone. Unfortunately, many (maybe even most) people think that driving is a race. It may be wired into our brains, perhaps because of ancient trail-following behaviors.
A lot of the annoying behavior mentioned here qualifies as aggressive driving – including slowing down below an otherwise safe speed when being tailgated, blocking others from passing, etc. Certainly putting yourself into a situation where it’s more likely that you’ll be rear-ended is aggressive, and stupid. However, there is some merit to slowing down when being tailgated. If the driver behind you insists on following closely, slowing down so that the distance between you is closer to the correct stopping distance may be prudent.
As for the OP, I might have slowed to a stop, as far right as possible, to let the guy pass – back on the narrow street. His behavior is not my concern, my drive will be better without his presence. If I am stopped, he can legally pass me, (IANAL) and I can then get on with my journey.
I was rear ended three times when I was 16/17. I have not had another accident in the last 15 years. Twice I was rear ended while at a complete stop on a two lane road waiting for the car in front of me to make a left hand turn. Once I was hit when the car in front of me slammed on the their brakes to avoid a dog in the road. I slammed on my brakes to avoid them (which I managed to do because I wasn’t tailgating) and the car behind me (who was tailgating) hit me.
I learned that it is always important to watch what is going on behind you and to adjust your driving accordingly.
I have never caused an accident and I have never hit anything. Nothing in my post indicated such. Your post however indicates that you are a complete jackass.
That only applies to limited-access highways; Pyrrhonist was clearly referring to a surface street. With surface streets, especially urban surface streets, there is no such thing as a passing lane. All lanes are travel lanes, except turn lanes of course.