# Riding my tail with highbeams on is a recipe to make me go slower, not faster... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 28, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697 "2003-11-28T07:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/21 "2003-11-28T17:25:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > \*\*Wrongola. All you people bitching at Windwalker are WRONG. Having been through a large amount of driving classes in preparation ofr my license, I can assure you that any state trooper will tell you that that is EXACTLY what you should do. Unless the speed limit is 65 or over, there is no minimum speed. If tailgated, you should slow down. \*\* Oh really? So is it your position that no statutes exist making it illegal to impede traffic? ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/22 "2003-11-28T17:26:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Casey1505 \* > \*\*Isn’t driving 20 MPH below the speed limit just as illegal as 20 MPH over it? Just wondering… \*\* Not on the kind of road **Windwalker** is talking about. On the roads I drive, much of the traffic during the day consists of farm-type vehicles that can’t go more than 10-15MPH, yet the speed limit is 35. Now, if he were on the highway, then sure- there’s a minimum speed (usually 40) on those roads. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/23 "2003-11-28T18:26:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\*Oh really? So I suppose that if a car breaks down on that stretch of road, traffic is effectively stopped for a couple hours in one direction because there’s no way to get by? Gimme a break. > \*\* People could just, y’know, go around the fucking obstruction. Just because there’s a double yellow doesn’t mean road’s closed if there’s no other way to drive it. > [@](#): > > **Oh really? So is it your position that no statutes exist making it illegal to impede traffic?** Sure, it’s illegal to impede traffic. But it’s perfectly legal to slow down on a road with no minimum speed limit if some dickhead is impairing your ability to safely drive at the limit. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/24 "2003-11-28T18:49:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\*Oh really? So I suppose that if a car breaks down on that stretch of road, traffic is effectively stopped for a couple hours in one direction because there’s no way to get by? Gimme a break. \*\* No, because there’s another lane. Much like the dumbass tailgater could have simply crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane when it was empty, people tend to have an amazing capacity to figure out “Hmmm… there’s someone broken down in my lane, I’ll slow down and pass when it’s safe.” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > Kindly identify this unique stretch of road. \*\* CR 49 in eastern Alabama. Let me know when you’ll be visiting and I’ll be sure to take you down the extra-nice parts, where the road is **just** big enough for two cars side-by-side, and you can’t see the yellow lines because they’re faded, so when it’s really dark you don’t know if you’re in your lane or not. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by lucwarm \* > And the ditches track the 90 degree curves exactly?!? On both sides of the road? Bullsh_t. \*\* Do you live _anywhere near_ farmland? Or cattle ranches? The ditch is for either irrigation/drainage or to keep the cows from simply wandering around the road (looks something like road–\>ditch–\>fence–\>cows). So yes, they follow the curves exactly. Do you think that the cows are going to say “Well, they didn’t put a ditch here, but they must have meant to, so we’ll just stay put”? And FTR, my nearest neighbor to the left is exactly 1.8 miles away. Nowhere to pull over, which makes giving directions a snap- just drive until you can turn right. I think that you’re assuming **Windwalker** and I are talking about regular city or town-type roads, and aren’t taking into account that some people live on the back side of the middle of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/25 "2003-11-28T19:07:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\*Oh really? So is it your position that no statutes exist making it illegal to impede traffic? \*\* Are you as big a jackass as you sound? ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/26 "2003-11-28T19:17:37Z")
[quote] _Originally posted by lucwarm_ And the ditches track the 90 degree curves exactly?!? On both sides of the road? Bullsh\*t. \*\* Uh, the state highways I have to travel down between Pine Bluff and El Dorado when I go to my parent’s house in Arkansas has MILES of exactly those kinds of roads and they’re low in places around the river. So we get fog/river, ditch, road, ditch river or swampy stuff. Older roads are like that alot down here. ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/27 "2003-11-28T19:24:51Z")
Y’know, right or wrong, victims of road rage often bring it on themselves. It’s one thing to slow down to a speed that facilitates passing, but quite another to slow to an aggressive speed like 15. Why you wanna mess with an aggressive sumbitch in a pickup (I’m guessing pickup because the headlights were high enough to get into your mirror and not blocked by the back of your car) that won’t be identified after it mauls your car to the side of the road? My brother drives like that, likes to intimidate people to get outta his way. He’s pushed a few to the curb for slowing down, too. Suffered a smudge on his bumper for his efforts. Yeah he’s a creep & wrong, but who got hurt? You may have been within your leagl rights to slow down or even stop, but it wasn’t to bright. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/28 "2003-11-28T19:38:02Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* \*\*Kindly identify this unique stretch of road. \*\* Farmington Canyon Rd. Farmington, Utah, for one. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/29 "2003-11-28T19:40:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\*Sorry, but that’s BS. In a stretch of road a mile or longer, there’s ALWAYS a place to pull over, whether it’s a driveway, a side street, or a freaking patch of dirt. In light traffic, you don’t even have to pull entirely off the road. \*\* Perhaps where you are. But not here, not by a long shot. There are many, many long stretches of road without a place to pull over. If you try, you will drive into a mountain or down a cliff. I do not mind getting passed. I have no problems with someone rushing ahead of me. If I can’t see, I’m not going to drive over the speed limit, and if there’s no place to pull over, I’m not driving my car into a ditch that it can’t get out of or a solid object so the other car drive ahead. The car can go around (if it can) but blinding me is not going to make me speed up. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/30 "2003-11-28T20:02:10Z")
If someone is tailgating me with their brights on on a narrow road, I’m going to slow down. Because I CAN’T SEE. And when I’m BLINDED, I’m not feeling confident driving fast. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/31 "2003-11-28T20:08:30Z")
People, he slowed to 15 because **he couldn’t fucking see**!!! If I can’t see where I’m going because of low visibility, you bet your sweet ass I’m gonna slow down as much as I need to be safe. If it’s because of fog, I’ll but my hazard lights on to maximize your ability to see me. If you can’t handle that, tough cookies. I’m not risking my self and my car because you’re in a hurry. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/32 "2003-11-28T20:13:48Z")
Oh, and feel free to try to pull over on CA 58 between I 5 and US 101. Of course, you’ll end up at the bottom of a mountain. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/33 "2003-11-28T20:16:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cheddarsnax \* > **People could just, y’know, go around the fucking obstruction. Just because there’s a double yellow doesn’t mean road’s closed if there’s no other way to drive it.** Exactly. So the OP could have pulled as far to the right as possible and come to a dead stop. Tailgater crosses the double-yellow and passes him. End of story. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/34 "2003-11-28T20:22:00Z")
Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/35 "2003-11-28T20:25:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bobkitty \* > **No, because there’s another lane. Much like the dumbass tailgater could have simply crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane when it was empty, people tend to have an amazing capacity to figure out "Hmmm… there’s someone broken down in my lane, I’ll slow down and pass when it’s safe."** Right, so all the OP had to do was pull as far to the right as possible and come to a dead stop. Tailgater passes him, end of story. \*\* > [@](#): > > CR 49 in eastern Alabama.\*\* Kindly describe the location of the 6 miles where it’s impossible for someone to allow a following car to pass. \*\* > [@](#): > > Do you live _anywhere near_ farmland? Or cattle ranches? The ditch is for either irrigation/drainage or to keep the cows from simply wandering around the road (looks something like road–\>ditch–\>fence–\>cows). \*\* I’ve lived all over the United States. Farmland, desert, urban areas, etc. I have yet to see a stretch of road more than a mile long where it’s impossible to allow a car following you to pass you. The only possible exception I can think of is the center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel which connects New York City and Weehawken, New Jersey. \*\* > [@](#): > > And FTR, my nearest neighbor to the left is exactly 1.8 miles away. Nowhere to pull over, which makes giving directions a snap- just drive until you can turn right. I think that you’re assuming **Windwalker** and I are talking about regular city or town-type roads, and aren’t taking into account that some people live on the back side of the middle of nowhere. \*\* Actually there’s no need to debate the nature of the roads any more if you concede that the OP could have allowed the tailgater to pass. And for the record, I could have been a little clearer when I said there’s alway a place to pull over. I’m not trying to say that you can always get totally clear of the road. I am saying that you can always allow the guy behind you to pass. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/36 "2003-11-28T20:27:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > \*\*Are you as big a jackass as you sound? \*\* If “jackass” is the word you use to describe folks who point out your ignorance, then yeah I’m a jackass. I note that you didn’t answer the question either. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/37 "2003-11-28T20:32:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\*Exactly. So the OP could have pulled as far to the right as possible and come to a dead stop. Tailgater crosses the double-yellow and passes him. End of story. \*\* You know, just for hoots and giggles I went up to the road that runs past my house and measured the lanes (advantage of boony living). In my Mazda MPV, if I am driving _exactly_ in the middle of the lane, I have less than a foot clearance on each side. So, if I pulled as far over as possible it would give someone approximately 1.5 feet of extra clearance. Can you distinguish the difference between someone _drifting_ to the side 1.5’ (as all people do- you can’t hold a car perfectly straight) and _intentionally moving_ to the side 1.5’? Can you distinguish it when you’re apparently riding up the bumper of the car in front of you and are hopefully at least somewhat busy focusing on not hitting them? And think about the intelligence behind stopping completely on a narrow road, with no streetlights, when someone has been tailing you. I won’t pull over for the _police_ unless it’s in a well-lit area. I’m _not_ going to come to a complete stop in front of someone whose intentions are not known, especially if he has already been behaving erratically. I have given all the notification I will by slowing down- he can bloody well swing into the other lane and PASS ME… he does not need my assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/38 "2003-11-28T20:32:46Z")
Of course there are traffic obstruction laws, moron. There are laws against tailgating and aggressive driving, too. Slowing down is the proper response to a tailgater. At such time as traffic is obstructed, obviously a compromise must be reached somehow, but it is ENTIRELY the tailgater’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/39 "2003-11-28T20:40:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > **Of course there are traffic obstruction laws, moron.** A concession!! Yay!! \*\* > [@](#): > > There are laws against tailgating and aggressive driving, too.\*\* Correct. Note that if another citizen breaks the law, you don’t necessarily have the right to break the law in retaliation. \*\* > [@](#): > > Slowing down is the proper response to a tailgater. \*\* Slowing down purely for the sake of safety is probably lawful, but sometimes unwise. Slowing down to retaliate against the tailgater is probably unlawful and certainly unwise. The OP did the latter. And I highly doubt that the police would advise anyone to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697/40 "2003-11-28T20:44:26Z")
Call the state patrol and find out. It is certainly wha I was taught in a defensive driving course sponsored by the NSA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riding-my-tail-with-highbeams-on-is-a-recipe-to-make-me-go-slower-not-faster/215697.md?page=3)