I just one to point out that while driving with the flow of traffic (even if the flow is above the legal speed limit) is probably safer than strictly following the speed limit, it does not guarentee that the person behind you will not tailgate. I’ve actually had worse problems on at least one road when driving 3-5 miles above the limit than when driving at or slightly below the limit. (The road in question is not in Atlanta. However, I tend to assume that idiot drivers appear any place there are cars, and in greater numbers where there are more cars).
Again, good for you for doing this.
Anybody who drives over the speed limit because everybody else is had better be ready to pay the occasional speeding ticket. I, myself, have better things to do with my money.
Following is a bumper sticker I say just yesterday.
I kid you not.
Yeah, that’s what you want to do. Start tuning things out and driving on auto-pilot until you find yourself “unexpectedly” on someone’s tail. That’s the sign of a proficient driver.
:smack:
All of you who drive (or have driven) in Atlanta may enjoy this site: The Atlanta Roadways Digest (TARD).
Hasn’t been updated in a while, though.
I despised driving in Atlanta. It’s one of the reasons I paid too much in rent when I lived there so I could have a MARTA station within walking distance - I worked downtown, and could walk out my door, up the hill and get on the train. I almost never had to drive downtown.
I honestlly think that Atlanta has some of the worst drivers around. I finally learned routes to avoid 285 - because when I was on it, I found myself being pulled into the angry driver mode, tailgating, speeding and generally making an ass of myself. On other roads, I was usually (although I still occasionally had temper flares) able to keep myself calm.
The best way to deal with tailgaters is to just leave room for them to get around (where applicable).
If you’re on a one lane road, or in traffic or there’s just nowhere for you or them to go, then the best thing you can do is make sure you have plenty of room in front of you so that if you have to stop, you can do so gradually to avoid being rear-ended. Let off on the gas to decrease speed a tiny bit to make room, then resume your previous speed.
In the name of all that is good in the world, please ignore all the advice of those above who advocate slowing down, slamming on brakes, and otherwise antagonizing tailgaters.
Do you want to be as big as jerk as a tailgater? Or perhaps instigate some type of accident or road-rage event? Then by all means, be a jerk to the jerks that tailgate.
On the other hand, you probably have your hands full with learning how to be a safe, defensive, conscientious driver. I’d suggest using your energies to be a good and correct driver, rather than a four-wheeled vigilante doling out lessons to other assholes behind the wheel.
Again, that’s just my view, but I think the US could use more good drivers. There ought to be fewer people who use 1800 pounds of steel as a tool to inflict lessons on drivers who drive too slow or follow too closely.
Spoilsport 
My prefered tactic is to hit my fog light briefly - it means I don’t slow at all, so there’s no danger to me, but it gives them one hellluva fright anyway.
I’ve been tailgated by a police car at 90…thought he was going to pull me over, but when I changed lanes he just overtook me… :mad:
Well, it’s better than being angry all the time, isn’t it? 
Alright, I hate tailgaters as much as the next girl, but this:
I’ve got a big problem with. If you’ve got a bunch of cars on your tail, chances are, you’re being as big of an ass as the first tailgater. We’ve got a lot of two-lane, windy, hilly roads up here in Sonoma County and you can bet your ass there’s always one asshole driving exactly the speed limit. Which is totally fine. Thing is, numbnuts doesn’t care (or maybe, as in your case, even notice) the 20 odd cars he’s holding up. If there’s a big line of cars piled up behind you for the love of god and all that is holy, pull over and let them pass! If you don’t have room, that’s one thing, but not caring or not noticing?
Not even cool.
Sorry I’m a big fat ass. I never thought of myself as an inconsiderate driver, but maybe I fucking am.
I apologize to the lezlers of the world for holding ya’ll up.
(I was exaggerating when I said I drive like Ms. Daisy. I do five above the speed limit generally, when I’m not on a speed trap. When I’m on a two-lane highway, I generally keep up with traffic. Honest.)
But I learned in Defense Driving 101 that it is not the responsibility of a driver keeping up with the speed limit to make sure drivers behind them can continue to speed. A slow driver is one thing, but if you’re stuck behind someone doing the speed limit…it’s on you to pass them. Not for them to pull over.
I drive the speed limit, and, on a local multi-lane highway where the speed limit’s 70, I drive slower than the limit (I go 60, because that’s about all my Volvo wagon will handle). The minimum’s 40 mph, so I’m way over the minimum. People who want me to drive 70 on that road can buy me a car that’ll go 70. Otherwise they can pass my speed-limit-not-exceeding ass. And yes, if somebody starts to tailgate, I’ll slow down to 50. It’s still not below the minimum. Don’t like it? Don’t tailgate me. There’s another perfectly good lane right to my left that they can drive in and go as fast as they freakin’ want.
A friend of mine just bought a Jaguar XJR. He was driving it home from the dealer, looked down and was kind of surprised that he was going 130. His thought: “Holy crap, I have to get a radar detector now.” My thought: “Holy crap, you need to slow the hell down.”
Well, yes, monstro, that’s true. If it’s safe to pass. It isn’t, always. And the law (at least in my state) says that if there’s more than 3 people behind you, you are to pull over at the first place where it is safe to do so, and to let them pass. At least, that’s what the cop who pulled me over told me. You can get a ticket for going too slow, just as you can for going to fast. And, it’s not your job to keep me legal.
Maureen, does that apply if you’re going the speed limit or under the speed limit?
Either way, it’s good to know.
Yep.
Make a fist, stick your thumb out, then make stabbing motions towards your rear window, while shouting “Get off my tail!” My girlfriend does this, and it’s amazing how often people comply.
When I got pulled over, I was doing just under the speed limit on a rather nasty stretch of mountain road called Hopland Grade, just above Napa. The locals zip through there at about 10mph over the speed limit. It was only the second time I’d driven it, and I was rather intimidated. I was paying very close attention to the road ahead of me, and hadn’t noticed that there were 5 or 6 cars behind me. The cop let me off with a warning, and told me to check my rear view more often. 
Maybe things are different in NJ. Here in California, we’ve got these crazy things called pull-outs (or maybe they’re turn-outs, whatever, same concept) and even crazier signs saying “slow drivers, please use pull-outs” (not that anyone ever does). Now, why do you suppose they would have those if slow drivers holding up traffic weren’t expected to pull over and let others pass?
And on those 2 lane highways I was writing about where there’s miles of road with solid yellow lines (and hence, no passing) but pull-outs every 1/4 mile or so, it’s not possible to pass without a little help from granny in the way of utilizing a pull-out.
So i’d say it’s on you, m’dear.
That’s hysterical, because that’s the very road I’m speaking of. 
That’s hysterical, because that’s the very road I’m speaking of.
Or actually, are you talking about the road from Calistoga to Santa Rosa? Because that road’s a bitch. Even I go slower than the speed limit at times (although I always pull over if I can do so if there’s someone behind me). I was speaking of 116 and 121 from Napa to Santa Rosa.