I despise them. They will either kill me or be a factor in my becoming famous for all the wrong reasons.
There are several ways to deal with them. Ignore them. Lightly tap on the break peddle. Switch the fog lights on. Slam repeatedly on the break peddle until the scum back off. Stop, jump out and ram your car key up their nostril while screaming, ‘Innit’ into their face, then drag the key out towards you, catastrophically rupturing the septum. So I’m told.
One of my colleagues told me that he stopped to let one pass. A friend described an incident when he tailgated another car and the driver got out and tried to hit him with an iron bar. I instinctively drive slower just to punish the self-entitled filth.
What are they trying to achieve, apart from the delight in bullying another person? Does anyone really speed up for them?
Or do some of them just not realize what they are doing?
Depending on the situation, I either throw open the gas to get a lead and pull over or slow to the point where they have no choice but pass. Although I did like the approach of an off-duty cop I was riding with once – he maintained his speed and just help up his gun the his badge attached to the holster (holding it by the barrel) around the area of his rear view mirror. The car backed off.
I despise those suckers. If they’re in a damn hurry, go around me already. If they aren’t in a hurry, back off and give me some safety room. I might have to brake suddenly, and they don’t want to have their front end smashed in any more than I want my back end smashed in!
Some probably aren’t even conscious of what they are doing. That was the case with a co-worker of mine, who just drove that way as a matter of course. She always drove up to within three car-lengths of the guy ahead…even at 65mph.
But some are aggressive pricks who want you to get out of their way. I’ve been honked at, had headlights flashed at me, had the middle finger displayed. Hey, I’m in the slow lane already! (And I’m going 50 to 55, which may be slow, but wholly legal.)
The ones I really despise are the ones trying to force me to speed up on residential streets, where joggers, bike riders, kids, dogs, deer, crazed, drunk homeless people or god knows what may suddenly dash out in front of me. I go the speed limit, and if they get aggressive and ride my back bumper, I slow down. They usually go around, absolutely enraged and driving way too fast. Let them be the one going to jail for vehicular homicide. :mad:
IIRC that’s actually the official advice, in the UK at least: Gradually slow down. It helps the other person pass, and makes the whole situation less dangerous.
And I would add that any other strange behaviour by the car behind; such as weaving about and flashing headlights, means I should slow down further.
For once defensive driving is fun!
A few quotes that raise my eyebrows:
The unsafe driver behavior causing the most wrecks is following too closely, yet the infraction makes up 1 percent of the tickets issued by Indiana State Police, Call 6 Investigator Kara Kenney reported.
“Following too closely happens every day, and it happens to every driver,” (Indiana State Patrol captain) Bursten said. “People typically don’t get a ticket for following too close. Usually you find out about it when you have a crash.”
They’re not only the worst thing on the road after drunks, they’re generally the stupidest, most useless sort of persons one could ever hope (or not) to meet anywhere, ever. Slowly slowing down as mentioned is the best suggestion I think, as it likely leads to the safest outcome. Which is not to say I haven’t enjoyed fucking them around in various kinds of creative ways for lots of laughs.
I’ve been in some bizarre tailgating situations (as the tailgatee). There’s no rule of thumb I would recommend other than the aforementioned gradual slowdown, and - never underestimate the power of the cell phone, or failing that, something that looks like a cell phone raised up to your ear. Just the sight of that phone going up to your ear, there’s something about it that makes the problem suddenly disappear.
I used to commute about 25 miles, mostly along country roads, in a Scion xA. I’d set my speed between the limit and 5 over, assuming the roads were nice and dry. I swear, every single pickup in the county would drive up to my bumper, then zip around as soon as the oncoming traffic allowed and speed away. Apparently it’s an affront to one’s manhood to remain behind a 4-cylinder econobox.
Fortunately, I don’t have to commute any longer. But I’ve noticed when I drive our pickup, even slightly below the limit, I don’t have nearly as many people passing me. I’m sure there’s a lot of psychology involved in trucks vs cars.