# Why Do People Tailgate? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533 "2002-12-09T16:11:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/321 "2002-12-20T22:04:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\ ***Roadfood** , yep, I messed up the quote. > > I meant it more as a general observation about this thread. It’s difficult to work out exactly what people are arguing about. > > So far, no one has stepped up and said “I tailgate because I enjoy scaring people”, or “because I want to crash into people”, or anything like that. > > It’s more like an ongoing, unresolvable argument about what “dangerous” means. \*\* Well, back in my unenlightend days, here’s how I might have responded to this: I think you and maybe one other poster are the only ones trying to hair-split the meaning of “dangerous”. If I may be allowed an analogy, what if I took a gun and drove down the street, randomly shooting out my window? I could rightly argue that 1) the chances of my actually hitting anyone are pretty remote, and 2) even if I did hit someone, it’s unlikely that a random shot would actually hit a vital organ and kill the person. So, therefore, randomly shooting a gun is not dangerous. Now, **no one** in their right mind would buy that argument. So what’s the point of making the same argument about tailgating? So **what** if the fatality rate of tailgating-caused accidents is low? Does that make it safe? So **what** if lots of people tailgate and no accident results? Does that make it safe? Well, by the same rationale that tailgating is “ok”, or “not dangerous”, randomly shooting a gun is “ok” or “not dangerous”. I still have not heard an answer to the question, what’s the point of arguing about the fatality rate of tailgating-caused accidents? What’s the point? You said I was engaging in hyperbole because I said that tailgaters are endangering my life. Well, the guy randomly shooting the gun is endangering my life, isn’t he? Well, no he isn’t, not really, because the odds of my being fatally hit by one of his random shots is really, really low. So he’s clearly **not** endangering my life, right? So whining about that guy endangering my life is just hyperbole, right? Where’s the difference between that and your silly point about my hyperbole w.r.t. tailgating? As for the point about no one saying they tailgate just to scare people, again, you’re hair-splitting and missing the point. We **do** have people like Blown & Injected claiming that there exists something called “responsible tailgating”. Using my analogy again, that’s like saying that I can shoot a gun off in public “responsibly.” Sure I can, because I’m an expert marksman, I only aim at inanimate objects, I watch for people who might stray into my line of fire, and besides, I’ve actually taught gun safety to the police. Go try that and see how the police feel about your “responsible shooting”. Put the damned nit-picking and hair-splitting aside. Tailgating is **dangerous** (meaning that it causes accidents, fatal or not), there is no way to do it “responsibly”, and there is just no defense for it, period. But of course, now that I’ve been enlightened, I would never actually say anything like that. The analogy just doesn’t apply, so we on the pro-tailgating side can just ignore it. The facts are all that matter, and the fact remains that tailgating clearly does **not** cause significant fatalities, people like Blown & Injected really do have super-human reaction abilities and so can easily tailgate responsibly. Just so long as he’s not deliberately trying to scare the guy in front, and so long as he really can react and get his brakes on in less than half a second, tailgating poses no significant danger. I gotta look him up and have him teach me how to drive like the police. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/322 "2002-12-21T16:02:36Z")
Desmostylus,you are an ignorant, insufferable prick! I have had my vehicles rear-ended twice in 20 years. As a result, I experience neck pain every cold and/or damp day of my life. Rear-end collisions only cause minor damage? Whiplash is a leading cause of neck and spinal injuries. And don’t get me started on the hassles I’ve had with insurance companies who’ve tried to swindle me by claiming that I was “contributorily negligent”. Another medical malady brought on by the last accident was blood pressure spikes every time I had to talk to the rep from “Neverpay Mutual”. There’s obviously nothing I can say to keep Blown and Injected, Desmostylus, and several other crazies off people’s tails; but I do wish to give a bit of advice to those whom they tailgate: DON’T let assholes like these people intimidate you into changing lanes before you think it’s safe to do so. I’ve had numerous close calls with timid souls who let some tailgating bully force them into the right lane before they’ve properly overtaken my car. If you can’t see my entire grille and both sets of headlights in your mirror, DON’T pull in front of me–no matter how much horn-blowing and light-flashing the idiot behind you is doing. Also, please don’t pull in behind me if you won’t be able to keep 2 seconds’ space between us. You can’t control the childish behavior of the asshole behind you, but you can control your own behavior. Don’t be bullied into doing something unsafe–nobody can force you to do so if you won’t let them. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/323 "2002-12-21T16:12:06Z")
I’m really, really late to this thread but I only want to say that getting rear-ended is not a small thing for me when I have my three-year old daughter in a car seat in back. It’s even more dangerous for infants. Even a small jolt can break a baby’s neck. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/324 "2002-12-21T16:16:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*It seems to me that: > > 1. There are some aggressive assholes that tailgate for no readily apparent reason. > > 2. There are some self-righteous assholes that sit in the passing lane, won’t move over, and deliberately provoke other drivers behind them. > > 3. There are some oblivious assholes that don’t know what lane they’re in, don’t know the road rules and don’t care. > > 4. There are some assholes that drive at speeds way under the limit, whatever lane they’re in. These are the ones that complain that they get tail-gated _all the time_. > > 5. There are other assholes that use the passing lane but guage their speed by the car next to them. They’ll just speed up and slow down according to the car next to them, effectively blocking the passing lane. > > To sum up: lots and lots of drivers are assholes. They may think they have justification, they may not. They’re just assholes. There is no moral justification for acting like an asshole. \*\* Anybody actually read this thread before responding? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/325 "2002-12-21T18:01:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*Anybody actually read this thread before responding? \*\* Bawhahahaha, I say this to myself in a lot of threads. (no agreeing with Desmostylus or disagreeing) as far as the thread goes, just found this to be one of the most needed observations on the SDMB today… ---
**Author:** ![Computer\_Guru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Computer\_Guru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Computer_Guru)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/326 "2003-11-29T04:05:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > \*\*What motivates people to tailgate the person in front of them when they are driving? It certainly doesn’t make for a big reduction in the amount of time it takes to get somewhere, as you still must travel at the same speed as the car in front of you regardless of the spacing you allow between cars. The difference between allowing for a safe following distance and an unsafe following distance amounts to maybe half a second. Is anyone in that much of a hurry? > > Yesterday, I saw someone following another car so closely that his brake lights were flickering on and off as he alternated between the gas pedal and the brake pedal. What’s more, people will still tailgate you when you’re stuck behind someone else. How can I speed up when there’s someone else in front of me? What do you want me to do?? > > I asked several of my co-workers what they do when they are being tailgated, and they all assured me that they do in fact slow down. Otherwise, you’d be rewarding someone for acting like a jerk. The fact that most people slow down should be a strong _disincentive_ for tailgating. So why do they do it? > > My guess is that people tailgate because it _feels_ like you’re moving faster, since you have to react very quickly and slam on the brakes if the person slows down, just like you would need to do if you were traveling at a high rate of speed. Or maybe it’s because they just like to bully other people whenever they have the opportunity. > > Why do you think people tailgate? > > Thanks. \*\* I hate it when people think they can intimidate you. I have big rigs that ride my tail. You know what I do, Go faster. Nope, I go the same speed or slower. Just because you are driving a big rig isn’t going to make me go faster by you riding my tail. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/327 "2003-11-29T05:51:08Z")
(sigh) Please don’t bump old threads needlessly. I am not a Mod, or even a Junior Mod. This is merely a request without authority. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/328 "2003-11-29T05:53:47Z")
yeah, but then risk getting the search feature lecture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533.md?page=16)