# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/141 "2002-12-11T19:49:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I may not be a cop, but you know what, if you break the law, it is in my power to detain you untill a cop arrives, this is called a CITZENS ARREST. Yeah, you do that, m’kay? :rolleyes: But ya know what? You’ll have to catch me first. > [@](#): > > This is true, I didn’t say I NEVER do, just that I wont for a tailgater. So if you are driving through my State and you don’t yield to me when I come up behind you in the left hand passing lane, can I put you under a citizen’s arrest? ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/142 "2002-12-11T19:50:34Z")
Here is a clue for you genius- Speed limit law. [http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/enforce/stspdlaw98/utspeed.htm](http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/enforce/stspdlaw98/utspeed.htm) Laws posted against impeding traffic are refering to those people that are doing UNDER the fucking speed limit. Asshats like you that take that to mean you can do any speed and those people that are doing the speed limit (or a little over) are breaking the law are wrong. You are breaking the law in the first place. All laws pertain to the guidlines established that we refer to speed limits. The SPEED LIMIT IS IN THE FUCKING EQUATION BITCH, now get off my ass, and learn to drive legally. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/143 "2002-12-11T19:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > Yeah, you do that, m’kay? :rolleyes: But ya know what? You’ll have to catch me first. No, I will write down your licsence plate, call the police on my cell phone and report that there is an excessive speeder endangering other drivers on the road, and give them your liscence plate number and description of your vehicle. > [@](#): > > So if you are driving through my State and you don’t yield to me when I come up behind you in the left hand passing lane, can I put you under a citizen’s arrest? If you tailgate me you can go ahead and try, because I won’t yeild your “percieved right of way”. You are the criminal in this case, not I. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/144 "2002-12-11T20:01:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > \*\*So fucking what about the laws in Missouri? I am speaking from the knowledge I have about the State where I live. Let me hit you with the cluestick, Spanky - THERE ARE 49 OTHER STATES IN THE UNION. Missouri traffic law does not apply over the entire US of A. > > \*\* How about I hit you with a clue stick, not-so sparky- Utah is not the only state, I am speakin gof the knowledge I have from my state, there are 49 OTHER STATES IN THE UNION, Utah laws don’t apply over the entire US of A. How about you not make sweeping generalizations of what states call their outermost lane, I and will avoid making generalizations about laws regarding them, huh? Sound better, not-so-sparky? ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/145 "2002-12-11T20:08:30Z")
It doesn’t matter who is breaking the law. Only the tailgater is endangering lives. If you think you have the right to endanger a stranger’s life just because you want to drive faster then I don’t even know what to say to you. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/146 "2002-12-11T20:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by In Conceivable \* > \*\*It doesn’t matter who is breaking the law. Only the tailgater is endangering lives. If you think you have the right to endanger a stranger’s life just because you want to drive faster then I don’t even know what to say to you. \*\* Why isn’t someone driving slowly in the fast lane endangering lives as well? ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/147 "2002-12-11T20:12:44Z")
Can someone explain to this idiot that just because it is illegal to shoot someone doesn’t mean you can rob them as they are laying on the ground bleeding and not also be guilty of a crime? I’ll dumb it down for you. Speeding is a no-no. Not yielding to faster cars coming up behind you in the passing lane is a no-no. Trying to police the approaching cars speed (regardless of the speed) by not moving to the right is a no-no. ALL WILL GET YOU A TICKET. If you are driving in a State that has the left lane passing law in affect and you don’t yield to faster moving vehicles coming behind you in the left hand lane (regardless of their speed) YOU TOO are also guilty of driving illegally. Comprehende’? > [@](#): > > No, I will write down your licsence plate, call the police on my cell phone and report that there is an excessive speeder endangering other drivers on the road, and give them your liscence plate number and description of your vehicle. Not sure what a licsence plate is, but do you understand that some States now have a law about taking on cell phones while driving? > [@](#): > > If you tailgate me you can go ahead and try, because I won’t yeild your “percieved right of way”. You are the criminal in this case, not I. Did you or did you not read my link? My “perceived (“i” before “e” except after “c” and all that jazz) right of way” is a reality. Let me get this right. I come up behind you, over the speed limit (naughty Diane), in the passing lane, in a State that has enacted the left lane passing law, I am a criminal because I broke the speeding law but you are not a criminal even though you are also breaking the law? Oh do tell - what sweaty asscrack did you pull that out of? ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/148 "2002-12-11T20:15:10Z")
> [@](#): > > It doesn’t matter who is breaking the law. Only the tailgater is endangering lives. If you think you have the right to endanger a stranger’s life just because you want to drive faster then I don’t even know what to say to you. Ah bullshit. If you don’t think someone puttering along under the speed limit is not dangerous, then I don’t even know what to say to you other than you are very naive. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/149 "2002-12-11T20:18:10Z")
How slowly do you mean? Of course if someone is going 10 miles an hour in a 55 mile and hour zone they are causing trouble. But, for the rest of us who are already driving a bit over the speed limit anyway the only danger comes from those who tailgate and act crazy trying to get around us. I am not saying that it isn’t rude (or even illegal in some places) to drive in the left lane if you aren’t passing. But it is going to kill anyone. The tailgaters can and do kill people. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/150 "2002-12-11T20:20:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > \*\*Ah bullshit. > > If you don’t think someone puttering along under the speed limit is not dangerous, then I don’t even know what to say to you other than you are very naive. \*\* I don’t think anyone was talking about driving under the speed limit. We were talking about driving slower then the fastest driver wants to go. Usually the tailgaters are going much faster then the posted speedlimits. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/151 "2002-12-11T20:21:29Z")
Yes, and so do those people who are driving slower and not keeping with the flow of traffic, causing everyone else to either hit the skids or make lane changes. As I said, if you don’t think those people are a danger, you are naive. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/152 "2002-12-11T20:23:40Z")
If you are going so fast that coming up on a car going the speed limit causes you to skid then I don’t see how you can blame it on the other driver. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/153 "2002-12-11T20:29:02Z")
We’re talking about doing exactly the limit in a lane you should know is going to be 5 to 15 over the limit at any given time. Agressive tailgaters are no less annoying, stupid, and dangerous than these people. And, I still maintain it’s perfectly possible to cautiously and politely inform those people that what their doing is wrong. If headlights don’t do the trick, closing the gap a half a car length for a moment might. Nine times out of ten it does. If it doesn’t I back off and just accept their stupidity, but after a few miles or more and several hints I’ll just be a dick and burn em on the right even though I don’t like doing that. Some of you are going to have to come to grips with the fact that many US speed limits are unnecessarily low, and consequently many, many drivers break them routinely. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/154 "2002-12-11T20:30:20Z")
When everyone on the interstate is cruising along 7-10 miles over the speed limit and someone jackass is putting along right at the posted limit and not keeping with the flow of traffic, it is dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/155 "2002-12-11T20:33:49Z")
EPIMETHEUS, Please, do the rest of the states a favor and stay in “misery”, YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND YOU ARE A DANGEROUS DRIVER. unclviny ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/156 "2002-12-11T20:39:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cainxinth \* > \*\*We’re talking about doing exactly the limit in a lane you should know is going to be 5 to 15 over the limit at any given time. Agressive tailgaters are no less annoying, stupid, and dangerous than these people. > > And, I still maintain it’s perfectly possible to cautiously and politely inform those people that what their doing is wrong. If headlights don’t do the trick, closing **the gap a half a car length for a moment might**. Nine times out of ten it does. If it doesn’t I back off and just accept their stupidity, but after a few miles or more and several hints I’ll just be a dick and burn em on the right even though I don’t like doing that. > \*\* Bolding mine. The tailgating is what is going to kill people. You guys are basically saying that because one person is being rude or annoying it is okay for you to endanger their life. The person driving the speed limit is not the danger. It is the person who think that it is some how safe to close the gap to **half a car lenght** on a highway is the one who is going to kill someone. The danger comes from those who are in a hurry and not paying attention to what they are doing. If coming up on a driver going the speed limit is such a shock to you that you have to change lanes unsafely or slam on the breaks then you are **driving too fast** You can blame it on the speed limit drivers if it makes it easier for you to live with yourself. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/157 "2002-12-11T20:40:52Z")
Ack!! It was all bolded. \*note to self - learn to code. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/158 "2002-12-11T20:50:54Z")
First there is nothing unsafe about driving half a car length behind someone. Haven’t you ever been in traffic? Second, I agree if you have to slam on your brakes because another person is doing the limit implies you are a bad driver. Flying over hills at 90 and riding someone’s bumper just cuz you’re an ass is bad driving. Gradually pulling up behind a flake with no clue and letting them know they are in the wrong lane if they want to drive limit is not bad driving. ---
**Author:** ![yawndave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/43a26b/32.png) [@yawndave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawndave)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/159 "2002-12-11T20:53:12Z")
Perhaps the most nerve-wracking experience I ever had was coming home from Las Vegas…although both lanes of the freeway were doing 75-plus, there were those who had to go faster.They would tailgate-change lanes-tailgate-change lanes, picking any car-length space possible to move ahead. Every five miles or so, traffic would crawl to a halt when someone had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting one of the weavers. What a nightmare! ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533/160 "2002-12-11T20:58:55Z")
Welcome to my world. UncleBill Miami [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-tailgate/141533.md?page=9)