Is your life or driving record worth trying to teach a lesson to an asshole who won’t learn it?
Dont brake . If it is dayight turn on your headlights. It will appear as if you hit your brakes but would not be so dangerous.
Truthfully just change lanes and let them scare the next person.
Years ago I was driving a Ford Bronco with a plow on it. After getting really sick of people driving so damn close to me (I did alot of driving on long country type roads) I figured out a trick. I parked about 20 feet from another parked car and aimed my plow lights into the rear view mirror of that car. Now when someone was really getting on my nerves I just pulled over on the shoulder to let them pass and turned on my plow lights. Now they had to spend the next few miles with lights right in the mirror. But that was a while ago. Now I just slow down.
That happened to me once, so I wrote down the plate, called it in as a drunk driver (before everyone jumps on me for that, A)it was a loooong time ago and B)they sure seemed to be acting like a drunk driver, who am I to say they weren’t drunk). I enjoyed watching the police pull them over infront of their house.
You bring up a good point. I do draw a distinction between people who are annoyingly close vs. people who are truly tailgaiting. For the annoyingly close, I don’t change my driving at all. They’ll eventually figure out what they want to do. Tailgaters are a safety hazard; hence my slowing down to force them to adjust.
Are people really so terrified of their fellow man that they think things like “If I slow down even slightly, this person who is driving unsafely will attempt to kill me. I must adjust in an attempt to calm them”?
If dickweed doesn’t like the way I’m driving, s/he is free to pass. S/he is not free to endanger me by driving too close, and a gradual slowing is the best way to allow the person the opportunity to get around safely - and then you shoot their tires out 
I had one guy attempt retribution by getting in front and slamming on his brakes, but it really only screwed up his day. I got a bit of a chuckle out of watching him tear up his BMW, and blew him a kiss as I passed after he got stuck behind someone else.
But they don’t. In fact too often they go Road rage which is hwaaaay more dangerous. So you are making the roads more dangerous- not safer.
Such are the burdens of the just… 
The way you’e described it, it sounds like you made a bad situation worse with your choice.
I moved to the left to let a tailgater pass me once; I said to my passenger, “I’m going to get out of his way and let him have his accident somewhere else.” 200 feet later, he hit another car. Talk about your instant karma. I pulled over and gave my name to the cops as a witness to both the accident and his driving abilities.
Note - I was able to talk to a guy who was driving badly, and even after he hit someone else, he still didn’t get what he was doing was wrong. You’re not teaching anybody out there anything.
I’m sorry you feel that way, but my experience has apparently been different than yours. I think that reducing the speed at which a potential collision might occur is actually safer than continuing at the pace I’m going and hoping that the tailgater understands the “friendly” gesture of hopelessness you suggest regarding the cars in front of me.
And just to make sure we’re on the same page (because you made this comment to someone else who mentioned they take their foot off the gas to slow down), I want it to be clear that I consider this a safety issue and NOT a matter of trying to teach them a lesson. People who tailgate are not likely to learn anything from someone like me trying to teach them a lesson; they’re just going to be convinced that I am an asshole, and that’s all the more reason for them to drive uber-aggressively.
I use my left foot to gently pressurize the brake pedal so that the lights come on, while keeping my right foot firmly on the gas, thus maintaining an even speed. This is irritating for the fucknut tailgater and scares him/her (OK, usually “him”) without actually causing any danger.
I reserve this for people who are such utter, UTTER assholes they deserve it. Last one was about two weeks ago. I was doing 90mph (which is 20mph over the limit here) in the fast lane, and this prick slammed up behind me about 2 inches away from my rear bumper and started flashing his headlights. I did the trick above, and he disappeared from my rear rapidly. Then realised what I’d done, and when I pulled in passed me with his finger high in the air. I reciprocated. Cunt.
Other than circumstances like that, I agree with e-logic.
One thought I’ve had for tailgaters is to toss something out the window from my truck - ie: a plastic pop bottle or aluminum can. There’s usually something rattling around the floor to that would make a good, non-lethal projectile. I figure it’ll fall into the slipstream pretty easily and bounce nicely from his paintjob.
Other than the obvious littering ticket - is there any other violation here (other than me simply being an ass, but, well, *he started it!! *
Yes, in some (all?) states it’s considered a ‘missile.’ The person in the quoted article through a soda cup at someone else and wound up sentenced to two years in jail and a felony conviction on her record for doing it. Plus, if that person swerved off the road and something worse happened, I’d imagine you’d find yourself in court for it.
So then how does it help safety? Driving them into road rage hardly seem safer. I just can’t see how pissing them off will help anyone.
Myself- I get over and let them pass. If they are driving crazy enough, I call the CHP.
I think where you and I disagree is on the driving them into road rage part. I’m banking on them being impatient enough to go around me before there’s even a chance for escalation. Call me lucky, but this has usually worked for me. I don’t recall getting so much as a middle finger.
Perhaps we also have a different idea of what slowing down means. I typically am going anywhere from 5 to 15mph over the speed limit on the freeway when traffic flow permits (meaning I’m keeping up with traffic at those speeds, not blowing by people). When someone comes up on me at a higher speed than that and rides my bumper, they are typically weaving in and out of traffic all over the freeway. In my mind, changing lanes at that point makes me less predictable to someone who is that jumpy, because he’s going to move at any moment. I will slow down to the speed limit until he finds his out and goes around me. It really, really doesn’t take long. Your mileage clearly varies.
And I, too, have called the CHP on people who are driving unsafely.
Ah, a weaver, yes, with those guys a tad of slow might be just the ticket. Never below the Speed limit though.
What I see here are a lot of road ragers, or road ragers in the making. The proper and safe thing to do, when encountering an erratic driver, is to get out of the way, get away from the offender. If the actions justify, call the police, but challenging someone, in this situation, has no positive effect.
The object is to be a defensive driver, not an offensive one. “They started it”, is a ridiculous excuse for indulging in dangerous, life threatening behavior, not to mention being juvenile.
My favorite tactic as a youth (particularly on little 2 lane roads) was to slow down gradually, but to such a ridiculous point (like 20 mph in a 45) that the tailgater would get so angry his head was about to explode.
Now I just yell obscenities.
One time I got to see karma in action though. It was a 4 lane road at rush hour, and everyone was already aggravated by the traffic- it wasn’t gridlock, but people weren’t getting where they wanted to fast enough. This asshole was weaving in and out of traffic, but couldn’t advance in the left lane (I was in the right) so he ended up riding my ass for a while. Finally the left lane opened up a little, and he shot by me so quickly I’m surprised he didn’t clip my car in his haste.
So I yelled “I hope you die a horrible fiery death!” as he passed (that was a favorite phrase of mine at the time).
Almost as the words came out of my mouth, they was a loud bang, bits of metal flew from under his hood and smoke started pouring out. I don’t know what he did, maybe threw a rod or something, but getting the opportunity to drive past his disabled vehicle pointing and laughing was one of the most satisfying moments of my life.
During the day a similar effect can often be achieved by turning your lights on for a second. Its not as bright, but its an attention getter.
And some of us have different ideas about the roads we use. On the motorway, quick and easy to pull over, even on the main roads here in Northern Ireland that’s no so easy.
You are kidding. So you use the speed limit as a base line minimum? You’re one of them, aren’t you?