Driving To Stay Alive!!! Any Tips?? Any Interesting Tales??

13 years ago

Someone tailgates me, I just slow the **** down. Pisses them off every time. I had guy tail gate me for about 30 miles in the Netherlands. I was on the left lane and there was a truck on the right. I kept in the left lane driving side by side at the same speed as the truck.
The guy was freaking out, giving me the stinky finger and beeping his horn like a man possessed. I remember it clearly, I was listening to JJ Cale and having a jolly old time.

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seasoned

13 years ago

Originally Posted by bravo75

Someone tailgates me, I just slow the **** down. Pisses them off every time. I had guy tail gate me for about 30 miles in the Netherlands. I was on the left lane and there was a truck on the right. I kept in the left lane driving side by side at the same speed as the truck.
The guy was freaking out, giving me the stinky finger and beeping his horn like a man possessed. I remember it clearly, I was listening to JJ Cale and having a jolly old time.

NOT a bright thing to do when you are going fast on the freeway. You could end up DEAD from a rear ender!

I see tailgaters ALL THE TIME! INCREDIBLE! I try doing what TL said. I EVEN put my hazards on. It RARELY helps.

OH, by the way, I DO GRADUALLY slow down, to allow space in FRONT of me in case I have to use it. Of course, people often pull in, sometimes like INCHES away from me! I also start from a stop slower.

Steve

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Gilearn

13 years ago

sorry guys... but what is tailgater...

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bravo75 13 years ago

Someone who is driving right up your arse.

Originally Posted by Gilearn

sorry guys... but what is tailgater...
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g4r3th

13 years ago

Better to arrive alive than never to arrive. Slow down people.

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KimW

13 years ago

I keep thinking of making a bumper sticker that says "Riding my ass will only slow me down."

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TLTheLiberator

13 years ago

Originally Posted by KimW

I keep thinking of making a bumper sticker that says "Riding my ass will only slow me down."

Someone should invent a sign for the back of a car that can change messages for all occasions.

TL

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ThomM

13 years ago

A little trick I like to use that works really well on interstates is this.
When they get close I'll touch the brakes enough for the lights to come on and at the same time I'll floor the gas. Confuses the hell out of the tailgater

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majay

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ThomM

A little trick I like to use that works really well on interstates is this.
When they get close I'll touch the brakes enough for the lights to come on and at the same time I'll floor the gas. Confuses the hell out of the tailgater

Nice one ThomM

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HeySal

13 years ago

Tailgaters are scary alright. They usually have little self control yet a very domineering personality. They aren't rational, in other words. I usually find a spot to pull over and let them by. I drive in the mountains a lot and am not willing to risk my life because someone else chews cud.

I've had them stop behind me when I've had no place to pull off but feel it necessary for my safety to get them off my tail. I stop when no traffic is coming so they can go around - and even signal them to go around if they are too stupid to do it on their own. Sometimes they stop, too and at that point I am ready to rumble furious. There's been more than one time that I've ended up face to face with the idiot telling them to "get the **** off my tailpipe". It's sad when you have to be that rude to someone who was considered skilled enough to get a license.

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Kurt

13 years ago

I've posted this before, but as a former driver I've taken dozens of safe driving classes. 50% of all accidents are rear end accidents.

So, there's two reasons why I never tail gate:

1. I've just cut my odds of being at fault in an accident in half.

2. It's almost impossible to talk your way out of being at fault in a rear end accident.

Now add in that about 25% of accidents are caused by rapid lane changes, so if you don't tail gate or change lanes carelessly, you can cut out 75% of the risk of being at fault in an accident by following two simple rules.

BTW TL, good OP. It's good hearing a positive story.

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Kurt

13 years ago

Around here, we have the opposite problem. Going down the canyons into town, the roads are narrow and winding with many blind curves, making it impossible to pass.

The state law says if there are 5 cars backed up behind you, you are supposed to pull over and let them by, regardless of your speed. Common courtersy is to pull over if you're holding up a single car.

But so few follow these laws/rules of the road it's pathetic. I've seen one-car traffic jams going up or down the canyon because some boneheads won't pull over, costing them all of 10 seconds of their time, while holding up everyone else. And, there are many signs saying "slow vehicles pull over lane 500 ft." and they still ignore it.

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HeySal

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

Around here, we have the opposite problem. Going down the canyons into town, the roads are narrow and winding with many blind curves, making it impossible to pass.

The state law says if there are 5 cars backed up behind you, you are supposed to pull over and let them by, regardless of your speed. Common courtersy is to pull over if you're holding up a single car.

But so few follow these laws/rules of the road it's pathetic. I've seen one-car traffic jams going up or down the canyon because some boneheads won't pull over, costing them all of 10 seconds of their time, while holding up everyone else. And, there are many signs saying "slow vehicles pull over lane 500 ft." and they still ignore it.

Those mountains out there are why I started pulling off the road when a tailgater gets behind me. That road to Central City has a lot of blind curves that people decide they can pass on with no problems even though they can't see more than a car length in front of them. I didn't want to get creamed because someone got stupid. You should have seen some of those wrecks up there when gaming opened back up in 91. People would zip up on you, tailgate you like they can push your car, then decide to zoom around you at a really bad time and place. If I couldn't find a pull off I'd stop in the middle of the road to get them by me where they had enough of a view ahead so they didn't kill us both.

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TLTheLiberator

13 years ago

That's an interesting state law.

I guess it makes a whole lot of sense for the local laws to be adjusted to the local conditions.

TL

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TLTheLiberator

13 years ago

I've tailgated before. ( I guess I was in a hurry etc. )

It's not fun and it's very, very stressful because you must concentrate on that car in front of you or else.

One of my nephews said that the car in front of them made a quick left turn, as an excuse for ramming someone in the back.

This is after I continually begged him not to tailgate.

Guess what? He's not a tailgater now.

TL

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Kurt

13 years ago

Originally Posted by TLTheLiberator

I've tailgated before. ( I guess I was in a hurry etc. )

It's not fun and it's very, very stressful because you must concentrate on that car in front of you or else.

One of my nephews said that the car in front of them made a quick left turn, as an excuse for ramming someone in the back.

This is after I continually begged him not to tailgate.

Guess what? He's not a tailgater now.

TL

Like I said above, it's very hard to talk your way out of a rear end accident when you were in the rear.

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seasoned

13 years ago

Originally Posted by TLTheLiberator

I've tailgated before. ( I guess I was in a hurry etc. )

It's not fun and it's very, very stressful because you must concentrate on that car in front of you or else.

One of my nephews said that the car in front of them made a quick left turn, as an excuse for ramming someone in the back.

This is after I continually begged him not to tailgate.

Guess what? He's not a tailgater now.

TL

MAN, I would just IGNORE that excuse. Cars can stop at ANY time. Generally, most people recommend staying 2 or more seconds behind the car. The faster the car goes, the farther back you are going to be. and that is what I generally try to follow.

Steve

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Patrician

13 years ago

I hate tailgaters too. I usually slow down for them - and that usually makes them back off. I never drive slow - I am always at the speed limit - so there is no reason to tailgate me other than you are a pig.

Life's lessons? I think twice before I flip people off. The last time I did (a tailgater who honked his horn) - he got in front of me and threw a full bottle of beer out the window aiming for my windshield - he missed (thank You God).

I think it scared him more than me (to realize he was a maniac) because then he floored it went across 3 lanes and got off at the next exit - he is lucky he did because if I got his license plate I would have reported him to the police in a heart beat.

This was an old man! Not a young punk or anything.

Nonetheless it did make me realize why I shouldn't give people the finger - if they are crazy enough to tailgate someone then they are crazy enough to do anything...

Well all that and also the first time I heard about someone shooting someone over a parking space - funny how sometimes something so simple will make a lasting impression - It was when I realized things can get serious over the smallest thing. You just don't know when you can hit someone's last nerve...

I have been pretty blessed and usually able to psyche my way out of things - but too many times especially recently it is apparent that with the many demons who live among us - sometimes there is no psyche to psyche. It's just raw sewage.

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seasoned

13 years ago