Trouble with tailgaters

[DickR]

Yep, brake checking will only get you into trouble... you lose if they have a dash cam. But coasting until they go around is the best way to handle it. If you do what they want and speed up, they'll just do it again, and you'll be uncomfortable with the speed you're going. That's all assuming I'm in the right lane. If I'm in the passing lane, I just get over when I'm done passing, as I normally would, except I get over before he can so there's no confusion or attempt to pass there on his part.

Smart driving. Also known as defensive driving! As you said it is VERY important to make sure the guy behind doesn't cut you off before you can get out of his way. Also watch out for the idiots who move over several lanes from several cars further back and then move left into the lane you are going to move right into while in your blind spot.

Sometimes the solution in a really bad case is to wait until you can see a gap in an adjacent lane, floor it to get to the gap, and then move over and let the fool get by. The 10 speed really facilitates that.

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[Norm Peterson]

Norm, I agree with you totally. That said the closing rate at 75, a typical NJT speed, is pretty quick. If you’re the one up front it’s tailgating, if your the one closing, it’s the idiot without brake lights. Just a different point of view.

The thing is, if I'm at 75 like almost everybody else and find myself needing to bleed off 2 or 3 mph because I'm the one catching up to the guy doing 72, I'll be down to or almost down to 72 by the time my right foot gets to the brake pedal when there's no hurry for my foot to get there. Showing brake lights at that point just means I'd be slowing down more than necessary and slowing down faster than necessary.

Guys that don't drive on cruise control typically drop 2 or 3 mph on encountering a gentle rise, and even some cruise controls are a bit laggy about figuring out what happened.

What annoys me in traffic is people who do keep touching their brake pedal without slowing down at all, which is a situation sort of like the tale of the boy who cried 'wolf'.


Norm

 

[FoxFan]

Drives me nuts too, Norm. Or even worse, they do slow down because they're afraid of that 0.5* curve or a gradual hill ahead. But I hate 90% of people driving... So, I've got the problem, lol

 

[thundertorque]

 

[Vicr]

Put an NRA and a couple gun stickers on your rear window. Works really well in concealed carry states.

 

[Bikeman315]

Put an NRA and a couple gun stickers on your rear window. Works really well in concealed carry states.

Funny story. Many years I was on my first trip to Atlanta to visit some customers. My sales rep was driving on Rt85 when we pulled up behind a pickup truck with a loaded gun rack. Coming from NJ I looked at my rep and said what the heck is that. He said a deterrent to tailgaters.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

I find driving a car that looks and sounds like something Darth Vader would own. Coupled with a driver that looks like Jason Vorhees. Deters tailgating and jackassery in general. When Im in the right lane. Im cruise control. And the speed limit. When Im in the left. If your tailgating. It's only because I let you. You wont be able to keep up when I decide to go.

 

[Dfeeds]

Driving in general is an art. This car stops extremely well at highway speeds, for example, so I'm not worried about rear ending someone. The person behind me, however, may not have the stopping power or reaction time. I always try to keep this in mind when doing anything. I can engine brake for days, but some people have their face in a phone and won't notice you slowing down unless they see brake lights. Fortunately the brake lights on these things are bright enough to be a weapon...

But ya, people are stupid. I always try to account for that when I drive. I'm confident in my own ability but that's not always good enough when in traffic.

A recent example was when I was in highway traffic moving about 50 mph. The car ahead slammed on his brakes for a bump, and dropped to about 20. I went to slam on mine but noticed the person behind me had no idea what was going on so I swerved to the side, instead. If where the person's car stopped was any indication, I'd have been rear ended. If I also didn't have room to swerve off the road, then I also would have been rear ended.

That all being said, I can't say I have an increase in tailgators with the car. It happens but it's still usually just some monkey on their phone who would be on anyone's bumper.

 

[Ebm]

I hear you. I’m not talking about a pure tailgater. If I’m doing a steady speed and someone crawls up my ass for no reason, I’d do the same thing as you. I’m talking about being behind someone who slows for no apparent reason (how do I know you have a manual?).

Watch any type of car racing. Happens all the time. Guy in front slows and gets rear ended. Of course they do not have brake lights.

I hear ya. At my local track the people that slow down too much get rear ended or spun out then a fight ensues. It's entertaining but it would suck if you were one of those guys.

People who slow down because they are afraid of going 1 mph over the speed limit or people who ride in the left lane going under the speed limit drive me nuts.

I find driving a car that looks and sounds like something Darth Vader would own. Coupled with a driver that looks like Jason Vorhees. Deters tailgating and jackassery in general. When Im in the right lane. Im cruise control. And the speed limit. When Im in the left. If your tailgating. It's only because I let you. You wont be able to keep up when I decide to go.

What about a guy tailgating you with a street bike?

 

[ArgentumS550]

Reminds me of a time when a lowrider Honda Civic with four people was tailgating me in my Toyota 4x4. I sped up, knowing that there was a large bump ahead (construction trench cover), and they did, too. I hit that bump hard and my head slightly touched the roof. I looked in the rear view and saw a shower of sparks fly out from under the Civic...it was nighttime so it was beautiful ! They slowed WAY down and then turned a corner...still going slowly! Had a smile on my face all the way home.

 

[tokuzumi]

Some people just tailgate. And plenty of them never pass you when you move over to let them pass.

 

[Zinc03svt]

A10’s on the corn eliminate tail gaters’ real fast. ;).

 

[gmupatriot]

Some people just tailgate. And plenty of them never pass you when you move over to let them pass.

^^ This

I have a friend who drives like this and I straight up told him the first time I rode with him "Man you drive like an a-hole" He didn't like my response but he knew I was right. He swerves and tailgates like crazy just to stop at the next light lol

 

[Jmtoast]

Install a set of MAK cat-deletes, an x-pipe, and a Roush axle-back exhaust and you will never have someone tailgating you.

You don't even need cat-deletes. I have Roush AB and xpipe and with one blast of the exhaust is all it takes. If it's a convertible (especially bmws) I wait for the next overpass and "collapse the bridge" on them.

 

[lacanteen]

On the interstate I'm usually on adaptive cruise. If in the left lane and someone pokes up I'll bump up the speed a bit to get out of the way, if I get headlight flashes, I sync my speed to the vehicle on the right then add 1 MPH. If on a back road that I know, I'll set the cruise for 61 MPH and dare you to follow, especially the 35MPH curves. Only twice has someone kept up and that was a late model Caddie, and a wide stanced Jeep. Sometimes I'll let a jacked up truck pass then lock on with adaptive cruise. Makes them insane to not be able to shake me, but I make sure to set the max following distance to avoid rocks. Morons that try to pass on blind curves are just let go, I'll coast until they are gone.

 

[frank s]

How far back do you want to go with your tail-gaiter-comeuppance stories? Picture the pleasant little swimming-on-one-side, fishing-on-the-other Lake Nixon, outside Little Rock, Arkansas. 1957, just got back to the air base with my 1953 MG TD, a handling miracle in those days. Leaving the park on a twisty access road, a 1956 Ford sedan with five locals in it was very close to my rear bumper. At a moderate-speed downhill left-hander I didn't slow or brake at all, whipping on around the way I could. The Ford didn't make ten degrees of the ninety-degree turn, bouncing into a field of weeds. I waited until I saw all five young men on their feet in the cloud of dust before continuing. Just one of many similar episodes in that era.

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