Is Tail-gating becoming an epidemic?

I do not know if this is the right area for this thread so I apologize if it is wrong. I do not know about where the rest of you live, but here, tail gaiting is really getting out of hand. In most areas of the expressway, the maximum speed limit is 55. In the more outlying areas it is 65. Now, I do not like to speed so at most I will go 5 miles over the limit. I know that makes me a jerk to many people off the bat. I do not drive in the passing lane except for one shot stretch. My exit is unfortunately on the left side and due to traffic, it is not wise to wait until the last minute. Other than that I am never in the passing lane. Still, no matter how much room on either side there is to pass me, I find people right on my bumper. Do people no longer realize how dangerous this is at 60-70 MPH? Do they not teach that anymore? Do people have no idea how many dear, other driver's failures, whatever there are that would make a person have to break suddenly? At those speeds, they are going to drive through the back of my car. What is with this? It is almost as bad as the complete lack of blinker use. Am I alone in seeing this?

60-70 mph on a motorway is considered dangerous? no wonder the Yanks in scotland drive us bloody mental when they use the motorways.

70 MPH is the limit in the uk, and thats way too slow. It should be 85-90.

55 MPH? I'd tail gate and run you off the road if you did 55 in front of me.

But...as its in America, well, if 55 is the law, well, that sucks.

The way I see it, the left lane is for 10+ over the limit,
if you're goin' slower, I'm going to be driving into your backseat,
the middle lane is for 5+ over, and the right lane is for the elderly.

The crazy thing is, I'll tailgate when someone's going slow in the fast lane,
but when someone get's on me in the fast lane, I'll start drivin' slow as hell,
which just makes ME the person I hate the most.

Imagine being in bumper to bumper traffic at 90 to 95 MPH with a 1 ton Dodge dually pulling a 25 Ft. long enclosed trailer. It is something that I have experienced while behind the wheel of my Honda Fit clown car. Tailgaters have always been bad in Texas, but is much worse since all of the rednecks started watching NASCAR and putting decals with the number three on their pick ups and SUVs .

reply to post by Dan Tanna


And your in such a hurry why?

Drive slower and get there in one piece.

I am the guy that will slam on my brakes and let you eat the back of my car and say "oops, deer ran in front of me.. thanks for buying me a new car though."

Originally posted by aecreate
The way I see it, the left lane is for 10+ over the limit,
if you're goin' slower, I'm going to be driving into your backseat,
the middle lane is for 5+ over, and the right lane is for the elderly.

The crazy thing is, I'll tailgate when someone's going slow in the fast lane,
but when someone get's on me in the fast lane, I'll start drivin' slow as hell,
which just makes ME the person I hate the most.

I am not sure where you live but there are rules for a three lane expressway.
the far right is for entering and exiting, NOT driving.
the far left is for passing only, NOT driving.
the middle lane is for driving.
no matter what lane you are in, the speed limit, is the speed limit.

Originally posted by TwiTcHomatic
reply to post by Dan Tanna

 

And your in such a hurry why?

Drive slower and get there in one piece.

I am the guy that will slam on my brakes and let you eat the back of my car and say "oops, deer ran in front of me.. thanks for buying me a new car though."

Exactly. I was rearended by some punk kid once because he apparently could not be bothered to go left or right into an empty lane to pass me. I was already doing more than 10 over the speed limit when the a car swerved over and cut me off, i had to hit the breaks and this kid drove right into the back of my car. his little neon was totaled and his neck and back were pretty hurt.
my muffler fell off.
i cannot believe the responses on here already claiming they like to tailgate, see what it got that kid? oh yeah, and he missed his appointment besides losing a car and having to go to the hospital.

reply to post by Tiamanicus


We are a "fast society" now.

Stop and smell the roses.. what are those?

We want fast food, fast cars and fast women.

Life is too short, I would rather enjoy what little time I have on this rock.

Of course that could just be age starting to creep up on me....

Man where to start.

I say unsafe driving is unsafe driving period. But whats unsafe? and isn't that subjective to the drivers abilities. Michael Schumacher can probably drive safely wizzing in and out of traffic at twice the speed limit. that dumbass in the supped up 3 door hatchback probably can't (not referring to anybody here at ATS) drive like that safely.

I dunno. I went to EVOC to learn how to drive, so my driving skills are waaaaaaaaay higher than the average civilian, most cops even, so I feel comfortable driving above the speed limit and in doing it safely. There will be times where I'll drive over 100 and do it safely without risking anybody's life including my own. and there are times where I think the guy next to me trying to keep up is an asshole cause he doesn't have the skill to drive like that. I've been in traffic where I don't feel anybody should be driving over 65 and some guy is going 71 and I'll feel it's unsafe.

I hate people who run stop signs and make unsafe lane changes or turns. But as far as following the letter of the law regarding speed. I often don't.

Whats amazing is that I've gotten a fair share of speeding tickets. one that even had a $1,475 fine attached to it a 22348(b). my fair share of insurance hikes because of this, but I haven't ever caused an accident. so as far as others are concerned I'm a safe driver. but I do break the law often.

My take is this. I generally don't get upset about people driving slow. even in the fast lane. But I do get pissed when I see people driving with no situational awareness.

people that make unsafe lane changes, screw around with things in their car and not paying attention to the road. things like that. I generally don't like it when everybody is going 75-80 (I live in Los Angeles where that is the norm) and there is one guy completely aloof or too self rightious to travel with the speed of traffic and are going 63. those people are just as guilty of messing up the flow of traffic, impeading it, and endangering lives as the people who speed.

However if I am going 80 in the fast lane and everybody else is going 65 and won't get out of my way i don't get mad either since i'm the one not fitting in.

So tail gating= very dangerous. going faster than 65 not at all dangerous 90 percent of the time. Sometimes though you do have to help someone out who just doesn't get it and won't take measures to correct their driving and fall in line with what all the other traffic is doing. Ie a person too timid to make a lane change and want to keep slowing down instead of speeding up to make the lane change. they need someone to put a little pressure on them to go ahead and make that change. these hesitant tentative, frankly not nearly as skilled as the average driver are waaaaay more dangerous than 90 percent of the speeders or law breakers.



Also in regards to pumping your breaks to "show the tailgater behind you" whats up. not a good idea. it's just pisses them off. seen people tailgate twice as hard to somebody who does that to them afterwards. I've seen people who get that treatment whip around the smart ass driver and start trying to drive them off the road as a response to their actions. and the oops I guess you rear ended my car thing. saw that happen once too and the driver who rear ended the guy (tailgater) sprinted out of his car and sucker punched the driver as hard as he could. knocked the guy out cold in one punch. called him an a hole spit on him and then got back in his car and drove off. I never got the license plate number. I don't think anybody did. it all happened too fast. that guy got away scott free. so it's not a good Idea to be a smart ass either and to try and get the offensive car to hit you.

Tell me it isn't so Dan Tanna. Are you really a tail gaiter and would you really run someone off the road? Surely you jest.

There seems to be an epidemic of rude and careless drivers. I leave the house on a trip into the city and by the time I'm back home I'm a nervous wreck. It's a wonder my truck isn't wrecked also.

OP don't get me wrong. In the instances you have mentioned you were in the right.

I also agree that people need to relax a little when they are driving. I say not being relaxed and being too reactive is one of the main cause of accidents.

Like I said is that I'll frequently drive over the speed limit, but I am relaxed when I do it. I am not ridding up on people and tailgating them. tailgating is heinous and it is very dangerous.

In the instances where I want to do 80 and the traffic is going 65 I don't tailgate to get these people to respond to my temporary inconvenience. I lay back and watch the traffic flow and try to slowly work my way into a position where I can politely pass the driver(s) and carry on.

Originally posted by TwiTcHomatic
reply to post by Tiamanicus

 

We are a "fast society" now.

Stop and smell the roses.. what are those?

We want fast food, fast cars and fast women.

Life is too short, I would rather enjoy what little time I have on this rock.

Of course that could just be age starting to creep up on me....

I would too. that is exactly why getting to the next stop light a little faster than the next guy is not worth risking my life. I value it too much and tail-gaiting does not get you anywhere any faster.

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
OP don't get me wrong. In the instances you have mentioned you were in the right.

I also agree that people need to relax a little when they are driving. I say not being relaxed and being too reactive is one of the main cause of accidents.

Like I said is that I'll frequently drive over the speed limit, but I am relaxed when I do it. I am not ridding up on people and tailgating them. tailgating is heinous and it is very dangerous.

In the instances where I want to do 80 and the traffic is going 65 I don't tailgate to get these people to respond to my temporary inconvenience. I lay back and watch the traffic flow and try to slowly work my way into a position where I can politely pass the driver(s) and carry on.

Right, so you would not be the problem. I am not even complaining about speeding. Speed all you like. That is what the passing lane is for. Like I said, I am talking about people that tail-gate, in the cruising lane, for no reason. Youseem a bit more considerate than that.

yeah racing from light to light is stupid and achieve very little most of the time. Some people get a thrill out of throtteling their cars, but it's not a good enough reason to drag race from light to light.

There is a street in LA called chandler Blvd. there are numerous deaths each year on this small stretch of road because kids want to drag race from light to light. they just never seem to notice the tree roots that up heave the road in places and they flip their cars at 80+MPH. situational awareness and being relaxed thats the way to go, regardless of ones speed.

reply to post by TwiTcHomatic


Putting me and my kids at risk so some idiot may watch two minutes more of television, or get to the bar a minute early pisses me off. I agree with the OP that basic common sense rules apply (the one that I hate are the slow drivers in the on-comming lane). The thing that gets me are the drivers who only see ten feet infront of them. Often times, for those who claim they will tail-gait a 10mph over driver in the fast lane, they cannot see what the intelligent driver in front of them sees; he may be naturally slowing down as the drivers in front are breaking - regardless, drive cautiously close for as long as possible and then drive around them. Geeze, it's not worth killing someone over. And by the way, I do NOT trust you on the roads, who ever you may be. I will treat you with respect, caution and courtesy, and I'd expect the same back. The idea is to get there in one piece, not 48 seconds early.

peaceout,

ColoradoJens

[edit on 30-8-2008 by ColoradoJens]

reply to post by TwiTcHomatic

The tailgaters are the idiots moving from the big cities. NYC is so bad I will drive a couple hours out of the way to avoid it. In Boston if you leave a car length between you and the next car someone will immediately pull into it!!! I think I got most of my white hair while commuting in the Boston area.

Careful about slamming on brakes. I am the one driving that dually pulling the 33ft livestock trailer. No I do not tailgate. I try to stay well away from everyone. But I hate the idiots who pull out just in front of my truck in a 55mph zoned country road go 20mph, slam on the brakes a 1/4 mile down the road to make a turn. I have injured animals trying to avoid hitting those idiots. A few weeks ago I had to put a car in the ditch or hit the on comming car The car in the ditch pull out just in front of me and I could not stop quickly enough to avoid hitting him. Please remember trucks with trailers do not stop as quick as a small car and they can jack knife killing ALL of us

I can not believe the stunts I have seen 4 wheelers pull around semis. Are you aware a semi can run right over a car and hardly feel it?

Originally posted by aecreate

The crazy thing is, I'll tailgate when someone's going slow in the fast lane,
but when someone get's on me in the fast lane, I'll start drivin' slow as hell,
which just makes ME the person I hate the most.

Haha! Hooray for d-bags like us!!!

I actually laughed when I read this, I do the same exact thing.

How dare someone ride my ass!!?

So I put the brakes on and if they try to get ahead of me (screw that!) I speed back up so they cant.

I have severe road rage, Im (seriously) a dangerous person on the road.

Don't come to Texas and be acting like that. In rural areas it is normal to drive fast while talking on the cell phone. In most places people will drive with no hands on the wheel while on the cell phone and drinking a sodi water, or just waving at you as they approach. The wave is a tradition that is very old. It was originally to show that the one hand that wasn't on the reins wasn't holding a pistol. Road rage is taken very seriously in Texas. Road rage shootings are common also, and even old ladies like to shoot and carry guns.

Crimvelvet,

I agree with you. I went to school in Boston. The drivers there were very insane. I remember i lived in the main dorms of the college i was going to and every night during the winter I would look out my window at the intersection below. My dorm was on the corner of Mass ave and Boylston Ave. A major intersection for the back bay of boston.

Every night there was a ambulance/paramedic posted on both corners of the intersection. every 30 - 90 minutes .Sccreeeeeeeaaaaacchhhhh!!!!! Bang!!!!! Another fenderbender/ 3 car pile up and the paramedics would jump out and attend to the people involved.

Boston. I remember my first visit there. the first week in town before freshman year of college being shown around by a local, a family friend. he would just randomly jump into traffic and try to cross the street.
cars slamming on their breaks, tires screeching. and then he expected me to follow. this was my first introduction to boston driving/pedestrian interaction and I was shocked. Me coming from LA I figured where the average driver was going 45-50 on surface streets half the time that those bostonians would be run over in less than 12 hours if new to LA and trying to do the same thing. 12 hours flat. no way we could stop in time. So I agree with you about the crazy boston drivers.

Some of he craziest and rude things I've ever seen have happened in my home state of california. I live in LA and I love to drive up on Mulholland Drive. (my childhood home was up there, it's special to me for some reason) Up on that street I've had SUV pass me on curvy roads at 55+ MPH just because they wanted to get home faster. I've seen a car jump up to 80+MPH just to pass me in an on coming traffic lane through a blind turn just to get home faster and then go off a cliff about 20 feet down an embankment and need a truck with a crane to wench their car out, just to get home faster. This is the crem de la crem of LA's A holes and jerks driving. Ask any LAPD and they will tell you the same. SO I think you may have a very valid point about the most important thing being to get home safe. I shudder to imagine the cost to get your car wenched off the side of a mountain by a crane while blocking a major traffic route during evening rush hour.

Mulholland had to make it illegal for people to pull over at night (any time between dusk to dawn) and enjoy the view because they had too many lovers on dates pulled over enjoying the view (read making out, and the view is amazing) when some dip S*$& looses control speeding like a maniac trying to get home faster and kill the innocent couple parked on the side of the road. Sad.

Good point all around by many posting on this thread especially the OP and others

Originally posted by dizziedame
Tell me it isn't so Dan Tanna. Are you really a tail gaiter and would you really run someone off the road? Surely you jest.

There seems to be an epidemic of rude and careless drivers. I leave the house on a trip into the city and by the time I'm back home I'm a nervous wreck. It's a wonder my truck isn't wrecked also.

Nah, sarcasm and jest doesn't come off right on the net does it? I just go past at the next available point. No brow of the hill or blind corners stuff, nice and safe, keeps us all in one piece.

I just had to be sarcastic becaus eof the 'ooohhhh 55 is SOOOOOOOOO dangerous...' I fell off me chair laughing at that.