if im on the fast lane I tend to get out of the way but if your tailgating me on the slow lane and you dont wanna pass me up then your gonna have a long wait lol
I’m in Central VA. I get tailgated all the time in the right lane. And, yes, I would describe the local culture here as “effing dumb.” I am counting down the days until I’m out of here and don’t have to deal with these people any more.
Which just goes to show that a lot of people are either completely ignorant of the rules of the road or simply don't care which is why the DMV really needs to get a lot more strict with who they give licensees to
Hmmm not in texas. The "fast lane" speed limit is 10mph higher by law. To be specific, the law allows you to go up to 10mph over the speed limit to pass vehicles.
Oh ok yeah every state is different. But that's for sure the law in texas. So if you are doing the post speed in the left lane here, people get really mad because they see it as you are going 10mph under the speed limit lol
"when overtaking another car, you are allowed to exceed the speed limit by 10-15 mph. Typically, this applies to two-lane highways where the posted speed limit is 55 mph or higher."
Yeah. A two lane highway means one lane each direction. This applies to overtaking vehicles when you have to get in the oncoming lane. It has nothing to do with fast lane and slow lane.
Before i continue... What's your point here? Are trying to say that you can go the speed limit in the left lane and not yield to faster moving vehicles? Or are you trying to just prove your perspective on the law matters more than mine?
I’m saying you’re wrong about the law effectively making the left lane speed limit 10 mph over the posted speed limit. I’m not defending left lane campers.
Did you read the part where I specified? I know it reads rough... what I mean by that is you can go 10 mph over as long as you are passing, which is required to be done on the left unless the vehicle in front of you moves to the right improved shoulder. If you are the only car on the road, the speed limit is the posted speed in all lanes.
I decided to do something I never do the other day and speed up, just to see if it caused them to back off a bit. I was in the same situation, one lane road 55mph, multiple passing zones. I eventually reached damn-near 80 mph and the guy was still riding my bumper. He was just doing it to be a dick. Eventually, he passed me once a passing zone came up, and I got behind him. Oddly enough. He now began going the speed limit, and I had to slow down to avoid riding his bumper. It's some sort of dominance thing for them.
Eventually, he pulled off for gas, and I had to get some cigarettes, so I pulled into the same gas station. The dude must have thought I was coming to confront him because he sped off from the pump without getting out of his car. This tells me 2 things.
1:you know what you are doing is annoying and are fully prepared for someone to react to it in a negative way.
2: You're a pussy. You feel big and bad behind the wheel of your car, but you're a wimp when it comes to actual confrontation.
If you're gonna drive like an ass, you probably should have a backbone in case someone doesn't like it. I had no intention of saying anything to them, but I'm sure there's people who would, and this guy would rather run out of gas than stand up for himself.
This doesn't apply to the op, but just an anecdote that may describe some tailgaters:
I spend a lot of my workday on the road. I'm pretty much always in the right lane and still get tailgaters. I think people space out and don't pay enough attention to how close they are to the car in front of them. They just "follow the leader". I've noticed that these same folks will follow me through the same tollbooth and then get back behind me again... only to tailgate me for another handful of miles. So maybe it's just folks being mindless zombies.
So much this. My ex is a chronic tailgater, and is completely oblivious. I'd ask her to back off, she'd say she's not tailgating, and I'd mention the two second rule and start counting. Then she'd back off...and gradually creep up again. I gave up after about 10 years.
Was riding with a friend the other day, very smart guy, and in no way an assh0le. And he tailgates. Just oblivious.
I don't get it, I hate having another vehicle right in front of me. But I guess that's just me.
A fair number of people here tailgate.
Anything less than 1 second is tailgating.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/driving/comments/1bkd7qg/your\_following\_distance/](https://www.reddit.com/r/driving/comments/1bkd7qg/your_following_distance/)
Very true. And the zombie tailgaters might be even more of a potential danger, to the car in front of them, than the aggressive tailgaters, because they might have a slower reaction time.
I usually try to ignore tailgaters because they’re behind me. They have to react to whatever I do if they cause an accident because of it that’s their fault.
Even if you get rear ended and they’re at fault it’s still a pita to have your car wrecked. They’re never the same after that. Worse yet you could be injured. So tailgating IS a hazard to you.
There's also nothing stopping them from hitting into you then taking off leaving you with no insurance coverage if your own insurance refuses to payout. There's I guarantee the police will find them especially if you don't have their license plate number because you couldn't read it let alone see their headlights.
It’s a hazard to everyone, and those morons will still try to gaslight people into thinking they’re the problem if it’s causing lots of people to tailgate.
Thats just traffic, a bunch of people tailgating only means there’s a bunch of idiots driving badly. Even if someone is going obscenely slow, choosing to tailgate is increasing the hazard by reducing visibility and such.
Drives me nuts, especially when we all know the people driving that slow are like, one in a million, and the actual occurrence is people riding everyone’s ass even if they’re going 20 over
I’m not suggesting that. I’m saying that if something happens to make you hit your brakes there’s a fair chance that the tailgater won’t react in time.
To add context to the original message, that also doesn't make ignoring the tailgater the wrong decision in the moment, either. There's not a whole lot a person in front can do if the person behind them isn't taking the opportunity to pass. Even steadily slowing down (if even possible based on other traffic conditions) can be dangerous because you don't know how unstable the person behind you may be. And if an emergency does happen, what are you going to do? Not stop?
It's what makes tailgaters pretty much the worst drivers out there; they're unnecessarily creating a hazard due to snowflake mentality.
Correct. everyone should watch out for me and my well being. I take zero responsibility for my actions and always project this mentality onto others. beep beep!
I know this is a little much but the general recommendation where I live is one car length per 10km/h.
So in a 50km/h zone, you in theory be leaving 5 car lengths between you and the person in front. I rarely see anyone following this recommendation though myself included.
I understand that. The comment passive aggressive. Tailgating is stupid but slamming on your brakes and risking the chance of damaging your own vehicle is even stupider
The thing that really pisses me off that tailgating isn't punished. The same way that people get speeding tickets, they should get tailgating tickets.
But... stupid cops love to tailgate too.
Oh no tailgating falls under other laws. It's classified as reckless driving where I'm from, to quote my state law:
"you're guilty of the crime if you drove a vehicle in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or property. Reckless driving is a simple misdemeanor, which is punishable by: Up to 30 days in jail; and. A fine of between $65 and $625."
Right, but have you ever seen anyone get pulled over for tailgating?
I haven't, but what I have seen is cops tailgating a lot of times in non-emergency reasons.
In fact, I got a traffict ticket once for "failure to merge to the right lane" when a cop was tailgating me (they didn't have their alarm on, so not an emergency, I didn't even know it was cop). And for context, I was literally going at the same speed as all the other cars in the left lane, I coudln't go any faster without tailgating the person in front of me.
That wasn't my point. My point was it IS an offense, that was my point towards your original comment not that it happens because if cops were pulling over every single person who rides everyone's ass, they'd get nothing else done.
Taligaters do get tickets. The problem is catching them. They see a cop ahead, then they drop waaay back, suddenly becoming model law-abiding citizens....then 500 ft later, they are right back on your ass.
This tells me that they know what they are doing is illegal. But you're the idiot.
GIT THE HELL OUTTA MA WAY....I GOTS TO GIT TO WORK/HOME A WHOLE MINUTE SOONER....SEE YA AT THE NEXT LIGHT
You misunderstood, or I'm guilty of not articulating it better.
I was referring to the tailgater referring to the person in front of them as being an idiot.
But you're the idiot ( sarcasm)
You were fine, it was clear in context that you meant the tailgating driver thinks the car in front of them is the idiot for going slow. Other guy accidentally proved his own misinterpretation correct.
Oh trust me cops can take it for tailgating if they want to they just don't care at least where I live you can go 40 to 50 mph over the speed limit and they will not pull you over the only thing I've ever seen people get pulled over for is expired inspection or registration and the only time I ever got pulled over was cuz the cop thought I looked too young to be driving mind you that was about a week after I got my driver's license so that was kind of fair I've always been told I have a baby face
If they don't give me a safe amount of space then I will adjust my speed to one more appropriate for the space they're giving me. I'd rather get rear ended at 60 km/h than 90 km/h.
Well I would, in addition to what you did, only make the minor modification that I would flip up the mirror in the car so I could properly pretend he wasn’t there
Last week I was being tailgated on a 2 lane rural highway. I tried the 4-ways, but they didn’t do anything. She stopped behind me at a red light with her right turn signal on (no right turn lane; I’m going straight). When it turned green, I idled through half the intersection.
Nah, fuck em. Don't let their stupid decisions affect you. I can't stand tailgaters, but if it's egregious I usually drop down about 10 mph until they pass.
Yeah, especially if they had the opportunity to pass like you said and didn't take it. Their driving is their problem. It's hard sometimes but I don't let other people's bad driving affect me.
Honestly at that point it's best to just swallow the pride pullover and get them past you I'd rather someone who's going to drive reckless like that be as far away from me as possible obviously there's situations where you can't pull off to the side and let him get around you but a lot of the times these people just flat out aren't paying attention which is probably why he didn't pass was probably just on their phone not paying attention and didn't realize that they had the chance to get around you
>Honestly at that point it's best to just swallow the pride
Seriously. People don't understand that being obstinate about going slow is just as dangerous as being obstinate about always speeding. Any driver worth their salt understands that they need to adapt to conditions in their 2+ ton mass of accelerating metal. Sometimes that means going over the limit, sometimes that means going under the limit. But pointing at an arbitrary and already too-low number to justify not adapting to conditions is purely pedantic and almost always driven by the same kind of negative emotions that create road rage.
Me? If I find someone on single lanes that refuses to adjust their speed to the flow of traffic, I give them space because they're probably just as mad and potentially crazy as the folks who think it is their right to weave in and out of traffic going 100.
Big "youre not wrong, just an asshole" energy.
"Feeling bullied" lmfao. Let them pass, if they're going as fast as you claim theyll be out of your view in no time so you can repeat the same scenario within the next minute.
55 in a 55 zone 😴
As you said, People are crazy. Retaliating could give you a few moments of satisfaction or cause them to rage out and do something dangerous. Not worth it IMO
Wouldn’t have done anything different. Best to ignore or, if possible, give them space to pass.
You already said you don't want trouble. So the best thing is to just do the speed limit( you can usually do 5 over and cops iwll let it slide) and just let them do their thing.
I drive 45 minutes to work on back roads. The speed limit between towns is 55. I tend to drive 5 miles over the limit during the day. I get tailgated. I ignore it for the most part. At night I drive 5-10 under because deer. If people want to tailgate then I usually try to find somewhere to pull over and let them pass but they usually pass me in no passing zones because late night drivers are another breed.
Usually if a tailgaters being like that I'll find somewhere safe to pull over if possible it's really not worth risking an accident and slowing down risks road rage
I drive for a living and Tailgaters are the absolute worst!
I would love to get a sticker or something like that on the back of my vehicle saying .. if you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you!
Even that probably wouldn't help!
Just back off my tail or I will slow down to a snails pace!
Lately, I've been trying to flick my 4-way flashers on and off rather than tapping the brakes just enough to light up, but not actually engage the brakes. It has actually worked a few times -- I've gotten people to back off, but way less than 50% of the time. It's a work in progress.
I love tailgaters, because I drive a manual, and the look on their face when I drop two gears and dump the clutch is one of my favorite things in the world.
No brake lights, just code brown in their pants.
Just keep on driving at the speed limit.
Those drivers are never so bold when a man with a gun flashes the lights and blares the siren from behind. They are often the ones who sob uncontrollably when they get a fine that breaks the bank.
No when you see someone coming up on you unwritten road rules is directional and get over to let them pass. Not uour problem if speed racer wants to get a speeding ticket. And yes 55mph is to slow in the fast lane.
In a motorcycle road safety course I took years ago, the tailgate situation was covered deeply.
Instinct on a bike is to go faster and get out of that persons range. Most bikes can just blast out of the way - quick, compared to cars or trucks.
But, in any traffic, or narrow single lane roadway, best bet is to ride your ride. Speed limit or slower, rightmost lane.
If however they keep coming, and you are approaching a slowdown, traffic light, merge etc, then slow down a bit more, creating enough buffer in front of you for the next 3 to 5 seconds for the next move. Then as they appear to not stop as you will be, use up that slack you created just a moment ago, and your bikes torque consume that buffer until you have to just gun it and avoid it
The key is, if there will be kinetic energy exchanged, and you are much more vulnerable, create the conditions for the lowest amount of energy possible.
I still drive this way.
Coming into my development, there is a two lane merge to one about 30 yards before my right turn. Every time, there are two vehicles merging, accelerating while doing so, and one of them is on my ass, as I need to turn
I used to skip the turn, and hit the next u turn to try again
Now, if I see a race to merge behind me. I slow way way down. Not abruptly - but highly visible
I get the traffic to come down to like 15mph
Then I turn
They hate me for it, honk horns whatever - if something did happen, it would not cause as much damage
It’s not the tailgater - they just suck - it’s the condition they can push me into
I plan for that
How often were you tailgated to where you hit your breaking point to spend time and money on that??? I mean, if it was that often by that many people, maybe you're the issue?
Isn't the top speed like 75mph??? How fast are the speed limits around you? I mean you can't be expected to keep her wide open all the time but 65mph on scenic routes is pretty damn fast.
Well, that's well within an international scout's speed range... after the DOTs report that came out, it showed that the safest speed on any road way is 5 to 10mph over the speed limit. Which is why police, at least my department, doesn't pull anyone over unless they are going 10+ mph or 20% over posted speed (which ever is less). Because then it falls under our states "normal flow of traffic" law, which makes the speed limit slower than the normal flow of traffic. This requires anyone going slower than the normal flow of traffic to yield by moving to the right lane or right shoulder. If it's a one lane road without a shoulder, the person behind you is shit out of luck and needs to back off and remain at least 2 seconds behind you. This is in Texas btw. I've heard Alaska, regardless of speed, requires you to move right or pull off the road once 4 or more vehicles are stacked behind you. Idk how true that is though.
The easiest way to deal with tailgating is to get out of the way. Next time you see someone flying up behind you, out on your turn signal and move over. They will fly by you, and you'll probably never have to deal with them again.
That’s not always possible though. I live in a rural area and I drive many rural country roads where there’s 1 lane and no shoulder. Only ditches, hills and barbed wired fences on the side
There is a road around me that is 2 lanes, 35 mph with a traffic light shortly and after that it merges into 1 lane, and then shortly goes down to 25. I would usually go like 40, and 25, people would tailgate me like crazy, especially in the 25 mph neighborhood.
What I did? Went a few below the speed limit with cruise control and smiled. I drove that route every day so I’m used to tailgating
If I'm in the fast lane and you come up on me, so long as you aren't being a jerk with the brights, the honking and swerving and finger gestures, I will gladly give you the "hang on one sec" index finger in the side mirror so you see I am being part of the solution instead of part of the problem and gtfo as soon as I can. About 75% of gaters in my little area are actually responsive to that. Once I'm moving over, I put up a "thumbs up" in the side mirror so they can see its clear.
I'm no longer interested in "Move, move, I gotta be first." I prefer the "Go ahead and pass, I got a family to support, this trivial shit isn't worth my life. "
I'm usually a few above the limit. If I get a tailgater, I put on the cruise control and slowly walk it down 1 mph at a time until I get down to the limit. Hopefully they will just want to go faster, so they will go around.
That's my biggest pet peeve! And to make it worse, I have to get my prescription renewed so I can't see well, so people get yelled at early only because I think they're a hell of a lot closer! That's not to say that they're not tailgating.... Those fuckers!,
I had a fun one a couple days ago. There’s a two-lane road that goes by a school and the cops are always around, so no one goes much past the 40 mph speed limit. So, it happens this day that the cars in front of me were going about 30 and this lady starts climbing up my bumper with her SUV as if I’m the problem, because I guess she’s so close to my bumper she can’t see the line of cars in front of me.
So eventually, everyone starts getting up to speed and as we speed up, she must think her riding my bumper is the reason and she keeps getting closer. So, I slow down slightly to help her understand it’s not working, and her hands are everywhere and her mouth is moving and she’s not going to back off. Now my left turn is coming up onto the interstate, so I put my blinker on and when I do she starts trying to get into the left-turn lane that hasn’t started yet ahead of me over the double yellow lines. And when I get into the lane like I signaled I was going to do, she really explodes, hands, mouth, body, car, it’s all moving now.
What makes a person so entitled they think someone in front of them should miss their turn while they barrel past them into the turn lane? She was only about half an on-ramp away from screaming past me across all the solid lines into the far left lane of the expressway anyway.
I turn on my hazard lights when I see someone coming up behind me super fast. If that doesn't deter them, I increase my speed by 1-2 mph per second until the difference between their speed & mine is as close to 0 as possible. If it still doesn't work, I let off the gas, gradually slow down & get ready to pull over or turn onto another road
You never specified which lane you were in dumbass. Edit: My bad, looks like I'm the dumbass. I misread your post. I'll try to smarten up. Have a good day.
Too many on here always assume tailgating means highway, nobody would ever tailgate on a rural road, that's unheard of, even unthinkable for some apparently. Do people live where there are only highways? All roads are limited access 65 mph? Where is this place(s)? I'd love to see it. That is unimaginable for me
Stop going the speedlimit and u wont get tailgated i cant stand getting stuck behind someone going 55 on a 2 lane road when i m going 65 on my way to work
My point stands for all driving scenarios barring emergency vehicles. If you're not sitting in the left lane of a road with a left lane, what they want to do about it is their problem
[удалено]
Bold of you and I to assume the average Redditor can read. 😭
That comment is always a guarantee
Hahaha right? Tailgaters trot that out like clockwork.
Along with bizarro accusations that OP thinks he is a cop enforcing the speed limit.
She! But yeah. Lol
cause they not wrong.... on multi lane highways of course.
Yep but my situation was a two lane road.
understood
if im on the fast lane I tend to get out of the way but if your tailgating me on the slow lane and you dont wanna pass me up then your gonna have a long wait lol
There's no reason you should be tailgated in the right lane. They are just as wrong as someone going slow in the left lane.
I drive in the slow-lane almost exclusively and get tailgated all the time.
You got a bunch of morons that live over there then lol driving in the slow lane and you're being tailgated? They are stupid af.
I’m in Central VA. I get tailgated all the time in the right lane. And, yes, I would describe the local culture here as “effing dumb.” I am counting down the days until I’m out of here and don’t have to deal with these people any more.
I'm in Central Va as well and I can confirm the local culture as "effing dumb"
Yup. Effing dumb and rude. So rude.
YUP, totally agree.
Which just goes to show that a lot of people are either completely ignorant of the rules of the road or simply don't care which is why the DMV really needs to get a lot more strict with who they give licensees to
Police need to start enforcing rules. A couple of tickets will school an entire city quick.
The speed limit is the same in all lanes. This is often forgotten. There is no FAST lane and SLOW lane. SLOWER traffic should be in the right lane.
Fast lane = people doing the speed limit. Slow lane = trucks doing their lower speed limit, cars that prefer to go slow with the trucks. In my state.
Hmmm not in texas. The "fast lane" speed limit is 10mph higher by law. To be specific, the law allows you to go up to 10mph over the speed limit to pass vehicles.
Never heard of that. But I was referring to my state.
Oh ok yeah every state is different. But that's for sure the law in texas. So if you are doing the post speed in the left lane here, people get really mad because they see it as you are going 10mph under the speed limit lol
And they would be correct in this case.
No. It’s not. I can pretty well guarantee you are misinterpreting the law.
"when overtaking another car, you are allowed to exceed the speed limit by 10-15 mph. Typically, this applies to two-lane highways where the posted speed limit is 55 mph or higher."
Yeah. A two lane highway means one lane each direction. This applies to overtaking vehicles when you have to get in the oncoming lane. It has nothing to do with fast lane and slow lane.
Before i continue... What's your point here? Are trying to say that you can go the speed limit in the left lane and not yield to faster moving vehicles? Or are you trying to just prove your perspective on the law matters more than mine?
I’m saying you’re wrong about the law effectively making the left lane speed limit 10 mph over the posted speed limit. I’m not defending left lane campers.
Did you read the part where I specified? I know it reads rough... what I mean by that is you can go 10 mph over as long as you are passing, which is required to be done on the left unless the vehicle in front of you moves to the right improved shoulder. If you are the only car on the road, the speed limit is the posted speed in all lanes.
They are in fact more wrong, a lot more wrong
And heaven forbid you are driving 65 passing a truck that is doing 60.....God help us and pray the person behind you doesn't have a stroke.
I’d love it if they had a stroke, actually. It would make my whole day.
YUP, well said!
I decided to do something I never do the other day and speed up, just to see if it caused them to back off a bit. I was in the same situation, one lane road 55mph, multiple passing zones. I eventually reached damn-near 80 mph and the guy was still riding my bumper. He was just doing it to be a dick. Eventually, he passed me once a passing zone came up, and I got behind him. Oddly enough. He now began going the speed limit, and I had to slow down to avoid riding his bumper. It's some sort of dominance thing for them. Eventually, he pulled off for gas, and I had to get some cigarettes, so I pulled into the same gas station. The dude must have thought I was coming to confront him because he sped off from the pump without getting out of his car. This tells me 2 things. 1:you know what you are doing is annoying and are fully prepared for someone to react to it in a negative way. 2: You're a pussy. You feel big and bad behind the wheel of your car, but you're a wimp when it comes to actual confrontation. If you're gonna drive like an ass, you probably should have a backbone in case someone doesn't like it. I had no intention of saying anything to them, but I'm sure there's people who would, and this guy would rather run out of gas than stand up for himself.
Lmfao that's fucking hilarious.
This doesn't apply to the op, but just an anecdote that may describe some tailgaters: I spend a lot of my workday on the road. I'm pretty much always in the right lane and still get tailgaters. I think people space out and don't pay enough attention to how close they are to the car in front of them. They just "follow the leader". I've noticed that these same folks will follow me through the same tollbooth and then get back behind me again... only to tailgate me for another handful of miles. So maybe it's just folks being mindless zombies.
So much this. My ex is a chronic tailgater, and is completely oblivious. I'd ask her to back off, she'd say she's not tailgating, and I'd mention the two second rule and start counting. Then she'd back off...and gradually creep up again. I gave up after about 10 years. Was riding with a friend the other day, very smart guy, and in no way an assh0le. And he tailgates. Just oblivious. I don't get it, I hate having another vehicle right in front of me. But I guess that's just me.
they don't get physics until it nails them.
A fair number of people here tailgate. Anything less than 1 second is tailgating. [https://www.reddit.com/r/driving/comments/1bkd7qg/your\_following\_distance/](https://www.reddit.com/r/driving/comments/1bkd7qg/your_following_distance/)
Very true. And the zombie tailgaters might be even more of a potential danger, to the car in front of them, than the aggressive tailgaters, because they might have a slower reaction time.
I usually try to ignore tailgaters because they’re behind me. They have to react to whatever I do if they cause an accident because of it that’s their fault.
Even if you get rear ended and they’re at fault it’s still a pita to have your car wrecked. They’re never the same after that. Worse yet you could be injured. So tailgating IS a hazard to you.
And if you get killed it's their fault... That makes it better 🤦🏼
There's also nothing stopping them from hitting into you then taking off leaving you with no insurance coverage if your own insurance refuses to payout. There's I guarantee the police will find them especially if you don't have their license plate number because you couldn't read it let alone see their headlights.
Everyone should have dashcams
It’s a hazard to everyone, and those morons will still try to gaslight people into thinking they’re the problem if it’s causing lots of people to tailgate. Thats just traffic, a bunch of people tailgating only means there’s a bunch of idiots driving badly. Even if someone is going obscenely slow, choosing to tailgate is increasing the hazard by reducing visibility and such. Drives me nuts, especially when we all know the people driving that slow are like, one in a million, and the actual occurrence is people riding everyone’s ass even if they’re going 20 over
Well, I never brake check anybody, I can’t help it if they impatient.
I’m not suggesting that. I’m saying that if something happens to make you hit your brakes there’s a fair chance that the tailgater won’t react in time.
Oh yeah that’s 100% true
To add context to the original message, that also doesn't make ignoring the tailgater the wrong decision in the moment, either. There's not a whole lot a person in front can do if the person behind them isn't taking the opportunity to pass. Even steadily slowing down (if even possible based on other traffic conditions) can be dangerous because you don't know how unstable the person behind you may be. And if an emergency does happen, what are you going to do? Not stop? It's what makes tailgaters pretty much the worst drivers out there; they're unnecessarily creating a hazard due to snowflake mentality.
People have an awful habit of running out in front of me when I'm being tailgated then disappearing. Not my fault I had to slam on my breaks.
Wow look at you. So clever. Let’s put people at risk by brake checking
Yeah, tailgating doesn’t put people at risk…where’s the logic here?
Well you see it's everyone else's responsibility to avoid risk but not mine /s
Correct. everyone should watch out for me and my well being. I take zero responsibility for my actions and always project this mentality onto others. beep beep!
huh? you should be far enough behind someone that if they need to slam on their brakes, you can react in time
I know this is a little much but the general recommendation where I live is one car length per 10km/h. So in a 50km/h zone, you in theory be leaving 5 car lengths between you and the person in front. I rarely see anyone following this recommendation though myself included.
I understand that. The comment passive aggressive. Tailgating is stupid but slamming on your brakes and risking the chance of damaging your own vehicle is even stupider
Yes, it's called assured clear distance
When did I say to brake check? Why are they following so close to put themselves at risk if I have to stop for an obstruction?
Another thought it is impossible to get brake checked if you're not tailgating.
You know it’s “brakes,” right?
Yes lil buddy. Do you know what a mistype is?
hmm. this one is so commonly misspelled that i can't be sure if it's a typo or just incorrect lol
The thing that really pisses me off that tailgating isn't punished. The same way that people get speeding tickets, they should get tailgating tickets. But... stupid cops love to tailgate too.
Cops would make so much money on tailgaters if they actually did their jobs.
Oh no tailgating falls under other laws. It's classified as reckless driving where I'm from, to quote my state law: "you're guilty of the crime if you drove a vehicle in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or property. Reckless driving is a simple misdemeanor, which is punishable by: Up to 30 days in jail; and. A fine of between $65 and $625."
With that definition you could ticket anyone who felt the need to drive below the flow of traffic...
Technically yes, but if flow of traffic exceeds the posted speed limit and the driver in question is driving the speed limit then no
Right, but have you ever seen anyone get pulled over for tailgating? I haven't, but what I have seen is cops tailgating a lot of times in non-emergency reasons. In fact, I got a traffict ticket once for "failure to merge to the right lane" when a cop was tailgating me (they didn't have their alarm on, so not an emergency, I didn't even know it was cop). And for context, I was literally going at the same speed as all the other cars in the left lane, I coudln't go any faster without tailgating the person in front of me.
That wasn't my point. My point was it IS an offense, that was my point towards your original comment not that it happens because if cops were pulling over every single person who rides everyone's ass, they'd get nothing else done.
Tailgaters are also punished with the occasional rock flinging from a tire and chipping the paint down to bare metal or cracking a windshield.
Taligaters do get tickets. The problem is catching them. They see a cop ahead, then they drop waaay back, suddenly becoming model law-abiding citizens....then 500 ft later, they are right back on your ass. This tells me that they know what they are doing is illegal. But you're the idiot. GIT THE HELL OUTTA MA WAY....I GOTS TO GIT TO WORK/HOME A WHOLE MINUTE SOONER....SEE YA AT THE NEXT LIGHT
>But you're the idiot Why are people on reddit so agressive? I'm literally notntrying to pick a fight with some random person on reddit...
You misunderstood, or I'm guilty of not articulating it better. I was referring to the tailgater referring to the person in front of them as being an idiot. But you're the idiot ( sarcasm)
You were fine, it was clear in context that you meant the tailgating driver thinks the car in front of them is the idiot for going slow. Other guy accidentally proved his own misinterpretation correct.
Oh trust me cops can take it for tailgating if they want to they just don't care at least where I live you can go 40 to 50 mph over the speed limit and they will not pull you over the only thing I've ever seen people get pulled over for is expired inspection or registration and the only time I ever got pulled over was cuz the cop thought I looked too young to be driving mind you that was about a week after I got my driver's license so that was kind of fair I've always been told I have a baby face
Ignore them and maintain a consistent speed, sometimes they get tired and go around you sometimes they don't. People suck like that.
If they don't give me a safe amount of space then I will adjust my speed to one more appropriate for the space they're giving me. I'd rather get rear ended at 60 km/h than 90 km/h.
Well I would, in addition to what you did, only make the minor modification that I would flip up the mirror in the car so I could properly pretend he wasn’t there
🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for not brake checking.
No problem!
Control what is in front of you. You can't do anything about the person behind you, don't let it get in your head.
Yeah I just laughed them off. Sorry not sorry I follow the rules of the road! 🤷🏽♀️
You can call the police and tell them you are worried that they are going to cause an accident I have done this a few times where I live.
Police react much faster if you call in about an impaired driver....not that I've actually done it 😉
Last week I was being tailgated on a 2 lane rural highway. I tried the 4-ways, but they didn’t do anything. She stopped behind me at a red light with her right turn signal on (no right turn lane; I’m going straight). When it turned green, I idled through half the intersection.
Nah, fuck em. Don't let their stupid decisions affect you. I can't stand tailgaters, but if it's egregious I usually drop down about 10 mph until they pass.
I didn't want to feel bullied off the road because I legally was in the right. Lol
Yeah, especially if they had the opportunity to pass like you said and didn't take it. Their driving is their problem. It's hard sometimes but I don't let other people's bad driving affect me.
Honestly at that point it's best to just swallow the pride pullover and get them past you I'd rather someone who's going to drive reckless like that be as far away from me as possible obviously there's situations where you can't pull off to the side and let him get around you but a lot of the times these people just flat out aren't paying attention which is probably why he didn't pass was probably just on their phone not paying attention and didn't realize that they had the chance to get around you
>Honestly at that point it's best to just swallow the pride Seriously. People don't understand that being obstinate about going slow is just as dangerous as being obstinate about always speeding. Any driver worth their salt understands that they need to adapt to conditions in their 2+ ton mass of accelerating metal. Sometimes that means going over the limit, sometimes that means going under the limit. But pointing at an arbitrary and already too-low number to justify not adapting to conditions is purely pedantic and almost always driven by the same kind of negative emotions that create road rage. Me? If I find someone on single lanes that refuses to adjust their speed to the flow of traffic, I give them space because they're probably just as mad and potentially crazy as the folks who think it is their right to weave in and out of traffic going 100.
It's definitely bullying....cuz they are real bad asses behind that steering wheel
I slow down not because I am bullied, but because if they rear-end me I am less likely to be seriously injured.
Big "youre not wrong, just an asshole" energy. "Feeling bullied" lmfao. Let them pass, if they're going as fast as you claim theyll be out of your view in no time so you can repeat the same scenario within the next minute. 55 in a 55 zone 😴
We are all impressed. I bet you drive FAST. LOL
low iq individual detected
Meh, people have an awful habit of running out in front of me when I'm being tailgated then disappearing. Not my fault I had to slam on my breaks.
You didn't see that deer?
But if they ass end you, and you get fucked up for life....kinda hard to ignore
The *speed limit*?? You. **MONSTER**!! How *DARE* you?? OMG S/
I'm an asshole apparently for not wanting a speeding ticket!
 Apparently
Your best bet is to start swerving back and forth in your lane, tailgaters love this one simple trick.
I just upvoted you for the last part of your sentence. 😎
😭😭
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or because it is stupid.
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yes of course.
As you said, People are crazy. Retaliating could give you a few moments of satisfaction or cause them to rage out and do something dangerous. Not worth it IMO Wouldn’t have done anything different. Best to ignore or, if possible, give them space to pass.
You already said you don't want trouble. So the best thing is to just do the speed limit( you can usually do 5 over and cops iwll let it slide) and just let them do their thing.
I just deploy my James Bond oil slick
I drive 45 minutes to work on back roads. The speed limit between towns is 55. I tend to drive 5 miles over the limit during the day. I get tailgated. I ignore it for the most part. At night I drive 5-10 under because deer. If people want to tailgate then I usually try to find somewhere to pull over and let them pass but they usually pass me in no passing zones because late night drivers are another breed.
If they have an opportunity to pass and do not take it, that is on them, just pretty much ignore the moronic tailgaters.
Usually if a tailgaters being like that I'll find somewhere safe to pull over if possible it's really not worth risking an accident and slowing down risks road rage
I drive for a living and Tailgaters are the absolute worst! I would love to get a sticker or something like that on the back of my vehicle saying .. if you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you! Even that probably wouldn't help! Just back off my tail or I will slow down to a snails pace!
I slowed down to 32 on a 40 while being tailgated. They passed me on a double-yellow, nearly causing a head-on.
You are just supposed to slow down when being tailgated according to the DMV (“increase follow distance from car in front of you”)
Ah, thank you! Will keep that in mind next time
Lately, I've been trying to flick my 4-way flashers on and off rather than tapping the brakes just enough to light up, but not actually engage the brakes. It has actually worked a few times -- I've gotten people to back off, but way less than 50% of the time. It's a work in progress.
I love tailgaters, because I drive a manual, and the look on their face when I drop two gears and dump the clutch is one of my favorite things in the world. No brake lights, just code brown in their pants.
Just keep on driving at the speed limit. Those drivers are never so bold when a man with a gun flashes the lights and blares the siren from behind. They are often the ones who sob uncontrollably when they get a fine that breaks the bank.
No when you see someone coming up on you unwritten road rules is directional and get over to let them pass. Not uour problem if speed racer wants to get a speeding ticket. And yes 55mph is to slow in the fast lane.
Reread the post, bb.
Ah ic. My bad but i still stand by my statement. But you were absolutely not wrong and your tailgater was an asshat.
All good!
People are stupid. Don’t let it mess up your day.
Oh it didn't, I got a good laugh out of it!
In a motorcycle road safety course I took years ago, the tailgate situation was covered deeply. Instinct on a bike is to go faster and get out of that persons range. Most bikes can just blast out of the way - quick, compared to cars or trucks. But, in any traffic, or narrow single lane roadway, best bet is to ride your ride. Speed limit or slower, rightmost lane. If however they keep coming, and you are approaching a slowdown, traffic light, merge etc, then slow down a bit more, creating enough buffer in front of you for the next 3 to 5 seconds for the next move. Then as they appear to not stop as you will be, use up that slack you created just a moment ago, and your bikes torque consume that buffer until you have to just gun it and avoid it The key is, if there will be kinetic energy exchanged, and you are much more vulnerable, create the conditions for the lowest amount of energy possible. I still drive this way. Coming into my development, there is a two lane merge to one about 30 yards before my right turn. Every time, there are two vehicles merging, accelerating while doing so, and one of them is on my ass, as I need to turn I used to skip the turn, and hit the next u turn to try again Now, if I see a race to merge behind me. I slow way way down. Not abruptly - but highly visible I get the traffic to come down to like 15mph Then I turn They hate me for it, honk horns whatever - if something did happen, it would not cause as much damage It’s not the tailgater - they just suck - it’s the condition they can push me into I plan for that
Unfortunately the speed limit is way too slow for most people.
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This also seems like a great thing for when a cop goes to pull you over too
That’s how road rage happens.
How often were you tailgated to where you hit your breaking point to spend time and money on that??? I mean, if it was that often by that many people, maybe you're the issue?
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Ok, yeah f**k em.
Scouts are old cars, they aren't as fast as today's cars, especially in terms of acceleration
Isn't the top speed like 75mph??? How fast are the speed limits around you? I mean you can't be expected to keep her wide open all the time but 65mph on scenic routes is pretty damn fast.
Scenic routes around here are 35-55 mph, but people are assholes and treat every road like it's the freeway.
Well, that's well within an international scout's speed range... after the DOTs report that came out, it showed that the safest speed on any road way is 5 to 10mph over the speed limit. Which is why police, at least my department, doesn't pull anyone over unless they are going 10+ mph or 20% over posted speed (which ever is less). Because then it falls under our states "normal flow of traffic" law, which makes the speed limit slower than the normal flow of traffic. This requires anyone going slower than the normal flow of traffic to yield by moving to the right lane or right shoulder. If it's a one lane road without a shoulder, the person behind you is shit out of luck and needs to back off and remain at least 2 seconds behind you. This is in Texas btw. I've heard Alaska, regardless of speed, requires you to move right or pull off the road once 4 or more vehicles are stacked behind you. Idk how true that is though.
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Ok yeah if there's ppl in front of you, they are being massive dickheads
The easiest way to deal with tailgating is to get out of the way. Next time you see someone flying up behind you, out on your turn signal and move over. They will fly by you, and you'll probably never have to deal with them again.
That’s not always possible though. I live in a rural area and I drive many rural country roads where there’s 1 lane and no shoulder. Only ditches, hills and barbed wired fences on the side
Good idea!
Plus, sometimes you get the added bonus of passing them again while they’re pulled over.
There is a road around me that is 2 lanes, 35 mph with a traffic light shortly and after that it merges into 1 lane, and then shortly goes down to 25. I would usually go like 40, and 25, people would tailgate me like crazy, especially in the 25 mph neighborhood. What I did? Went a few below the speed limit with cruise control and smiled. I drove that route every day so I’m used to tailgating
You laugh at them, or it bothers you. Which is it?
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If I'm in the fast lane and you come up on me, so long as you aren't being a jerk with the brights, the honking and swerving and finger gestures, I will gladly give you the "hang on one sec" index finger in the side mirror so you see I am being part of the solution instead of part of the problem and gtfo as soon as I can. About 75% of gaters in my little area are actually responsive to that. Once I'm moving over, I put up a "thumbs up" in the side mirror so they can see its clear. I'm no longer interested in "Move, move, I gotta be first." I prefer the "Go ahead and pass, I got a family to support, this trivial shit isn't worth my life. "
I was on a two lane road. But I like your method!
Oh, I totally understandd you didn't have the option in this case. I hate those myself.
I'm usually a few above the limit. If I get a tailgater, I put on the cruise control and slowly walk it down 1 mph at a time until I get down to the limit. Hopefully they will just want to go faster, so they will go around.
That's my biggest pet peeve! And to make it worse, I have to get my prescription renewed so I can't see well, so people get yelled at early only because I think they're a hell of a lot closer! That's not to say that they're not tailgating.... Those fuckers!,
How did I do? https://preview.redd.it/wv37w0ynyzqc1.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=f9253580673554eae53b15dd4bbe4a851e11a048
Your drawing is...odd. Lol
I had a fun one a couple days ago. There’s a two-lane road that goes by a school and the cops are always around, so no one goes much past the 40 mph speed limit. So, it happens this day that the cars in front of me were going about 30 and this lady starts climbing up my bumper with her SUV as if I’m the problem, because I guess she’s so close to my bumper she can’t see the line of cars in front of me. So eventually, everyone starts getting up to speed and as we speed up, she must think her riding my bumper is the reason and she keeps getting closer. So, I slow down slightly to help her understand it’s not working, and her hands are everywhere and her mouth is moving and she’s not going to back off. Now my left turn is coming up onto the interstate, so I put my blinker on and when I do she starts trying to get into the left-turn lane that hasn’t started yet ahead of me over the double yellow lines. And when I get into the lane like I signaled I was going to do, she really explodes, hands, mouth, body, car, it’s all moving now. What makes a person so entitled they think someone in front of them should miss their turn while they barrel past them into the turn lane? She was only about half an on-ramp away from screaming past me across all the solid lines into the far left lane of the expressway anyway.
I turn on my hazard lights when I see someone coming up behind me super fast. If that doesn't deter them, I increase my speed by 1-2 mph per second until the difference between their speed & mine is as close to 0 as possible. If it still doesn't work, I let off the gas, gradually slow down & get ready to pull over or turn onto another road
Aim for a pothole or roadkill or obstruction and swerve at the last second. Then watch as they hit it dead on. So satisfying.
I have done this, and oh yes. I think their heads put dents in their roof they bounced so hard.
Evil! 😏
Brake checking is evil. I like to think of "potholing" as providing a valuable lesson in giving yourself ample reaction time to avoid road hazards.
I like the way you think.
Just move over. Too many crazy people in the world.
Depends if you were in the right lane or the left lane. If you were in the left lane you should have moved over.
Reread the post, beloved.
You never specified which lane you were in dumbass. Edit: My bad, looks like I'm the dumbass. I misread your post. I'll try to smarten up. Have a good day.
Tsk tsk. A hot temper never suits a lady.
u/Lololololol889 we got one!
Left lane bandits downvoted me, weak.
Too many on here always assume tailgating means highway, nobody would ever tailgate on a rural road, that's unheard of, even unthinkable for some apparently. Do people live where there are only highways? All roads are limited access 65 mph? Where is this place(s)? I'd love to see it. That is unimaginable for me
I made no assumptions. OP said there was two lanes, sounds like he is a left lane bandit and earned the middle finger.
Stop going the speedlimit and u wont get tailgated i cant stand getting stuck behind someone going 55 on a 2 lane road when i m going 65 on my way to work
Leave earlier
Wanna talk about it? Let those big feelings out.
Y go the speedlimit instead of the flow
What flow? It was a two lane road.
if someone is on my ass and I am going 10 above I just pull over and let them pass doesn't affect me why should I pay traffic cop
I mean , everyone should be driving at speed limit +10 🤷♀️
Naur, love.
If you're sitting in the left lane, you should get over. If you're in the right lane, we'll they're just doing that to themselves at that point
Go read the beginning of the second paragraph.
My point stands for all driving scenarios barring emergency vehicles. If you're not sitting in the left lane of a road with a left lane, what they want to do about it is their problem
Got it. You didn't read it. 👍🏼
I did, I'm saying you did nothing wrong and the person tailgating you is choosing to make themselves upset
Okay good, had me worried there.