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I was driving south on the Garden State Parkway one day in the passing lane and passed this young girl driving a Mercedes convertible she must have been no more than 5 feet behind the car in front of her moving about 60 MPH. There was no traffic to speak of, plenty of opportunity to pass. Anyway after I pass them both, I could see in my rear view mirror that guy she was tailgating exited the parkway, she rocketed past me going at least 90 MPH in the right lane until she encountered the next slow moving car in front of her and tailgated that car. I passed her a minute later in the left lane. Some people are just That bad at driving.
I have observed the exact same type of driving behavior, and I will never understand it.
However, I do know enough to stay as far away from them as possible, and I guess that you do also, TechGromit.
I don't want to trash women drivers, but I have to say that the VAST majority of tailgaters who I see are young women in expensive cars, and I think that the source of the problem is multi-faceted:
>First of all, I believe that they lack the awareness of just how long a distance it takes to stop a car moving at expressway speeds. Yes, they did have to memorize something about this in order to pass their written driver's test, but...clearly they did not internalize this knowledge.
>I theorize that many of these young women are in the fast-paced world of business, where everyone seems like they are on a speed-trip. This type of atmosphere leads to...impatience...and lack of attention to details, among other problems.
>I think that many of them are totally distracted by the use of cellphones or other electronic devices. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has seen younger people driving with ear buds in both ears. Now that's really safe, isn't it?
>If a man drove like that, he would most likely "get his lights punched out" by other drivers who he endangered. Since men are hesitant to get aggressive with women, these women have probably never even been told-off by other drivers!
I have a female friend who consistently tailgates other cars, to the extent that I won't ride in her car anymore. Time and time again, I have tried gently saying..."Carol, I think that you're too close to that car in front of us", only to get the same sharp response each time, namely, "No I'm not!"
Since these gentle reminders don't work, I just say, "Let's take my car", whenever we need to go anywhere together. It's just so much easier than risking life and limb in her battle-scarred car. She clearly isn't going to change, so all I can do is to try to protect myself.
One behavior I'll never understand is people's tendency to tailgate somebody pulling a trailer.
When my sons & I did a sideline lawn-care service, we were usually pulling an open 20' tandem-axle trailer that was loaded with equipment. EVERY day there would be somebody driving within 3' - 5' of the back of the trailer. It happened ALL the time, and at all speeds. I have no idea why.
1. I've been passed on the shoulder several times.
2. In my 16 years of trucking, I've encountered two wrong-way drivers on freeway on-ramps. Fortunately, I was able to avoid both.
3. Looked in my mirror just before making a right turn from the right lane to see a woman in a Honda between my truck's drive wheels and the guard rail on the shoulder. She was lucky...
4. Big truck driver, from a complete stop, pulls right from the shoulder of an off-ramp to the slow lane of the highway. That one got a call to his Safety Department.
5. Container hauler on I-80/90 in Chicago forced me to the left shoulder (I was driving a Dodge Neon) while passing another truck.
One behavior I'll never understand is people's tendency to tailgate somebody pulling a trailer.
When my sons & I did a sideline lawn-care service, we were usually pulling an open 20' tandem-axle trailer that was loaded with equipment. EVERY day there would be somebody driving within 3' - 5' of the back of the trailer. It happened ALL the time, and at all speeds. I have no idea why.
Nothing personal, Big George, but there's nothing scarier to me than riding behind a vehicle with unsecured (or poorly secured) items. I've had "close encounters" with ladders, a refrigerator door, a brand-new-in-the-box satellite receiver and a coupe of bicycles. Was spectator to the access panel on a commercial A/C unit that flew off a trailer and narrowly missed the windshield of the Dodge pickup that was a good distance behind the trailer.
Nothing personal, Big George, but there's nothing scarier to me than riding behind a vehicle with unsecured (or poorly secured) items. I've had "close encounters" with ladders, a refrigerator door, a brand-new-in-the-box satellite receiver and a coupe of bicycles. Was spectator to the access panel on a commercial A/C unit that flew off a trailer and narrowly missed the windshield of the Dodge pickup that was a good distance behind the trailer.
Actually, these were not unsecured (except between residential jobs, where we never drove more than about 15 mph). Also, we had a 4' folding ramp/gate on the trailer. There's no way in the world I'm going to risk having an $8,000 mower blow or bounce off a trailer!
Nothing personal, Big George, but there's nothing scarier to me than riding behind a vehicle with unsecured (or poorly secured) items. I've had "close encounters" with ladders, a refrigerator door, a brand-new-in-the-box satellite receiver and a coupe of bicycles. Was spectator to the access panel on a commercial A/C unit that flew off a trailer and narrowly missed the windshield of the Dodge pickup that was a good distance behind the trailer.
But...that's all the more reason to NOT tailgate one of those trailers!
I once had someone pass me on the right shoulder, on an interchange ramp with a curve. He was going at a high rate of speed and I did not see him coming. Scared me to death.
I often see people drive to the front of a busy, backed up off ramp, and stop in the travel lane trying to cut in. That is very dangerous. There is one section of 95 where people do it so often that the other commuters have learned to stay out of the right lane next to the two exit ramp lanes. People crowd in the two leftmost lanes and the right lane is almost completely clear for at least 1/2 mile, except where people are blocking the lane trying to cut in.
Here in NoVA, some of this stuff is the norm. It's nothing to be passed on the shoulder. I had a lady run a stop sign on me yesterday and blow a gasket at me. I politely gave her the finger and you'd think I insulted her mother. Don't get mad when you run a stop and wind up with 4600lb of Jeep up close and personal. I've had people run stop signs in front of me when I was on my motorcycle...put it up on it's nose more than once. I've seen red lights treated as rolling stop signs...apparently they don't apply to Benz and BMW women (in their defense, i've seen *one* guy do it. Usually, it's women though). I've seen soccer moms on cell phones leaning over their steering wheels trying to drive and see. Not much surprises me anymore.
My biggest pet peeve is the idiots who come off ramps at 30mph on a 65mph highway. Step on the d*mn gas! If I can get my Jeep up to 65 or higher with the base V6 with no problems, your little Corolla or your Benz will easily do it. I don't get why people try to merge onto 95 going 30mph. It's stupid, it's reckless and it's gotten people killed.
Yeah, women have definitely caught up to men in many areas such as wages, suffrage, and now aggressive driving. While the average male is probably more aggressive than the average female, I think the most aggressive drivers are women.
I was once driving in moderate traffic at 65 MPH on the right lane. Traffic was flowing 65-75. Out of nowhere this dumb 20ish chick in a Toyota goes flying past me at 85 MPH like a bat out of hell -- ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER!!!!!
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