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Bullsh!t. He was driving perfectly legally. The fanatical road rager is the one cauing 100% of the problem. When someone is acting like that you are inviting danger by pulling over. What if he pulls over along with you, gets out and assaults you? You dont think that would happen - theres many videos on YouTube of it happening. I used to read motorcycle forums and read more than one post of it happening there too.
If I start to pull over and the tailgater follows suit I obviously have a problem. I will not come to a stop and continue the course and call the police. I would also find the nearest police station on my gps and drive there.
I wouldn't call it passive aggressive by driving how you're suppossed to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by unfocused
Bullsh!t. He was driving perfectly legally. The fanatical road rager is the one cauing 100% of the problem. When someone is acting like that you are inviting danger by pulling over. What if he pulls over along with you, gets out and assaults you? You dont think that would happen - theres many videos on YouTube of it happening. I used to read motorcycle forums and read more than one post of it happening there too.
Exactly. And it's not passive-aggressive to enjoy watching the road rager making a monkey out of themselves while you are driving in accordance with the law and safety and not tailgating the person in front of you just because the person behind you wants you to (apologies to monkeys everywhere).
When someone is gambling not just with their own safety but with your safety, I suppose it's your call to play along if you prefer. As for me, the most important phrase I took away from Driver's Ed is "don't be dead right." If I have an opportunity to extract myself from a potentially dangerous situation, I will.
When people do that just pull to the side and let them go. You don't know what is going on in that guy's mind, nor do you know if he has a gun. Even though you were driving sufficiently for the speed limit, he wanted to go faster.
He was tailgating you. What if he hit you? You naturally would pull over. Then BANG! he shoots you.
I agree; when people like that ride up my rear bumper, I let them pass.
Normally I let them pass, too, if it is safe to do so (not clear from the OP whether that was even an option, seemed like it wasn't but the only option was to drive legally or to give in and tailgate the person in front of him). After all, they're great for pulling off the cops up ahead!
However, I've been in a situation with a person like this (female rather than male) where we were on an upper deck, two lanes, bumper to bumper, NOWHERE to go unless I somehow managed to jump the rail and crash onto the roadway below to get out of her way, and she was acting exactly like the person the OP describes, flashing headlights and all. She bypassed the exit for the hospital, so that wasn't it, and we got off at the same exit and she clearly wasn't going anywhere urgent based on what she did after getting off the highway.
I try to drive safely according to prevailing conditions and traffic (no matter what those who love to speed say about the flow of traffic, I've noticed that MOST traffic drives within five mph of the limit and if they were really about driving with the flow of traffic, those speed demons would not be speeding, and when the flow of traffic is slower than the speed limit due to conditions, they wouldn't be complaining about it but would be going with the flow), only drive in the left lane to pass or to exit left, and not let the nut cases control my driving or determine my decisions. It's the only safe thing to do.
I have done the same thing at times, I dont lose any sleep over it. They are forcing you to be extra careful due to their very illegal driving.
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Originally Posted by Retriever
Nope!
IMHO, you should feel no guilt whatsoever.
Why do these dimwits see the need to tailgate people who are following another car that is going the exact same speed?
Do they think that you can somehow...vault...over the car in front of you?
if i have an avenue to let the idiot behind me go by, i generally will. however i see nothing wrong with the way the OP drove despite the tailgater. the only thing i would have done is call the cops and let them know that a dangerous driver is on the road, and that something needs to be done about that person, and then give them the vehicle information.
to everyone scolding the OP, if you were in that very situation, with a car in front of you, you likely would have done the same thing he did.
one possibility by the way for the incident is a possible insurance fraud scam. the driver in front holds up the middle guy, and the guy in back tries to force the middle guy to do something stupid and have an accident, then the rear guy either drives off, or tells the cops he saw everything, and that the middle guy didnt even hit his brakes until it was too late. and yes i have had people try that with me before.
Bullsh!t. He was driving perfectly legally. The fanatical road rager is the one cauing 100% of the problem. When someone is acting like that you are inviting danger by pulling over. What if he pulls over along with you, gets out and assaults you? You dont think that would happen - theres many videos on YouTube of it happening. I used to read motorcycle forums and read more than one post of it happening there too.
I conceal carry and they taught us what to do in these situations. In any case I would not pull over... what gets me the most are the brake lights.... I do not want to associate with people who have such a screw loose they feek the need to accellerate, brake, accellerate, brake... unless they are driving a sports car that has so much power it literally goes faster on its own with no input from the user that's different. Surely they could pick a speed that results in them not having to slam on the brakes like that.
If Im stuck behind people going under the speed limit I do tailgate but do not get visibly angry... its more for their sake as a reminder I believe they are driving too slow... going 30 in a 35 for example which happens fairly often out here wastes gas and theres really no reason for it unless one is hypermiling in anticipation of a red light (have most of the lights in town memorized) I suppose I was more irritable in the past... testosterone and being young I suppose. I also no longer have a long commute which helps... its 2 miles or 7 minutes.
Sounds like a typical day in the tri-state area. It's a funny thing: As bad as drivers are in New England (excluding Western CT, which is part of the tri-state area), NO ONE in - say - RI or MA would even think of hugging someone else's bumper and flashing high-beams. It's incredibly rude and passive-aggressive, as you point out.
I think you're lucky that he didn't rear-end you. Glad it gave you a chuckle, 'cause I wouldn't have found it amusing at all. Another "fun" NJ/NY/CT activity I rarely (if ever) see in NE is the complete lack of ability to take turns merging at construction zones. It's often a free-for-all, resulting in pointless traffic jams. And, BTW, trust me on this. I have plenty of experience driving in all of these places. So I know what I'm talking about.
If someone is on my tail, I let them pass - just slow up, put on the blinker, and let us both get on with our lives. No harm, makes both our drives safer, and takes like 5 seconds.
On the flip side, I really appreciate it when slow traffic lets me by - safer for everyone.
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Surely they could pick a speed that results in them not having to slam on the brakes like that.
