Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yeah, forget it when it comes to TRYING to discourage tailgaters.
I drive the speed limit most of the time and I do not make jackrabbit starts......this seems to INFURIATE other drivers. And yes, I get tailgated quite a bit, even when I am in the slow lane and there is other lanes to drive in/pass in. I will just drive extra-cautiously when I am tailgated, and will also activate my brake-light if I think I may need to slow-down.....hoping the idiot on my bumper will not rear-end me.
Yeah, forget it when it comes to TRYING to discourage tailgaters.
I drive the speed limit most of the time and I do not make jackrabbit starts......this seems to INFURIATE other drivers. And yes, I get tailgated quite a bit, even when I am in the slow lane and there is other lanes to drive in/pass in. I will just drive extra-cautiously when I am tailgated, and will also activate my brake-light if I think I may need to slow-down.....hoping the idiot on my bumper will not rear-end me.
Problem with that is it's boy who cried wolf. I drive the wonderfully exciting Prius mobile and brake really early as there's a fairly low regenerative braking capacity and why waste all that energy that was used accelerating when I can recapture most of it and stick it in a battery? With slow and go traffic then there's that game of trying to predict starting to brake early versus coasting and potentially having to use the friction brakes if traffic slows down more versus a more normal driver would coast and then brake harder if necessary. Often times when I do actually brake harder it surprises cars that have been following me. They're used to the brake lights coming on and me barely braking.
Same thing with tailgaters that are constantly on the brakes every time the speed changes by 2 mph. If I can't see over them, often I'll get caught out by them actually braking versus just braking for half a second or a second as they've been doing at least every 10 seconds for the past five miles. Not particularly a problem as I don't tailgate.
Sounds to me like the OP is already doing that. You're assuming that if someone is tailgating him that he MUST be in the left lane going "too slow" when he stated clearly that he drives in the right lane by preference.
I did not assume anything and since he didn't specifically outline where this was happening I mentioned all scenarios, the OP seems to be a very reasonable driver. There is no excuse for tailgating especially on two lane road when the passing lane is open.
Finally someone with common sense. I honestly don't get the big deal about tailgaters. You can't control strangers in a car behind you.
The big deal is this can cause an accident When you're traveling at 60 and slow to 40/30 if the tailgater is not paying attention and hits you at 60 this is no small accident. It's likes someone hitting you at 20 or 30 MPH when you are standing still. It doesn't sound like much but that's a pretty big impact.
Change lanes and let them speed ahead, then get behind them. This is the simplest answer but most drivers won't do it, mostly because of ego.
I see how that's about the only thing that CAN be done, but the point is the OP is in the SLOW LANE. Why, oh why, should the person in the right-hand lane need to move into the passing lane to drop behind so someone can pass them? It makes no sense. THAT's the ultimate in ego. "People should get out of my way even if it means they should go slower in a passing lane until I've had my way."
And this is how, I guess, all the accidents with ridiculous numbers of cars in them happen - and yet nobody learns!
Bumper to bumper would be contributing cause but the root cause is typically the disruption of the flow of traffic. For example you have nit wit number one camping in the left lane keeping up with the traffic in the right lane. A line of traffic traveling faster approaches him. You get nit wits number two and three who merge into the right lane to pass him, the traffic that was behind them speeds up and the traffic they went in front of slows down. Nit wit number four is on the on ramp and is not up to highway speed, to exacerbate this issue nit wits number two and three are now occupying the space he could of merged into. The end result is you have numerous cars traveling at different speeds which is a recipe for disaster.
These four cars and those around them may not even be directly involved in an accident, this disruption is going to move like a wave and if it's bumper to bumper for many miles it's going to effect cars many miles behind them. This is how stop and go traffic occurs where you are going between stopped and 60 MPH.
While all of these drivers have played a role in this scenario the fact is this chain of events does not occur if nit wit number one had been in the right lane. If you want to reduce accidents on the highway you need to eliminate what causes disruptions and unsafe driving practices. That means issuing tickets to people in the left lane that don't belong there, tailgaters, people weaving in and out of traffic etc.
Last edited by thecoalman; 04-18-2016 at 05:56 AM..
I see how that's about the only thing that CAN be done, but the point is the OP is in the SLOW LANE. Why, oh why, should the person in the right-hand lane need to move into the passing lane to drop behind so someone can pass them? It makes no sense. THAT's the ultimate in ego. "People should get out of my way even if it means they should go slower in a passing lane until I've had my way."
As I suggested previously moving into the passing lane is not a good idea. Firstly passing on the left should be illegal, it's not a safe driving practice and if it's truck you have a death wish. Secondly you're now in the passing lane. It may be the tailgater that instigated it but you're causing two potentially unsafe conditions.
It's unfortunate condition but the best approach is to either slow down a little and hope they pass or ignore them.
...and while we're at it, what's up with people switching lanes at high speed without signalling? That's on par with not standing up when a lady enters the room. Some of these folks are slaloming between lanes as if they were playing a video game rather than driving an actual vehicle on a highway.
Yes these tailgaters are out of control. Sometimes I think human operators are getting in one 'last hurrah" before a combination of insurance regs, surveillance tech and automation removes the control of vehicles from the flesh driver, be she safe or insane.
I keep occupied on the highway, and avoid the ego game of holding my spot in the lane, by practicing the art of situational awareness and the 3-d chess of driving. How far can I drive safely without braking? That lowboy hauling a 20-ton grader in the left lane is going to cut all the way across to get to the weigh station coming up...how is his intertia going to interact with the Audi hopping lanes like a mexican jumping bean on my right?...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
