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I have a way of stopping people like you from tail gating me. I just take my foot off the gas. The slowest my car ever got to on the highway was 25mph before the tail gater figured a way to get around me. I would never brake check anyone. Just gradually slowing down does the trick. I once stopped on the off ramp for about 20 seconds to get a tail gater to get off my tail. If he had gotten out of his car I would have driven off. If he had approached the car I would have run him over. He went nuts blowing his horn and I blew mine back at him. Tail gaters are scum. That said so are people who block the passing lane by driving below the speed limit. But its an easy fix to pass them on the right or wait them out. I would never tail gate anyone.
If you are crazy stupid and want to risk your life and the lives of other people in a childish and futile attempt to make a point.
Otherwise - no. Never.
Oh and you might tick someone off to the point that they follow you home and beat the snot out of you or shoot you. Plus you may and should get a ticket, since that is illegal. Oh and if you cause an accident doing that, you will be responsible for all of the damage, and your insurance company may nor provide coverage if they find you intentionally caused the collision.
This is like asking if you should grab the hand of someone pointing a gun at you and squeeze it to make them drop the gun.
as the victim of a semi-truck that was "brake checked" by another driver on a two-lane highway in a 55 mph traffic stream ...
my answer is brake checking is an aggressively dangerous thing to do.
You don't know how the driver behind you will react ... they could rear end you or hit others.
in avoiding rear ending the van that brake checked him, the semi driver t-boned me in the oncoming traffic lane. I'm the one who got the injuries and was unable to work for a year while recovering from the "accident". That was no "accident", that was a deliberate assault by the brake checking driver.
I don't and never have brake checked drivers following too closely. I'll slow down and do everything I can reasonably do to allow them to pass me, even if it means they'll only gain a few yards in the flow of traffic. Even if I'm going as fast as the traffic will allow, or the speed limit, I'll yield the road as quickly as possible. I've pulled over countless times where safe to do so to allow the too close driver to pass me. Life's too short to screw around with rude or messed up drivers. Let their problems be their problems, don't make them your problem, too.
should you brake check other drivers if they follow too closely?
Nope. If I do anything, I just lift my foot off the gas and let the car coast. It slows down gradually. Eventually the guy either backs off or changes lanes and passes me. Either way, the problem is gone.
I'm not trying to "teach him a lesson", something that's impossible anyway. Just getting rid of him.
I can't save the world. But I can help keep my own rear bumper from getting dented, and avoid all that paperwork.
I learned a neat trick on CD forums. Put some pop cans in fishing line of different lengths and tie them in the bed of your pickup. The cans fly around and look like they will fly out at any moment. That keeps them back. Does not work in winter because you need to cover the bed or it will fill with snow. Either covered or uncovered, the snow flying off/out of the bed will also keep them back.
i live in a metropolitan area, during my daily commute, i see drivers drive bumper to bumper all the time and i kinda do the same thing. Occasionally, if i think the driver in front of me is driving too slow, and i cannot pass that driver from other lanes, i will tend to follow the car a little bit closer intentionally or unintentionally.
I don't think what am I doing is anything malicious or rude, basically, it is just a way to let the driver in the front know I feel like you are driving too slow, either drive faster or switch to the right lane.
Once in a while, i get brake checked because the driver in front of me felt like i was following too closely. Is brake checking someone really necessary? Plus, can you really prevent the driver behind you to stop following you too closely by brake checking? the driver in the front might think it is dangerous to tailgate, but is it safe to brake check someone? when you are driving over 70mph on the interstate and you decide to brake check the driver behind you, if the driver behind you reacts a sec or two late, who knows what will happen next.
I have been driving for a long long time now, there were times that the car behind me was following me extremely close, if i really felt uncomfortable about the situation, i simply drove a bit faster and switched to the right lane when i found a spot, let the car behind me passed by and switched back to the left lane. After all, who am I to tell the driver behind me you are driving too fast, it is dangerous.
What is really scary is the fact that you state you have been driving for a "long long time now", yet you still needed to ask whether or not brake checking is ok. Crazy that you are willing to cause an accident just to make a point. Everyone knows that tailgating is bad, but for you to brake check them is just as idiotic. Also, you state that you are in the left lane and that you would sometimes speed up, move over into the right lane, let them pass, and then move back into the left lane. Why would you move back into the left lane? The left lane is for passing.
If you want to "brake check" a tailgater, at least have the good sense to do it by flashing your brake lights withOUT reducing speed by keeping your right foot on the throttle and using your left foot to touch the brake pedal just enough to activate the brake lights.
the snow flying off/out of the bed will also keep them back.
That might actually get you a ticket in some places.
The best way to get rid of a tailgater in my experience is to squirt windshield washer fluid on them. Especially helpful if you have a rear wiper.
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