I heard it was to combat police corruption, but I’ve seen some hilarious videos of people throwing themselves in front of cars, so it’s probably a bit of both.
This video makes me happy. Fuck 'em. Then again, I’d love to see a video of somebody trying that “body in the road” carjacking trick on somebody who’s wise to it and would rather pay to wash their car than buy a new one, so my sense of proportionality about these things may not reflect prevailing community standards.
I notice a lot of things like that. I’m usually the person going faster than traffic…but if I come up on a lone person in the left lane
(and that’s fine with me, I prefer the left lane simple because it’s less things to deal with at night. Most of our interstates have either barriers or a decent amount of grass between the oncoming traffic so it’s highly unlikely anything random will appear on your left if you are in the left lane. This also places you farthest from the right where wild animals and any other unknown things are likely to appear from.)
at night, or sometimes even in the day, I’ll back off some and cruise up enough to see if they are going to move over. If not I’ll pass them on the right because there is no need of me riding someone when there is an easy enough way around them. But 9 times out of 10 when I pass them they will speed up. Maybe it’s 5mph, more it’s usually closer to 10mph. And here this person that was going 65 in a 65 is now doing 75 and until I get a quarter to half mile from them they will stay at this faster speed. As soon as I get out a certain distance they go right back to 65. It’s like I’ve personally offended them and they need to show me they can do +10 as well…
What ever. On the times when I get the tailgater behind me I usually end up playing “So how fast did you want to go?” Most people drop out around 80. I wonder if they are even trying sometimes.
Am I the only person here who notices all the innocent people who almost got killed because of Mister YYYYUGE PENIS? 23 years ago I got a severe concussion because of a road rage thing that happened between 2 other people. I was in a car that got hit by the “hero”. My life has never been the same. Fuck self righteous assholes who put the lives of the innocent at risk.
I get tailgated so often I think there might be a target on my rear bumper or something.
If this keeps up one of these days I’m going to buy one of the PAs from an old cop car, point it out the rear of my car and when people tailgate me yell at them until they back off.
Bumper sticker idea:
This Vehicle Transports Hazardous Materials
Owner Not Liable For Infection Of Nearby Vehicles
No difference in effect.
Faster traffic uses the left lane.
If there is no slower or any traffic at all you stay in the right lane.
If some numbnut tailgates you, you are not faster. You should than at the next opportunity safely merge right and once he has passed, use your rocket launcher to permanently remove the nuisance driver from traffic.
We need to find a way to nuke them from space. It’s the only way to be sure.
Exactly.
If you smash into anyone else’s rear end in traffic, anyone’s, you are the one who fucked up. Unless the person you hit was going backwards. Which never happens.
If you “can’t stop in time” that’s because you fucked up and didn’t leave enough space to stop. It’s not nobody’s fault. Currently all the cars are being driven by someone. It’s not an accident. Accidents can be prevented. It’s a crash that the tailgater caused because they screwed up and were following too close.
Delicious.
I used to do that subconsciously. Usually, if you speed up just enough they’ll be satisfied and back off. I got sloppy and let the people with the bright ass headlights bully me.
Then one night I saw these suddenly turn on:
Turns out you can’t sue a cop for completely illegally tailgating you. Traffic judge threw it out and enforced the $500 fine I was given for trying to get away from a cop who was actively endangering my life.
These days if someone tailgates me, it can only happen in the rightmost lane, and I’ll just let off the gas, until I come to a stop if necessary to give them a hint that they should go around me if they want to move faster than the rest of traffic.
Oh that feels good to watch. It’s what we all wish we could do.
Yes, in your state. You might want to read that link again. It says the signs are reminders of a law that applies to ALL divided highways in the state. There are also signs along the Texas highways telling you to buckle your seatbelt. That doesn’t mean you’re not required to wear it on roads that don’t have that signage.
I can only assume you’re talking about the tailgater.
When I was young, foolish, and conscientious, I used to ease off the gas all whenever someone tailgated me. Now that I’m older and wiser I only do that in the right lane.
YES. This. My attempts to merge are not a personal fucking challenge.
Well except the case when every lane is going the speed limit and the freeway is somewhat congested at which point, the left lane is in fact not the “passing” lane in any reasonable sense.
Hell, isn’t this the reason why people most often tailgate? To get the guy in front of them to go faster than the cars on the right even if they are already going at or faster than the speed limit?
No, I’m talking about the self righteous jerk in front, who thinks that if he moves over and lets this guy pass, without “punishing” him, he’ll feel like his man card will be revoked. I mean really, what do people like this think…their dicks are going to fall off unless they prove themselves? Tailgating isn’t cool…but putting the lives of a half dozen innocent people in danger is much, much worse. People in this video escaped with their lives by INCHES. Absolutely disgusting. In case you missed it, I’ve spent years suffering from blinding migraines from a tough guy macho hero just like him.
Cops used to tailgate all the time in my area in order to collect supplemental road tax. The last time a cop did that to me, I slowed down to just above the minimum speed (56mph). He still pulled me over. When I told the judge I slowed down because he was dangerously tailgating me, he laughed and said “maybe if you were a woman I could see you being afraid”. It’s all a rigged system.
If I’d known at the time, I would have emergency stopped so at least my $500 would go to fixing that fucking pig’s squad car, instead of to maintaining the county’s unnecessary and unused 3 helicopters and 2 hovercraft they bought with DHS money in 2002.
Funny, I read this in a cartoon years ago and never forgot it…I’m pretty sure it’s subconscious.
Interesting thread. I really didn’t think anyone would say the ‘brake-checker’ was at fault here. There are so many legit reasons for touching the brake:
I can’t move over and this car is approaching at high speed, has it seen me?
Sat-Nav says I’m going over the speed limit, slowing down.
Thought something was going to happen, it didn’t (car pulling out, bird strike.)
Thought something was on the road, it wasn’t.
The following things happen in the UK a lot. I don’t know if if they happen in the US. They will cause brake lights, despite clear road:
Spotted cop in moving car
Spotted cops in stationary car, beside road
Spotted cop car on bridge with speed camera
And most likely: spotted yellow (or worse, motorway grey), fixed speed camera and I’m over speed limit
What really amazes me though is the tailgating car/SUV. The car in front didn’t actually brake that hard, no complete stop and I couldn’t see lots of smoke. The following car just didn’t seem able to brake a little above gently without the driver losing control.
If you are going to endanger everyone on the road by tailgating, at least use a car that remains under control during heavy braking.
