I'm mystified about why people tailgate, and even more mystified about why people GET tailgated.

I'm a fast, and savvy driver. If I need to get around you, and you're dawdling along at only 130% of the speed limit, I'll usually just overtake you or if I'm in a hurry, I'll flash/honk - with 'respectful' intervals (varying on age of driver and vehicle) between reminders - until you are behind me. But one way or the other, you better believe I'm going to be in front of you in the next minute or so, regardless. I don't let slackers stand in my way for too long. Tailgaiting does nothing to get you past the lemon that's in your way - it's unsafe, and moreover, it only serves to ensure the driver of the said lemon doesn't pull over earlier.

By the same token, I don't understand why slackers drive so slowly that they GET tailgated. Driving in my car, I want to get from A to B in the shortest time. Unless a particularly beautiful song is being played, or an equally beautiful woman is strolling gracefully on the pavement etc, I'll drive at the max the prevailing conditions, such as road curvature and traffic flow, allow. Time in my car is time that could be spent on better things. I generally don't do pleasure cruises, although I own a convertible. If on very rare occasion I'm being flashed, it's only ever because it's someone who knows me and saying 'hi'. In the extremely unlikely event I were to be tailgated, I'd let the driver pass at the earliest opportunity.


Jaybee.

Well I must say that I am a very patient person, in driving especially. If I'm in a bad mood, someone may get a 'bastard' under my breath, but that's usually about it. If I'm the passenger, I'll usually flip someone off.

In response to Jaybee though, about people being tailgated: You make it sound like it the person being tailgated's fault. I do enjoy driving, but most of all, I will only do about 5MPH over the speed limit because *news flash* I don't want to get pulled over. Most people tend to speed more than that, but that is not my fault. I prefer to be safe and not die. The speed limit is there for a reason. So when I do get tail-gated, which isn't too often, I don't think that it's my fault... any other opinions?

__________________
I see your fantasy... you want to make it a reality

Are you in the mood to be subdued

You see these shackles
Baby I’m your slave
I’ll let you whip me if I misbehave

Tie me to the bedpost

I like it rough
cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all

My grandfather used to wave for them to "just drive over the top." At least, that's what he TOLD us that gesture meant .

Usually, I just figure they're better off somewhere I'm not. Sometimes I swear, but I usually remember that I too make mistakes when lost and confused in a strange town (my usual assumption for why they can't seem to read street signs).

Just once, though, I really lost my temper. I had a jackass tailgaiting me at 2am on the freeway for an hour. He wouldn't fucking pass, with his damned brights on in my side mirror, near blinding me.

FINALLY we got out from among the late night truckers, and he went FLYING past me. At the next truck pack, we wound up stack up again...only with me in back. I was pissed as hell and bored out of my mind (I think I'd been on the road for 8 hours at that point)...so I tail gated him for a while. Well, at least 20 minutes. Big difference, though. I drove an SUV, and their lights go right the back window of normal cars if we drive too close.

I figure I got points for not turning my brights on.

He took the next exit at high speed. He must've thought I was totally psycho. I didn't manage to feel bad about it until after I'd had a good night's sleep, I'm afraid.

G (who sometimes lets her mean streak get the better of her)

Hi Mandy, first time we've spoken (I think!)

I'm suspecting here our relevant sexual positions of choice, you submissive, me dominant, have their motoring equivalents too, and that both sets of choices are symptomatic of our differing personalities.

To explain, I prefer to drive at my speed, not have it dictated to me by traffic conditions or indeed arbitrary laws put in place decades ago when cars had awful suspension and lax road-handling. I drive a powerful car, and that is too a mirror of my persona.

Neither of us is at 'fault', except me in the legal sense for driving over the speed limit. It is not your 'fault' for being tailgated, but it IS the result of your driving style. If you drove like me - illegally fast - you wouldn't be tailgaited.

We are who we are. The conflict arises when markedly different driving styles compete for limited road space. On a 10 lane highway, it isn't too much of a problem. The Ferraris can zoom past to their hearts content, and the Skoda's can potter along at 29.999 mph. Everyone is content. On a crowded London street, if I need to get through a green light, and I don't think the driver ahead will make it through, I'll get around and be a mile up the road before the light turns green again. Again, everyone goes home happy.

Speaking of happy...

(Throws FallenAngel5 over his bonnet for some 'gear-shifting')




Jay.

How nice for you. What about those of us who don't want to drive by your personal standards that I'm sure involve as much education, study and research as the arbitrary laws established? Have we, in doing so, relinquished our right to a safe ride home?

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

I usually just shake my head and call them an idiot. I heard this quote somewhere: "Isn't it funny how everyone that drives slower than you is an idiot and everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac?" Lol! Thats exactly how I think when I'm driving come to think about it.

That's an old Geoge Carlin line... and so true!

__________________
Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.

Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien

In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these

Ok, let's talk about rights. Would you say you have the right not to be killed by a truck that skids, through no fault of the driver/manufacturer, and plows into your vehicle?

If you answer "yes", I'd remind you of the gritty and occasionally bloody reality that the 'right' to something does not automatically grant that something.

If "No", I would congratulate you for your unsugared worldview.

My crimes are victimless. Nobody has died or suffered injury as a result of my speeding. I haven't had an accident in 4 years, when a car brushed against mine while we were both doing 10mph in a 30mph zone, the only inconvenience being a small amount of her paint that I had to scrape gently off my bumper. It was, of course, her fault.

Before that I hadn't had an accident in over 10 years of motoring. I'm a pretty good judge of driver psychology, I can usually predict which vehicles will behave in what ways after a minute of observation.

I'm experienced enough to keep a greater distance from cars with dents in the rear, indicating that the driving style of the owner is likely unduly hesitant and overly cautious, braking sharply when the vast majority of other drivers with more self-confidence would have continued driving.

I'm rarely wrong when, faced with a choice of two adjacent cars at the traffic lights, deciding which will proceed the fastest, and thus which one I should pull up behind. I use group of criteria (that I can list on request) to make this decision, and can do so within a couple of seconds.

My policies lead to overall satisfaction. I get to my destination quickly, and the people I circumvent get to theirs at the same time they would have anyway. But does that matter? It's not like they were in a rush ANYWAY...



Jaybee.

What does that have to do with purposefully disregarding the law?


Yet.

If you need to drive that fast, go to a speedway, not a freeway.

__________________
Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.

Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien

In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these

look at this idiot, would you look at this idiot here just creeping a long, WOAH look at that maniac!!


i like to travel at my own speed if there is some guy traveling at my speed fuck him i slow down, i can keep an eye on that asshole from back here


more George Carlin for ya

__________________
hungry? why wait.....eat me.

"I'm a fast, and savvy driver. If I need to get around you, and you're dawdling along at only 130% of the speed limit, I'll usually just overtake you or if I'm in a hurry, I'll flash/honk - with 'respectful' intervals (varying on age of driver and vehicle) between reminders - until you are behind me. But one way or the other, you better believe I'm going to be in front of you in the next minute or so, regardless. I don't let slackers stand in my way for too long."

Just because you think you drive well doesn't mean you do. Every aggressive driver I know thinks they are right and the rest of the world needs to just have their eyes opened...gee that reminds me of another thread.


Where I live this selfish behavior could get you shot....that could take care of the question of your rights.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
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By driving however you want to regardless of the law, you are endangering other people. Whether you think so or not. I have a right not to be endangered by you. Don't cloud the issue by bringing in nonsensical scenarios. Stick to the point. If you do whatever the hell you feel like on the road, you're driving irresponsibly and putting those around you at risk.

What about the satisfaction of people that are obeying the law? Your policies don't satisfy them. They appear to only satisfy you. If that's all that's important to you then be man enough to admit it.

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

I really don't see where this conversation is going. As far as 'admit' goes, I'm PROUD that I get from A to B quickly, and SAFELY. Maybe not legally, but SAFELY. We have ABS, Airbags, sports suspension and excellent road-holding. Oh, I'm not safe? Well, neither is living, let alone driving. My policy of risk-minimisation has worked BRILLIANTLY since the 80's, fulfilling two often conflicting priorities - arriving at my destination safely, and punctually. My accident rate is far below the average for the general population. I've read no case here to change it, even slightly. I'm an open-minded guy.

If anyone has a salient, RELEVANT point to make, I'll reply to it. I'm not sure what I'm doing here fending off these nebulous, and increasingly emotional charges.

Aside from that, I think it's best to leave the matter here, guys. Next topic.


Jaybee.

shrug my shoulders and rarely think on it again. i'm more likely to give em the benefit of doubt than rant. unless i'm in a haul-ass hurry and stuck behind thatguy in the passing lane that obviously uses the cruise control and some sort of obscure mathmatical theory to match his speed exactly to the speed of the car in the lane next to him.

Well...
I am not a "slacker" on the roads. I travel at the posted speed limit or a bit above it.
Most people get tailgated because the person behind them doesn't have the patience to notice it is them who are hindering everyone's safety by driving way over the speed limit. For some people fast is never fast enough. You admit your a fast driver so why do the other drivers who are driving the speed limit or a bit over get called slackers. I understand that some people can drive too slow and cause accidents, but I think more are caused by people who think they have some superior ability enabling them to proceed faster than they should. I especially like the drivers who pass me on the city streets with tires squealing and burning only to be waiting for me at the red light. I always remember one fast savvy driver who was passing everyone on the highway nearly causing accidents as he passed by, looking so smug that he got ahead of the crowd. My son who was 10 at the time asked me why I couldn't drive like him and I told him that the guy was rushing to his own accident.Sure enough twenty minutes down the road, there he was under a transport truck dead! BTW if I am going the speed limit or slighty above it and a person wants to pass me and gets upset it is their problem not mine.....