Get off my bumper!

[Jay 2K Winger]

I get tailgaters on I-95 sometimes coming back from Philadelphia on one of my wrestling trips to CHIKARA or DGUSA. Mind you, 95's speed limit going through Maryland is something like 55~65. I'm going anywhere from 10 to 20 mph faster than that, depending on how fast other traffic is going.

Well, I was going about 80 in the left lane, mostly to go around the slower drivers. I get this speed freak zipping up behind me, right on my bumper. Traffic was heavy in the next lane, not enough for me to pull into said lane to let Speed Freak go past. Speed Freak flashes his brights. I flash my brake lights at him. He flashes his brights again, clearly expecting me to pull onto the shoulder to let him go by. Not happening. I tap my brakes again, so he slows down enough to merge into the next lane, and then cuts two more lanes over to get to an open space and shoots off going 100.

My reaction to incidents like this, or any speed demon zooming up behind me, then cutting around me before speeding off into the distance is always the same:

"I hope you die in a fiery auto crash."

[Chromatix]

A paramedic phoned into work the other day, they were on the motorway, travelling at upwards of 100mph to an accident on that road and they had some idiot right on their tail even though they had blues/sirens enough to wake the dead. As you can see it's pretty obvious it's an ambulance...

My guess is, the tailgater was using the ambulance as a way to get through traffic. Did they get his number plate? In the UK 100mph is a threshold speed for a more serious offence, and I'd say ambulance staff would make better-than-average witnesses...

[Mottom24]

My most hated tailgating is when there is a string of cars in front of me and the person is in a truck so they can clearly see over my Neon and they are still tailgating.....Yes asshole.....Just raise your staff up so that the freeway will part for you....No really, I placed all those cars in front of me just to slow you down....I would get over...but you know matter can't occupy the same space at the same time...Well, I realize that you are an EW and think that you are above the laws...but noone is above the laws of physics.....Yes, I get it that you are in a hurry, you don't need to flash your lights at me....Screw you pal...You're going to do the speed limit now...

I get that so much, and it really ticks me off. I like going fast, but if I see a line of cars, I'm not going to tailgate the dude in the back. he didn't make the traffic. but when people tailgate me I just think "ok... I can't go any faster than the guy infront of me, where do you want me, and the other 50 cars, to go!? back off!" I generally break check over and over until they back off. slowing down is a good one too lol

[RecoveringKinkoid]

If you are in the front car, you have total control over the speed/following distance ratio.

Say you are behind me, tailgating me. No problem. If you fail to adjust your following distance to your speed, I will adjust YOUR speed to your following distance for you.

In other words, I have no problem creeping along. I PROMISE you that you are in a bigger hurry than I am. There are no exceptions to this. So either pass, or get off my ass.

As for the person who said they sped up to like 80...don't do that if you have an usafe driver behind you. You'll get killed. Would you rather be in a wreck at 80, or one at 45 (or if you're not on the highway, 15)? Someone convinces me that they have better than average odds of causing a crash, I'm going to make sure it's a very, very low speed crash.

[Imogene]

This i have to disagree with you on. If you're on a regular road, even through the countryside, the left lane is NOT the passing lane / faster traffic lane.

It was "the slow lane" that night... I was driving faster than most of them.

[crazylegs]

My guess is, the tailgater was using the ambulance as a way to get through traffic. Did they get his number plate? In the UK 100mph is a threshold speed for a more serious offence, and I'd say ambulance staff would make better-than-average witnesses...

Alas not, as you can see in the video footage rear visability is virtually nil and this yahoo was so close they couldn't see the number plate.

Yer, a ton is generally an insta ban unless you've got damned good reason why not.

[MrSunshineState]

You tailgate me, you get brake checked. Period.

[EricKei]

Same here. I cannot STAND tailgators...One of the other drivers back at DaddyJim's Pizza did it to me....once. We had a pleasant chat once we were back in the store, and she was cool after that ^_^

[MrSunshineState]

Same here. I cannot STAND tailgators...One of the other drivers back at DaddyJim's Pizza did it to me....once. We had a pleasant chat once we were back in the store, and she was cool after that ^_^

LOL, I never drive when I visit New Orleans. I am a Niners fan so back in the NFC West days I would to go the Niners/Saints game every year. I would get a hotel in the CBD like a block away from the Superdome.

I hate driving in that city.

[EricKei]

Well -- ever since the big K, it's really only THAT bad during big games. Even during rush hour, it's not so bad here. Having a quarter of the population run off will do that

..And if you were a block away then you'd probably be better off walking to the dome anyway ^_^

[MrSunshineState]

Yeah I used to live in Pensacola which is only a 3 hour drive from Nawlins, and I went to the 2006 49ers game so I got to see the damage first hand. I stayed on the 4th floor of my hotel and you could see the stains on the wall where the water had come in. And I had just gone through Hurricane Ivan a year earlier where I had no power for over a month (about 45 days) so I thought I knew what to expect. The damage was MUCH more than I expected.

[PepperElf]

yeah but if there are regular turns off of either lane, then no lane can really be a "passing lane"


here in my town there was a recent bad traffic accident (head injuries) from a speeding driver rear-ending a car that had slowed to make a left hand turn

[Primer]

Makes me glad that I got my first practical driving experience in Wisconsin, driving from Wausau area to/through Madison. Made Texas a whole lot easier to deal with when I got here! Too bad it's just getting worse here, too. I now set my cruise control at the speed limit, get in the right lane, and wave, "Buh-bye" as everyone else passes me. Then I laugh at them a few miles down the road when I see them pulled over by the State Troopers.

[blas]

Wausau you say? Ye gads, highway 29 is a nightmare over there. I thought 94 going towards The Dells and Madison was a disaster, but people on that side of Wisconsin are just plain suicidal.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Wausau you say? Ye gads, highway 29 is a nightmare over there.

It is not for nothing that that highway used to be called "Bloody 29." Although nowadays it's pretty much an Interstate.

Highway 41 from Green Bay down to Oshkosh or so gets pretty hairy at times too.