A small victory against a tailgater

[MadMike]

This just happened last weekend, and one of the other threads made me think of it. I was visiting some friends who recently moved out of the area, and I was helping them take care of an errand, because at the moment, they don't have a working vehicle.

I was bringing my friend back home, when I got stuck behind a car that was going slow. I could kind of understand it, because we just had a bunch of snow recently. Most of the roads had been cleared, but there were a few patches here and there. Still, I found myself joking to my friend that I could have gotten out and walked faster than guy in front of me was going.

Shortly after I got stuck behind the slow driver, some jackass in a big pickup truck appeared behind me and got right on my tail. Apparently some idiots think that if they ride your tail, it will make the car in front of you go faster somehow. I don't care how much you ride my ass, I can't go any faster than the car in front of me. If he thinks it's possible, I'd like to see him try it.

As we got back into town, we turned onto a one-way street with two lanes. The car in front of me turned down a side street to the right, and the jackass behind me whipped around into the left lane to pass me. Just as he got right beside me, a fire truck pulled out in front of him from a side street to the left, and proceeded to go even slower than I was going. As I got to the intersection, the traffic light turned yellow. I was able to make it through. The other guy didn't. I'm actually surprised he didn't try to run the light.

[wolfie]

Was jackass smart enough to avoid trying to intimidate the fire truck? If not, he probably learned in a hurry that:

- Fire trucks are a lot bigger and tougher than a lil' ol' pickup truck.
- The crews of fire trucks work closely with people who drive Crown Vics with blue lights on top.

[crazylegs]

- The crews of fire trucks work closely with people who drive Crown Vics with blue lights on top.

The crews of fire trucks have enough equipment on board their vehicle to turn his truck into a tin can with the lid ripped off too

[prjkt]

Probably can't even see his car in the mirror

When driving to work I'd regularly have people tailgating me, even if I'm slightly over the limit, and passing cars in the other lanes.

Favourite moments are when said tailgaters attempt to overtake, only to end up behind someone slower than me, and back behind me moments later

[drunkenwildmage]

Was jackass smart enough to avoid trying to intimidate the fire truck? If not, he probably learned in a hurry that:

- Fire trucks are a lot bigger and tougher than a lil' ol' pickup truck.
- The crews of fire trucks work closely with people who drive Crown Vics with blue lights on top.

- The occupants of the fire truck might be the same people that have to save your ass because you caused a wreck driving while in the rectal cranial inversion position.

[thatcrazyredhead]

This reminds me of a crazy stunt I pulled in my youth. Disclaimer - I am wiser now in my old age and am not advocating this type of behavior on the road. Still, it was freaking hilarious.

I was driving on a two lane (one in each direction), windy mountain highway (in broad daylight and dry, sunny weather) in my little Nissan Sentra. The speed limit is 55, but there was a camper in front of me doing about 45. I was in no hurry, and as I hate being tailgated myself I gave him plenty of space. Then a minivan with a canoe strapped to the top of it came up behind me and was following much too closely for my liking. He also repeatedly went over the (double yellow) line, as if he was encouraging me to pass the camper. Not gonna happen, buddy. I tried lightly tapping my brakes once or twice, but he didn't take the hint. If anything, he just got closer. So, I took my foot of the gas as I went down one hill, and came to a complete stop in the trough between that hill and another. The guy in the minivan had to slam on his brakes so hard, his canoe slid down the front of his windshield. He had to get out of the van to fix it, all the while yelling and cursing and flipping me off. I smiled, waved, and sped off. Poor guy hadn't caught up enough by the time we reached the only passing zone for miles, so I got around the camper, but he did not.

I think of him fondly every time I hear or use the word "douchecanoe."

[wolfie]

IIRC, improperly secured cargo carries a fine of up to $50,000. Lucky for him there wasn't a DOT guy following to see what happened.

[Canadian In Maine]

I tried lightly tapping my brakes once or twice, but he didn't take the hint.

One of my favourite things to do.

You can almost hear the screaming and swearing from behind.

[retro]

Tap the brake lights?

Nah - turn on the fogs.

[ADoyle90815]

One of my favourite things to do.

You can almost hear the screaming and swearing from behind.

That's also a favorite of mine, and at a red light, I put even more distance between me and the vehicle in front of me. I think the funniest thing was after a tailgater went on the shoulder to get around me even though I was over the speed limit, they ended up stuck in a freeway onramp when the freeway itself was jammed.