Got a tailgater today

[roothorick]

This guy was driving a teal Civic that, honestly, looked like it had been through a hurricane.

Getting ready to get on the highway, I'm doing my usual stoplight coasting thing, and this pissed him off a bit. We get on the highway, and all the way up the onramp, he's so close to my rear that I cannot see his headlights. I brake check, and brake check, and brake check again, and he's just not getting the point, only getting angrier and ruder every time. Not knowing what else to do, I slowed down to what felt to me a safe speed for that distance -- about 35mph. Keep in mind, we're on 441 southbound. Speed limit is 65. 35 did not give him a safe stopping distance, but I thought going much slower would run the risk of someone hitting him. I was tired; I should've realized, if he had a safe stopping distance, and someone hit him, hey, not my problem. (20? 15? How slow is slow enough for two feet? Oh duh, 1 foot/sec... that's 60ft/min, 3600ft/hr, or about 0.7MPH. I'm not going THAT slow. I'm not gonna give him the chance to walk up to my car.)

Yeah, I probably held up traffic. But I'm not going to tolerate another person endangering my life out of their impatience and stupidity.

[LillFilly]

Around here the normal speed of those curved on/off ramps is 25-35MPH. I think you did fine; wanna be careful, don't wanna lose control or roll-over, you were just being a safe, cautious driver!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I always say, if they are too stupid to adjust their distance to their speed, then help them out by adjusing their speed to their distance.

[Andara Bledin]

Careful with the "brake checks."

You can be found at fault as the lead car in a rear-ending accident if the other guy can convince everyone that the accident was because you suddenly braked without good reason. My ex got hit with that, even though the guy who hit him was at fault. My ex just has the misfortune to have no natural spine, really (his parents' fault), and so even when he's in the right, he's notably unconvincing.

If someone is following too close, then the best option, if available, is to move over. Sure, they "get what they want" but you get what you want, too, which is to have the asshole off your tail. If they move over to keep tailgating, then slow down as much as feasible, and make your way to the nearest place that has cops at it, or dial the local HP or 911 to report the behavior and your fear of the guy behind you escalating.

Rule #1 when driving: Don't play games.

^-.-^

[paxillated]

When someone tailgates me, I adjust my speed for the stopping distance of both our cars. That seems to annoy them!

But, after all, anyone who tailgates me is trusting me to drive safely! They can't see down the road; they're trusting me to do the seeing and driving for them - even while they're cussing up a storm about what an idiot I am. <evil grin>

[roothorick]

Careful with the "brake checks."

You can be found at fault as the lead car in a rear-ending accident if the other guy can convince everyone that the accident was because you suddenly braked without good reason. My ex got hit with that, even though the guy who hit him was at fault. My ex just has the misfortune to have no natural spine, really (his parents' fault), and so even when he's in the right, he's notably unconvincing.

This is a state-by-state thing. In Wisconsin, stopping suddenly for no good reason isn't illegal, but failing to maintain a safe distance IS. No matter what I do, if I get rear-ended by a guy that's tailgating me, the only way he'd be able to get out of that liability would be if the cops couldn't prove that he was tailgating... which since my car has the now-mandatory OBD-II hardware with datalogger, is pretty much impossible. (My black box would record a rear impact AFTER braking... they could calculate his distance from my car using speed before deceleration, speed of deceleration and time of impact.)