1. Don't tailgate. 2. Keep your eyes on the road. 3. Thank you.

Stellar

 

I bought one of those custom license plate frames from Target for $8 where you can spell out a message. Mine says: "Tailgate & I'll go slower" and it's true. I have no qualms about going 15-20 MPH below the speed limit if some asshole gets on my bumper.

Last summer, some douche sped up to me and got right on my ass. I was going 70 in a 65, but he needed to go quicker so he sped up, got close to me and started flipping his highbeams like he was going to solve an FBI crisis. I slowed to 45 and he started freaking out. He couldn't cut me off via the right lane, so he started honking his horn. I kept it up until he got the message and backed off. Once he did, I let him pass.

He flipped me off, of course, and I finished the lesson by speeding up and passing him like no one's business. It was great.

 

My thoughts exactly. How exactly does slowing down or tapping your brakes make a tailgater learn their lesson. It only increases the chances for something bad to happen. If you're really that concerned about how close they are, just pull over and let them go by.

 

Not sure how it is in other states (or Canuckistan), but it feels like everyone in CA is offended to have a car in front of them on a freeway. I learned a hard lesson when I got my first speeding ticket, and my idea of "fast" is now maybe 5 mph above the speed limit. On 4- or 5-lane freeways, I'd be tailgated for going 70. Why can't people just calm the fuck down? How much does speeding help, anyway? 5 minutes or so?

 

I spray wiper fluid when people tailgate me so they have to keep turning their wipers on.

 

Awesome. I'm gonna fill my wiper fluid reservoir with an acid that eats glass and do that, too. That'll teach them!

For the record on tailgaters -- if there are two lanes and I'm in the left and someone's on my ass, that's on me.

What bugs me are guys that ride your ass when you're int he middle lane or right lane.

 

I covered the woman who died with her family in your photo, at the top of this thread.
She took VHS teams to multiple State volleyball tourneys in the 1999-2003 timeframe along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Very intense woman, but approachable.
Dedicated to her school, her students and her family.
Those VHS teams rarely lost in the regular season.

www.sunherald.com has story.
I can't believe this happened.

 

Whatever happened to trailing the asshole to his destination and slashing his tires while parked and away from his vehicle?

 

also, when it's raining at a pretty steady level, don't go 90 mph. Especially if you're driving an 18-wheeler

 

I don't have a problem with the slowing down. They're putting you at risk by tailgating. They'll tailgate whether you're going 50 or 75. If I'm going 50, the damage will be far less.

I'm particularly fond of this method when the tailgater is in a convertible.

 

As a guy who spends a lot of time riding a motorcycle, I share JD's sensitivity to road idiocy. I want whatever happens in front of me to happen WAY in front of me, so I have time to deal with it.

My rule of the road: Assume the other person is going to do the most stupid thing possible, and give them room to do it.

 

That's one of the smartest things I've read in a while.