mad_machine wrote: I never understood the need to tailgate.. not like doing it is going to get you there any faster.. and for those that do it to attempt to get me to go faster... I sometimes daydream and slow down when shiny get too close to my bumper
it's called drafting.. if you'd watch some NASCAR you'd know that.. they are just waiting for the perfect time to either get you aero loose in a corner or slingshot around you..
Mitchell wrote: Do you have a hitch that hangs down about a foot behind the rear bumper? You should look into one of those.
I had a lifted 85 S10 blazer with one of the those. Had a college kid in buick roll in to me. Well, when the light turned green, he lost his entire front bumper cover assembly - and I gained one.
The Trooper got nailed from behind by a Cobalt or whatever about a year and a half ago. The big Class III hitch took out the front bumper, radiator, radiator support, valve cover and hood of the Chevy. There was coolant, ATF and oil all over the place and it got flatbedded.
The Trooper suffered a bent hitch, bent exhaust and busted rear bumper cover and I drove it away. 
I try to remember that at least half the people who do this, especially on the Interstate, don't realize what they're doing. The last time I brake-tapped on a car that had sped up, slowed down and just generally stuck right to me for miles, I realized I had terrified a person who had her hands full just being out there. Not an old or disabled person...just someone whose mind was wandering or who really didn't know what she was doing.
When this happens in light traffic, you assume you're being harrassed. Sometimes you are and sometimes it's just another one of the worlds many numbnuts.
I understand that. Most people that tailgate do not bother me. I bet in some states, the way we normally drive here in NJ is considered tailgating. It is the idiots who look like they are ready to bump you out of the way that I have problems with.
It is hard to harass a big Chevy truck with a hitch sticking a foot behind the bumper but it does not keep people from trying.
I was coming home from PHL last night. I am staring at a Right Lane closed in 500ft sign, a speed limit 45 sign and a line of traffic extending into same so I'm in the left lane and slowing quickly from 90 to 50 or so... when one of those Caddy station wagon SUV thingies comes wailing up on my bumper. I can see arms flailing and gesturing - and she pulls out to the right, floors it and I get to box her out and go by slowly - grinning like an ass. Some days are more satisfying than others.
Believe me, I have problems with all of them.
A guy in a Miata once ran into the back of my dad's Discovery. In the Discovery they felt a slight bump as if the Miata had slowly rolled into it. When they got out, the Miata's hood was under the back of the Discovery and it was completely wrecked. The front fascia was wrapped around the engine. The Discovery drove away. with no real damage.
Oh also you should have seen the change in other drivers' attitude when I took the friendly plastic bumper off my Samurai to reveal a steel tube.
I'm in the 'old brown truck with big steel bumper' group. I cruise along in the slow lane and let the idiots past. If they rear end me in a problem situation, they will be much worse off, and no way will a cop believe they weren't tailgating. It's not like I could stop quickly or dart in front of anyone if I tried.
Not to go the other way with this, but I gotta ask, why is it that every berktard here in Ohio with a pickup and a roofrack and toolbox thinks they own the road...I get pretty tired of being forced over by some mouthbreathing drywaller in a 1/2ton ford that sags like its hauled 2 tons of materials who decided he wanted to pass an entire line of traffic so he could force his way into the right lane just before the exit ramp...its like they feel entitled to drive like this because theyre workin murkuns. whats up with that?
GameboyRMH wrote: A guy in a Miata once ran into the back of my dad's Discovery. In the Discovery they felt a slight bump as if the Miata had slowly rolled into it. When they got out, the Miata's hood was under the back of the Discovery and it was completely wrecked. The front fascia was wrapped around the engine. The Discovery drove away. with no real damage.
A women in a Malibu once hit my parked Miata. Punted it 15 feet forward and up onto a curb. The Malibu was towed. My tailight was smashed but I drive another 30k miles with no other repairs necessary.
Joey
I don't worry about tailgaters..
the thing that gets me, is when there is opportunity to pass.
They don't.
In DE I remind my students that they cannot control the space to the rear. Only the forward space. While they are doing the speed limit I point out that they are following the law. If possible I suggest they move to lane position 3 (along the white line to the right of the car) and give them the opportunity to pass. "Let 'em go," I say.
They often repeat back to me, "If they had just left the house earlier they wouldn't need to be in such a rush. And, it's not our problem if they're late."
The "I gotta be ahead of you mentality" that pervades is amazing. Many of these people think they are Tony Stewart. Woohoo, you just got to the traffic light .8 seconds faster than I did. Here's your trophy. Oh wait, nobody cares!
Some are just clueless.
My rule for tailgaters if they are really bad is to gently drift off the road and spray them with gravel. Most of the time it works like a charm. Or, if that doesn't, just lift of the throttle and slow waaayyyy down. Either they go around or go beserk. 
When I was younger and stupid and had a turbo Porsche, i would take it up to about 130 and never see them again.
oldopelguy wrote: Add one long trunk release cable from the junkyard to the tailgate latch of your pickup four hours of hilarity. It's amazing how they back off when a tailgate suddenly "falls" down....
berkeleyING GENIUS!!!!!!
I actually got tailgated badly for 2 miles last night.
By a police officer.
40mph zone, i was doing 45 (indicated at least, probably more like 42, i run small tires.). Saw the cop FLY up on me doing at least 65 without his lights on and continue until he was probably about 2 feet off my bumper. I couldn't see his headlights.
Naturally, i downshifted and left off the gas for some engine braking without brake lights down to the 40mph speed limited as indicated on my speedometer. You know, because i didn't want to break the law by speeding and give him a reason to pull me over.
I'm STILL not sure if he hit me or not, but there's a clean spot on my bumper that i can't remember if it's from me kicking it with my shoe or not.
But in general, if it's a 1 lane road, or if i'm already in the right line, i'm not getting out of your way, so berkeley off. Please feel free to hit my car, i'd GLADLY take the check and buy something nicer.
Same goes for those people that stick their nose into traffic. I don't go around them. I get a sick sense of enjoyment watching their eyes turn the size of dinner plates as they panic and stick their cars into reverse.
The cop was likely running your plates while he was so close to you.
He may have even been typing this into the laptop himself (texting) and not really paying attention to the road.
You must have come back clean.
Brake lights have a way of backing off the offender but this can be dangerous considering you will be slowing down. A less dangerous version can be to turn on your headlights (which turns on your red taillights) and may seem like braking without the slowing down.
jrw1621 wrote: The cop was likely running your plates while he was so close to you. He may have even been typing this into the laptop himself (texting) and not really paying attention to the road. You must have come back clean. Brake lights have a way of backing off the offender but this can be dangerous considering you will be slowing down. A less dangerous version can be to turn on your headlights (which turns on your red taillights) and may seem like braking without the slowing down.
I get my plates run a lot then.... at least 5x a month. 
It was already night, all my lights were on, and BOTH of my license plate lights work. If he needed to get that close to me to run my plate, he wouldn't have passed the state vision test for his license.
I've said it before, but cops here are seriously the worst that i've ever seen. I've seen one driving down one of the main streets a few times watching Family Guy on his laptop.
Seen another one playing solitaire on his laptop driving down the highway.
They don't use their turn signals. (This is a rule, not an exception) I've been merged into more than once. Cut off constantly. Tailgated EVERY time one is behind me.
And if they wanted a reason to pull me over, all they'd have to do is do it and give me a ticket for my damn exhaust. Instead they drive like jackasses and make me wonder how bad of a situation it would be if i just let one of them hit me.
Or they pull me over anyways and search my car, find nothing, and mumble some bullE36 M3. (I've had my car searched 5 times in the last 2-3 years.)
Search:
This seems like a good time to repost this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA
These two are good as well:
Don't talk to the Police.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE&feature=relmfu
Datsun1500 wrote:92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Or they pull me over anyways and search my car, find nothing, and mumble some bullE36 M3. (I've had my car searched 5 times in the last 2-3 years.)Why do you agree to a search? One of the first things I taught my kids when they started driving was to say no if someone asked if they could search the car
Often just faster to let them do it. Next time i'll tell them to get a warrant and i'll report back what happens.
One time I was driving my (late) obnoxiously low and loud eg civic around the outskirts of Charlotte NC. I was doing probably 5 over in a 45. Sweet new BMW g650 with street tires pulls up behind me. Completely blacked out. I was on some curvy roads, so I pulled over to let him by. He slowed down right behind me. I couldn't really pull over, but I did what I could. He rolled slowly next to me. POLICE written on the side with what looked like added flashers on four corners. Heart skipped probably ten beats.
Cops ride BMWs now?
4cylndrfury wrote: Not to go the other way with this, but I gotta ask, why is it that every berktard here in Ohio with a pickup and a roofrack and toolbox thinks they own the road...I get pretty tired of being forced over by some mouthbreathing drywaller in a 1/2ton ford that sags like its hauled 2 tons of materials who decided he wanted to pass an entire line of traffic so he could force his way into the right lane just before the exit ramp...its like they feel entitled to drive like this because theyre workin murkuns. whats up with that?
What scares me is the number of these guys running yellow license plates. Of course, that also could explain the bad driving...
In reply to eastsidemav:
Yellow license plates?
Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to eastsidemav: Yellow license plates?
Also known as Party Plates.
In Ohio, a judge as the ability to order the driver to carry these yellow plates on their car. It calls out to cops immediately that the driver is a repeat offender.
Current standard issue Ohio Plates:
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