samcol

Usually, I just pull my .357 on them.

No, actually I just do what you said, but that's always a last resort if they put my life in that much danger after trying to avoid them.

Today, I saw a bumper sticker that said Tail Gator. lol

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JumpinJesus

Seriously? Did you not pay attention in driver's ed?

When faced with a tailgater, easing up on the gas is the most effective method. Not only does it lessen the impact of a collision if the hypermasculine retard can't stop fast enough, but it also informs the tailgater that they're too close, just in case they aren't paying attention.

If they're too hyped up on aggression to notice this, it's not my responsibility to placate them by not making them mad. Chances are, they're perpetually angry already.

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spectre

I don't like brake checking because that's just asking for the moron to hit you. I prefer to completely take my foot off of the gas pedal so I'm slowing down to the point where they get the hint. After that, they always either back off or go around.

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Nisses

Same here, I usually let go of the gas instead of brake-checking.
But only in case I can't easily switch lanes.

I have to say there aren't that many tail gaters around here, mostly because the times I drive to and from work, roads are pretty much blocked anyway

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MSD

This is an old thread, but everyone needs to know this: report all accidents even if no claims are going to be filed against your insurance. Always get a police report unless the at-fault driver hands you a wad of cash for repairs on the scene. You don't just pay your insurance company to cover damage to your car, they have lawyers who will do their best to see that their clients get any restitution that's coming to them.
Getting out of the way so they're someone else's problem is more effective at making sure that when they crash, I'm not involved. I used to shift down into third and slow down until they passed, then smile and wave or blow a kiss when they did, but I cut that out when a woman in an H2 tried to run me off the road after I did it. Fortunately, there was nobody behind me and I could stop a bit faster in my little Buick sedan than she could in her big fucking truck.

jewels

According to a defensive driving course I took many moons ago, maintaining your current speed should encourage the tailgater to change lanes so he can resume his speed. When he continues to tailgate, slow down so that he's forced to change lanes.

I don't slam on my brakes, but I will brake so he can see that I'm slowing down. This does not always work, so on rare occasions when you're in heavy traffic, what can you do? Sometimes even brake slamming doesn't work.

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ngdawg

I'm married to a guy who thinks it's his civic duty to "teach that asshole a lesson". If they're too slow off the light, he'll tailgate as if trying to drive through them. If they stick their nose out a bit too far into the road, he'll move like he's about to hit them. If they don't do what they "should", he yells-of course, we in the car with him are the only ones who can hear him....yet, he won't use his horn because it "won't make them move". Yea, yelling works....
Every night, he has a story about some "asshole driver", not realizing that he can be one too just by his holier than thou attitude on the road.
I whiteknuckle it every time I get in the car......

Years ago, I remember watching a video in school about this old guy, just driving along at his leisurely pace and never getting into an accident, but causing them as he went. Being a "safe" driver doesn't mean you're a safe driver.

SSJTWIZTA

you people are some hostile fucks!

then again, i never really get tail hated. i think it has something to do with the 3 or 4 mohawks sticking out of windows.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

jimmyjab

I had a smash up with a tailgater, and it wasn't me trying to piss them off or slowing down to get them to pass.
I was parked at the bottom of a hill (car still runnning) before a T- bend checking out a road map (I was lost) when I heard and saw a madman in his car screaming down the hill behind me, so I quickly put the car in gear and went around the lefthand corner (in NZ thats the closest one) to get out of his way.
But the idoit came whipping around the same corner and ran into the back of me.
Needless to say as he was a bit if a mental driver, and he was pretty loud and verbal about how upset he was too.

I got the rear end of my car repainted like new on his insurance though, so not a total loss..

PayUp

If you have a rear wiper and washer fluid use it to soak down thier freshly waxed car.

Or flick the longest, slimiest, stringy booger as far back as you can. Be sure to exaggerate the ficking motion.

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warrrreagl

I'm glad I did a search before starting a new thread on tailgaters, because this one by my old buddy Hanxter is a classic.

(by the way, Hanxter, I still use that spinning warrrreagl every time I get the chance. It's awesome!)



Other than people on cellphones not paying attention, what is the purpose for tailgating? I commute 50 minutes to work every day on a two-lane county road with a speed limit of 45. Apparently, I'm the only one who observes the speed limit, because every single car that comes up behind me tailgates. Changing lanes is not an option, because it's only a two-lane road. Slowing down or tapping the brakes only seems to infuriate them and make them inch that much closer. I usually just have to white-knuckle it until they get a clear lane and pass me in a huffy little burst of black exhaust (and they don't always wait until it's clear).

But why do tailgaters do it? Are they trying to make a point? As ngdawg said, are they trying to teach me a lesson? Because it ain't working - I'm not going to speed up today, tomorrow, or next year for anybody, no matter how outraged they are. Does ngdawg's husband (and others) believe that I'm going to look in my rearview mirror, see their clenched teeth, and say, "Oh my goodness, I must get out of that person's way immediately, because they are clearly much more important than I?"

I just say quietly to myself, "You should have left the house sooner."

But seriously, I just don't understand the point of tailgating.

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The_Jazz

I'd forgotten all about this thread, so when I saw warrrrreagl'd bumped it, I said to myself "Sweet! I'm sure he's got some great tips about parking lot barbequing and how to best get reception for the TV so that you can keep up with the other scores! Maybe there'll be some recipes for brown liquor drinks I can try!"

Instead we're talking about something that he'll hate me for.

I am a tailgater. There, I've admitted it and I already feel better.

My defense is that I'm a city driver, where cars have to be closer to one another. I commute home on Lake Shore Drive every day, which can be as bad as anywhere else (and I say that having commuted in Southern California). Many times, my tailgating is a function of the traffic flow and keeping pace with the car in front of me. Where it was safe to stay 10' behind someone at 10 MPH a quarter mile ago, sometimes I find myself the same distance at 45 MPH, with the cars behind and next to me doing the same thing.

But nothing infuriates me as much as being on a multi-lane road and finding someone cruising in the left lane. I've driven in Western Europe and one of the luxuries there is the lane discipline. It's a rare thing here.

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warrrreagl

This year, it should be YOU giving ME tips about parking lots and BBQ.

And I'm not talking about congestion tailgating - that's completely understandable, because there's no other way to drive in traffic. I get that, and do it myself.

It's the neighborhood tailgating, the lonely road tailgating, the bypass tailgating that I don't get.

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