How Do You Deal With Tailgaters?

[Yander]

I used to brake moderately and watch them struggle. Now I drive so slow they pass

Others may be in a hurry, I'm not. I'm 5mph under most of the time. Their urgency is not my issue

I'm somewhat in this camp now. I have been driving over 90 miles a day in a mix of open interstate and downtown Columbus ohio since 1995. When I was a younger and less patient person, I would get pissed and do all kinds of crazy things. I have some stories that I'm not proud of that I won't share : )

As I got older and calmed down a little, I don't let it bother me unless it is extreme. By extreme, I mean if I'm already running 80 in a 70mph zone and someone comes up so close I can't see headlights, and they could have just gone around, I still like to "have some fun". Only I no longer get angry; I generally have a smile when I'm toying with them. It breaks up the monotony of the long commute. Or if I'm running 80 in fast lane and passing everyone and it still isn't fast enough for the guy who wants to drive 90, I will have some fun there too. I basically just make them drive 80, then 75, then 70, you get the point. I've had all other lanes blowing by me before while I drive 50 in the fast lane to make a point. I don't do that often but if I'm in one of those kind of moods.

I usually try to be courteous to semi-drivers, but I had one change lanes into me about a month ago, and I had to go off the road or he would have destroyed my old Tundra. He was coming over, and I couldn't stop or slow down in time. I did mess with that guy for quite a while after I got around him. He was probably in his 60's and he flipped me off ironically : ). I still wonder if he ever even seen me. That is perhaps the most pissed I've been with a truck driver ever. I wanted to get out of my truck on that one, but I didn't. He was trying to change lanes so he didn't have to stop at a stop light because the car ahead of him was stopping, and he didn't want to. I get it, but you don't change lanes into another vehicle to avoid a stoplight.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^^
Sometimes that's likely the case. Other times they feel they have to speed up for a hill. But when somebody starts blocking lanes it's intentional.

I was headed home after a few weeks away and might have been moving right along on a deserted stretch of road. Somebody was turning around and when they pulled out... they straddled the center line and stopped.
I went from 65 to zero way too quickly.
Exact same stretch of road, on another trip back from a 3 week stint; 9 at night, I'd been driving all day so when I came up behind a slow moving car I pulled out around him.
All of a sudden I heard a chainsaw! Who is running a saw at that time of night?
Then realized the car beside me had a fart can muffler, and he thought he wanted to race.

 

[NUTTERDW]

Pretty much the same thing you do. I’m betting most of the time if you talked to the person and got a honest answer they would tell you they aren’t tailgaters. You can just tell when someone is behind you or you meet them at a stop sign they are in a hurry. Years ago I discovered when I was in a hurry I really wasn’t. It’s a needless mindset.

My dad is gone now but his advice to me over the years was I pay taxes same as the tailgaters so if they are in as hurry they should have left sooner, so just drive the speed I am comfortable with. I do pull over if I am driving under the speed limit, but I find most of them are wanting to drive faster than the speed limit.

 

[WinterDeere]

I was passing them, and they knew I was passing them.

As aggressive as I can be on the road, this is something that I sometimes have to watch, as some of my cars are pretty loud. The last thing I want to do is frighten the hell out of someone's poor old grandma, as much as I really do want to get past her.

...just drive the speed I am comfortable with.

I've been teaching a teen to drive, and he's been having trouble with this, as his speed is always below the speed limit on roads where most tend to drive perhaps 10 over the speed limit. I tell him to just keep poking along at the speed he's comforable with, ignore those lights in your rear-view mirror. But along with that is an obligation to not make it difficult for those cars behind you to safely pass, when they have an opportunity to do so.

 

[Bocephous]

I pull over and let them pass...same thing I'd want them to do for me. Less drama is always good. I've had enough drama in my life for several lifetimes. I'd like to turn the violence dimmer switch down and learn to chill. There is a definite time for escalation and driving ain't it.

And, you never know what kind of person is driving, and what kind of day they're having. You may be the straw that breaks that camel's back if you start playing games and the repercussions of that may be irreversible.

 

[steve tym]

What happened to pulling to the right when someone is behind you? Not that I expect you to pull into the brake down lane, but my god man, don't be in the left lane with traffic piled up behind you, that's just rude.

 

[Jstpssng]

...Not that I expect you to pull into the brake down lane, but my god man, don't be in the left lane with traffic piled up behind you, that's just rude.

Also against the law in most places.