Tailgater Gets What's Coming to Them

[njintau_fsd]

When I am going 20mph over the speed limit already, there is no reason I should have to move over for someone wanting to go faster.

Who or what gave you the right to make that decision for the other driver, especially when you were moving 20 mph over the speed limit anyway? Would you be ok with someone doing the same to you if they were going the speed limit? What if they were going only 5 mph over the speed limit, what if it was 5 mph under?

The problem with this line of thinking is you're not allowing others to do something you yourself are doing already, which is break the law. If the other person is doing 50 mph over the limit and gets pulled over or worse, that's on him, you have no authority or right to stop him, especially when you're not really following the same laws yourself.

What I usually do is stay on the left lane as long as there isn't someone behind me going faster than I am. If that was the case, I move over to the right lane and let the other guy through, then go back to the left lane. Granted neither of us are following the rules but I'm not arbitrarily making a decision for the other driver.

[njintau_fsd]

I hate the left hand lane hogs as well -but I don't tailgate them to "get even" like many people do. Doing an unsafe act to "get even" is NEVER a good idea.

Instead -when I go past the left lane hog (safely and not like an opportunistic arsehat) -I blast my extra loud train/bull horns at them to draw attention from every other driver on the road and then stick my hand out the window and motion with my hand for them to get over in the right lane. I am very obnoxious when I do this -which gets at the LLH without being dangerous.

With my last car I had -the horns probably were around the 200 db level -and the LLH could not avoid being looked at by every driver -to notice how slow they are driving in the left lane. It is quite effective and often did encourage the offender to move over. Or you could always merge into the left lane safely in front of the offender and then drive 5 mph slower then they are doing to give them a taste of their own!

The other few small percentage would just give the typical finger gesture. Someday I am going to get a huge print of the third finger and put it in my back window with a pull string that makes it pop up when needed -just for those few special arsehats.

You could also get a bumper sticker that says "If you want to drive 55 to stay alive -do it in the right lane dammit"

And you're absolutely right, I never said that what I did was right and a lot of times I did those things because I was having a bad day and later kicked myself for it when I was in a better mood. The horn idea is not bad but its not great either given that there are some who're easily excitable, maybe driving with little to no sleep or worse, have a heart condition and you might be endangering them by blowing your 200 db horn at them because they might end up losing control of their vehicle by panicking. You may say that this is unlikely but it does happen, in fact this happened to my gf. She was on the road early in the morning with little sleep and got startled when someone cut her off and she ended up spinning out. Thankfully she was ok but the accident still occurred because she panicked and overcorrected, causing her to crash into a guardrail.

[KLZE Porsche]

...in fact this happened to my gf. She was on the road early in the morning with little sleep and got startled when someone cut her off and she ended up spinning out. Thankfully she was ok but the accident still occurred because she panicked and overcorrected, causing her to crash into a guardrail.

I can see your point -but my horns also likely saved the lives of quite a few drivers. I used to get up at 3 am every morning and drive 85 miles to work. I can't tell you how many times there were big rig drivers bouncing from one lane to the other and then off the road and on the road again (Eddie Rabbit).

When it was safe -I would jet up near the cab and sound my horns to wake them up and then again motion with my hand for them to pull over to the side. If it weren't for my loud horns -they would never hear a normal horn over the normal big rig noises within the cockpit. These guys are the reason why I installed the horns. Too many times before that -I nearly had to crash to avoid being hit by them.

So I think it is a toss up whether it is more dangerous to wake them with a startling horn or let them crash into a cement center divider -or run over a soccer-mom in her min-van full of kids in the opposing traffic.

[ChillinZX]

Who or what gave you the right to make that decision for the other driver, especially when you were moving 20 mph over the speed limit anyway? Would you be ok with someone doing the same to you if they were going the speed limit? What if they were going only 5 mph over the speed limit, what if it was 5 mph under?

Then I move to the right lane to go around them, or I match whatever speed they are doing in front of me at a safe distance. Going 20 over is more then plenty and illegal already. I gave myself my own rights to go whatever speed I choose. I will not change course (lane) for someone else, because they don't have the rights to push me to the side, only police and other emergency vehicles have that right, that's why that whole general rule exists. In fact it reads "slower vehicles use right lane", like farm vehicles, semi's, and old people. In no way does the 'move over to the right' rule exist when talking about vehicles over the speed limit. You will get a ticket for tailgating, you will not get a ticket for going the speed limit in the left lane, but you will get a ticket in the left lane if you do not move over for emergency vehicles, you can (never happens though) get a ticket for passing on the right side. You want to go faster then 20+mph over the speed limit? You go around me then, that is my middle finger to you for driving like a jerk. A right I also have. No one will stop you from going over 100mph, but you are going to have to earn it. I have been driving around people for 16 years and it doesn't bother me, I don't expect anyone to move over for me, if they do move over, it's because they are doing exactly the speed limit or slightly higher, but they do have the right to not move over for me. Because I don't have the right to control them.

[KLZE Porsche]

..In fact it reads "slower vehicles use right lane", like farm vehicles, semi's, and old people...

Hey -what are you saying there? Are you saying that old people are slow? I know how to drive probably faster than most young'uns!

I am with you on going around. I NEVER expect someone to pull over into the right lane when they are going the speed limit and when it is safe for me to pass on the right. The only time that I do expect someone driving the speed limit in the left lane to get out of the way -is when there is an open road ahead of them but they are paralleling right lane traffic to intentionally limit traffic speed -like they think they are mall cops in a parking lot -all bad and stuff with their little plastic badge.

But in this scenario -I still would never tailgate to try to push them -because I know they might get pissed and hit their brakes on me. Oh snap -that is what happened to this arsehat driver isn't it?

When I used to live out Northwest -the correct way to get someone to get over into the correct lane -was to flash your brights at them. And from my memory -it only took one brief double-flash to get the point across. I guess when you try to be polite about getting people to move out of the way -it has better results than trying to ram your 4000 lb missile up their arse.

[ChillinZX]

There have been times where I used the shoulder to pass, I can only recall two counts where I had to do it, one being for racing stupidly in my younger years, and the other for a pair of semi's driving side by side.

[superballs63]

The horn idea is not bad but its not great either given that there are some who're easily excitable, maybe driving with little to no sleep or worse, have a heart condition and you might be endangering them by blowing your 200 db horn at them because they might end up losing control of their vehicle by panicking. You may say that this is unlikely but it does happen, in fact this happened to my gf. She was on the road early in the morning with little sleep and got startled when someone cut her off and she ended up spinning out. Thankfully she was ok but the accident still occurred because she panicked and overcorrected, causing her to crash into a guardrail.

A.) If your girlfriend was sleep deprived, she shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a 2.5 ton hunk of metal.

B.) Are you saying that if she hadn't panicked and over-corrected, the horn wouldn't have been an issue?

Seems to me like your drowsy girlfriend not being mindful of what was going on around her, NOT some loud ass horn, caused her wreck.

[njintau_fsd]

A.) If your girlfriend was sleep deprived, she shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a 2.5 ton hunk of metal.

B.) Are you saying that if she hadn't panicked and over-corrected, the horn wouldn't have been an issue?

Seems to me like your drowsy girlfriend not being mindful of what was going on around her, NOT some loud ass horn, caused her wreck.

Easier said than done. She was on the road because she had to be on the road plus she was sleep deprived because she's a single mother.

[superballs63]

Easier said than done. She was on the road because she had to be on the road plus she was sleep deprived because she's a single mother.

That would be a pretty solid reasoning if she would have hit and killed somebody.

"I'm a single mother who was tired". That's very weak, and you trying to use it as a justification is just as pathetic.

Get enough F@&^*ng sleep, or stay the F/*k off of the streets where my family, friends, and other loved ones drive. We don't need to mourn because of insensitive assholes.

[KLZE Porsche]

...this happened to my gf. She was on the road early in the morning with little sleep and got startled when someone cut her off and she ended up spinning out. Thankfully she was ok but the accident still occurred because she panicked and overcorrected, causing her to crash into a guardrail.

I think that someone cutting off someone is a little bit different than sounding a horn. I am glad your girlfriend wasn't hurt -but she was the major contributor to the incident due to driving with lack of sleep. Choosing to drive in this condition is not much different than choosing to drive when drunk.

[ladyjazz17]

On a slightly different topic (driving while texting), I saw a video over the weekend from a European country where they filmed a driving instructor telling his students there was a new law that they must text while driving (they were in a parking area set up with cones). They tried and couldn't do it, and were very upset about having to do it, thinking there really was a law. If I can find the video I'll put it in this thread. Hopefully some will see it and realize how texting and driving is as dangerous as being drunk or sleepy.

Here's the video an it was in Belgium: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbjSWDwJILs[/ame]

[ChillinZX]

Easier said than done. She was on the road because she had to be on the road plus she was sleep deprived because she's a single mother.

I'm a single father of two younglings, I can only get maybe 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I'm always tired no matter what time of day, even when I'm sleeping I feel tired in my dreams. Sometimes I wake up and I have dark circles around my eyes like a Lemur. If I have to drive somewhere far like a road trip, you can bet 95% of the time I am stopping at every rest stop, and I always keep a bottle of caffeine pills in my car.

[KLZE Porsche]

I'm a single father of two younglings, I can only get maybe 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I'm always tired no matter what time of day, even when I'm sleeping I feel tired in my dreams. Sometimes I wake up and I have dark circles around my eyes like a Lemur. If I have to drive somewhere far like a road trip, you can bet 95% of the time I am stopping at every rest stop, and I always keep a bottle of caffeine pills in my car.

Been there and done that (kids -but not single)! Good advice!

No Doz finally got their tabs back on the shelves after their shutdown by FDA. They are much easier on the stomach than the yellow type stomach-churning caffeine pills.

[MSDKLZE]

Tailgaters are the spawn of satan. I despise their entitlement mentality.

Motor vehicle etiquette is no different than human behavior. If you are chest-bumping someone in the back and breathing all down their neck, that is asking for an ass whipping. TAILGATING IS THE SAME AS THREATENING.

Bullying your way up someone's butt when they are already breaking the speed limit is absolutely a declaration of your own idiocy.

[ladyjazz17]

Tailgaters are the spawn of satan. I despise their entitlement mentality.

Motor vehicle etiquette is no different than human behavior. If you are chest-bumping someone in the back and breathing all down their neck, that is asking for an ass whipping. TAILGATING IS THE SAME AS THREATENING.

Bullying your way up someone's butt when they are already breaking the speed limit is absolutely a declaration of your own idiocy.

^^^