Woman tired of tailgaters

[porcy62]

It seems most of my unpleasant encounters are with drivers of large pickup trucks. Extra horsepower plus a larger vehicle plus extra testosorone equals somebody that I give as much space to and get out of their way asap. Yesterday as I was coming home from a road trip there was one of these individuals who luckily for me was a few miles ahead of me. By the time I got that to that spot their was an ambulance blocking the road. It appears this individual mistook a Colorado two lane for Indy,lost control of his vehicle,smashed a guardrail, left the road and stopped just short of going into the river. So everybody else including me waited over an hour while rescue crews hoisted his ass up from the crash site and onto a waiting chopper. This is not the end of the story however. Once I continued on my way there were four vehicles who made high speed passes on the Colorado two lane which is not lacking for blind spots and what kind of vehicle was it you asked? You guessed it-large pickup trucks. No state should liscense a driver for one of these things until the testosorone levels safely drop.

Yeah, but when testosterone levels drops, reaction time and sight drops too. So it's safer to stay at distance of large pickup tracks anyway.

[(BB)]

It seems most of my unpleasant encounters are with drivers of large pickup trucks. Extra horsepower plus a larger vehicle plus extra testosorone equals somebody that I give as much space to and get out of their way asap. Yesterday as I was coming home from a road trip there was one of these individuals who luckily for me was a few miles ahead of me. By the time I got that to that spot their was an ambulance blocking the road. It appears this individual mistook a Colorado two lane for Indy,lost control of his vehicle,smashed a guardrail, left the road and stopped just short of going into the river. So everybody else including me waited over an hour while rescue crews hoisted his ass up from the crash site and onto a waiting chopper. This is not the end of the story however. Once I continued on my way there were four vehicles who made high speed passes on the Colorado two lane which is not lacking for blind spots and what kind of vehicle was it you asked? You guessed it-large pickup trucks. No state should liscense a driver for one of these things until the testosorone levels safely drop.

Hey if I burn bio-diesel in my 3/4 ton truck can I claim an exemption from the macho truck driver cliche.

I mostly agree with what you are saying, but the funny thing is in my experience it really isn't that much fun to drive really fast in a big truck. When I use to drive a two-seater I tended to collect tickets and it might just my my advancing age rather that the truck, but the only ticket I have ever received while driving the truck was for not wearing a seatbelt.

[Sundog]

Amazing, some of the posts in this thread that is, talk about not seeing the forrest from the trees!

[chris olivarez]

It seems most of my unpleasant encounters are with drivers of large pickup trucks. Extra horsepower plus a larger vehicle plus extra testosorone equals somebody that I give as much space to and get out of their way asap. Yesterday as I was coming home from a road trip there was one of these individuals who luckily for me was a few miles ahead of me. By the time I got that to that spot their was an ambulance blocking the road. It appears this individual mistook a Colorado two lane for Indy,lost control of his vehicle,smashed a guardrail, left the road and stopped just short of going into the river. So everybody else including me waited over an hour while rescue crews hoisted his ass up from the crash site and onto a waiting chopper. This is not the end of the story however. Once I continued on my way there were four vehicles who made high speed passes on the Colorado two lane which is not lacking for blind spots and what kind of vehicle was it you asked? You guessed it-large pickup trucks. No state should liscense a driver for one of these things until the testosorone levels safely drop.

Yeah, but when testosterone levels drops, reaction time and sight drops too. So it's safer to stay at distance of large pickup tracks anyway.

You have a point there.

[chris olivarez]

It seems most of my unpleasant encounters are with drivers of large pickup trucks. Extra horsepower plus a larger vehicle plus extra testosorone equals somebody that I give as much space to and get out of their way asap. Yesterday as I was coming home from a road trip there was one of these individuals who luckily for me was a few miles ahead of me. By the time I got that to that spot their was an ambulance blocking the road. It appears this individual mistook a Colorado two lane for Indy,lost control of his vehicle,smashed a guardrail, left the road and stopped just short of going into the river. So everybody else including me waited over an hour while rescue crews hoisted his ass up from the crash site and onto a waiting chopper. This is not the end of the story however. Once I continued on my way there were four vehicles who made high speed passes on the Colorado two lane which is not lacking for blind spots and what kind of vehicle was it you asked? You guessed it-large pickup trucks. No state should liscense a driver for one of these things until the testosorone levels safely drop.

Hey if I burn bio-diesel in my 3/4 ton truck can I claim an exemption from the macho truck driver cliche.

I mostly agree with what you are saying, but the funny thing is in my experience it really isn't that much fun to drive really fast in a big truck. When I use to drive a two-seater I tended to collect tickets and it might just my my advancing age rather that the truck, but the only ticket I have ever received while driving the truck was for not wearing a seatbelt.

I wish more pickup drivers felt the way you did and before I become trapped too much in a generalization,in all likelihood most big p/u drivers are just like yourself very responsible and safe. It just seems for me that when I'm having to deal with an overly aggresive driver they're behind the wheel of a big pickup.However,maybe part of that is I drive mostly in a rural area. I'm heading through the Colorado front range which means a great deal of vehicles and it would'nt surprise me if I got a whole different perspective.

[RainyDay]

I refuse to call car collisions "accidents" that are caused by someone who was tailgating, making unsafe lane changes, or speeding, or not paying attention. I call that INEVITABLE. It's incredible that an entire family can be wiped out and unless the person who caused the wreck was drinking, s/he gets a pat on the butt and a $200 fine. So sorry your family was slaughtered by this irresponsible prick but that's all the law can do for you.

Is this really true? I find it hard to believe.

Guy

There are a number of very bad accidents that happen around here frequently. The drunks get charged and there's usually some footnote in the press to follow up so I have to believe the nondrunks just get smacked on the butt. Last year there was a bad wreck on the freeway in SF and a witness followed the person he claimed caused the incident. Multiple persons died in the wreck, it was a van. The police initially didn't charge the guy, then they did, then he was uncharged. Apparently he was in a hurry to get to his rugby or soccer match in Golden Gate Park. Part of a family was wiped out and apparently that's the end of it.

Last week, two SUVs in SF collided at an interesection, one making a left turn. One SUV went totally out of control, went up on the sidewalk, pinned two people, one died, one in critical condition. Let's face it, you know that someone was speeding and or running a red light. I will predict now that unless alcohol is involved, no one in either vehicle will see anything greater than a ticket. You'd have to be going pretty damn fast to end up on the sidewalk and killing someone. Most intersection crashes don't end up with vehicles against a building unless speed is involved and many people running red lights (or using the euphamism "making" the yellow light) are speeding.

If society really wanted to deal with bad driving, they'd start hammering people who drive like they are the only person on the road and cause injury or death to other people.

[Dan Gould]

I believe Rainy is correct. Criminal culpability pretty much requires drunkeness. The only thing the survivors can do is file wrongful death suits.

[Dan Gould]

It just seems for me that when I'm having to deal with an overly aggresive driver they're behind the wheel of a big pickup.

big pickups, and SUVs.

The kind that scare the crap out of us Civic drivers.

[Jim Alfredson]

I don't know why I didn't remember this when this discussion started, but I have a story to offer regarding the recommended "slow down til the tailgaiter passes" response:

About a year and a half ago I'm driving home from my Sunday morning bagel run. The road is a six lane, main East-West artery that has a 45 MPH speed limit. I'm in the far left lane, driving appoximately 50 MPH (keep in mind, there are plenty of traffic lights on this stretch of road). An SUV roars up behind me, at most 6 inches off my bumper. I do what I usually do in these situations - I introduce the a-hole to the speed limit. I back off to about 42 MPH and watched while he stewed behind me. Finally there is a gap and this idiot shot across to the far right lane, passed me, and shot back across into my lane, cutting me off and then slowing to a 20 MPH crawl (I could see what he was going to do so I was ready when it happened).

I now shoot the a-hole the bird. He stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the travel lane!.

I slam on my brakes, and barely miss him, and now it is time to get the hell out of Dodge. He is coming around the corner of his car as I am cranking on the wheel to get around to his right (I even nudged the fucker's bumper a bit). Fortunately, the cars around us who watched this transpire had all stopped a safe distance behind and I had no problem getting around him and out of harm's way.

Now, I do not know what that asshole was going to do, but I'll tell you this much:

It started with his aggressive driving.

It escalated with his tit-for-tat slow down.

No, I believe it started with his aggressive driving and escaladed when you decided to be a smart-ass and slow down below the speed limit to "watch while he stewed behind me." Basically, you were both being dicks.

Why mess with someone who is obviously extremely aggressive like that? It's kind of like poking a rabid dog in the eye with a stick and getting pissed when the thing bites your hand off.

[Dan Gould]

I don't know why I didn't remember this when this discussion started, but I have a story to offer regarding the recommended "slow down til the tailgaiter passes" response:

About a year and a half ago I'm driving home from my Sunday morning bagel run. The road is a six lane, main East-West artery that has a 45 MPH speed limit. I'm in the far left lane, driving appoximately 50 MPH (keep in mind, there are plenty of traffic lights on this stretch of road). An SUV roars up behind me, at most 6 inches off my bumper. I do what I usually do in these situations - I introduce the a-hole to the speed limit. I back off to about 42 MPH and watched while he stewed behind me. Finally there is a gap and this idiot shot across to the far right lane, passed me, and shot back across into my lane, cutting me off and then slowing to a 20 MPH crawl (I could see what he was going to do so I was ready when it happened).

I now shoot the a-hole the bird. He stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the travel lane!.

I slam on my brakes, and barely miss him, and now it is time to get the hell out of Dodge. He is coming around the corner of his car as I am cranking on the wheel to get around to his right (I even nudged the fucker's bumper a bit). Fortunately, the cars around us who watched this transpire had all stopped a safe distance behind and I had no problem getting around him and out of harm's way.

Now, I do not know what that asshole was going to do, but I'll tell you this much:

It started with his aggressive driving.

It escalated with his tit-for-tat slow down.

No, I believe it started with his aggressive driving and escaladed when you decided to be a smart-ass and slow down below the speed limit to "watch while he stewed behind me." Basically, you were both being dicks.

Why mess with someone who is obviously extremely aggressive like that? It's kind of like poking a rabid dog in the eye with a stick and getting pissed when the thing bites your hand off.

So now after advising people to "slow down and let them pass" you are telling me to speed up and break the law in order to let the ass get past me? I don't reward tailgaters. I drive at the legal speed limit and I did absolutely nothing wrong.

[Jim Alfredson]

There's a lot of difference between slowing down from 50mph (5 over) to 45 mph (the speed limit) and 50 and 42 (under the speed limit). I'm sure the middle finger helped the situation a lot, as well.

The first cure to aggressive drivers is admitting that you are one. I had to do that for myself. I drive "aggressively", in big cities (meaning making quick decisions about lane changes, but not tailgaiting unless traffic is heavy... perhaps "defensively" is a better term), but the I rarely ever shoot people the bird or purposely slow down a lot to piss them off. It just doesn't do any good.

[Soulstation1]

this past Friday i was on my way to get my flat tire repaired

across the street the 2 lanes merge into 1 and at the bottom is a big guard rail

the lady behind a big ass truck sped up and tried passing the truck

wrong move since he was merging into the lane

she was lucky if her bumper was at his rear tires when she tried that move

they went door 2 door

i turned around and waited for the fuzz

:bwallace2:

You know what really grinds my gears

People making a california right hand turn when you have the green light and are in the MF-ing intersection

[Jazzmoose]

Amazing, some of the posts in this thread that is, talk about not seeing the forrest from the trees!

It does seem that way, doesn't it?

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Dan needs one of these!

[GA Russell]

You know what really grinds my gears

People making a california right hand turn when you have the green light and are in the MF-ing intersection

Another pet peave of mine!

I have noticed that nearly 100% of the women tailgaters are driving SUVs. I have to believe that they drive carelessly because they believe they will not be physically hurt in case of a collision.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

How many of you have had the pleasure of driving in Rhode Island where they sem to have invented this "left on green" thing?

When I first got there it was UNBELIEVABLE!

Once the light turns from red to green the folks who are making a left somehow have the right of way and even a few cars will peel off in formation right behind.

This is all with no left turn signal whatsoever.

It was my mission not to let anybody turn left in front of me if I was first at the gate across the intersection.

Hence, waving good morning in Rhodiylant is a single digit affair.

[Dan Gould]

How many of you have had the pleasure of driving in Rhode Island where they sem to have invented this "left on green" thing?

When I first got there it was UNBELIEVABLE!

Once the light turns from red to green the folks who are making a left somehow have the right of way and even a few cars will peel off in formation right behind.

This is all with no left turn signal whatsoever.

It was my mission not to let anybody turn left in front of me if I was first at the gate across the intersection.

Hence, waving good morning in Rhodiylant is a single digit affair.

In Florida, you've got lots of left turn signals, but because of the volume of traffic, typically three or four idiots try to squeeze through even when their light is red. If I am first at the light going in the other direction, my approach is always to start accelarating through the intersection, regardless of the car or cars that are coming forward. Now, I am not going to hit them, I am simply reminding them that they are pulling off an asshole-move. The best thing is when there is someone in their passenger seat. Typically these nitwits aren't paying attention so that when they see my car coming straight at them (after all, they're the ones that will get hit, not the driver), I love the looks on their faces. Sometimes I even see them turn and say something sharply at the driver, presumably, "you almost got me killed".

I realize you all think I am in fact one of those asshole aggressive drivers, and I don't give a shit if you do. Twenty five years as a licensed driver, and I have never had an accident or a moving violation - ever. I must be doing something right. Just because I am on a mission from God to point out the errors of the ways of the true assholes doesn't make me one too.

[Brownian Motion]

Rule of Law is so pre-9/11.

[7/4]

How many of you have had the pleasure of driving in Rhode Island where they sem to have invented this "left on green" thing?

When I first got there it was UNBELIEVABLE!

Once the light turns from red to green the folks who are making a left somehow have the right of way and even a few cars will peel off in formation right behind.

This is all with no left turn signal whatsoever.

It was my mission not to let anybody turn left in front of me if I was first at the gate across the intersection.

Hence, waving good morning in Rhodiylant is a single digit affair.

In Florida, you've got lots of left turn signals, but because of the volume of traffic, typically three or four idiots try to squeeze through even when their light is red. If I am first at the light going in the other direction, my approach is always to start accelarating through the intersection, regardless of the car or cars that are coming forward. Now, I am not going to hit them, I am simply reminding them that they are pulling off an asshole-move. The best thing is when there is someone in their passenger seat. Typically these nitwits aren't paying attention so that when they see my car coming straight at them (after all, they're the ones that will get hit, not the driver), I love the looks on their faces. Sometimes I even see them turn and say something sharply at the driver, presumably, "you almost got me killed".

I realize you all think I am in fact one of those asshole aggressive drivers, and I don't give a shit if you do. Twenty five years as a licensed driver, and I have never had an accident or a moving violation - ever. I must be doing something right. Just because I am on a mission from God to point out the errors of the ways of the true assholes doesn't make me one too.

Yep. :eye:

They're just getting out of your way because you're a fucking loon.

Edited March 5, 2007 by 7/4

[Soulstation1]

Dan's a strange cat.......

[Big Wheel]

Two words, gang: South Florida.

[Dan Gould]

Two words, gang: South Florida.

Are you offering that as an excuse for what I've said, or as an explanation of what I supposedly am?

[RDK]

I'm gonna pipe in and say that I don't think the drivers in L.A./So Cal are all that bad. Sure, there can often be a lot of traffic (though i encounter little of it on my commute), but in traffic everyone drives slowly. I've encountered far worse drivers in other parts of the country. And our friends from European cities must be laughing their asses of at our complaints - I've never seen such "bad" drivers as in Paris, Brussels, or parts of Germany.

[Big Wheel]

Two words, gang: South Florida.

Are you offering that as an excuse for what I've said, or as an explanation of what I supposedly am?

How about C) "Both of the above"?

There's a reason I'm 3000 miles away from my birthplace right now.

[Dan Gould]

Two words, gang: South Florida.

Are you offering that as an excuse for what I've said, or as an explanation of what I supposedly am?

How about C) "Both of the above"?

There's a reason I'm 3000 miles away from my birthplace right now.

I'll buy that.