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ScooterSissy wrote:

Kawabuggy wrote:I'll post this because I PRACTICE this often.

When you first noticed the person tail-gating you, did you immediately start looking for a turn off so that you could let him go? If you did not, then you are part of the negative equation. Just think how easy it would have been to simply pull off and let him go tail gate, or rear-end, someone else. If you had a chance to change lanes, or pull off, why didn't you?

I know, it's not a "manly" thing to have to sacrifice your driving lane to an idiot that is a danger to himself and others. But you could have. And you should have. The only way to avoid problem people like that idiot is to just get out his way and let him go on and be a problem for someone else. I fear though, that too many of us, myself included at times in the past, allow arrogance, or attitude, to come into play and instead of removing ourselves from the equation, we simply continue on with the "it's my lane so screw you" attitude. Well, if he had hit you, his/your insurance would have probably covered it, but what if you got a broken back, or broken neck, or irreparable damage from something you could have avoided? People often say "you can't fix stupid" but I sure as heck can do my best to avoid it. If someone is tailgating me for ANY reason, I'll gladly surrender that lane by changing to another lane, or pulling off and letting them go if it is a 1 lane road. It's part of defensive driving. I can't change the way stupid people operate their vehicles, but I can often find a way to work around them, or simply get away from them. Think about that next time someone is tailgating you-just signal your intentions to change lanes, or turn off the road, and let them go. You are never going to change their attitude, or driving habits, so just remove yourself from the equation. It's easy.

Sorry, I disagree.

1) Pulling off, especially turning off costs me time. That's not arrogance, that's me controlling a very finite resource.
2) Getting out of their way is rewarding bad behavior. You may call that arrogance, but I do not. I figure if we all move out of the guy's way, we're training him (and anyone else watching) how to get the "peons" to get out of their way - just ride a bumper and we'll move.
3) I've read in the past (though my memory could be off) that 80% of traffic accidents are caused when someone changes a lane. I'm going to let the tailgater be the one to possibly be the cause of an accident, not me.