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android wrote:They're not designed for your well being. They're designed to collect revenue with safety as a official facade.

TXJK wrote:And, it really isn't a difficult concept. It's called courtesy.

If I'm tailgating you in the right lane, I'm the . If I'm tailgating you in the fast lane, you're the . Move over.

If you are tailgating I wouldn't exactly call that courtesy, regardless of the lane. I might call it illegal, dangerous and selfish, I may even call it aggressive, harassing and intimidating, but I certainly would not call it courteous. Or are you saying people should only show you courtesy, but you don't need to show them it?

TXJK wrote: If I'm tailgating you in the right lane, I'm the . If I'm tailgating you in the fast lane, you're the . Move over.

Tell you what...if I'm in the left lane, going above the limit and passing traffic on my right, you can wait.

I cannot stand it when people tailgate. Kevin said it, it is aggressive and bullyish.

SQLGeek wrote:

TXJK wrote: If I'm tailgating you in the right lane, I'm the . If I'm tailgating you in the fast lane, you're the . Move over.

Tell you what...if I'm in the left lane, going above the limit and passing traffic on my right, you can wait.

I cannot stand it when people tailgate. Kevin said it, it is aggressive and bullyish.

I know I tailgate people, but 99% of the time I honestly don't mean to. I usually tailgate if I'm going the appropriate speed and, especially if I'm headed to work or school which is just down the road, I'm a little bit zoned out due to the early hour and my body's dislike of being awake earlier than 10am. When I encounter a car moving a little slower than me I slow down...but fail to realize how close I am. Once I snap out of "the zone" I back off, but at that point I've been tailgating the whole 7 miles to work/school. I feel a little bad about it; however, my husband keeps me in check when he's in the car with me, reminding me that, "you're a little too close to that car, honey..."

The other 1% of the time I tailgate is purposeful and, yes, aggressive. If you're on a two lane highway (and by that I mean one lane going each direction) going 40mph when the speed limit is 55mph and don't have the sense to move over onto the shoulder, just a little bit, to let me pass, I'm going to ride closer to your rear in hopes you'll realize I REALLY WANT TO PASS YOU. I don't ride as close as I do when I absentmindedly tailgate, but I'm going to be close enough for you to wonder WHY I'm that close. Going 15mph under the limit in this situation means you're either not paying attention or being inconsiderate of the drivers behind you who don't have the ability to safely pass you unless you pull over on the shoulder a bit.

I once got stuck behind a guy going 40mph on a 70mph two lane highway. I counted at least 8 cars behind me, and it was piling up fast. This went on for 15 miles before I could pass...and I'm guessing even longer for everyone else.

Sec. 545.062. FOLLOWING DISTANCE. (a) An operator shall, if following another vehicle, maintain an assured clear distance between the two vehicles so that, considering the speed of the vehicles, traffic, and the conditions of the highway, the operator can safely stop without colliding with the preceding vehicle or veering into another vehicle, object, or person on or near the highway.
(b) An operator of a truck or of a motor vehicle drawing another vehicle who is on a roadway outside a business or residential district and who is following another truck or motor vehicle drawing another vehicle shall, if conditions permit, leave sufficient space between the vehicles so that a vehicle passing the operator can safely enter and occupy the space. This subsection does not prohibit a truck or a motor vehicle drawing another vehicle from passing another vehicle.

If you are significantly absent minded, or zoned out early on, I respectfully suggest you not drive until after 10am. You are operating a deadly weapon.

I, desperately, try not to tailgate anyone. It's just plain dangerous. The only time that I do tailgate is when some fool squeezes in between me and the vehicle in front of me and only leaves one vehicle length or less between us. Guess, what? Often times there is no one behind me for a couple hundred feet or more. This usually happens close to exits when traffic has slowed preparing to exit. Why was it necessary for them to squeeze in there? That's just stupid.

The other problem is that so many people get offended when someone flashes their high-beams as they're approaching to get them to clear the lane. This is a much safer practice than trying to just go around and pass on the right. The person being passed may suddenly move to the right and then guess what happens? Boom! Some have no idea what flashing high-beams in their rear view mirror mean. And some do, but feel they have a "right" to be there no matter what speed they are going. It's more of that entitlement mentality.

I don't tailgate because I don't feel like paying for everything when they slam on their brakes.

I have passed someone who was doing 40 in a 55 and then dropped it down to 20 to see if they would get the point. When they finally tried to pass me (in a turning lane), I waited in 2nd gear 'til they were next to me, waved, and took off. Turn about's fair play.

Though I prefer driving a little more aggressive than most, I also understand that very few others do. If I'm ever not in the mood or driving with a spare tire on, I stay out of the way of those who aren't scared of the little white signs that try to limit our potential.

I had the pleasure to rent a nice Mercedes for a week's tour of Germany several years ago. Once you've driven the Autobahn at speed for several hours you really come to appreciate what courteous driving is. Over the course of a week and thousands of kilometers of 160-200 km/hr driving I never witnessed "ego/uncourteous/unsafe" driving. No passing on right, slower traffic keep right, flash to pass if you are in the fast lane and approaching a slower car - but I didn't have to do that as they'd always move over. It's really more of a courtesy thing (flash to pass), to let the car in front know that you are coming up FAST. I expected to see all kinds of exotica flying down the 'bahn - but typically the faster cars were little Euro wagons while the Porsche convertibles and the like were in the middle lanes just cruising. It's a completely different driving culture over there. I mistakenly made an illegal right turn on a red light in Munich, the cars behind me were honking at me after I did it, lesson learned.

gigag04 wrote: If you are significantly absent minded, or zoned out early on, I respectfully suggest you not drive until after 10am. You are operating a deadly weapon.

As I said, it's when I'm driving to work or school. I can't not go to class and I can't not go to work -- even if I haven't had much sleep and am zoning out. If I could get my hubby to drive me, I would, but he has a different schedule that doesn't allow for it. I've never been so bad as to fall asleep while driving; I just tend to zone out a bit.

SQLGeek wrote:

TXJK wrote: If I'm tailgating you in the right lane, I'm the . If I'm tailgating you in the fast lane, you're the . Move over.

Tell you what...if I'm in the left lane, going above the limit and passing traffic on my right, you can wait.

I cannot stand it when people tailgate. Kevin said it, it is aggressive and bullyish.

AMEN!

Nothing makes me angrier than people tailgating. Rush hour traffic is bad enough, but tailgaters make it worse because of the inevitable rear-end collisions, which means closed lanes and even SLOWER traffic. I swear, if I ever have the good fortune to see some tail-gater actually rear-end someone, I'm pulling over just to laugh at them and call them stupid. Nothing burns me up more...

SQLGeek wrote:

TXJK wrote: If I'm tailgating you in the right lane, I'm the . If I'm tailgating you in the fast lane, you're the . Move over.

Tell you what...if I'm in the left lane, going above the limit and passing traffic on my right, you can wait.

I cannot stand it when people tailgate. Kevin said it, it is aggressive and bullyish.

I was under the impression that tailgating was also illegal. Is the requirement still 10 ft for every 10 MPH?

Although I do not like tailgaters.....most tailgate problems, highway congestion etc could be solved
by slower traffic keeping to the right. That is real travel courtesy.

davidtx wrote: I was under the impression that tailgating was also illegal. Is the requirement still 10 ft for every 10 MPH?

gigag04 quoted the actual paragraph from the code a few posts above.

The usual rule-of-thumb is the "two-second rule" -- start counting when the vehicle in front of you passes a reference point, one-potato-two-potato-three-potato, etc. If you reach that same reference point before the end of the second "potato", you're too close and need to back off a bit.

Being that far back also helps you assess the situation better, especially if you're following a vehicle that's bigger and taller than yours -- your only warning then would be his brake lights. Back further, you can usually see around him, and the leading vehicles in the other lanes, so you have better warning of developing situations.

This was actually a Supreme Court case a number of years ago from another state. Ruling came down in favor of the motorist. He was exercising his 1st amendment free speech rights in signaling other motorists.