Tailgaters frustrate me
 

Since I've come home to memphis I've been spending days making christmas deliveries (honey, no tofu) in my car, and frustratingly have been dealing with lots of tailgaters in traffic, lots of Dodge RAM's and toyota monstrosities, also uninsured and unlicensed motorists talking on their cell phone behind me, every single light. Some are pushing up close to my car before I even get moving in 1st, and then ride me through 2nd if I try to shift slowly before 3000 RPMs. I can't take much of this, and I can see them glaring at me through the back window and it frustrates me.

I think I need a clever bumper sticker, perhaps a picture of Jeremy Clarkson with his bulldog eyes staring back at them. Any hints or tips?

Tip of advice... IGNORE EM!

Think to yourself that, they're very jealous of you & want to see more detail. Having that big ego help calm yourself down from those drivers

Change lanes and let them by?

Tailgaters don't bothered me, unless I'm moving well above the speed limit and they are still tailgating. In traffic as long as you make sure there isn't a 2-3 car gap in front of you and cars from other lanes aren't coming into your lane due to you have a huge gap I don't see what the person behind you would be upset about.

You bought the wrong car for tofu deliveries haha.

If I am already exceeding the speed limit or if I am behind another car, it makes no sense to me. And especially around now with snow covered roads everywhere, I worry about them being able to stop without hitting me.

They're called douchbags and they're everywhere. Its the little people that try and prove they're a badass and that having an inferior car is still ok because they can intimidate you with bullshit driving tactics. Take no notice, they hate that.

I'm sorry for your frustration - I've noticed that I tend to get a lot more tailgaters in this car than I did in my '04 Carolla - the majority of which always seem to be a guy driving a truck.

I even had some douche in a Toyota Tacoma cut me off the other day when I was stopped at a light in the left-turn lane - he was behind me and when the light went green he floored it and cut me off diagonally and took the first right-hand turn not even a half a block after.

The biggest frustration for me is when people do this in stop-and-go traffic. I've had a few people come to a hard stop absurdly close behind me because they're not paying attention to what's going on with traffic; that sort of stuff used to not phase me much, but in my FR-S (my first new car) it does get me upset - like other have said if it's a case where you can't move over for them, or they're intentionally doing it despite you driving well above the speed limit - it helps to stop looking in your rear-view mirror and turn up the music.

well just be in the slow lane or just dont look at your mirrors. either way, relax

Ditching a tailgator is only one snap-quick lane change away:)


If you are going slower than other traffic move over.


One lane? Move over....


Three lanes....move....you get the point

I was tailgated a couple weeks ago when I was going around 70-75 already passing others. It was funny b/c the cars were 1 old forester, 1 rav4 and 2 crvs who were driven by older drivers.

Douchbags for sure because I am rarely the slowest car on the road. Ignorance truly is bliss in this case.

Just give them a litlle break check.

Go Slower.
Laugh as they get angry

http://collegetimes.ie/wp-content/up...riving-gif.gif
the community of non-tailgaters agrees.

http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Jer...12_4301345.jpg

@calmtigers suggests a great option - use it to the best of your ability and watch heads roll :tweetz:

I am right there with you. They are just a split second away from rear-ending you if they aren't paying attention. Changing lanes and letting them past is the way to go. If I can't change lanes and they just won't back off I will put my left foot on the brake just enough to get the brake lights to come on and speed up at the same time. They usually take the hint or are just confused and back off anyway.

I think the root cause of all these problems is the fact that in North America we don't enforce the lanes like they do in Europe.

Very few people truly understand that the left lane on a highway is for PASSING ONLY. Not cruising, not going superfast, not just cuz... PASSING ONLY. If the freeway / highway is wide open and no cars are on it except you, you shouldn't have to be on the left lane.

Back to the topic, if someone is tailgating me and I am NOT in the left lane, they stay there. I am not risking a lane change and thus risking an-at-fault incident so they can go further.

Unfortunately, I find pickup trucks and SUVs (particularly Ford Explorers) do this the most.

A cat less el header and 3" header back exhaust will keep them farther behind you or else their ears will start to bleed.

I understand what you mean.... I almost get merged into A LOT. It's like they can't see my car.

Ask yourself, are you driving in such a manner that would anger those behind you?

• hanging out in the left lane and not passing, or passing slowly
  
• rather than just stopping at a stop light, rolling at 1mph in hopes of being able to roll through it
  
• keeping a ridiculous amount of space between you and the car in front of you (see first item)

If not, get over anyway. If you brake check someone, you might get shot..or raped then shot, or shot then raped.

LOL no such thing as a "little brake check" with a tailsniffer at 75 mph.
If you have experience with that you should play the lottery. By the time you let up your brake lights are on, and they probably aren't looking down at your rear. Texting, yelling at the kids, beating their wife yes, but paying close attention, NO!
I would brake check a friend in a similar car for fun (not at 80, or tailgating), but a truck at 75?
goodnight rear bumper, hello out of control (yes idiot, but death aint cool) f-150 with kids in the back.


The best thing to do with a tailgater is to put your windshield wiper sprayer on. The overspray from yours makes them put theirs on and slow down. I have aimed my minivans rear spray to spray my back windshield, barely and coat the car beind me if they get to close.

Might as well add a flame thrower, spikes, and an ejector seat :lol:

Just get used to the fact that everyone is an asshole and in a hurry.
Either move over so you don't have to deal with them or stay there and go slower to piss them off more.

If I'm on a highway I'll move over asap as long as I'm not cutting a car off.
On regular streets? Fuck them, I'm not moving so your prick self can go 50 in a 35.

As a fellow FR-S driver, I hear you, but, I don't know what to say ...... I never had that problem with my miata .... :D

humfrz

Well obviously not at 75 mph. I'm talking like at 30-40 mph. And again obviously make sure they are paying attention to your car before brake checking them. I've done it plenty of times :D I love how they go from riding your ass to falling back a couple car lengths after.

yup. or fill the reservoir with pee!! It really stinks after a few weeks.


My family rides in the minivan, so back the fuck off my shit!!!!


Also just get over LOLOLOLOLOL. As this seems so difficult I was trying to give another option that wouldn't result in deaths:)

Ok well still that is a lot of trust you are putting into someone who


A. you don't know
B. sucks at driving
C. might have a lazy eye

Pickup trucks are lucky the 86 isn't a convertible. Otherwise I'd just do what they do...have loose, heavy objects in the back so they can fly behind and smash their windshields.

Actually, to be honest, if the 86 was open top, I'd keep a sack of bricks on hand just to throw at pickup trucks. Serious. Nothing pisses me off more than dudebros and their damn F-950 Colorado Whateverthefucks. Not Prius owners. Not Bimmer assholes who don't signal, not taxi drivers who cut you off, not the Asian aunties in their BMW suvs who can't see, not even left lane turtles.

Yes. Mr. Bond knows how it's done. :D

LOL true but realize I'm not talking about slamming on the brakes here, just saying tap the brake so the lights come on and get back on the gas. And I'm in Miami, the capital of bad drivers lol.

When I get that, I don't even touch the brakes. Just let off the gas and let the car coast. You slow down gentle enough to really aggrivate them. If they are riding you on a two lane busy street, I will match speeds with the car next to me, and slow down until they change lanes then speed up til they change back, rinse and repeat.

These dbags who don't understand safe driving are going to kill people that darwin liked.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/warning.png

Usually I can tilt the mirror away for a few moments, it helps a lot to concentrate on what's in front of me.


By the way this is on normal roads, not the highway. I can handle the highway because there's a lot of room there. I'm talking more like 1PM -5pm traffic where everyone has some place to go, and everyone is nuts to butts in traffic.

I disagree! Doing deliveries in this car has been so much fun, during the hours when there's not a lot of traffic it's chill just going at my own pace. And I can load up about 40 small boxes in the trunk to do deliveries all day in it.

Exactly! Poor planning on their part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

My friend carried a couple of pool balls in his VW Golf tdi, he said that if he ever was in a situation where he really had to get away / escape, he'd toss an 8-ball out of the sunroof at the chasing car.

Run a catless exhaust and put on a shiny, chrome license plate frame.

Between the sound, smell, and the glare they'll give you some room :D

This is America, pull out your gun

This is regular streets. In the middle of traffic, at lights in crowded lanes. I am driving normally, but it's too slow for captain V8 and his automatic lead foot who's jumping the start before I get a chance to even let off the clutch. I drive this way because it's comfortable way to drive when you're behind someone who is also going slow. People starts to get mad when I look back, or try to gesture to him to back off my ass. It's like the only thing that seems to work is to give the finger and wave it around.

As for the granny post, thanks that's exactly how I feel. I actually did tell my grandma how frustrated I was with other drivers. She's the one that's got me delivering honey jars around town to my granddad's clients. I'll get over it, not trying to be a granny or a *****. It was bad in memphis, I just want to put that out there. Not sure where you're from, but if you lived in a metropolitan area with a lot of stupid, irritable drivers I'm sure you could relate.