Is it just me, or do you ever get the feeling that someones trying to kill you on the highway? aggressive, impatient, amateur racers. same chickenshit wouldn't dare breath down my neck in a store line but has no problem tailgating me at 65+ with 6' of space (w cellphone), threating my life and others. all cause he/she needs to save 5 seconds on there wallmart trip. may be this is the defensive motorcyclist in me freakling out. all im saying is if any of you out there tailgate.. stop it. if you cant, just blow your brains out. still better than being hunted by the the kin of the family you kill.
I think some people don't understand the gravity of the situation- all they're thinking about is theirself. The shooting the gap Shiite going 20+ mph faster than the traffic flow is the one that can piss me off. Thanks, Kurt
They should require every "would be" driver to take a tour of a junk yard before getting a license. Make them study some of the REALLY hammered wrecks, so they have just a little bit of a clue as to how dangerous the "weapon" they are driving can be.
yeah what'a ya do... Id like to think id thrive in a mad max beyond the thunder dome world. but until then im felling constricted.
I had one a-hole tailgate me off the highway and into the K-mart parking lot the other day, I stop at the stop sign, he swings to the right, drives around me and zooms across without even stopping, or looking. I think he would have run the yield sign at the end of the ramp, too, if I hadn't been there in front to stop for traffic. To top it off, he was only like 10 feet ahead of me going into the store, he stood there playing with himself or something for a couple minutes before he went inside. I wanted to follow him and stare at him so he could ask me what I was looking at and I'd say 'oh, nothing, just hadn't seen a retard up close in a while' or something like that. But I let it go. Thing is, this was no kid, the guy was in his 40s or older with greying hair. I don't know how the guys dare go to the hotdog stand to show their nice cars once a week, the way people drive in the parking lots up there it's like they think it's a free for all and you can just do whatever you want. Derr, I dunno what da colored lines are ferr.... And that's why I continue to drive a beat up Suburban I just repainted with a roller. The last ass who couldn't keep in his lane and tangled with me needed a whole new fender on his BMW... it bent one side of my rear bumper a couple inches or so, a couple whacks with a sledgehammer and you wouldn't know the difference.
I think I'm going to try to find a 1966 Chrysler Imperial for the highway. I've seen them in enough demolition derbies to know they are indestructible. Once I get it on the road, then I'll just have to practice saying "jheese officer....I just never saw that car that cut me off, until it was too late". It might take quite a bit of practice before I can say it in a believable kind of way. It'll be fun to watch every "road-hog" have his totalled car towed away while I say "well...I have no noticable damage, so I'll drive mine home".
I thought about that too.. any 64-68 or 74-78 would work. Lousy gas milage, but when that guy in the Festiva or some other roller skate changes lanes without looking, you'll think you ran through a pothole...
Plenty of room in the Imperial too. I could drive the occupants to the hospital and drop off their car at the junk yard. After being clobbered...a rice-burner would probably fit into the trunk of the Imperial.
This is the same reason why I am always hostile and paranoid! Dont people get it? I mean if people supposedly judge you by what you drive than why does this happen when your driving a car that is out of the ordinary and obviously owned and built buy someone unordinary who isnt going to take shit from the average cock sucker driving a climate controlled cage like 95% of people on the road. Most people just lack common sense! Ive seen this in people all ages, colors, backgrounds etc. I got so fed up with people taligating me cutting me off, instead of brake checking them or playing thier game, I thought I would build in my opinion something most people with a brain would would notice and think twice about disrespecting on the road. It worked for a while till all the local cops started noticing me and got jealous I bet.
BTW: I know some of you dont care to see pics of my old Coprice but I was just trying to prove a point.
AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! that was the funniest thing ive ever seen in a long time. esp with the music.
I drive my 1978 British Triumph sedan 7 days a week, and I find a lot of wankers out there give me 'attitude' because I'm driving a classic car. They fall into a few categories... 1. 'Boy racer' who wants to drag me in his ricer, unaware of course that under my hood is genuine 50 year old English technology, the same cast iron, inline 6, 2500cc powerplant that gave Ferguson Tractors their pulling power. In a word, forget the drags, but hey boy, try and follow me through the next set of tight S bends! 2. The 'new car' driver who can't stand the thought of an 'old car' being in front of him. He'll do whatever it takes to overtake me, pass on a school crossing, or when there's something coming the other way. I just keep cruising at the speed limit. 3. The '4WD' (SUV) driver who sees me coming toward a roundabout where he has to yield or give way to me, and he just keeps trucking along, daring me to try my mint sheetmetal against the half ton of scrap iron he's got hanging off his front bumper bar. Yes, I'll let him go ahead of me, but there's a nice set of corners coming up, and he'll eat my dust through them. Driving a classic car or rod means you have to keep extra care in case some of the idiots out there bang up your sheetmetal just for the hell of it. Cheers, Glen.
Kind of fits with my theory on brakes. It's not how well it stops in testing, it's being able to stop as quick as the 'Tard in the new POS that just cut you off.
What did it say in the second one......"He was as nice as can be, he just [something]." I get mad too, I've been REALLY trying to not let it bother me...... I try to think of the time I was car pooling to some college classes with a girl I work with. She a nice person, smart, etc, etc.....well, I hated riding with her because she would get right on the rear WHATEVER car was in front of her. She didn't want to pass. I really watched her drive because I was curious about why some people ride the bumpers of others. If the car in front would turn off, she would put the hammer down until she caught the next one. We weren't in a hurry and she didn't want nor attempt to pass any of them. As a matter of fact, she just kept having normal conversation with me as though the car in front of us wasn't even there. However, I remember, I was a nervous wreck and used the passenger side brake pedal a LOT!!!! When I was young and dumber (back in the day) I'd get some idiot riding my butt, I would put the car in neutral and just barely touch the brakes to make the brake lights come on and then jerk the emergency brake on.....the rear tires would lock up and squeal, the car didn't change any significant speed and the idiots behind me thought I was making a hard enough stop that they thought couldn't stop in time........the look on their face in my rear view mirror was priceless.......AMAZING how they wouldn't ride my butt the rest of the way..... Yeah, I did it.....and I don't care what you think......I don't do it any more, though......sometimes I wish I were young and dumb still.....
Why is it most posters on this thread are displaying exactly the sort of aggression they are complaining about.
No that won't work. What will work imo, is that EVERYONE, before getting their driving-license handed over, should first experience a large car-crash. Either simulated or for real. That will reorganise some braincells and make them think twice before they might even consider tailgating or take right of way.
For those who drive in the correct lane, I agree with you. However, if some jackass is driving 55 in the left lane, I'm tailgating him til I can pass, and wish Deathrace 2000 was available in reality....6 lanes and you gotta hold up 50,000 cars by driving under the speed limit in the fast lane...really peeves me.
The problem is that most people believe that they are a better driver than anyone else, and they are in more of a hurry than anyone else, and they don't have to obey traffic laws like everyone else. I couldn't count how many times while on my bike, I've had aggressive drivers dart through traffic changing lanes and damn near take me out! I ride with two things in mind: 1)I'm invisible 2)Everyone is out to get me. Drivers just need to calm the hell down!
When I'm on the highway, there's often people tailgating me, usually SUV's or BMW's... and I don't drive slow! Sometimes they're even on the phone!... these a**holes have no respect for other people's lives. When someone's just a few yards behind me at high speed, there's no way he'd be able to avoid me if I was to slam on the brakes. People don't realize enough how dangerous cars are.
Tapping the brakes will wake up 'phoners' behind you real quick. Is it still allowed to phone and drive in the US? In the Netherlands you are fined even if you're just holding a phone in your hand while driving.
What really bothers me is when people wait until the last minute to merge, like when a lane is closed for construction. Someone undoubtedly always lets then in You know if everyone agreed to NOT let assholes like that dart around and merge at the last minute, they would theoretically be stuck in the closed lane for an eternity!
All this makes me glad I live in less populated west Texas. Number of Idiots per capita is still right up there with everywhere else just less capita.
You have to say to yourself, I wonder if they would drive like that with the cell phone shoved up their ass. In West Virginia you need to be carefull, we got alot of kin. Rags
Not much to add that hasn't been said already. You just have to be extra careful and always be alert.
I do this as well. However, I'm typically having to brake all of a sudden for that BIG DOG that ran into the middle of the road! I don't think its so much agression as it is education. Driver's Ed didn't help them, and experience hasn't worked for them, so if I take the time to introduce them to the rear bumper on my truck, then I'm helping to educate them about proper following distances. Go ahead, hit me. I need the money.
Riding a motorcycle daily in the Bay Area, rain or shine, I fear for my life constantly. I've had too many close calls lane splitting (LEGALLY). I've almost been the meat in a suv sandwich way too many times. Cars dart from their lanes jockeying for pointless position without signaling. They see me coming sometimes and actually keep me from lanesplitting by moving over. Cell phones, eating, taxi cabs, oh my. It's fucking scary out there. Not to mention I have to deal with the fairweather motorcyclists who have no concept of motorcycle courtesy, I've been hit 5 times now in just under 2 years of being here from reckless city drivers. Luckily they've all been cosmetic damage. It's fucking war out there. I look forward to leaving in a few years and heading to the last open roads in Arizona.
I have two words for tailgaters: trailer hitch. I've knocked quite a few holes in 5mph plastic bumpers over the years from folks that were too close to stop in time. I don't think I'd drive an old car any different than my current van. Then again, I do agree that Imperials make excellent rides.
I have way too many stories about idiots driving near me. Tailgaters, those idiots at a stop light who take that open space ahead of my truck while I am towing a 4000lb car on a 2000lb trailer effectively using the space I was using to stop. People in such a hurry to get out on the two lane 55mph road so they pull out less than a block from me, then never get over 45mph. One of the funniest was when I was coming home from my last base. There was a grey haired guy wearing leather with tattoos up his arms and a long beard driving a U-Haul truck. He was weaving in and out of traffic like some kid in a Honda with a cheese grater on the trunk. 5 lanes of traffic through Knoxville TN and he was using ALL of them trying to get around everyone. Tailgating, instant swerving lane changes, black smoke pouring out of the truck when he would see an opening.. He was about half a mile behind me when we rolled out of the city still darting around trying to get ahead. Losing ground the entire time. I was in the left lane and we were doing around 75, with the flow of traffic. Its when I am pulling my trailer with a project car on it that I notice the most idiots. They pass then slow down, because even though i am traveling faster than they are, apparently they cant stand being behind someone with a trailer behind them. Then others will pace you, right next to the fender of the trailer, you slow they slow, you speed up they stay right there.
The Jalopy Journal
