You know, sometimes, I'd love to be a traffic cop and spend all day every day pulling over people who can't keep their distance. It's one of the most annoying (and dangerous) things drivers can do.
Yep. Following distance and proper lane usage are far more important than the speed limit everyone gets so hung up on.
Insert Simpsons jpg "If those [slow drivers] could read, they'd be very mad"
Protip: pass or keep right. +1mph isn't passing - passing is an active action.
I've been watching some dashcam compilations lately, and one thing that I find very comforting is that regardless of who is legally at fault, almost every accident could've been easily avoided if anyone involved had just slowed the fuck down and chilled the fuck out, and since that's how I drive it makes sense I don't get anywhere near having accidents. The freak accident that you couldn't have avoided is rare.
If someone is tailgaiting and making things unsafe, don't brake check, just slow down gradually. If they won't make you safe by backing off, make yourself safe by reducing your speed. Look to get out of their way, move over, pull over, whatever, and try to let them past. It's real simple, you just need to let go of the idea that you have a right to the spot in front of them.
There's even one road I used to use a lot that was high speed with no passing for several kms, and if I got tailgated, I'd slow down and pull over to the shoulder. Sometimes they got the message and backed up before I pulled over so I'd speed back up and we'd be on our way, but I always took a decent amount of pleasure in taking my time to pull over safely, which usually meant delaying them a lot.
Yup. Many of these accidents take two idiots to pull off. Don't be the second idiot.
y'know what they say, it takes two to die
Look to get out of their way, move over, pull over, whatever, and try to let them past.
I like to imagine that anyone who is tailgaiting me is a bomb-defusal tech on their way to defuse a bomb at an orphanage for blind children. Then I get out of their way and wish them god speed to their vital mission! "Go save those blind orphans, you goddam hero!"
Oh yeah, there's a lot of badass action hero types saving the world on a daily basis, it really restores my faith in humanity.
That only works for you because you already care about other people's life. To the typical road vigilante, an orphanage full of blind children means nothing compared to their sacred lane they were tasked to protect.
Hard agree. Only caveat: don't friggin travel in the left lane unless you're passing. Don't care how fast or slow you're going. Left lane is for going around. Middle/right lane is for cruising. If everyone's obeying that rule then there's no reason to tailgate (not that you should do that anyway. But it does induct you into the assholes club right along with the tailgater)
That's why you wait until you are right next the front of a semi and box them in.
Of course there are idiots that will then pass in the shoulder. (Known from experience)
My mother always said "let them have their own accident somewhere else."
If someone is driving unsafely around me, I absolutely feel offense and the desire to punish them in some way, but it seems best not to do so. Unsafe drivers probably won't learn anything good from other drivers no matter how the other drivers respond. If you try to create consequences, the other driver may well escalate - for example, as you described, passing on the shoulder and creating an unsafe situation for others; but also possibly by taking issue with you personally and acting to endanger you directly through various methods.
So in summary, if someone is driving unsafely around me, my goal very quickly becomes getting the lack of safety away from my passengers and myself as soon as possible.
It's not really about punishing someone, more of trying to get them to cool off.
You also have to realize that someone stupid/crazy enough to shoulder-pass at highway speed could easily be the same type to preemptively pass while you are mid lane change and make it look like it's your fault, either purposefully or after the fact. So, I prefer keeping an eye on someone riding my ass to be alert to them, waiting for them to back off.
You don't know why someone is speeding, and it's not your job to enforce traffic laws. There was a story I remember reading a while back of someone's friend having a chainsaw accident, and them watching their friend bleed out in their car because some dumb piece of shit figured they'd play traffic cop and blocked them in traffic. If you see someone driving aggressively, just assume they're driving that way because they're about to shit their pants, and let them go on their merry way. Report them if you want, but don't endanger yourself and others trying to be a "hero"
Serves as a reminder that there's always someone faster than you!
