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Being "TailGated" -- Have You?
RancheroPaul
Member Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭✭✭
Traveling to a friend's house earlier today, I became aware of a person "tailgating" me. Every time I looked in the rearview mirror, here he was at what appeared to be an inch off my bumper! I tried to get him to pass by slowing down......no luck! This just caused him to start weaving back and forth as if trying to see if he could pass....and he got closer, but never tried to pass.
His hair was being blown every which way by his open windows.....the front of his 15 year old sedan was missing half of the grill, one headlamp was busted out and the bumper resembled a pretzel more than a bumper.......and the car was rusty and hadn't been washed since new!
I decided to speed up and he did too until I reached 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. He only got closer...... Finally, I slowed down and turned into an unknown driveway and stopped. He went on by.......This whole deal lasted about 10 to 12 minutes. What would you do?
If You Can't Buy a Pair, Get a Spare!
His hair was being blown every which way by his open windows.....the front of his 15 year old sedan was missing half of the grill, one headlamp was busted out and the bumper resembled a pretzel more than a bumper.......and the car was rusty and hadn't been washed since new!
I decided to speed up and he did too until I reached 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. He only got closer...... Finally, I slowed down and turned into an unknown driveway and stopped. He went on by.......This whole deal lasted about 10 to 12 minutes. What would you do?
If You Can't Buy a Pair, Get a Spare!
Comments
Bob
"Ignorance spreads lies" - puddle of mudd
Rugster
Toujours Pret
Those people who see nothing but grey areas, no black and white, are lost in the fog.
I used to own a Supra Twin Turbo, and I was leaving a nightclub one night after playing a job, and passed a slower pickup going out of the small town on the two-lane road. I hit the highway, and I was doing maybe 80 or so down the road hurrying home. About 45 minutes later, as I'm coming toward another small city, I notice lights growing in my rear view mirror. I realize some guy is going really fast so I slow down a bit, thinking it's either a cop or a dude that's going faster than me and will blow on by. He catches up to me and, lo and behold, he slows down and starts tailgating me in the right lane of our 4-lane highway.
I slow down, he slows down. I speed back up, he speeds back up. So I put my Glock in my lap and I'm driving into the city lights, having no idea who this is back there. I know the town is a speed trap so I'll probably see a cruiser. On the opposite edge of town, he's still tailgating, and I see a cop, so I drop the gun back in its place and flash my lights, waving the cop down. The truck blasts by both of us on down the highway out of town. I yell, "that guy's been tailgating me for the last 5 miles and wouldn't pass until you showed up. I have no idea who it is or what he wants." Which was true.
He races ahead, pulls him over, and a backup makes sure I pull over too. The other guy claims I "blew past him speeding" in the little town back in podunk -- which I did not. Yes, I passed the guy, efficiently, but not like a mufflerless hotrod or anything, just a routine pass.
They get my side of the story. Finally they come back to my car and say, "well, he says one thing and you say another, but he's drunk so he's going to spend the weekend in jail." A few days later, the kicker -- the guy calls me up--- tells me he's a fan of our band, he's really sorry, he was drunk and probably mistook a regular pass for a personal insult, and he did indeed spend the next 45 minutes trying to catch up to me in his old pickup, but he was glad because he needed to get a handle on his drinking problem, and this was a good thing because he was caught -- again.
Long story, short moral. A guy tailgating and screwing with somebody (speeding up, slowing down) at 3 in the morning for no apparent reason can get himself shot in self defense for assault with a deadly weapon -- his vehicle. But only if you scrupulously avoid playing any games with such a person.
It is possible your tailgater was drunk, more likely he was just a dummy in a hurry and his idea of a solution was for you to do what you did -- pull over and get out of his way. Unless you were dawdling along below the limit, you didn't really owe him that much courtesy, but you may have saved him trying to get by you in a dangerous no-passing zone, so you did well, I think.
- Life NRA Member
"If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
She backed right off. I really don't think she realized what she was doing.
....................
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
To the stars through difficulties
There are no bad guns, only bad people.
This brought me to the realization that most of these fools in POS cars stand a better chance of having:
No Insurance.
No Valid operators permit.
The vehicle is unregistered.
A criminal record.
Those four factors, and the fact that I belive in deterring & de-escalating, usually prevent me from doing somthing rash.
As much as possible I try to take a random turn & let them go by, if they follow and continue to be aggressive, I'll call 911 and try to hook up with a patrol unit. If it's out in the boonies, you betcha, I'll pull over and when I get out, my hand is on whatever I decided to carry that day.
Reserving my Right to Arm Bears!!!!
Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!
NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
"It was like that when I got here".
If I knew then, what I know now.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
However, he obviously wasn't thinking clearly. I floored it, momentarily, spinning the tires a little before my vehicle lurched in his direction. He lept out of the way, which is actually exactly what I wanted. As he was busy kissing pavement, I shifted back into gear and took off. I headed for the nearest police station and sat there. He drove past and flipped me off, but he didn't persist. He drove off, and that was the last I ever saw of him.
Well, the whole thing got out of control fairly quickly. What's more, it was over something rather silly. Nowadays, I just pull off the road, into a driveway, or change lanes. I don't even honk at people unless they do something REALLY stupid. It just isn't worth it.
" God is in His Heaven, All is Right in the World. "
I usually stomp on the brakes and watch the moron's reaction in the mirror. If he gives me the finger, I pull over immediately. If he pulls over too, then he gets his * thrashed for his trouble.
Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
~Lord Bee~
If I knew then, what I know now.
I would like to have a law where you can shoot cars with paint-ball guns. We all drive junky cars and we can shoot jerks cars with paint-balls. When you see some one with tons of paint spots you stay away from them because you know they are stupid! Would be great for letting out the rage in a fun manner.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
-- Patrick Henry
As long as the badge doesn't represent you as a LEO, you are OK. From a distance, though, you can't read the inscription.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
The second admendment GUARANTEES the other nine and the Constitution!
If I knew then, what I know now.
It's so bad that I sometimes rent it out to the county for pest and bug control. No West Nile Virus behind my car, lol.
AND.... it's coming to an area near you soon when Mrs NJRETCOP and I drive to Nashville, TN from NJ on September 12th.
Charlie
"It's the stuff dreams are made of Angel"NRA Certified Firearms InstructorMember: GOA, RKBA, NJSPBA, NJ area rep for the 2ndAMPD. njretcop@copmail.com
I thought about this: Have a reservoir of diesel fuel in the back of the car. Run a line from the reservoir to the muffler and fit it. On the line, install a solenoid valve. Wire switch to dash. When you see a tailgater, hit the switch. Diesel is dripped into hot muffler, which then emits dense blue smoke.
A similar device could be rigged up to drop a load of roofing paper nails.
This one will only work when you are decellerating so there is a lot of unburned hydrocarbon left in your exhaust. Put an extension on the tailpipe. A long one. Drill and thread a hole near the end for a spark plug. Wire the plug to an ignition coil and install a switch on the dash. When you want to impress someone, accelerate hard, then back off. When you cut the trottle, hit the switch. The spark plug will ignite the exaust and make a sort of a flame thrower out of it for a second or two.
I like the penny idea, and intend to use it.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
Psychological stuff: British scientists proved that drivers speed up in foggy/low visibility conditions. When the brain has less visual input to calculate velocity, it tries to create other stimuli. This is also what causes pilots with no instrument experience who get caught in zero visibility conditions to plow into the ground, the 'sixty seconds to death' syndrome, what happened to the Kennedy (John-John?) a few years ago. Ngog's attemt to correlate that with tailgating: Drivers are not concentrating on the road. Their brains are listening to music, or talking on the phone, or thinking about work, etc, so thier subconscious minds need a way to drive, and there is no better way than hooking up to another vehicle. No higher brain function is needed to maintain course or speed, so their minds are free to wander.
It is like when someone passes you, and you accelerate slightly. Almost everyone does this, myself included, unless I watch the speedometer.
I would advise never slamming on the brakes. That is an aggressive irresponsible action. Tailgaters are annoying, but not a reason to cause a multicar collision that may end up killing.
A small percent of tailgaters (in my experience) are ego driven, and view the contest for position very personally in a "I'm more of a man than you" type of way. I have seen some real stupid @#$&! from these types, and there is no real way to deal with it, unless your doorgunner has a mini-gun... Best to just avoid. Passing games with such types (usually drug/alcohol impared) end up deadly.
Ngog
There used to be a series of bumper stickers that had magnetic backing instead of glue. They were great because you could put them on your car without defacing it, and change them as the mood strikes you. I'd like to make one for myself that is just for driving the interstate, that says "If You Are Close Enough to Read This, Have You Noticed the Miles of Wide Open Space Stretching Away in All Directions???" Or words to that effect. Might take 'em a while to read it all, but they've got plenty of time while their nose is stuck squarely in my car's rear end.
- Life NRA Member
"If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
- Life NRA Member
"If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Had a lady following on my bumper a few weeks back, I'd slow down when the road was clear so she could pass, but she continued to just sit there on my tail. I literally came to a stop on a clear section of road, pulled partly onto the shoulder (as little as there was to it) and waived my arm for her to go past me; she just stopped and stared with a bewildered look on her face.
I don't know how some of these people are able to get driver's licenses...
Have Gun, will travel
Got nailed for speeding doing that though. The car that was tailgating was a cop. Midnight on a 2 lane. I learned from a friend on the same force that he had a reputation for doing that to make his "quota".
There are those here that will feel the need to chastise me for the "speed up" remedy. Don't waste your time...I already know how stupid it is. Mrs. Mudge never fails to point it out.
Mudge the pre-chastised
I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
Your mileage may vary.
"If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there."
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
I'm not a hippy!I'm a well groomed mountain man
Traveling to a friend's house earlier today, I became aware of a person "tailgating" me. Every time I looked in the rearview mirror, here he was at what appeared to be an inch off my bumper! I tried to get him to pass by slowing down......no luck! This just caused him to start weaving back and forth as if trying to see if he could pass....and he got closer, but never tried to pass.
His hair was being blown every which way by his open windows.....the front of his 15 year old sedan was missing half of the grill, one headlamp was busted out and the bumper resembled a pretzel more than a bumper.......and the car was rusty and hadn't been washed since new!
I decided to speed up and he did too until I reached 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. He only got closer...... Finally, I slowed down and turned into an unknown driveway and stopped. He went on by.......This whole deal lasted about 10 to 12 minutes. What would you do?
If You Can't Buy a Pair, Get a Spare!
Yikes..thought maybe SaxonPig finally caught up with you![:D][:0]
Oh, and my license plate says ARMED. I guess that helps too... [}:)]
G36
Gun Control Disarms Victims, NOT CriminalsThe 2nd Amendment; America's Original Homeland Security
I did get rear ended once at 65 mph ,it was a must pull over situation ,after I observed the guy ,and there was no real damage done ,he got cocky , so I knocked him unconscious ,and he fell down a looong ditch ,but I was young and not a father then
i will now put ten round mags in all my pre ban guns ,just to show defiance