The Art of Tailgating: Moving Violations. All opinions welcome.

I drive a *lot*. And generally I don't screw around when I drive, point A to B at the fastest speed possible.

I've seen the view. My brakes are good, I did 'em myself. Full control of the vehicle.

After many years and many many hundreds of thousands of miles, It's become apparent that everybody has a different idea of personal-vehicular space. The skoochers are the most obvious example, they follow with forty feet of space between them and the person in front of them in rush hour traffic. They are unaffected by being repeatedly cut off. Then they stop at a light, and wait till you come to a complete stop behind them, then they get nervous or something and skootch a foot or so. Then they do it again. And again.

I just sit there anymore, pretending there's not ten plus feet of empty space between us now from all the skootching. I know it irritates the herd to not see me skootching too, but when the light turns green, the car in front of them moves, and then, after a five second interval they start to roll, I floor it and tailgate the hell out of 'em.

My logic is: Don't stop before you have to, and don't give out nervous signals to the long line of traffic behind you to "go" when it's not time to "go".

So...... to the original point: What exactly qualifies as tailgating in your book? Do you always go by the two second rule? Do you consider the posted speed limit an actual limit? Are you a skootcher?

Personally I just know anymore the personal space the handicapped woman veteran in the RV in front of me wants, and if she does the speed limit or at least close to it, she gets that space, even if I think it's ridiculous. If she does ten under and swerves a lot, she gets less. The dumber and slower they are, the more I infringe on their perception of personal space, until I can get around them.

I know that makes me the bad guy, but someone has to do it. So what do you guys and gals think is really tailgating?

I leave at least 2 cars length between me and the car infront, and i cant stand morons who are up my arse. I drive 3 hours to work and back each day, so each day im covering 250 miles. I've got an advanced test pass, and i can drive very fast, very safely. I do speed, but only when it's safe to do so, i dont wear a seatbelt because i choose not to, although i wont allow others not to in my car/van without one. I do smoke while i drive, and i STILL have never had an accident. I refuse to drive wasted though. I NEVER drink drive, and i never act like a fool. I REALLY cannot stand people tailgating me, so i never tailgate them.

My cousin on the other hand is a lunatic. He drives up everyones arse untill they pull over, and speeds everywhere, skids everywhere, hand break turns - the lot. It's a company car so he doesnt have to worry about tyres and the like. He drives with the mentality that he's DUE for a crash. He's a good driver - he's never crashed so far, but he will if he carries on.

I don't wear my seatbelt either, although there's a law on the books that they can pull you over for that. Helps temper my desire to ram the car in front of me.

I wear my seatbelt when I occaisonally cart kids around though. Have to set a good example and all. How wearing one protects society in general and therefore requires a law still baffles me.

i allways leave a couple of car lengths space in front of me, i drive a focus st and all the boy racers want to race me, i let noone in front of me and if anyone drives up my arse i slam the breaks on or slow down to 10mph knowing that most cars wont have the performance to get round me and the ones that try useally end up faceing oncomeing traffic as i keep the same speed as them when they're level with me, just because i have that sort of car doesn't mean i have to go fast all the time, just most of the time:D

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Originally Posted by chaliceburn

I don't wear my seatbelt either, although there's a law on the books that they can pull you over for that. Helps temper my desire to ram the car in front of me.

I wear my seatbelt when I occaisonally cart kids around though. Have to set a good example and all. How wearing one protects society in general and therefore requires a law still baffles me.

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I know what you mean. I remember when it was optional over here in England. Now it's law - although the police dont pull us over, they just toot and point to it.

I only wear it when im taking my little cousins out for a spin, otherwise i cant stand the things - although that's my own choice - i wont drive if the other people in the car arnt wearing them.

To be honest, i STILL think im safer without - i'd rather not get every rib broken, or neck. Isnt it true for seatbelts that they kill more than they save? Or was that airbags? I dont know, nor do i care. When im driving im safe - at least as far as everyone around me is concerned. Anyway, in a little Diesel work van that cant go much past 90 mph i think im pretty safe.

Although, my other car is a belter. Shoots around the place like a rocket. 06 Mondeo Estate 2L Turbo Diesel Common-rail Injection.

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Originally Posted by weedmaster

i allways leave a couple of car lengths space in front of me, i drive a focus st and all the boy racers want to race me, i let noone in front of me and if anyone drives up my arse i slam the breaks on or slow down to 10mph knowing that most cars wont have the performance to get round me and the ones that try useally end up faceing oncomeing traffic as i keep the same speed as them when they're level with me, just because i have that sort of car doesn't mean i have to go fast all the time, just most of the time:D

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The ST is such a nice car to drive. I had a blue one that was slightly modded for a couple of weeks, and jesus - the thing dont half have some power. I was driving down the M6 i think, and without realising i was going 130 - had no idea. As soon as i saw that my mouth went dry and i slowed down, but it was about 2:30 am so most people are doing that kinda speed lol.

It had the blueish xneon headlights on it and as i was going round a roundabout i flicked the throttle and had to slow down, so the front of the car moved down and then up and the little mini metro infront though i was a cop and pulled over!!! Hahaha, i dont think i'll EVER forget that.

I went for the orange color, Clarkson on top gear said orange is only for chavs, so i must be a chav lol

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Originally Posted by weedmaster

I went for the orange color, Clarkson on top gear said orange is only for chavs, so i must be a chav lol

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Hahaha. When they first came out that electric orange was the only colour avaliable wasnt it? I cant really remember, but im sure it was like fords model T [you can have any colour you want, so long as it's black!]
Tbh, i like the orange. It's certainly unique.

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Originally Posted by LIP

Hahaha. When they first came out that electric orange was the only colour avaliable wasnt it? I cant really remember, but im sure it was like fords model T [you can have any colour you want, so long as it's black!]
Tbh, i like the orange. It's certainly unique.

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not sure if it was the only color available when it was first introduced, but it is now an extra. £750. same as the exion lights i got the st 2 which is £1000 more than the standard but you get the exion lights, esp and a better sony sound system.

I try not to tailgate unless the idiot is going 20 less than the posted limit. I figure they need to lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. What pisses me off is when I am cruising at 80 when the limit is 70 and some bonehead is tailgaiting me in the slow lane, I don't have a problem with downshifting a couple of gears and side stepping the clutch. slow down real quick with no brake lights. In this neck of the woods, they give out tags with pictures of wheel chairs on them for DAIN BRAMMAGE!!! If somebody does something real stoopid on the road, 99% of the time if you look at their tags, they have a wheel chair on them....and *most* of those are from Pearl River County....go figure.
Seat belts??? My vehicles don't move unless all occupants are belted in. *NO EXCEPTIONS*....no seat belt, you walk. period. When I first started driving in 1973, I already had it figured out that if somebody in a race car can hit a wall at 180+ mph, roll a dozen times, burst into flames, and the driver can walk away from it, thats good enough for me.

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Originally Posted by weedmaster

not sure if it was the only color available when it was first introduced, but it is now an extra. £750. same as the exion lights i got the st 2 which is £1000 more than the standard but you get the exion lights, esp and a better sony sound system.

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I got aload of extras for my new mondeo. I got a Sony 6 CD changer, 2 subs, a rubber mat to stop stuff sliding about in the back, alloys, and alloy cleaning kit and all that kinda stuff and i got the seats scotchguarded. There was more but i cant remember. All for 13k - cheap as chips realy, concidering it's an 06 and only had 2000 miles on the clock.

If i had been quicker i could have had the 3 litre petrol V6 version, but i wasnt - and i dont think they're selling them anymore. Anyway, concidering the distences i drive the diesel works out alot cheaper. The services cost more though for a diesel, but i'll do that myself, concidering i service both my vans myself too. no point shelling out money when i can do it for free.

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Originally Posted by chaliceburn

My logic is: Don't stop before you have to, and don't give out nervous signals to the long line of traffic behind you to "go" when it's not time to "go".

So...... to the original point: What exactly qualifies as tailgating in your book? Do you always go by the two second rule? Do you consider the posted speed limit an actual limit? Are you a skootcher?

I know that makes me the bad guy, but someone has to do it. So what do you guys and gals think is really tailgating?

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You are acting like the bad guy, Chalice. You think it's funny and it serves your youthful impatience, but take it from a former paramedic: If you're that close to the person in front of you and someone slams into the back of you, you're going to get a heck of a bump, maybe even one that could badly hurt you. It could hurt someone else in front of you, too.

What qualifies as tailgating depends on the speed you're going. If you're doing 70 mph on the highway, you need to use the Rule of a Thousand times 7 (stay "one one-thousand" back for every 10 miles of speed) so you have the room to stop. For trucks and heavier vehicles, which no one ever gives enough room to, there needs to be even more space. If you're parked in a line of traffic, you need to be able to see the guy's license plate behind you and yours needs to be visible to the person in front.

Sure, write this off to my being an "old lady." But it's not that at all. I've worked too many MVAs where people were too close, either in front or back, and someone got a devastating neck injury or, if they weren't belted in, went popping forward through the windshield after a bump in the back and had devastating or fatal injuries. Those accidents are not pretty. Out there trying to stay safe are not just regular folks like us, but also people like mothers and babies, old folks, unsure drivers, cars full of school children, pregnant or sick folks. People who, if you hit them or caused them to hit someone else and suffer a disabling or fatal injury, I have to hope you would feel regretful about.

Do some defensive driver training. Your life and other people's, no matter how much you hate skootchers and believe you're entitled to get as close as you want, are worth more than that.

In DC, everyone drives like 1 1/2 car lengths in front of each other. It's the norm, they're too many cars here, not enough roads. You get use to it, but it's comfortable to do so.

But I prefer to chill out and not tailgate anyone. But it does irritate me when people give too much space between another car.

Their is no art to tailgateing, it is a menuver that should never be used but sometimes is a must in evasion. Tailgating leaves you vunerable in manny ways, example- if the car in front brake checks your car is now disabeled, if the car in the rear rams you you have no room to menuver, basicaly you are trapping your self and leaving your self vunerable to attak especialy for car jacking. But in Alaska I got family that says tailgaters just end up road kill. Dude your in a part of the country where trafik is not as bad as every where eles cant u just go around?? I use medians and dirt raods all the time unless Im in the city then I just roll with trafic, belive me in an emergancy I could get whereever I wanted in a very small amount of time but if its just every day driveng be safe casue if your unsafe it just amplifys the way everyone else drives....

On a side note I dont know why here in the US we dont have all this little desiel engines their much more efficiant than gas, and much more reliable, besides putting turbos in desisels is alot easier than engine mod. for gas engines

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Originally Posted by LIP

I got aload of extras for my new mondeo. I got a Sony 6 CD changer, 2 subs, a rubber mat to stop stuff sliding about in the back, alloys, and alloy cleaning kit and all that kinda stuff and i got the seats scotchguarded. There was more but i cant remember. All for 13k - cheap as chips realy, concidering it's an 06 and only had 2000 miles on the clock.

If i had been quicker i could have had the 3 litre petrol V6 version, but i wasnt - and i dont think they're selling them anymore. Anyway, concidering the distences i drive the diesel works out alot cheaper. The services cost more though for a diesel, but i'll do that myself, concidering i service both my vans myself too. no point shelling out money when i can do it for free.

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Only 13k you got a right result on that mate:thumbsup:you wouldn't want the 3l petrol it would cost you a fortune to run, i only get 19.5 mpg around town and 23 mpg on the motorway with a average speed of 90-100 mph, the mondeo est is a great allround car, use to have a 18 lx.

For the most part I leave two car lengths between me and the car in front of me, however, I do a lot of highway driving. When I come across someone driving slower than 5 under the posted limit, I will usually accelerate until I'm about a 10 feet from their bumper. I than hover my foot over the brake peddle and ride it slightly until I'm a few feet away from them, than back off and repeat the process until I can either pass or they pull over and let me get by.

As for when at a stop light, I usually leave enough space between my car and the car in front of me so I can maneuver somewhat in case some asshole tries to car jack me.

Let me also add, I only tailgate when there aren't cars behind me.

i go by the four second rule, i stay four seconds behind someone.

and i DO NOT tailgate, there is a special place in hell for people that do as far as im concerned.

i saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "if you can read this i can spike the brakes and sue you. "

I go by the rule that every body on the road is a moron, there fore I drive around
to protect my self from people who cant drive. Now I know that there are good drivers out there but I dont know who they are, so I drive my car with the assumption that the guy in front, and the guy in back and the guy on the side dont know iam there, and so I drive expecting that the other guy is going to screw up, and I have already figured out how iam going conter his dumb move. and I have a class A CDL and I have not been in a fender bender, nor have I gotten a ticket in 30 years, following these rules.Take it are leave it
but it has worked for me.

I leave the reccommended distance between my car and the car in front of me....3 inches..lol..j/k

I try to maintain distance.....but am I the only one that thinks if you just stay several car lengths behind some people.....eventually they'll just crawl along at ten mph because they can't handle anything over that or they are on their cell phone????? I live in a small town....LOTS of one lane streets..... MILES to town.....and WAY too many people who are only giving driving about 1/10 of the attention they should. I personally would like to see ALOT of today's safety devices (seatbelts, airbags) taken away. They save too many idiot drivers who then get into another safe car and continue to drive like idiots. I liked the old days when....if you didn't pay attention in your car to driving......you didn't last very long. Bring that back.!!!!

i ride a motorbike, so when cars tailgate me i get so fucked off. i usually prepare myself then slam my breaks on. twice ive been shunted, but never fallen off. i like it though cus i get their details then quote them for work so their insurance doesn't have to pay and they loose their premiums then do it myself. its been a new liscense plate and new rear wheel cover. it really fucks me off when car drivers do it because i havnt got a nice shiny tin around me so i figure it serves em right.

ive been hit twice by cars who didnt see me and neither has been my fault. both in broad daylight where only a blind pensioner with cataracts couldnt see me. it really fucks me off.

i ride safely and i ride fast, but never stoned. i really don't like it. i like the buzz from teh adrenaline you get when riding. weed kills that. i don't tailgate when riding but when im looking to overtake i always get on the right wing so they see me exactly.

i ride like all car drivers are morons and have saved my skin more times than i care to remember. often due to drivers who dont look and who probably shouldnt have passed. their test. there are however alot of good drivers on the road. its just a shame these are usuaully the ones who you do not notice.

i can't wait to get my car liscense though. a winter on a bike i no fun. coming home at 12 in december and jan i am usually covered in frost. but i love it because im the only person at work who will ride in snow/sleet/hail/thunder/torrential rain/ice. the rest are fair weather pussies.

on the car not and i know im rambling. i have my eyes on a mk4 golf gt tdi 130 3 dr. gonna chip her, get new exhaust system. lowered 18 inch rims and get a decent sound system. and ifi have the cash ill put a 25 anniversary bodykit on it, debadadge it, get it smoothed off and get a nice gun metal paint job on it.

peace

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Originally Posted by chaliceburn

I drive a *lot*. And generally I don't screw around when I drive, point A to B at the fastest speed possible.

I've seen the view. My brakes are good, I did 'em myself. Full control of the vehicle.

After many years and many many hundreds of thousands of miles, It's become apparent that everybody has a different idea of personal-vehicular space. The skoochers are the most obvious example, they follow with forty feet of space between them and the person in front of them in rush hour traffic. They are unaffected by being repeatedly cut off. Then they stop at a light, and wait till you come to a complete stop behind them, then they get nervous or something and skootch a foot or so. Then they do it again. And again.

I just sit there anymore, pretending there's not ten plus feet of empty space between us now from all the skootching. I know it irritates the herd to not see me skootching too, but when the light turns green, the car in front of them moves, and then, after a five second interval they start to roll, I floor it and tailgate the hell out of 'em.

My logic is: Don't stop before you have to, and don't give out nervous signals to the long line of traffic behind you to "go" when it's not time to "go".

So...... to the original point: What exactly qualifies as tailgating in your book? Do you always go by the two second rule? Do you consider the posted speed limit an actual limit? Are you a skootcher?

Personally I just know anymore the personal space the handicapped woman veteran in the RV in front of me wants, and if she does the speed limit or at least close to it, she gets that space, even if I think it's ridiculous. If she does ten under and swerves a lot, she gets less. The dumber and slower they are, the more I infringe on their perception of personal space, until I can get around them.

I know that makes me the bad guy, but someone has to do it. So what do you guys and gals think is really tailgating?

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I drive a 12,000 Lb truck Empty,22,000 Lb loaded...Tailgaters Suck!! If you get so close that I cant see you in my mirrors I will flash my hazard flashers three times,wait a moment and do it again. if you dont back off to a reasonable distance,then on come the brakes...Hard!!!!!! How good is your insurance? Mine is fantastic,and you hitting MY back end puts YOU at fault...Like Tickets do ya?? The cops here would give YOU a BIG handful!!! Then there is the damage to YOUR car....You could rear-end my truck at 55-60 Mph and I would drive away...Can YOU say That?

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Originally Posted by weedmaster

Only 13k you got a right result on that mate:thumbsup:you wouldn't want the 3l petrol it would cost you a fortune to run, i only get 19.5 mpg around town and 23 mpg on the motorway with a average speed of 90-100 mph, the mondeo est is a great allround car, use to have a 18 lx.

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I'm getting about 45 MPG on the long trips and it goes down to about 37 MPG on the short ones. The average is about 80 -100. I'm assuming you've got the little computer on the dash that tells you. First time i have one of em, pretty nifty. The aircon is very nice too - and doesnt dent the fuel as much as i thought it would.

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Originally Posted by The Figment

I drive a 12,000 Lb truck Empty,22,000 Lb loaded...Tailgaters Suck!! If you get so close that I cant see you in my mirrors I will flash my hazard flashers three times,wait a moment and do it again. if you dont back off to a reasonable distance,then on come the brakes...Hard!!!!!!

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haha here we call that a brake check. Never do it in Northern NM though you will get shot or get caught in a fire fight.. haha............I love that you see em come up to yah and bam brake check

Well, I live in Miami and we follow different rules down here.
I've spoken with cops that have seen me drive a little erratically and they told me they would have done the same.

But like you, I drive a lot so now I don't pay attention to anything except the road and the cars around me. I know the laws and what I'm supposed to do and I do it.

When a car doesn't go, I simply beep the horn very politely and promptly.. and i get behind them but with enough room to stop if they decide to brake on a green light. lol.... they do it all the time.

what i love is when you are minding your own buisness in your own lane and a car decides to get right in front of you(when theres another two lanes open) and on top of that, slow down.

it happends to me daily.
im telling you man, miami driving is ridiculous.