|
|
Can someone get this car off my backside?! You are cruising along the road on a near perfect day when a dimwit in a half tonne car comes up behind and sits right on your exhaust? According to the New Zealand Automobile Association, this is one of the most disliked situations for all drivers. And, ironically, the smart driver is likely to dislike the situation more than other drivers. This is because smart drivers are more defensive drivers, and more defensive drivers feel especially vulnerable to danger caused by a driver behind. Yet, unlike in hazardous situations caused by a driver ahead or beside you, the smart driver may feel helpless to counter the danger the tailgator is placing him or her in. This is made worse by the knowledge that the driver behind is so incompetent that s/he can't grasp what will happen if you have to stop fast... Yet it is important not to over-react. To realise that no one has died from a simple act of tailgating. Someone may tailgate you all day and as long as your path is clear and you drive smoothly, nothing is likely to happen. The smart driver knows that tailgaters do what they do because they haven't either the gumption to pass slow traffic, nor the smarts to realise that the traffic is heavy and everybody is going slow. Yet it's also very common.  There are ways of handling this sort of driver. There is a car two feet off your rear bumper... Step One So, you are sure it's not a cop and you want that car off your tail. Right, go to Step Two. Step Two Remember that tailgating is usually only a danger if your path is not clear. So, to keep a clear path, roll off the throttle to increase your following distance from the vehicle ahead. Slow down to get a following distance of either 4, 6, or 8 seconds, speed dependent.
Flash your brake light. To do this you just tap the rear brake rhythmically (without actually braking. This may take a little bit of practice. You need to get it right. You don't want to suddenly brake while being tailgated!). When you flash the brake lights, you'll either get their attention, or send them into convulsions. Flashing the brake lights seems to work because most tailgaters don't realise that they are tailgating, and when enlightened, will back off. Give them a friendly wave if they do back off as a means of positive reinforcement. However, some drivers just won't get the message. So you move onto Step Four. Step Four If the opportunity for the tailgator to pass doesn't arise or waving him past doesn't work, move to Step Four. Step Five Move over a bit and slow down. NEVER be in so much of a hurry that you can't afford to spend a few tens of seconds in exchange for a reasonably safe riding environment. Let the tailgators go. They'll find their problems down the road. Even if they never do, never let them become your problem. Flush them away, same as you do with poops of any kind. Be aware when you slow down that you are now running slower than the flow of traffic. This means that you are at the mercy of everything coming from six-o-clock. Slowing down works best on multi-lane roads where the idiot in the car can whip around you once they become annoyed with your rate of deceleration. As the car passes you, be prepared for a vengeful cut-off attack once they get by. While you could brake hard as the tailgator makes the pass to prevent the cut-off attack, this may increase the risk that another unobservant motorist behind will run into the back of you. Be warned that on a twisty one-lane road with no run-off, unless you pull right over when you slow down, this technique does not work very well at all. Slowing down can, of course, be taken to extremes. We know one motorist who slowed right down when tailgated by an articulated truck. The motorist got the truck down to first gear at the bottom of a hill... and then changed gear and left the truck standing. We don't recommend this sort of thing. Heavily irritating drivers who have already shown poor control is not a good idea... Road rage may be largely a media invention, but it still exists. Step Six But if the driver has tailgated you through all this, be careful and keep a wary eye on him/her as you do so. That driver may have evil intent! Depending upon the situation, another approach may be to leave the problem behind. If you are behind another car, it is sometimes possible to pass the car ahead, leaving that driver to deal with the tailgator. The only problem with this idea is that the tailgator may pass that car and end up on your tail again. Of course, there are exotic ways of dealing with the problem. One is the 'ole smokey approach. We know of someone with an old VW microbus who rigged up a windshield washer reservoir and pump filled with Diesel to squirt into the intake. Tailgators would get up so close you couldn't see their headlights out the back window, so he'd just reach down and hit the momentary contact push-button once or twice, and out would come a plume of oily, sooty smoke that 007 would be proud of. That would make them back off real nice... Another approach recommended by the vindictive type is to get yerself a radar detector. When it beeps, wave the tailgator on around you. Make certain they are over the legal limit and, with luck, they'll cross over the double yellow as well. Then the cop who tripped the detector will appear to serve justice to 'em. On the whole, though, it's best to just flush them away, both off your tail and out of your mind.
There are some things you don't do when you are being tailgated. DON'T:
Finally, an encounter with a tailgator, and especially a lengthy encounter, is likely to annoy you and get you all unsettled. If this happens, it is reason enough to pull over and settle down. Anger and stress sap your energy and clouds your mind. It is safer to drive with well-being in your heart. Indeed, if that encounter with the tailgator really unnerved you, stop and stretch your legs or have a coffee. |
|
|
|