I need to have a rant about drivers who drive to close, almost had a wreck today.

[texanwitch]

I was driving down the street and this car just rode my bumper.

Hey, you are supose to keep a couple of car lengths between cars for saftey.

Also get off the damn phone and drive.

I used to like to drive, like it less and less.

[bluesbassman]

1. I hate that too, seems too many people have no clue how to drive any more.

I blame anti-lock brakes in part. People get a false sense of security. Back in the horse and bugg days when I learned to drive, we learned to keep that seperation because if you followed too close and had to slam on the brakes there was the very real potential for the car to go into a skid and lose control. I think a lot of drivers don't get that you may not lock up the brakes, but you'll still slam into the car ahead of you in a panic stop.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

7. disagree

Its not anti-lock brakes. Its that people have an inflated sense of self importance now-a-days. As a culture we're becoming increasingly petty, self absorbed, single minded and narcissistic.

[bluesbassman]

8. Well there's that too. I was just looking at it from the technical side.

Your points address the root problem, which is why people ride your bumper in the first place. These are the same people who wait until the very last instant to jam themselves into a half car length of stopped traffic trying to get off the highway exit.

[Fridays Child]

2. That makes me nuts, too.

I try to pull over and let them pass, whenever possible. I don't want to be in an accident even if it's 100% the other guy's fault.

My son and my daughter were both hit this summer by uninsured drivers. My daughter's car was totaled by a drunk. Thankfully, her injuries weren't as bad as they could have been. In my son's case, any accident has the potential to do serious harm to him because he has a severe case of brittle spine disease, aka ankylosing spondylitis. In his accident, the other driver was following too closely and the pavement was wet. Luckily, he seems to have gotten through it with only minor aches and pains.

[southerncrone]

3. We should ALL hate it. It's driving up ins costs.

I blame it on cuts in education budgets due to NCLB testing requirements that did away w/driver's ed classes in the schools.
W's socially-negative policies effected more than the obvious.

And Nascar wannabes.

And what are the odds they were texting or talking on the cell phone?!!

[Mopar151]

4. Cretins....

Hang up the phone, put down the Big Gulp, pause the DVD, cap the nail polish, and DRIVE YOUR FUCKING CAR. The life you save could be mine.......

[blueamy66]

10. most excellent post

nt

[graywarrior]

22. And don't floss your fucking teeth while driving!

[texanwitch]

5. One more thing, use turn signals to let others drivers know when you are turning.

It does help.

I just love for a driver to suddenly turn in front of me.

It doesn't cost anything to use the turn signals.

[blueamy66]

9. I'm sooooo with you!

This is my biggest pet peeve.

How freaking hard is it????

It's worse when you're behind someone at an intersection and you have no idea which way they are going to turn.

Or when you're on a freeway and they want to get in your lane, they don't turn on their signal and then flip you off cause you didn't let them in. Duh....am I psychic????

[RiffRandell]

23. The cops don't.

I picked up my son last week for an ortho appt and saw a cop pass 3 cars and make 2 turns---no signal.

[REP]

6. I hate tailgaters with a deep, burning hate

I have freaking racing brakes on my car and I never tailgate, even in slow traffic. I leave space at a stop light. I put extra space between me and other cars on the highway whenever possible. Tailgating is just stupid.

[HipChick]

11. Here's is a tip on how to handle tailgaiters..

Hit your wipe the window screen button...I've never seen a car NOT back off my bumper, when I 'choose' to do this...

[whistler162]

12. Fisics doncha' know

there is a proven dictum in fisics that the closer you get to the car in front of you the faster that car will go!

Me I if this is happening I try and drive exactly the speed limit.

[digonswine]

13. I simply drive more slowly when they do this-

I could say I do this for safety, but really it's revenge. It does work about half the time, though.

[Iggo]

17. This right here.

[GoCubsGo]

21. Me, too.

Usually, I'll tap the brake lights first. If doing that two or three times doesn't work, then I just let up on the gas. I am at an age where I don't put up with that kind of shit any more.

[LWolf]

14. I've never liked driving,

but I've done a lot of it. When I lived in So Cal, it always felt like russian roulette. Or, depending on the road and time of day, being imprisoned in a claustrophobic mass of metal and exhaust going nowhere anytime soon.

Living where I do now, there's no need to speed, to tailgate, to pass; the speed limits are low, the traffic is mostly light, and I can get to work in 4 stop signs, no traffic lights, and maybe a half-dozen other cars on the road in 13.5 miles.

We can't all live rurally, though; there's not enough planet. Higher population areas need great public transportation systems. Even so cal.

[HopeHoops]

15. You need a bumper sticker that says: "If you can read this, YOU'RE TOO FUCKING CLOSE!"

[yellowcanine]

16. First of all get out of the fast lane if you can. If not, slow down a bit.

It might make them mad, but it is still the safest thing to do. Going more slowly means everyone can stop more easily if necessary. Plus some drivers actually don't realize they are following too closely and having the car in front slow down a bit may make them more aware. If you really feel unsafe, put on your 4 way flashers and pull over on the shoulder as soon as you can and let them go by.

[texanwitch]

18. I used to have a old truck with a big old style bumper, no one got close.

I really hate freeway driving.

I live near I-10 and I will not get on it if I can help it.

What I like is to get out on the farm to market roads in the country.

There is a little traffic but not so intense.

[RebelOne]

19. I was driving on 575 here in the Atlanta area.

I was in the right hand lane. In the left lane were a car and a pickup truck, and the car was going a tad too slow for the pickup's driver and he was riding the car's bumper. Since it was rush hour, the traffic slowed. The driver of the car hit his brakes. Since the truck was too close, he tried to stop and hit his brakes, skidded and overturned. I hope that driver learned his lesson about not tailgating.

[texanwitch]

20. Me to.

Tailgating me will not make me go faster.

I will move over if possible but I will not go faster for a speed demon.

[a kennedy]

24. It's a constant battle out there.....ugh.

I keep tapping my brakes and staring at them in the rear view mirror, soon they get fed up with me and pass when possible. I JUST HATE THE TAILGATER.

[texanwitch]

25. I am driving my father's old 96 car, built like a tank.

It gets 35 to 40 miles per gallon.

I bet my old car against the tailgaters anyday.