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How Do YOU Deal With Tailgaters?

... Finally he did pass me and all was well, but it really pissed me off. :bangheadQUOTE]

Accept the first part of your sentence, and learn to ignore the second part!:)

In bumper to bumper traffic at 50 to 60 mph (think I-270, west St Louis rush hour) I just leave a small space cushion between me and the vehicle in front, being aware that in those conditions others will try to occupy my cushion if they can. I focus mainly on what's ahead of me and ignore whats behind me.

Bumper to bumper at 10-20 mph, hey we're all tailgaiting at that speed.

If its heavy traffic but space to pass and such, I move to the right lanes and let em go.

If it's two lane and bumper to bumper, I just leave a cushion between me and the vehicle in front, and realize my danger is if "I" have to stop suddenly and he runs up my tail pipe, so I keep aware on whats happening several vehicles in front of me so I don't have to stop suddenly.

Its really just human nature to crowd to the front. Try this experiment sometime. When you are standing in a line, any line; movies, grocery store, amusement park, stand about 6 feet behind the person in front of you, and keep that distance. People behind you will start to crowd you, wanting you to move up, as if that will get them there faster....human nature:dance
 
Usually i give them a hand wave , palm down waving my arm, if that does not work i tap the brake a few times.

If all else fails i find a spot to pull over and get out of the way.
You can't fix stupid ya know.

I find that they rarely move up in traffic much if at all , then wait for a convenient spot to pull along side when stopped and say politely :

" Wow , you must be very important "

They usually look a bit dumb struck and the others who think they are bad boy's or girls don't bother me. I just laugh at them and ride away.
 
I start weaving from side to side in the lane which generally freaks them out. I guess they suppose I am having a tire issue or I am trying to miss something. All I know is that it makes them back off or switch lanes. I really don't know how I ever came across this reaction but it works most of the time. If that fails I pull to the side to them pass and then I follow them home and hire the neighbors kids to egg and paper them.
 
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"Accept the first part of your sentence, and learn to ignore the second part"

Really good advice for life in general. :thumb
 
has anyone mentioned ball bearings yet? :dunno

I guess not, but I will. :wave

I keep a half dozen 5/8" ball bearings in my tank bag. I got them from rebuilding race car CV joints years ago.

They work very well and are pretty stealthy. Just subtly drop one along side the bike and watch for the steam cloud. :thumb

Before some passive types start flaming me for the aggressive attitude, consider this:

If you are assaulting me with a 4000 pound piece of rolling steel intent on doing me bodily harm, I am compelled and justified in defending my life with extreme prejudice by any means necessary. The ball bearings are merely a less than lethal way of making you leave me alone. Kind of like a dog growling and baring his teeth. :)
 
I guess not, but I will. :wave

I keep a half dozen 5/8" ball bearings in my tank bag. I got them from rebuilding race car CV joints years ago.

They work very well and are pretty stealthy. Just subtly drop one along side the bike and watch for the steam cloud. :thumb

Before some passive types start flaming me for the aggressive attitude, consider this:

If you are assaulting me with a 4000 pound piece of rolling steel intent on doing me bodily harm, I am compelled and justified in defending my life with extreme prejudice by any means necessary. The ball bearings are merely a less than lethal way of making you leave me alone. Kind of like a dog growling and baring his teeth. :)

This is really a bad and immature response.
 
This is really a bad and immature response.

Well, what if you were to take your hands, and in an uninvited manner, place them upon a young female's body, maybe a store clerk or something, or just someone in a restaurant, and she were to react by slapping you right across your face with a good slap.
Would you call her response a bad and immature response.

You see, tailgating is a bad and immature behavior. It's a form of road rage. It is illegal here, and I do know more than one cop here who will stop and cite for it.

So remember, when you have that slap in the face coming, guess what. Grin and bear it.
dc
 
I don't think I would go so far as to possibly risk injuring a tailgater or other bystanders with ball bearings or anything like that. I am not judging this as immature, but could have some very dire legal consequences if such actions were to harm others.

Trying to stop aggressive and dangerous behavior with good passive tactics seems to make more sense than using more overt, harmful, and aggressive means ourselves. The idea here is to be a safer rider and not to cause more mayhem by being as aggressive as the action we are trying to prevent.

Let's try to kee this thread on an even keel.:kiss
 
I have to say all that aggressive stuff, ball bearings and the like, tempting tho' it is, seems like asking for trouble.

However, that said, I'd include standing on the pegs, and/or standing and looking back.

or sometimes just dropping my head a bit so that they see I'm really looking in my mirror a reeeally long time. Of course with one eye on the road ahead.
 
I am a big guy on a big bike still I am smaller than a Honda Civic. 90%+ of miles are commuting. I have used most of the non ball barring/rock methods suggested. When they fail I take what I call an 'F1- pit stop' alternative.
- On the freeway I will take the next available exit and re-enter using the entrance ramp. The stop at the top of the ramp gives me a chance to catch my breath and composure. It recycles me into traffic at a different hopefully safer point with minimal loss of time.
- On highways or city streets some form of variation.

It isn't a successful commute if I don't make it to work. Jail, hospital, or the grave are not acceptable alternatives.
 
I can't forget the time when driving in heavy traffic on I-64 and a guy riding a yellow Ninja style bike was beside me in the left lane. He proceeded to stand up on the seat and posed on one foot going about 65 mph. I am not sure of his intentions, and I don't think the traffic behind him backed off much. I was really uncomfortable and saw myself giving statements and filing out written witness reports for the state police.
 
There is NO way anyone can tailgate me on my motorcycle. I actually ride quickly enough to stay the hell out of the way of traffic.
You'd get frustrated in my area, as it's the "land of no passing zones", i.e. all curvy roads . Also hard to imagine never getting trapped behind traffic? :scratch
I like the hand out slow down /backoff tactic for starters.
 
Not me

You'd get frustrated in my area, as it's the "land of no passing zones", i.e. all curvy roads . Also hard to imagine never getting trapped behind traffic? :scratch
I like the hand out slow down /backoff tactic for starters.


I pass when it is safe; not when some pencil pusher at DOT thinks the "average" vehicle can pass safely.

If someone is tailgating me; I am too slow.
 
If someone is tailgating me; I am too slow.


Dockery, I don't know if you have been out on any roads lately, but your fantasies would never work on California roads.
If you are at 90mph, within seconds you are going to see a huge pick up truck in your rear view, about 3 feet back.
And in a few more seconds you are going to see several hundred cars in front of you, at 65 or 70 mph, or a whole lot less.
Then the question is, with a tandem panic brake, who has better brakes, you, or the pick up.
dc
 
As a daily commuter, tail-gaiting doesn't happen to me often . Maybe my protective gear, my safety vest , and my cool head help subdue other drivers. I do see aggressive drivers daily, but I move out of their way. Most aggressive drivers are huffing and buffing and only looking a few feet beyond their front bumper. There movements are rash and very hasty. They stick out like a sore thumb in traffic. When you position yourself in front of a good driver, you have a buffer.

Additionally, when congestion gets high, drivers get impatient and angry. So, I take side streets when the main road is congested to avoid situations that stimulate aggressive driving. Also, drivers can see around bikes, so it may not be apparent to them they are tailgating. If they are really being aggressive, drivers are highly territorial. So, throwing rocks or ball bearings is not really going to help you.

With that only 16% of motorcycle accidents are from behind. So, it is illogical to think being tailgated is going to put you in much danger. It is safer just to just slow down if in congestion. At slower speeds, you will have more space to stop/ or maneuverer. Also having more space will make my movements more predicable/smooth when being tailgated.
 
As a daily commuter, tail-gaiting doesn't happen to me often . Maybe my protective gear, my safety vest , and my cool head help subdue other drivers. I do see aggressive drivers daily, but I move out of their way. Most aggressive drivers are huffing and buffing and only looking a few feet beyond their front bumper. There movements are rash and very hasty. They stick out like a sore thumb in traffic. When you position yourself in front of a good driver, you have a buffer.

Additionally, when congestion gets high, drivers get impatient and angry. So, I take side streets when the main road is congested to avoid situations that stimulate aggressive driving. Also, drivers can see around bikes, so it may not be apparent to them they are tailgating. If they are really being aggressive, drivers are highly territorial. So, throwing rocks or ball bearings is not really going to help you.

With that only 16% of motorcycle accidents are from behind. So, it is illogical to think being tailgated is going to put you in much danger. It is safer just to just slow down if in congestion. At slower speeds, you will have more space to stop/ or maneuverer. Also having more space will make my movements more predicable/smooth when being tailgated.

I am not sure where you are in MD. I commute up through the 83 corridor from PA to Baltimore. I agree, it doesn't happen much, but when it does I am always annoyed by it. I see so many rear end car accidents that it makes me worry a bit.
 
My biggest fear is getting hit again by a drunk or other non-attentive driver. Cell phone texter what ever.

I got clipped in the right rear as a youngster on the freeway in the Detroit area by a drunk. He was entering the freeway and claimed he never saw me.

Knocked me off and I flew over the cars in the left lane. Landed on my neck/back upside down , broke my back , and they never did find one of my engineer boots in the mess. ( way before ATGATT) The bike was totaled and i was a hurting puppy for a while.

Living here in NAPCAR land the drivers have no respect for space or motorcycles.
We call it tail gaiting they call it bump drafting.
 
I am not sure where you are in MD. I commute up through the 83 corridor from PA to Baltimore. I agree, it doesn't happen much, but when it does I am always annoyed by it. I see so many rear end car accidents that it makes me worry a bit.

I used to commute on the Beltway, and tailgating was a non-stop event. Thanks to the ICC, I can bypass that horrific 8-lane death strip now. I'm convinced Maryland has the worst drivers in the country.
 
In reference to my earlier post, my tactic with ball bearings is only for the lonely open road jacka$$ encounter.

Tailgaiters in traffic are easy enough to get rid of by many of the aforementioned techniques. I REALLY like the F-1 pit stop technique. :thumb

I was accosted by some cretin in a pickup 30 years ago on a long, lonely stretch of highway in far southwest Texas near Big Bend and the ball bearing through his radiator did the trick. In my youthful ingorance, I thought I could just out run him and subsequently found out that a loaded 80" FLH will not outrun a pickup. :banghead

He seemed to be having a rather large time messing with me...running up on me then backing off a bit only to repeat the whole cycle again and again for a number of miles. I was scared to death with no good place to pull oof the road and reacted accordingly. And I survived the encounter by stopping him in the literal middle of nowhere with a non functional truck. Spooky stuff when you realize you could die right here and right now.

Situational awareness and always being aware of escape routes plays a huge role in the way I ride and deal with tailgaters.

Escape when possible, and fight when you can't.

Pretty simple, really.
 
Once, on a hot summer day (90 degrees) commuting on I-75 in downtown Detroit, a yellow Corvette was right on my tail. I mean inches away, and traffic was doing about 70 mph. The road was rough from the winter and they hadn't filled in the potholes. I had a tupperware bowl of chicken soup that I'd pulled out of the fridge, earlier, and it was bungied to my rear seat. I hit a pothole, and the soup flew off and landed on his nice yellow hood. It splashed all over his windshield, and when he hit the wipers, that thick layer of fat at the top of the soup just smeared all over his windshield. I saw him pull over to what little bit of a left shoulder there was and I could hear the side of his car scraping on the jersey barrier. I feel bad that my soup spilled. If he was following at a safe distance, it would have just splashed on the road. I guess I feel bad for not stopping, but I was late for work and just rode on.

So there is a God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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