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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
 Posted - 02/02/2005 : 18:24:43
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Tailgaters are people who think they are in the Indianapolis 500. Tailgating is pretty stupid. If, when driving your vehicle, you are not leaving at least 2 seconds of time in front of you, you obviously never studied elementary Physics. Whenever I encounter one of these morons behind me in traffic, I simply leave their two seconds plus my two seconds in front of me. F=ma! The more massive your vehicle, the more space you need to leave in front of your vehicle in order to compensate for the tailgater behind you. All of these stupid little tailgating accidents are made by the ignorant and/or the insane.
My morning and evening drive takes more than an hour each way, usually in heavy traffic. I can go no faster than traffic, but I always drive a lot more slowly whenever necessary. Tailgaters are blithering idiots and/or morons and I take their ignorance of physics into account all of the time. I can do nothing about the space they fail to leave in back of me, but I always leave much more space in front of me to accommodate these pests.
I have yet to be a member of a stupid little chain accident. Driving in traffic is hard work and is lousy for the blood pressure, but since I have to be on the road in the morning and evening to get to and from my job, I need to be alert in order to avoid accidents in the making.
If any of you are tailgaters, I can assure you that you are not skeptical and/or knowledgeable enough to drive in traffic. Take a course or two in basic physics and you will understand. I grew up in a long line of physicists going back for many generations.
I simply needed to get this off my chest and out of my system. Driving in heavy traffic is hard work and terrible for the blood pressure, but one needs to avoid calamities on the road caused by morons and imbeciles. Survival of the fittest comes first -- intellectually fit, naturally. Idiots are not permitted to drive, so I do not worry about idiots behind the steering wheel.
Well, I had to get that out. I do not think that REAL SKEPTICS would be ignorant enough to tailgate. Therefore, I am probably preaching to the choir. Then again, one can never be certain....
ljbrs   
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"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
 Posted - 02/02/2005 : 18:58:33 [Permalink]
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ljbrs, you are truely a road warrior; and all joking aside, deserve the official lifetime achievement "Honk and Skid Safety Award". Thanks for the rant and reminder.
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"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
| Edited by - Randy on 02/02/2005 18:59:12 |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 19:38:25 [Permalink]
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I don't see what you find so wrong about eating hotdogs in a stadium parking lot.
Oh, wait. You mean that kind of tailgating. Well, I agree that most people on the freeway tailgate far too close. In fact, I can't count how many times some A-hole has merged into the buffer distance I'm purposely leaving between me and the car in front of me (about 1 car-length). And don't get me started about heavy vehicles like tow trucks that think they can tailgate in the fast lane. I saw one have to swerve into the guardrail because it was impossible to stop his fat ass during one sudden slowdown. Serves him right, of course. But knowing that we aren't in short supply of assholes, it doesn't make me feel any safer to know that one (maybe) learned a physics lesson that day.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 20:31:03 [Permalink]
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Flaming agonizing death to all tailgaters!
My last job of work was driving big truck and I hate tailgaters almost as much as I despise Dubya.
But about ten years ago, I made believer out of one of them.
I was on my way to Paris, TX with 48,000 pounds of steel on the wagon and this dummy got almost to ass-kising distance from me. I think he was trying to save a nickle on fuel by drafting -- it doesn't work, if you might be tempted. I slowed a bit to try to get him past me, but it didn't work. So, not having time to suffer fools, I kicked it back up to speed.
And then, I blew a tire on the trailer.
I heard it go and looked in the mirror. Big cloud of dust and rubber shrapnel flying everywhere. And that little man was on the brakes! Friends, he was getting brakes that he didn't even have!
And he was so lucky. The tire that went was the left, inside on the front axel (a ten foot spresd), and all the big stuff stayed low to the road. Had it blown on the rear, it could have killed him.
Definatly give yourself that buffer zone. Hey, what's the hurry?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend
USA
446 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 20:52:57 [Permalink]
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| I agree with that. The ones that scare me are the ones who drive so close I can't see their headlights. At that point you can't flash your breaks, they might hit their breaks hard and fishtail. So I just hit the cruse control and slowly take it down a noch. Nothing makes them change lanes faster. |
You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 23:22:48 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Paulos23
I agree with that. The ones that scare me are the ones who drive so close I can't see their headlights. At that point you can't flash your breaks, they might hit their breaks hard and fishtail.
I never let that be a consideration. If they are too close, I flash them once. If they don't back off, I flash them again. If they don't back off then I really hit the breakes to force them. Well, I guess that's when I'm in a foul mood. Otherwise I slow down noticably, to get some distance to the car in front. Then it's 50 to 100m I put the pedal to the metal until I've got the right speed, then activate the cruise. I've got enough power under the hood to get some good distance to them. In at least 98% of the cases...
If it's raining I use the water on the road to spray them. I make a point in having good tyres, so I'm rarely concerned that I'd find myself skidding.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 08:16:17 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Paulos23
I agree with that. The ones that scare me are the ones who drive so close I can't see their headlights. At that point you can't flash your breaks, they might hit their breaks hard and fishtail. So I just hit the cruse control and slowly take it down a noch. Nothing makes them change lanes faster.
See now, I usually am about 10 over the limit on highways. When some jackass plays "hide the headlights", I take my foot off the gas and drop to the speed limit or 5 under. If they continue, their driving becomes a "road hazard" and I take my foot off the gas again. They usually go around me.
I've only been involved in one chain accident, but only the tail end guy was to blame. I was stopped behind traffic waiting for a light. It was raining and a Medinah police car was heading in the opposite direction. Dudley Dipshit was so intent on watching the cop that he didn't notice my car.... until it was too late. I heard sliding tires, looked up and knew he was going to get an abject lesson in physics, braced myself, and waited for the big bang. I wasn't disappointed. The force was such that it shoved me forward into the car ahead of me.
I own a bigger car now. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 08:48:10 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
See now, I usually am about 10 over the limit on highways. When some jackass plays "hide the headlights", I take my foot off the gas and drop to the speed limit or 5 under. If they continue, their driving becomes a "road hazard" and I take my foot off the gas again. They usually go around me.
That is also my usual method of dealing with these idiots. Sometimes they actually get the point, but that is rare.
On two occasions I was so annoyed that I stepped on the brake (followed up with the accelerator). It was fulfilling to see the idiots give me a wide berth, but it can hardly be recommended. |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 18:41:43 [Permalink]
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Randy:
Thanks. I liked your pictures. Incidentally, I am death for tailgaters. I leave their reaction time PLUS my reaction time in front of me. Sometimes, I leave even more room.
H. Humbert:
One car length is very dangerous. If I ever have somebody in back of me with one car length, I would leave 4 seconds of space (quite a distance) plus one car length in front of me. I come from a family of physicists (father, grandfather, great-grandfather (Oxford, M.I.T., etc.). One car length between cars is suicidal. Truly! I suppose if you were traveling at a speed of one foot per second, one car length between cars might not be that dangerous.
ljbrs :( |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 18:58:08 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by ljbrs
H. Humbert:One car length is very dangerous. If I ever have somebody in back of me with one car length, I would leave 4 seconds of space (quite a distance) plus one car length in front of me. I come from a family of physicists (father, grandfather, great-grandfather (Oxford, M.I.T., etc.). One car length between cars is suicidal. Truly! I suppose if you were traveling at a speed of one foot per second, one car length between cars might not be that dangerous.
Well, it's slightly more than that, as I said other cars can squeeze in between. Regardless, the space only needs to be long enough that I can brake faster that the car ahead of me can. Yes, if the car hits a brick wall, I'd never be able to stop in time, but that's almost never the case. It isn't an immediate stop, only a period of sharp deceleration. I leave enough room for that. (I know it's enough because of the many times I've had to use it.)
I think the flip side should also be mentioned, and that is that if anyone tailgates you should get over. Some drivers have the mistaken idea that they can do the speed limit in the freeway's fast lane regardless of how many cars are piled up behind them. Those are usually the people I see tailgated, since clearly people are pissed off at having to be held up by a single car. "Slower Traffic Keep Right." Good words to live by.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 02/03/2005 18:59:04 |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 19:14:19 [Permalink]
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filthy:
I cannot understand how anybody would travel so close to a semi. The force of the tire exploding must have been very frightening, even to somebody who travels some distance behind semis. I see people doing that all of the time. Again, if one has not studied physics, it is easy to see that they would not have the faintest idea about the danger.
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Paulos 23:
I generally slow down enough so that the space I leave in front of me equals the distance needed to stop easily. People really do not have a clue of the danger.
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Dr. Malabuse:
I would not want to do anything that might cause them to crash into me. By leaving a lot of room in front when somebody is driving too close (within two seconds) behind me, I avoid tailgating accidents. I drive a long way, to and from work, so I have to be very careful.
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Starman:
You said it. However, even though I am not fond of tailgaters, their ignorance is understandable. I am not angry with them, just somewhat afraid of their possibly innocent recklessness. I want to get home alive and they make my drive somewhat challenging.
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quote:
See now, I usually am about 10 over the limit on highways. When some jackass plays "hide the headlights", I take my foot off the gas and drop to the speed limit or 5 under. If they continue, their driving becomes a "road hazard" and I take my foot off the gas again. They usually go around me.
Valiant Dancer: Good idea(s). I try to discourage tailgaters without attempting to get them angry. Angry tailgaters are a great hazard to any other driver on the road.
quote:
That is also my usual method of dealing with these idiots. Sometimes they actually get the point, but that is rare.
On two occasions I was so annoyed that I stepped on the brake (followed up with the accelerator). It was fulfilling to see the idiots give me a wide berth, but it can hardly be recommended.
Good idea.
Starman:
Good idea.
I think that self-preservation is important. I am often tempted to give them some of what they are dealing out to others. But I stop myself, because getting a tailgater angry can be life-threatening. I learned my lesson once when a driver of an SUV tailgated me within inches of my bumper. I got away by making a sudden turn into a parking lot.
If I did not drive so many miles during the week, perhaps I would not feel this way about other drivers. I think the best way to deal with tailgaters is to leave a great amount of space in front of you without trying to anger the imbecile tailgater. If he/she/it is unaware of your fear/caution, he/she/it will go around you and tailgate somebody else.
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Thank you all for the ideas.
I see that skeptics are better drivers than the rest of society. Great!
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
| Edited by - ljbrs on 02/03/2005 19:20:45 |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 00:41:16 [Permalink]
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You might find this page (by a single post SFN member) interesting :
Traffic waves - Sometimes one driver can vastly improve traffic. |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 08:03:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
quote:
Originally posted by ljbrs
H. Humbert:One car length is very dangerous. If I ever have somebody in back of me with one car length, I would leave 4 seconds of space (quite a distance) plus one car length in front of me. I come from a family of physicists (father, grandfather, great-grandfather (Oxford, M.I.T., etc.). One car length between cars is suicidal. Truly! I suppose if you were traveling at a speed of one foot per second, one car length between cars might not be that dangerous.
Well, it's slightly more than that, as I said other cars can squeeze in between. Regardless, the space only needs to be long enough that I can brake faster that the car ahead of me can. Yes, if the car hits a brick wall, I'd never be able to stop in time, but that's almost never the case. It isn't an immediate stop, only a period of sharp deceleration. I leave enough room for that. (I know it's enough because of the many times I've had to use it.)
I think the flip side should also be mentioned, and that is that if anyone tailgates you should get over. Some drivers have the mistaken idea that they can do the speed limit in the freeway's fast lane regardless of how many cars are piled up behind them. Those are usually the people I see tailgated, since clearly people are pissed off at having to be held up by a single car. "Slower Traffic Keep Right." Good words to live by.
I usually am in the right hand lane. Unless I am overtaking a slower car. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 08:32:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
I cannot understand how anybody would travel so close to a semi. The force of the tire exploding must have been very frightening, even to somebody who travels some distance behind semis. I see people doing that all of the time. Again, if one has not studied physics, it is easy to see that they would not have the faintest idea about the danger.
Those tires run between 90 and 105 # pressure and I used to run mine at 100. Worse yet, most companies put cheap recaps on their trailers, which is why you see so many 'alligators' in the roadways. I found that running new tires wasn't all that much more expensive, but I was only buying them for one wagon (I was an owner/operator leasing to a company). And still they blow, now and again. And often, it is spectacular.
Anyone who tailgates a big truck should lose their license for mental incompetence. Any trucker who tries to 'push' a slower vehicle by riding his bumper should be charged with reckless endangerment. Anyone who tailgates at all needs a good whuppin' with one of the roadside alligators!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 10:08:05 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
quote:
I cannot understand how anybody would travel so close to a semi. The force of the tire exploding must have been very frightening, even to somebody who travels some distance behind semis. I see people doing that all of the time. Again, if one has not studied physics, it is easy to see that they would not have the faintest idea about the danger.
Those tires run between 90 and 105 # pressure and I used to run mine at 100. Worse yet, most companies put cheap recaps on their trailers, which is why you see so many 'alligators' in the roadways. I found that running new tires wasn't all that much more expensive, but I was only buying them for one wagon (I was an owner/operator leasing to a company). And still they blow, now and again. And often, it is spectacular.
Anyone who tailgates a big truck should lose their license for mental incompetence. Any trucker who tries to 'push' a slower vehicle by riding his bumper should be charged with reckless endangerment. Anyone who tailgates at all needs a good whuppin' with one of the roadside alligators!
It is especially dangerous if the brake drum comes apart. A couple of people have been killed here in Illinois when a truck had that happen. And with the freight rate unchanged for the last (as I recall) 15 years, the pressure to put recaps on trucks is to the point that some states have had to outlaw putting recaps on steering tires.
Physics dictates that a 40 ton truck needs a significant amount of time to stop. What I really don't understand is the mentality of some cab-over truck drivers tailgating other trucks. It puts them first at the scene of the accident.
I usually see that the idiot truck drivers that tailgate, are locals, not OTR. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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