I (think) am ready for some negative response on this one. Why do big ol truck owners dislike the tailgaters? I don't get it. Tailgaters don't bother me. Is it beacuse I drive so fast that there isn't any one tailgating me, or is it because I don't look or can see them behind me? Either way I worry about the cars in front or to the sides of me, not the cars that are looking at my trailer hitch.

 

Well I don't know about others, but my biggest fear is getting in a wreck. I would flip-out if my baby was hurt. And when someone is tailgating me there are more likely to hit me if I have to hit the breaks for some reason. This very thing happened to my friend not to long ago, except he was the tailgater. The guy in front of him hit is breaks, and so did my friend. But the first guy had better breaks than my friend and so he ran into him. Not hard, but for me any contact is to much. I guess a little space is just curtesy and safe.

 

at night i lose sight of the tailgaters
i can't see there lights in the rear view
mirror.
that's when i start to play with them
speed up, slow down,speed up,slow down
love to see them loose it


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99 XLT SC 4x4 STYLESIDE ORP 5.4,AUTO & 3.73 POSI
MED. TOREADOR RED
EXTANG TONEAU,BED MAT,
K&N FILTER & WOOD DASH KIT

 

Want them to back off, eh?
Build up just a little more speed then,
just touch the brakes enough to make'em light up.
At the same time, rock the steering wheel back and forth enough to slightly sway the truck.
Tailgaters view, "He's locked'em up. He's losing it!"

After they've backed off it gives them time to think about what might have been.

 

i do have a special bug in my brain for tailgaters. the first car i bought was a '65 mustang that was rear-ended badly after 26 hours of ownership.

i used to just slam on my brakes until i looked in my mirror once and saw the woman behind me stop and pick up an unanchored child seat. triple stupid, me once, her twice.

i don't get it. if they want around, they need to stay back so they can make a better pass. if i'm already behind someone else, where the heck do they expect to go?

and then there are the clear passing zones. i usually speed 5-15 over. (sorry, i even know it's unsafe & anti-social...) if you follow me, i'll slow to the speed limit. in clear passing zones i slow down continually. if the zone ends, i maintain the slow speed until the next one & continue to slow. this is similar to what the cop taught in driving school (uh, speeding tickets...). "when you're being followed, slow down & go a little to the right." (i've been pursued to the next stop light & had someone jump out & bang on my window to fight! this is nuts.)

on the bike it just scares the hell out of me. but at least i can push tailgaters back & blast the throttle, so they only tailgate for a fraction of the time.

thanks, but i don't feel any better...

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'99 F-150 XL 4x4 Sport Silver V6 5spd LS 120wb SS 60/40 ConvGrp Hooks Skids A/C AeroCover LouisvilleSlugger TweetieBirdAirFreshener

 

My trick with tailgaters is that once we are on two lane no passing zones I progressivley slow down until they back off. One person was so close that I could not see his headlights (my truck is dropped 9" in the back, the tailgate has come down almost a foot!), this person did not back off until I was doing 10mph in first gear. I guess they are a dedicated tailgater.

 

After driving for 24 years the only accidents I've ever had was one guy hit me in the a$$ at a red light (1985) and seemed to be a little intoxicated and one other guy hit me in the a$$ (1995, 3 month old Contour SE) at a red light(he turned 80 the next day). After that I'm a little sensitive to guys too close to my rear end.

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Red 99.5 Lightning,#0975,Born 5/6/99...Adopted 5/27/99 Chipped w/SuperChip Flipchip chip, Mobil 1

 

Well I was rear ended several times. The most memorable one being when I was stopped at a light and this dumb broad hit me so hard that the back of the seat slammed in to my head and I saw stars. In all my years of competition fighting, I've never took a hit that hard. It fractured both my arms at the point between the elbow and shoulder, ending my fighting career. It took two years of herbal experiments and painful exercises to rehab my arms as modern medicine could do nothing for the nerve damage. Now I am back to 98% normal and still don't look back. I prefer instead to look forward.

 

Unless they are old or incompetent, tailgaters and lane-cutters are usually small-**** types who use their vehicles to build themselves up in their own small minds. They wouldn't have the guts to do that face to face with you (e.g. cut into line in front of you at the bank). Frankly, I don't bother with them.

I'm also a fatalist - stuff happens and if you're going to get in an accident, you will. I can understand how you feel, though, Andthensometoo, getting injured like that and all. I just don't feel people should help bring on the accident. If you do, you're also the loser and you'll feel stupid afterwards or get hurt.

My wife gets more steamed than I do, but I tell her there's nothing to be gained by trying to out-jerk a jerk. Now she uses the cellphone and calls in the drunks and crazies to the police.

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1998 XL SC short-box 4.2 5-speed 3.55LS, Pacific Green, A/C, factory box liner, factory dark tinted rear glass (like the XLT), cassette, carpet, Canadian XLS package (split bench, chrome wheels, side mouldings, box light, tailgate lock), sill guards, Windstar (driver's) wiper blade (the one with the air scoop). Oh ya: snazzy Tweetie Bird floor mats.

New 2000 F-150 on order, coming last week of October. Same mechanically as the current one, but black, XLT, CD and side steps. Great trucks!

 

Tailgaters are my pet peeve, but to be honest, when someone tailgates me, I slow down until they pass *IF* they are bothering me. If they are driving a rice burner, or something equally small, I don't care. They don't usually follow me that close because all they see is my rear bumper about the same height as their windshield. If someone in a truck is tailgating, I just slow down to a speed which makes them itchy to get by me, and in my experience, tailgaters are almost always in a rush to get somewhere.. I just make it easy for them to pass.

Now, in my dream world, I put the truck in reverse and crush their puny little cars into decorative lawn ornaments..uh..did I say that out loud???

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David
'99 F150 XLT SC, STYLESIDE
4X4 ORP 5.4L, AUTOMATIC,
139wb, Rhino, K&N,
BugGuard, RainGuards
Superchip

 

I must say I hate tailgaters too, also from past experience. 2 weeks after getting my motorcycle liscense (17 years old at the time) I stopped to make a left turn into my neighborhood and was rearended by a van. I had my brake on and signal on and this person claimed they never saw me. Ever since I have despised tailgaters and usually do the gradualy slow down method untill they pass as I do not want to be hit again. Thank god I had a helmet on, it left a nice dent in t

 

Since the majority of vehicles on the road are smaller than our trucks I don't worry about tailgaters.

 

Try driving with your tailgate down.
When I do (almost always), people stay
back. Maybe the tailgate scares them.
If I remove it, they tailgate again.
When it bothers me, I slow to a
reasonable speed for however close we
are.

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97 F150 XLT SC 4.6, 4X4 "ORP", 3.55ls, tow pkg, long bed, Rhino liner, Owens running boards

 

Tailgating is very dangerous. The REAL tailgaters who follow <10 feet behind make it impossible to even react to your braking if you were to really stand on the break.

As for driving with the tailgate down, I believe it is illegal in some states.

 

I just thought of other people who hate tailgaters: the ones that slide their dumb@ss in to your "saftey zone" that you left for the car in front of you to start braking. I noticed that when ever I leave a little more than a car length (which technically isn't enough) between me and the car in front of me, some idiot slides in there, causing me to have to brake. Then I ride them. I always have drove two footed, I bet when I get a push guard, that will get them to thinking!