I hate tailgaters


nismos14

I'm movin on
Elite Member

BKP

New Member
I feel the same way...

In my car, I'll slow down to a crawl... like today -- had a cager following me, literally inches from my bumper doing about 45. I slowed down, and she threw her hands up, as if to say "wtf are you doing..." So, I was compelled to slow down further... She *did* get the message. (The bird out the window didn't hurt in relaying the message, either).

Unfortunately, I really don't have a good answer when the same happens on my bike. You don't want to play games with a 4000+lb. vehicle behind you... So, short of a James Bond oil slick out the rear tail light, I'd appreciate any suggestions myself...
 

Nastybutler

Cynical Member
Elite Member

Alex6

New Member
Keep a roll of nickles or pennies within easy reach and disperse when necessary. :sinister:
I would not want to test the level of composure of a cager getting pelted by the coins from a bike in front of him/her, especially if the bike does not have a safe out. Too many cases of the road rage involved the pissed off cager attempting to "teach a lesson" and the cage always wins in a direct contact.
I give cagers benefit of being not aware of them invading my comfort zone and I make a "push back" gesture behind my back with my left hand. It worked so far with a 100% success rate.
Another option is to drive faster than the cage, so you can worry about what in front of you (much easier) than what's behind (very hard).
I heard some make a wobble move to scare a driver behind then and that causes the driver to pull back - I would not recommend that.
 

See red

New Member
I keep a roll of pennies and a squirt gun full of red food coloring. I squirt it straight up in the air and it comes down on their windsheilds. They typically freak out and back WAaaaaaaaaaaaaay the f- off! lmao!! The trick is to not get yourself and don't be really obvious.
 
I was actually in a similar situation a couple of days ago! I was on a highway 55mph, and I was approaching a left turn with a lot of debree and rocks in the area to turn. The highway does not have a turning lane at this corner, you have to turn from the left lane if you want to make a left turn and to get to my destination I have to wait in the center to wait for traffic to clear to go across so that also dictates how fast I can make the turn.

The crazy thing about this scenario is that a police officer was tailgating me!!!!!! I put my blinker on giving enough of a warning that I was turning, so when I was making the left turn he was all on my back, all I can see in my mirrors was his headlights to give you an idea of how close he was. So as I make the left turn he blows his horn and throws his hands up...that really had me upset for about three hours but I got over it, it was just amazing that an officer what conduct himself in that manner on the road
 

Nastybutler

Cynical Member
Elite Member

Spunky99

New Member
I keep a roll of pennies and a squirt gun full of red food coloring. I squirt it straight up in the air and it comes down on their windsheilds. They typically freak out and back WAaaaaaaaaaaaaay the f- off! lmao!! The trick is to not get yourself and don't be really obvious.
Steel ball bearings about 1/2" in diameter work great.
They take out a radiator and then road rage is not an issue.
 

MustGoFaster

New Member
My next mod... :bitchslap::sinister:

article-1269372329043-08D5559F000005DC-565823_636x375.jpg
 

redprodigy35

New Member
I myself had a similar situation tonight.

Left lane. Dude passes me, only to get in the wee bit of space between me and the guy that was ahead of me.
Then dude proceeds to apply a ridonkulous amount of brake.

So in conclusion....

1.)He passed me and planted himself in front of me for no apparent reason.
2.)After his idiotic maneuver, he brakes like a mad man... I'm talkin like down to 24mph in a 55 zone with 3 lanes.

Simple answer is unfortunately: People are idiots. You can't change them, let alone in the brief encounters you have with them while your riding.

Unless you have ball bearings of course... :sinister:
(Which I have seriously contemplated bringing with me on rides, if only for a moment until you have that revelation where your like WTF am i thinking, trying to ride like the movie Mad Max, throwing stuff off vehicles at other people, raging out like a mad man.)
 

Chevyfazer

New Member
Yeah I normally don't take to kindly to being tailgated and one day I'm probably going to wind up pissing off the wrong person but 75% of the time this is what I'll do.

1) turn around and look at them like wtf!

2) if they are still there start flashing my brakes (this combined with the "look" normally fixes the situation and there is no need to go on to 3&4)

3) if the asshole is still there I'll pull my clutch in and normally go ahead and downshift 2-3 times getting ready for step 4, but once I find the gear I want I SLAM on my rear brake locking it up just long enough that I know it's rolling in smoke and I see the car behind me slamming on brakes too

4) bounce off the revlimiter and get the F Outta there because I just pissed off someone who was already pissed
 

redwing-2001

New Member
the only space you can control is the space in front of you, so make sure you have plenty of it to maneuver when the tailgater does something really stupid. MSF deals with it in the basic courese this way:
Drivers that tailgate pose a hazard. They may not be able to stop as quickly as motorcyclists. It is important not ot let a tailgating driver distract you from SEEing ahead. In general, it is best to increase your following distance from vehicles ahead to give yourself time and space to execute a smooth, gradual stop. This avoids putting tailgating drivers in a position that requires them to make a quick stop.
some other options to respond to a tailgating driver are:
* flash your brake light (communicate your intentions)
* gradually reduce speed to create more space in front (adjust speed)
* maintain a lane position that discourages sharing the land (adjust position to protect your land), or change lanes
* Turn at the next opportunity, into a street or parking lot, to allow the person tailgating your to pass by
 

Perdurable

Teeker!!!
Elite Member

Szajko

New Member
I was riding to a friends house last night and I was slowing down on an exit ramp because I couldn't see how sharp of a turn it was coming up. While this was happening, I was wondering why the cars lights behind me were so bright... turns out he was riding my ass and decided it was ok to just pass me... on a one lane ramp.

Needless to say :Flip: wouldn't help much because it was dark, but I really wish I could have gotten that asshole back.
 

nismos14

I'm movin on
Elite Member

applejax

New Member
That happens to me a lot on off ramps, they don't pass me but they get real close to me. I had a guy that had to have been going like 80 approaching the off ramp, he had to slam on his brakes when he came up on me. After the off ramp I was gone, and he was probably wondering why I took the turn so slowly.
How fast were you taking the odd ramp compared to the posted speed ??
 

nismos14

I'm movin on
Elite Member

Spunky99

New Member
I did step 3 in Hawaii on my 1968 BSA 650 Lightning...just a puff of smoke and he locked up his brakes and the car swerved off the road and down a steep embankment. He could have been killed and I am sorry I did that.

These days I change lanes or if safe move over and allow them to go by me.
I can accelerate faster than a car so sometimes I do that and find a safe place to ride and allow them to pass. Unless it's a car full of kids hanging out the windows. Then I make sure I am as far away as possible as they tend to throw stuff at you if they get ahead of you.

Yeah I normally don't take to kindly to being tailgated and one day I'm probably going to wind up pissing off the wrong person but 75% of the time this is what I'll do.

1) turn around and look at them like wtf!

2) if they are still there start flashing my brakes (this combined with the "look" normally fixes the situation and there is no need to go on to 3&4)

3) if the asshole is still there I'll pull my clutch in and normally go ahead and downshift 2-3 times getting ready for step 4, but once I find the gear I want I SLAM on my rear brake locking it up just long enough that I know it's rolling in smoke and I see the car behind me slamming on brakes too

4) bounce off the revlimiter and get the F Outta there because I just pissed off someone who was already pissed
 



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