Tailgaters!!!

[Mackeyser]

Okay. I gotta vent so bear with me. I live in West Central Florida, Gulf Coast... Just south of Tampa. I've driven in something like 34 states and talked to people including plenty of truck drivers who've logged millions of miles in all 50 states and many in other countries.

Other than maybe India and Russia, there are no worse drivers than in Florida.

One of the WORST issues here is tailgating. Makes me crazy because you see so damn many fender benders and people STILL texting and driving!!!

I've probably mentioned this before... But it bears repeating... I try to shake my head or take a breath, but it doesn't work. It bugs the snot out of me that people are willing to endanger others, often for no good reason because the driver they are tailgating had nowhere to go.

Rains a fair bit here so on a rain slicked road, it's not uncommon to see a tailgater right up someone's backside while the rain is coming down hard enough that there's no way the tailgater will see the brake lights in time to stop.

I generally like the people here... Until they get into their cars... Then it's like the Walking Dead... A few humans and a bunch of zombies bent on your destruction!

 

[Selassie I]

Mac... the problem here in FL, and especially where you are, is the melting pot of people who live here. Most of the residents are not from here... they grew up all over the place (lots from the north east) and bring whatever driving habits they learned back home down here. The driving habits don't mesh well. Where you are you also have a bunch of snow bird Canadians who only spend the winter months here. Mix all these driving habits together in complete random order and it creates a mess.

It's even worse here in Orlando where the tourists come and go year round. Locals know to look at the license plate so you can prepare accordingly. LOL I'm serious about that.

There really is no excuse for the tailgating... but in big cities that kind of shit is the norm. The real problem with it down here happens just after a rain storm starts... when the rain first wets the road, it causes all of the oil to rise and it forms a very slick surface. That's the most dangerous time to tailgate. Once the rain falls long enough it washes that slick away. People from other parts of the country or world have never experienced this. It sucks.

The texting while driving shit is one thing that really gets to me... it's so obvious when someone is doing it. I frequently use the shit out of my very loud horn. That helps me a little... but I still get pissed.

 

[LesBaker]

I'm in SWFL and you two guys know where but for the rest of you I'm in the Ft. Myers/Bonita Springs?Naples corridor. I live actually RIGHT on the border of Naples and Bonita.

The issue here is the opposite of tailgating. These old people stay 200 feet behind the car in front of them, which is 200 feet behind the car in front of them and so on.

It's frustrating as hell because it takes tooooooo long to get places sometimes. And often the elderly snowbirds are not well aware of surroundings so they are a danger.

Like you Selassie I am on the horn sometimes. I wish I could get a hold of a front mount machine gun but they are illegal hahaha

Tampa this year..........

 

[RhodyRams]

The texting while driving crap is one thing that really gets to me... it's so obvious when someone is doing it. I frequently use the crap out of my very loud horn. That helps me a little... but I still get pissed.

I do the same thing when I see someone texting behind the wheel, and give them the ol ' I'm Watching You" motion

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[IowaRam]

People who drive behind you at night with their bright lights on

 

[Rynie]

Yeah, that enrages me as well. I usually give them a brake check. I used to get all road-rage about it, but now i just change lanes and let them by. I'm not trying to get into an accident, or a ticket for speeding. Texas drivers are pretty bad as well. 60mph means you better be doing 70.

 

[Dodgersrf]

You guys have obviously never witnessed the atrocity that is the So Cal driver. If it so much as drops 1/8 " of rain, all hell breaks loose.

 

[TXRams86]

Yeah, that enrages me as well. I usually give them a brake check. I used to get all road-rage about it, but now i just change lanes and let them by. I'm not trying to get into an accident, or a ticket for speeding. Texas drivers are pretty bad as well. 60mph means you better be doing 70.

fellow texas driver here.
brake checks work wonders on tailgaters.
tailgating is one of my biggest pet peeves, ESPECIALLY when you're already speeding.

 

[Rynie]

fellow texas driver here.
brake checks work wonders on tailgaters.
tailgating is one of my biggest pet peeves, ESPECIALLY when you're already speeding.

Same here. That and when people interrupt my story to tell their own. Lol

 

[Mackeyser]

You guys have obviously never witnessed the atrocity that is the So Cal driver. If it so much as drops 1/8 " of rain, all hell breaks loose.

Um, lol, born and raised in LA. Drove every inch of highway from Ventura to San Diego and most all the way out to Vegas. Before we moved, we lived in Culver City... Let's just say I'll be happy if I never have to drive on the 405 or 101 again...or the 110 after a Dodger game...LOL.

Thing is, in CA, you can flash the brights quickly like in Europe to signal that you want to pass. That's legal there. As well, in most parts of the country, they enforce to varying degrees that the left lane is the passing lane (CA will cite you for passing on the right whereas NY will cite you for staying in the passing lane too long unless traffic is congested).

None of that works here in the land of slow people (yes, that's retarded for those playing at home). You can't flash your brights if someone's parked in the left lane or pacing the cars next to them as is all too common with the gutless drivers around here. You can't honk your horn. Really, you can't in any way try to communicate with the clueless, careless or inconsiderate aholes that you'd like to SAFELY pass.

Conversely, if you've got some deathwish-having retard tailgating you, you can't break check. It's illegal and you can be held criminally and civilly liable for any accident caused. If you can get over, great, but as fellow Floridians will attest, often the tailgating happens when there's nowhere to go. And these cowardly drivers tend to pace with one another so getting over is always a chore. In CA, it IS allowed for a driver to exceed the posted speed limit if doing so is done safely and with the intent to expedite or not impede the flow of traffic. So, you can speed up to pass some one, briefly, depending on the circumstances or you can speed up to get over and make room for faster moving traffic. Not in FL. So, even if you want to speed up to get some douche off your butt... If the the traffic gods say, "Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full," then you're just SOL unless you want to take the chance.

And as Selassie noted, we got folks from everywhere during snow season, which only doubles the issues although I've noticed the tailgaters tend to be those with FL plates. Distracted drivers and drivers with other issues come from all over, but mostly, I see its FL drivers who tailgate in traffic and then act angry or surprised when they get into an accident...

Like with drunk drivers, if it was just them, I'd be happy to simply point them towards their demise, but they always seem to inflict disproportionate collateral damage. One idiot tailgater will hit a minivan with a mom driving carpool. One drunk driver will take out a car full of people coming back from an event. I see some of these accidents and it just burns me up.

Makes me want to bring public caning to the US.