d10 drives home from work, a trip report

[BustoPro]

[ QUOTE ]
i suspect people who don't brake-check or cut people off ever just haven't driven places where that is sometimes necessary. i don't think it's possible to drive in Boston/NYC/DC and not cut people off - and while brake-checking is rarely necessary, sometimes tailgating morons need to realize that they're not going to get there any faster no matter what they do - so they can stop endangering my life.

[/ QUOTE ]

Word.

I cut off some dude in Boston -- hey, it happens, I admit it-- so he swings around me a minute later so he can cut me off and slam on his brakes.

So I let him do this.

Then I went ahead and smacked into him.

(Not fast enough to do any damage, though.)

He was shocked. I just sat there. He decided to drive off.

It was a stupid thing to do. But I'm glad I did it.

[AbreuTime]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i suspect people who don't brake-check or cut people off ever just haven't driven places where that is sometimes necessary. i don't think it's possible to drive in Boston/NYC/DC and not cut people off - and while brake-checking is rarely necessary, sometimes tailgating morons need to realize that they're not going to get there any faster no matter what they do - so they can stop endangering my life.

[/ QUOTE ]

Word.

I cut off some dude in Boston -- hey, it happens, I admit it-- so he swings around me a minute later so he can cut me off and slam on his brakes.

So I let him do this.

Then I went ahead and smacked into him.

(Not fast enough to do any damage, though.)

He was shocked. I just sat there. He decided to drive off.

It was a stupid thing to do. But I'm glad I did it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you get the profile of the driver? Young male, cranky middle aged woman, professional male who realized he didnt want an actual confrontation? I used to consider this when I had a [censored] ass 1987 Pontiac and people in BMWs would escalate situations where they would have been at fault (in a merge type situation where I let one guy in but another tries to jump in, ignoring the customary 1 and 1).

[pirateboy]

Seriously, a lot of you have used the phrase "I don't want other cars to take *my spot*." Your spot? If you've ever used this line, you're an entitled prick driver.

Your [censored] spot? [censored] you.

[Big Poppa Smurf]

d10,

I really hate tailgaters. Tailgating doesn't get you anywhere faster and all it does is increase the chance of getting in an accident and piss people off.

Having said that, at least you are dedicated enough to being an [censored] driver to do what you did, and if I were in that pickup, I'd have enough respect for you to let you win.

[Dilznoofus]

[ QUOTE ]
Seriously, a lot of you have used the phrase "I don't want other cars to take *my spot*." Your spot? If you've ever used this line, you're an entitled prick driver.

Your [censored] spot? [censored] you.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's just a way of describing the act of someone cutting in front of you and slowing you down, especially when they don't have any business doing so. Where you were one car to pass from being free and clear, now you have two. And then that guy goes slow and lets people in and now you're ten cars back, chugging along at the speed limit wondering when you're ever gonna get clear and moving again.

It has nothing to do with any sense of entitlement. It has to do with people squeezing in front of you when they shouldn't and then clogging up the road, and if you let them they'll do it faster than you can blink.

Edit: I should add that if I actually leave a big open spot for someone to cut in then it's my own fault for letting it happen. So in a sense, if there's actually a spot to take, then it's pretty much fair game. But I don't leave a hole if I think it's gonna happen. So the "spot" I'm referring to is just my place in line, which I will protect.

I'm thinking about this more and your post is really wrong. Those of us who are saying, "If you leave a big gap between you and the car in front, someone will take your spot" are basically conceding that the spot in question is up for grabs if you don't protect it. Which is pretty much the opposte of feeling entitled.

[ChipWrecked]

Interesting that op passed in the turn lane risking head on collision and the discussion is about tailgating and brake checking.

[Dilznoofus]

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Interesting that op passed in the turn lane risking head on collision and the discussion is about tailgating and brake checking.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well the discussion turned to who was being a dick first, so of course tailgating and brake checking are going to be central to the debate.

I don't think anyone would take the position that d10's maneuvers after the first brake check were appropriate or safe, so there's not much to discuss.

[d10]

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if you weren't tailgating then why did the brake check piss you off?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because I wasn't tailgating. If I had been tailgating, the brake check would not have pissed me off at all, it would be amusing to know I've pissed someone off enough to pull a weak ass move like that.

[d10]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting that op passed in the turn lane risking head on collision and the discussion is about tailgating and brake checking.

[/ QUOTE ]

This road is big and open, you can see for quite a while. There was no oncoming traffic, and I was keeping a very close eye on the traffic that I was driving with. Chances of a collision during this maneuver was less than when I'm driving relaxed and not focusing as much. Not at all legal, but I wasn't driving recklessly.

[SuperUberBob]

I love it when guys in pickup trucks stalk me. It's happened. Twice.

One time, I just drove around all day knowing that they'll run out of gas before me due to their <10 mpg hunks of metal (I got a Honda Civic...30 mpg ftw). Since there are about 5 traffic lights in my county and more cows than people, I was able to do this for more than a few hours.