What to do about tail gaters?

Tom, that's not argument. It's fallacy.

1. if everybody drove slowly on the highway, overall fuel consumption would increase due to the congestion caused by the reduced capacity handling of the highway.

2. private automobiles are the rolling stock for the national transportation system. These and the fuel are entirely bought and paid for with private monies. Universal access is provided from any point on the continent to any other point on the continent unlike public rail or bus service.

 

Hey, it's just 180 degrees opposite to the hyperbole that we are selfish, greedy, wasteful Americans who refuse to give up the great Satan, i.e. the private automobile.

We can have our cake and eat it too. Nuclear power producing all the electricity or hydrogen to power our EV's, hydrogen ICE's or fuel cells... No pollution. Limitless mobility and freedom. A win-win for everybody.

Not for the Luddites who'd have us all walking or riding bikes everywhere as if we were in the stone age.

Can you imagine what would happen to our air transportation network if we immediately forced all jets to fly at the speed of a Cessna? They'd all be saving tons of fuel, after all. The congestion would be unbearable to the point that the system would implode.

Speed improves everything from data communications, to transportation. Why is toyota now producing radar assisted cruise control and lane marker identification. It's to allow faster speeds to be travelled more consistently and safer.

Again, if everybody on the highways of America decided to drive the speed of a hypermiller, the congestion would be unbearable and overall fuel use would increase.

Don't get me wrong, I love it. But it's selfish and I'm allowed to do it because I'm a very small minority. Should it become widespread, they'd be laws against it due to the chaos it would create.

 

The best choice is to let them around you if you can.

This just happened last week. A Ford Focus came flying up on my nice person as if I were really slowing things up. After stopping at a stop light, I turned right on a six lane boulevard and he went flying around me and then suddenly hit his brakes. Whatever. I figure he is pulling some road rage shit on me. Then I see the rollers. I guess a cop was impressed and wanted his autograph.

 

I thought it was my imagination. I traded my '07 Solara for a 2010 Prius and noticed a distinct behavior change from some other drivers. I think some of the angry people assume a certain demographic is behind the wheel of a Prius and feel safe they won't be confronted.

Try washing your window. The overspray will back them off. Then, as they stink-eye ya, give a big yawn, looking staraight ahead.....

 

According to the US DOT, highway capacity is estimated as follows:
For speeds under 60 mph, it's 1000 plus 20 * (free flowing traffic speed in MPH) passenger cars per hour. For speeds over 60 mph, it's a flat 2,200 cars per hour. Free flowing traffic speed is based off a number of factors, including posted speed limit, lane width, shoulder width, median type, and density of highway entrances.

Rules of thumb will back this estimate up; have you ever heard the recommendation that you should be 2-3 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you? The faster those two vehicles are moving, the longer that distance gets. So no, going faster doesn't increase the capacity of the highway. And if going faster means that you have to slam on your brakes when you encounter somebody going the speed limit, you could be hurting the capacity, because people behind you will then have to slam on their brakes as well.

In general, I believe one should travel at a speed that feels safe to the driver. Others' speed should have some (but not much) influence on your speed. Legally, there is no excuse for driving faster than the speed limit, even if everybody else is. (That's a question frequently found on California's drivers' exam.) However, if one feels it's safe to do so, I have no problem with that, as long as speeds are reasonable. I don't think it's reasonable to get mad at somebody else that's driving slower than me, however; he may have a very good reason for moving more slowly.

If I want to travel at an unreasonably slow speed on the highway, I can easily find roads with lower speed limits where I won't be a hazard. And if someone wants to travel at an unreasonably fast speed on the highway (eg significantly faster than the majority of traffic), they'd do us all a favor by finding a location where that is legal, such as their closest racetrack.

 

Of course the many flaws in your resoning, you simply ignore. Distractions for example. The advent of the cell phone, has Inceased the Body Count on our highways, as has the Navigation system distraction, the TV screens playing DVD's in the car, some even mounted illegally by moron's on the dashboard. When the speeds increase these distractions simply kill more people. The parts of the car also wear far faster at high speed, and the addition of bad weather, which you also ignore makes the situation even more deadly.

I suspect if everyone drove at 30 MPH the auto insurance business would be up in arms because the accidents would plummet, the steep decline in lawsuits would throw many a shyster out of business, and the price of oil worldwide would Plummet from the vastly Decreased demand. This would also feed the idea of New, high speed Mass Transit, and all the many benefits of NOT using individual cars. Also the morning Stop and Go would be all GO as the cars needing to merge in would not Jam Up, accidents, their clean up, lane closure, rubber necking creations eliminated as well. So the Brilliant Idea of everyone forced to drive at just 30mph would be GREAT !

The environment would be less polluted, the cars would not only burn far less, and emit far less pollution, but building Big Gas Guzzling SUV's, Luxo-Boats, and the High Power lunacy would all cease completely. At 30 MPH all that extra Horsepower is useless.

It is an idea we yet need to adopt.

 

Well, there is a world outside of New York you choose to ignore. Out in the western states with vast expanses of open space between towns and no mass transit options your 30mph theory is asinine. You just turned a two hour trip into a five hour trip.
When the speed limits in the western states was raised to 75mph the crash and fatal crash rate went DOWN. Explain that to the insurance companies.

People have a right to drive what they choose and can pay for. Some people tow, some haul and some need space for more than four. But even if they don't, it's still their choice. That's what makes this country great. Your blanket hatred of vehicles and driving needs different from your own helps promote the Prius hatred.

 

i was taught that driving is a privilage, not a right. but that may just be the liberal thinking here in the commonwealth. we have a problem with carrying as well.

 

The "act" of driving is a privilege. What you drive( as long as it's a legal vehicle) when enacting that privilege is still free choice.
There is no single "Do ALL" vehicle out there. That's why there's so many choices to fit your needs and lifestyle. What works for one may very well not work for another. It their CHOICE.

 

... the roads have no need for multi-thousand vehicles per lane per hour capacity, so this entire speed vs. following distance / tailgating / congestion dispute is moot.

 

I would put on my emergency blinker at that point; after all, you are already 5 mph over limit and may slow to the limit.

 

for now. it may well be that in the future, only the wealthy will have a 'choice'.

 

Obviously nobody here is suggesting that the max speed limit should be 30 MPH on the freeway. The OP said that on the specific road where this particular tailgating incident occurred, the posted speed limit is 30 MPH. (I bet even in Colorado, some roads have a 30 MPH speed limit, and lower.) States have the right to set their speed limits at whatever makes most sense given the terrain, population density, number of intersections, etc. Some of us are just saying that, as driving is both a privilege and a right, it also comes with certain responsibilities. Like driving at (or relatively near) the speed limit, not driving drunk or distracted, and not tailgating. How difficult is that to understand?

I just don't get how some people believe they have the right to drive however recklessly (i.e., fast) they want and violate whatever traffic laws they feel like. It's like saying it's OK to shoplift as long as what you're stealing is worth less than $10 - except that the damage a dangerous driver can cause is far greater than any mere theft.

 

How about explaining it to me, with sources?

Compared to historical annual improvements, I found the fatality rate reductions in this era to be disappointingly small.

Note also that this was the era of mushrooming SUV use, a step backwards in highway safety.

 

Hardly asinine since you just reacted with obvious anger over the idea of being forced to drive a maximum of 30 mph. That anger could be used to create the Mass Transit that is common place in Europe, Japan, and Great Britain. If you had to drive at a slow sane speed the only options would be flying or trains. We might even allow Buses and ONLY buses to drive at 75 on the freeway in lanes prohibited to cars. Making people angry enough to abandon their cars would be a wonderful thing. Every time the Oil Giants Have another Gas Price Gouging many Americans simply park their cars, aND GO TO PLAN " B". After all Driving is a privledge, not a right. Maybe we need to revoke the privledge somewhat.

 

I use my windshield washer using lots of water which will fly off my car into theirs-They LOVE that!!!

 

Go *at least* the speed limit and this won't happen.

/thread.

 

My final thoughts about tailgaters. I have thought about mounting a rear view camera to record the cars following, and the nice thing about tailgaters is they get close enough for it to see both the license plate on the front of the car, and the nut behind the steering wheel. Mailing the DVD to the local police station might prove an interesting exercise.

Isn't technology wonderful ?

Oh and the speed you are traveling has little to do with idiots who tailgate. I've had them tailgate me at 75 mph in the HOV lane of the Long Island Expressway where the speed limit is 55. The only thing you can do then is slow down.

 

Read the thread and you won't make a fool of yourself ray: He was going 5 mph OVER the speed limit