A thought on brake checking

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 10/30/2015 at 15:47 • Filed to: None

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I understand tail gaters suck but even tapping your brakes kinda goes counter to the whole idea of increasing distance between two vehicles. Perhaps flip the lights on and off instead or is that not bright enough?

atrombs > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 15:50

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I either let them pass, or if that’s not an option (one lane road), a healthy dose of washer fluid usually gets the point across.

daender > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 15:51

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I barely tap the brake just enough to flash the rear lights, otherwise I just slow down more and thus force them to pass me.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 15:52

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Left foot brake tap just enough to put the lights on, maybe. Brake checking is stupid. But then, road rage makes people do things that even they would think are stupid, given the chance to think about it.

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 15:53

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Not to mention that it is idiotic to risk someone rear-ending you car.

fourvalleys > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 15:59

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I had someone tailgate me onto a one lane interchange ramp last night. 70mph and they were so close I couldn’t see their lights behind me. I gradually slowed down and they didn’t relent. I put on my flashers and they still didn’t back off. By the time I got to the end of the ramp, I was doing ~20mph and they were still glued to my bumper. A lane opened up next to us, and they still didn’t change lanes to go around me. Ridiculous.

I just don’t get it. Fortunately this was in a pretty remote area with no traffic, but still not fun. The young lady driving didn’t even speed off once I changed lanes! Thanks :(

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:03

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How to deal with tailgaters: stop driving so damn slow.

Sincerely: the guy behind you flipping you off for going the limit in the left lane.

BloodlessWeevil > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:05

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I always thought the idea was you’d run into them and they collect the insurance (you being at fault for running into them.)

samssun > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:07

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Brake check without the lights: downshift!

Moves-Like-Senna > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/30/2015 at 16:09

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Quite honestly yes. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a left lane tailgater. If you’re blocking the lane, you’re going too slow. I will warn you by flashing my lights while approaching at a higher rate of speed, and will keep my distance for a reasonable period of time. If you don’t move over, and continue to block traffic, I will wait for a gap on the right and pass you. (Frustratingly 9/10 drivers then switch lanes)

Urambo Tauro > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:17

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Brake checking is a bad idea. A light tap is okay, though. You could also flash your hazard lights once or twice. I don’t have amber lenses, so they look like brake lights unless the tailgater happens to notice my CHMSL.

HammerheadFistpunch > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:18

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Solutions:

1. if you are being tailgated - speed up or move over if possible.

2. If you are being tailgated and rule 1 does not apply [because of someone not paying attention to their speed or the speed of traffic/being a jerk] - Windshield washer attack.

Scott > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:24

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Living in NY, tailgating is right behind football and baseball for favorite past times.. I often have cars so close that at night the only way I know they are behind me is from the glow of their headlights and the silhouette of the roof of their car. I've gotten so that if I see their headlights they must be an out of state driver. A friend of mine told me to turn on my Hazard to get people to back off. Prior to moving to NY that seemed to work the best. In NY however it rarely seems to do anything. Sometimes they back off for a nanosecond and once they assume I am trying to get them to back off they are on my ass often backing off and then running up as if to rear end me then backing off again.

Now I slow down, as my commute often involves many close calls with deer. I’m just waiting to slam on the brakes for a deer and get rear ended. I once saw deer in the road and had to slam on the brakes hard enough to slow down for the deer but not so hard I was brake checking or likely to get rear ended. That’s the ONLY time hitting the brakes has ever worked and I’m pretty sure the herd of deer was more of a message than my braking was.

If after slowing down they still do not pass I slow down and stick to the right edge of the lane until they decide to pass. If thjey don't pass me then I just concentrate on the road, keep driving slow and block them from my mind as much as I can.

What really irritates me is a couple times I've gotten that drastic and then saw a cop go by and he just ignores the car riding my bumper. I often wonder if I'm more likely to get a ticket driving 10 under half way on the shoulder waving the guy past than the guy parked on my back bumper.

Scott > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/30/2015 at 16:37

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I live in the country... there is no left lane... if your in the left lane... don’t head towards the light... its an oncoming truck... probably a logging truck but if your lucky just a pickup truck. I tend to speed until someone starts tailgating me. Yet the tailgater are often so close I can not see their head lights. If I do get them to pass, after slowing and pulling into the shoulder, invariable half the people that pass me never pull away from me, so why ride my ass if you have no intent of driving faster than I drive. The other half seem intent to stay parked on my bumper no matter how far I pull to the right and slow down.

I have a friend from Brooklyn, he follows people so closely I can’t read their license plates. He’s always getting people brake checking him and that’s when he notices the guy in front of him, and he seems to think what I'm not doing anything to you why are you being a jerk. If I ask him to back off before I put my foot through his floor he says, what... there’s plenty of room. Yeah even stopped at a red light there is not plenty of room, but at 55... I'm asking for last rights.

Garrett Davis > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:39

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It’s very rare for me to be tailgated (I have a lead foot), but it does happen on occasion if I’m just cruising in one of the right-most lanes. In those cases when there is plenty of room to go around me and I’m off far away from the fast lane and they’re still tailgating me? I just let off the gas and coast until they get fed up and finally go around me. Then I resume my previous pace and continue living.

Worked out well so far.

Justin Hughes > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 10/30/2015 at 16:40

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Rally style left foot braking. Leave your right foot on the gas, and press the brake with your left foot juuuuuuust enough to activate the brake lights. You don’t actually slow down, but the brake lights make the tailgater think you are.

Or just rig up a manual switch for your reverse lights. Turn them on and the tailgater will back off in a huge hurry. Don’t ask me how I know.

Urambo Tauro > Urambo Tauro 10/30/2015 at 16:42

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Or just ignore them. Tailgating is usually an indicator of road rage. It’s better to avoid engagement with that kind of driver.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 16:52

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I will use the washers & rear fogs, but I never brake-check. By brake-checking you escalate the situation from aggressive/clueless driving to road rage.

Urambo Tauro > fourvalleys 10/30/2015 at 16:55

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Sometimes there’s really nothing you can do. Ultimately, the car behind is the only one in control of their own following distance.

Hiroku > samssun 10/30/2015 at 17:14

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Time for a new rear bumper!

fourvalleys > Urambo Tauro 10/30/2015 at 17:49

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Yeah, in that case I figured I’d rather reduce the speed I would get hit at, if anything. Since there weren’t other cars around, there weren’t cars passing with a big speed differential.

And if I did get hit, oh well. It’s a rental and my car is in the shop. As long as nobody gets hurt.

Axial > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 18:36

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I thought tapping the brakes just enough to make the lights come on, three times, was the actual signal you are supposed to use to tell somebody to back off.

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 10/30/2015 at 18:46

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Rear fog lights are great.

ranwhenparked > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 10/30/2015 at 20:10

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None of it works. If someone’s tailgating, they’re too inattentive/incompetent to recognize that what they’re doing is dangerous.