Today's Safe Driving PSA:  Tailgating Can Be Dangerous.

Kinja'd!!! "McMike" (mcmike)
03/11/2016 at 07:38 • Filed to: None

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Tailgating is by far one of the most dangerous habits a driver can pick up. According to a study from Drivecam, Inc., a global driver risk management company, drivers are at the highest risk of rear-ending a vehicle when they are following less than 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front of them. When drivers have to stop abruptly, tailgaters are often left with little or no time to brake. Following too closely to the vehicle in front of you is asking for trouble, but fortunately there are some ways you can avoid a tailgating accident. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!


DISCUSSION (29)


Kinja'd!!! Berang > McMike
03/11/2016 at 07:47

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wat even


Kinja'd!!! bob and john > McMike
03/11/2016 at 07:48

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totally deserved it.


Kinja'd!!! Captain of the Enterprise > McMike
03/11/2016 at 07:50

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I hate when people tailgate, because I don’t want to get hit. I don’t think brake checking is the correct response, I usually try to change lanes and let them go by.


Kinja'd!!! marshknute > McMike
03/11/2016 at 07:50

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Why did you turn?!?

Honestly, forget the danger aspect, when was the last time someone got what they wanted by tailgating another driver?

Doesn’t it always end in the lane hog either slowing down to spite them, or brake checking them to extra spite them?

That’s why I leave a HUGE following distance and undertake them at the first available opportunity. No need to aggravate them until you're ahead of them.


Kinja'd!!! McMike > McMike
03/11/2016 at 07:56

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I initially thought the Edge just gave the pedal a little left-foot tap to flash the brake lights, but after watching it full-screen 1080p a few times, I was wrong.

If you watch the Edge’s front fender, you can see some brake dive. It may have been a small stab, but it was a brake-check.

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Kinja'd!!! pip bip - choose Corrour > McMike
03/11/2016 at 07:59

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serves him right.


Kinja'd!!! whoarder is tellurium > McMike
03/11/2016 at 08:05

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Trailblazer (GMT360) stock suspension is very soft and exhibits an excessive amount of brake dive. All that weight up front plus the late reactionary swerve and it’s gone.

Just glad the vehicle didn’t roll, but they get what they get. Where I live, I deal with insane drivers every day (some sort of MN thing) and have no remorse.


Kinja'd!!! Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > McMike
03/11/2016 at 08:14

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When you’re stupid. Your whole body suffers.


Kinja'd!!! Arrivederci > Captain of the Enterprise
03/11/2016 at 08:25

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This is the correct response. Never worth it.


Kinja'd!!! Arrivederci > McMike
03/11/2016 at 08:33

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Classic case of two wrongs don’t make a right.

I don’t fault the Edge for not moving over once it passed the semi, as there was traffic merging. The Trailblazer was aggressively tailgating them the entire time and only seemed to get closer to intimidate them into moving over. The Edge stabs its brakes in reciprocation causing the Trailblazer to lose control and crash. Might seem like sweet, sweet justice, but ultimately a case of two boneheads crossing each other’s paths.


Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > McMike
03/11/2016 at 08:36

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following less than 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front of them

Hell that was less than 2 feet.


Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > McMike
03/11/2016 at 08:37

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tailgate from a safer distance I think is the better answer. This guy was 2 feet from the other cars bumper, just stupid. A simple flash of the brights is 9 times outta 10 enough to get the person to move over


Kinja'd!!! BigBlock440 > 450X_FTW
03/11/2016 at 08:44

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I’ve never tried the flashing thing, it seems to me like it would piss them off more. Maybe it works, I’ve just heard too many comments “I had this asshole behind me flashing their lights at me” to think that it would result in anything other than that person slowing down out of spite. Even though that’s how the drivers handbook, that teaches the 16 year olds to drive, says to indicate your desire to pass, people still don’t seem to get it. Maybe it’s a regional thing.


Kinja'd!!! McMike > Arrivederci
03/11/2016 at 08:45

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I agree.

I kind of feel the same way about this video. While I don’t agree with either of the participants’ actions, it makes me feel all fuzzy on the inside watching the aggressor limp away at the end.


Kinja'd!!! McMike > 450X_FTW
03/11/2016 at 08:56

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A car length (15') at 70mph is ~14/100th of a second.

The proper following distance at that speed is about 200'. That’s what a lot of people don’t realize. I hear so many people saying shit like, “I was like, two car lengths behind them, I wasn’t tailgating”

When I read shit like it makes me realize that people either: 1) have no sense of distance, or 2) have no idea what a safe distance is.

At the distance that Trailblazer was maintaining, I have no doubt they knew they were tailgating .


Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > BigBlock440
03/11/2016 at 08:57

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I don’t flash them like a strobe light, just once to get their attention. Wait probably another 10 seconds at least before flashing again (that is if there is room in the lane next to them to move over)


Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > BigBlock440
03/11/2016 at 08:59

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I liked it in Germany, if you had a person behind you flashing brights it is because you were going too slow in the left lane (they do not pass on the right). If the car flashing brights is oncoming, it means there is a speed trap ahead


Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > McMike
03/11/2016 at 09:00

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2 car lengths is still too close. That guy got Kinja’d


Kinja'd!!! McMike > 450X_FTW
03/11/2016 at 09:11

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Two car lengths (30') is only a safe distance when traveling at 10 mph.

Think about that. Think about how many people honestly feel that 2-4 car length following distance is safe on the highway.

It scares me.


Kinja'd!!! sm70- why not Duesenberg? > McMike
03/11/2016 at 09:12

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I realize the Edge was wrong to brake-check, but objectively that was a very effective brake-check.


Kinja'd!!! BigBlock440 > McMike
03/11/2016 at 09:19

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That’s what’s recommended, but 2 seconds is an excruciatingly long reaction time. Like you’re not paying attention at all. Which, I guess most people probably aren’t.


Kinja'd!!! Milky > 450X_FTW
03/11/2016 at 09:26

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I tried flashing for like a week with it almost never working. In that 10 seconds I can(read: am) around that person and on my way.

Sadly we are not Germany.


Kinja'd!!! Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > McMike
03/11/2016 at 09:34

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Trailblazer was being an ass, but brake checking is never the answer. better to slow down to the posted speed and then speed up if you absolutely can’t move over, but honestly just move over people.


Kinja'd!!! scoob > McMike
03/11/2016 at 09:41

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Brake checking could cause way more crap than there needs to be. What if the Trailblazer went into the oncoming traffic, sideways?

Edge should’ve moved over or started coasting, which is what I do. Soon enough they will piss off and pass.


Kinja'd!!! Funktheduck > 450X_FTW
03/11/2016 at 10:37

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I've tried flickering the brights a handful of times. It worked once. Most time people ignore or don't notice. I've been brake checked or blocked the rest of the time. One guy tried to hit me with his car and gave chase. Never tried again.


Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > Milky
03/11/2016 at 13:06

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If after several attempts they don’t get the hint, I go bro mode and turn my light bar on that is behind the grill

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Kinja'd!!! 450X_FTW > Funktheduck
03/11/2016 at 13:07

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Just shoot him, it’s your right, says so in the constitution!


Kinja'd!!! Funktheduck > 450X_FTW
03/11/2016 at 13:32

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The last instance I just outran him. Early base model civic was clearly much slower than my 3


Kinja'd!!! You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > BigBlock440
03/11/2016 at 15:06

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Two seconds isn’t really that long of a reaction time. Studies have shown that the time it takes a driver to recognize and react to a hazard is a minimum of around 1 second. That means that if you are following one second behind a car that has better brakes than you, you’re screwed.

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/niatt_labmanua…

http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/reac…