Today, around 8:30pm, I was driving home from a friend's house. It was just about turning civil dusk (where there's light, but not a lot).
Anyway, I live in a small city just outside of LA and some of the roads are small and poorly lighted. There's this one lane (in each direction) road that I take home that's poorly lighted, small, and curvy. Additionally, it's a street with houses on both sides, and many families with children live in the area. There were still some people outside, so my thought was that there would probably be some children.
I was going about 28mph (2mph below the limit) when a minivan sped up from behind me and started tailgating. I saw him in my mirror and rose my speed to about 35mph (5mph above the limit; I sometimes go 40mph on this road, but only in the daytime). The other driver kept on tailgating me, so I tapped my brakes twice (I thought this was the universal signal for "you're tailgating me, stop tailgating").
I kept on tapping the brakes since I knew a stop sign was coming up but the other guy wouldn't let up. The stop sign was after a small curve so I started braking a little earlier and was about to have to do a rolling stop when the minivan clipped the rear left end of my bumper. :|
I get out and the guy starts asking what my problem is, how come I wasn't going faster. A couple people who were outside watering the lawn/enjoying summer on their patio/just happened to be outside at the time came over and started looking on. I'm kinda thankful they were there cause that guy was built and he could have definitely taken me. We exchanged insurance information and he slipped me some money (I guess as a bribe to not call it in; there wasn't any damage to my car, just a scratch, but I'm getting a new car before summer ends).
As he drove away, I noticed not one, but two little kids in the backseat (little = 6 years or younger).
Cliffs:
1. Guy starts tailgating me on dark, curvy, residential street
2. I speed up a little bit
3. Guy keeps tailgating
4. I do rolling stop, guy clips my bumper
5. Guy driving dangerously with 2 small kids in back.
Anyway, I live in a small city just outside of LA and some of the roads are small and poorly lighted. There's this one lane (in each direction) road that I take home that's poorly lighted, small, and curvy. Additionally, it's a street with houses on both sides, and many families with children live in the area. There were still some people outside, so my thought was that there would probably be some children.
I was going about 28mph (2mph below the limit) when a minivan sped up from behind me and started tailgating. I saw him in my mirror and rose my speed to about 35mph (5mph above the limit; I sometimes go 40mph on this road, but only in the daytime). The other driver kept on tailgating me, so I tapped my brakes twice (I thought this was the universal signal for "you're tailgating me, stop tailgating").
I kept on tapping the brakes since I knew a stop sign was coming up but the other guy wouldn't let up. The stop sign was after a small curve so I started braking a little earlier and was about to have to do a rolling stop when the minivan clipped the rear left end of my bumper. :|
I get out and the guy starts asking what my problem is, how come I wasn't going faster. A couple people who were outside watering the lawn/enjoying summer on their patio/just happened to be outside at the time came over and started looking on. I'm kinda thankful they were there cause that guy was built and he could have definitely taken me. We exchanged insurance information and he slipped me some money (I guess as a bribe to not call it in; there wasn't any damage to my car, just a scratch, but I'm getting a new car before summer ends).
As he drove away, I noticed not one, but two little kids in the backseat (little = 6 years or younger).
Cliffs:
1. Guy starts tailgating me on dark, curvy, residential street
2. I speed up a little bit
3. Guy keeps tailgating
4. I do rolling stop, guy clips my bumper
5. Guy driving dangerously with 2 small kids in back.
Facebook
Twitter