Reason #1000 not to tailgate...

[hanoverphist]

i have ridden motorcycles for a couple decades. ive been bombarded by tools forgotten on flatbeds, tie downs that werent tied down well, tire chunks from both the road and blow outs and all kinds of things. i usually keep a healthy distance, but not always. im very glad that the one time i saw a big chunk of steel fall off the top of a tractor trailer and bounce 30 ft in the air that i was closer than normal, because it hit the truck behind me right at the bottom of the windshield. he swerved off the road, turns out the debris showered him and freaked him out. i stopped as a witness for that one. my point is, even on a motorcycle this shit happens, and if youre paying attention well enough they arent all fatal or hard to maneuver around. hell, i had to floor it over a mattress at 55 one time, i got a couple feet of air and stuck the landing. scared the fuck out of me and i had to pull over, but i (and my bike) made it ok.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Legally this has no bearing, but WTGDF is that guy with a trailer doing in the passing lane????? Drives me nuts..

Sounds like the average Texas (or at least Dallas) driver. On a 3 lane road, the middle is darned near always the fastest >:|

 

[Ichinisan]

Even if he gave a little more distance, he still wouldn't have been able to avoid that.

 

[davmat787]

Agreed. While the traffic here does not compare with Washington DC, New York, LA, etc...I think we have some of the worst drivers who take the most chances. Everyone thinks they are an F1 driver with their BMW 328i. Hell Honda Fit drivers think their car ranks up there witha Lotus Elise the way they drive them around here.

I think it is a mix of things. You do have a lot of blue-hairs driving under the speed limit and taking forever to do things like take turns and start up from lights...this causes anxiety and impatience from the people behind them. Then you have a lot of northerners who think they are always in a rush. Then you have a lot of immigrants from all over the world where you only have a 50% chance of living everytime you get in a motor vehicle. Finally you have a lot of trophy wives driving enormous luxury barges and SUV's who are spending more time applying make up, adjusting their silicon, or looking at their newly applied nail polish on their toes to bother looking out side the vehicle. You blend all that together in an area where there is only 20 to 30 good miles between the beach and the swamp and you have a disaster.

That makes a lot of sense, thank you. When I was in Fort Lauderdale for two weeks I did have a good time, and would like to go back. Had appointments almost everyday but really enjoyed what I saw of the Everglades and Keys. Of course the beaches are nice too for someone from WA state, just so different. What really tripped me out was how flat the state is, like literally tripped me out at first. Just not used to a horizon like that.

I really wanted to get over to the Naples area too see the other side, but did not have time. Does that side of the state have a different reputation among locals than Lauderdale/Miami?

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Exactly.
And it is incredibly good to know you are doing something wrong when you are doing it, because you consciously put a little extra effort in making sure to correct yourself in the event the other drivers do anything.

Sometimes it's hard to keep yourself at an appropriate distant behind other drivers every single moment you are on the road. So it's quite helpful to always be cognizant whenever you are technically too close.

I was rear ended by this jerk in a 1995 f-150. Right on my tail, in the fucking rain. Came over a hill, trafiic on the other side stopped. My fit was more than capable of making the stop (esp cuz i had tons of space in front). jack ass behind me went right into my rear. His insurance paid 11k to have my car fixed. Jerked ruined my beautifull baby's resale value though.

lesson of the story. I always watch out for people tail gating me. As should others. Most People really don't how to drive.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Ambulance driver takes out a bunch of people on way to hospital.
EDIT: almost looks like he swerved into the crowd if you watch the tires for the first few seconds.

Sounds like the police and ambulance AI in GTA

 

[thegimp03]

Wow, I didn't see that coming.

Tailgaters are a huge pet peeve of mine. I can be all the way over in the slow lane or one of the middle lanes with lots of open space in lanes to the left of me and someone will still tailgate me.

 

[Ichinisan]

What is with the stupid camera resolution

Why do people ask this like they've never seen a smartphone before?

 

[aldamon]

I've seen no reasonable explanation for why this was being filmed so I, like others on YouTube, call fake.

 

[slag]

That could have ended much worst.

worse.. it could have ended much worse.

 

[AMCRambler]

My favorite quote: "I shat on my shat."

 

[DVad3r]

I almost got hit by a piece of wood last season in the face while riding my motorcycle, open face helmet. Would of been a major FTL.

And yea that vid scared the shit out of me!

 

[Aikouka]

Other than that it's not a bad idea. Makes you less likely to hit the car in front of you if someone rear ends you.

Well, the problem is... around here, we do get rather tight traffic between 3 and 5:30PM. Another issue is how people refuse to drive the speed limits, which makes it all worse. Keeping up with the speed limit allows for more throughput which would help alleviate all of the traffic issues we have :\.

It'd be interesting to see how much space you'd have to leave to avoid hitting the car in front of you if someone rams you at 30mph while you're applying the brakes.

Add in the time taken for you to react and apply the brakes, if the vehicle in front of you suddenly starts slowing down.. the average reaction time is 1.5s IIRC.

Hmm 1.5s seems kind of slow... although, I've been told before that my reaction speed is a bit faster than some are used to, so that may be why I think it sounds slow.

 

[TecHNooB]

there's a guy where my mom works who got impaled in the skull in this very same fashion. was a steel rod too.

 

[xanis]

Totally not what I was expecting when you said "tailgating".

What I thought of:

 

[davmat787]

there's a guy where my mom works who got impaled in the skull in this very same fashion. was a steel rod too.

Is he still there or something? The way you word your post makes it sound like he pulled through and is back to work.

 

[mmntech]

Why is she filming her road trip with a hand-held camera in the first place?

 

[Numenorean]

Why do people ask this like they've never seen a smartphone before?

Why would anyone take video with a fucking smartphone piece of shit camera?

 

[SonnyDaze]

Fuck I just shit myself!!!

 

[TridenT]

Damn, that was intense. I saw something on the side of the road and then that thing just fucking flew. I don't even understand how that thing got launched like that unless it got caught on something or came off.

 

[Bateluer]

I feel no shame is saying I would have to change my pants after that.

 

[Ichinisan]

Why would anyone take video with a fucking smartphone piece of shit camera?

It's what you have.

With any smartphone, the vertical orientation is a lot easier to hold when you're stuck using 1 hand. You're saying the phone shouldn't even have the capability to record because other devices can do it better?

 

[grrl]

That is not what I was expecting!

 

[Eli]

Holy fuck!

That is some scary ass shit right there.

 

[alkemyst]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnWOhkrP1bY&feature=player_embedded

This guy wasn't even that close and still got owned. Space between cars = good. There is a reason they teach that in driver's ed.

He was a lot closer than 1 mississippi-2 mississippi.