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Bully of the Highways
by
David Thompson
Anyone driving on one of the millions of roads in the United States is eventually bound to come across the bully of the road. This bully does not care what the speed limit is, he does not fathom the heavy traffic ahead, nor does he pay heed to simple rules of behavior on the interstates. This bully is intent on but one thing, to attempt to control his tiny surrounding world by bullying others into driving faster through following excessively close to motorists ahead of him, flashing his blinding high-beams, honking his horn wildly, and making immature hand-gestures. Whether his sinister plan works or not he is a danger to any motorists near him and must be dealt with accordingly. Three possible plans of dealing with the tailgating bully are using a twelve gauge shot-gun to shoot him through his windshield, pressing the brakes so hard that he can not stop in enough time to avoid a collision, or decelerating to precisely the speed limit (or below) and completely ignoring him.
Tailgaters can appear out of anywhere, but the most frequent occurrence on interstates is while they are dodging in and out between vehicles. The tailgater will pull in behind other vehicles and drive dangerously close to them until such a time as there is an opening for them to pull around the vehicle and then swerve out in front of them (Olson). It's as though they are attempting to read the fine print on the license plate tags even though to maintain safety a 2 to 3 second following distance is recommended (Ness, 2001). At 65 miles per hour a car should maintain an 11 car lengths distance and at 30 miles per hour a distance of 5 car lengths should be maintained, not a few small inches (Huberman, 1999).
The first possible solution, shooting the offending tail gaiter with a twelve gauge shot gun through his windshield, would not be an appropriate solution. Taking of another's life is against most people's religious beliefs and personal codes of ethics, especially over something so trivial. Although several people have been known to use this solution because of road-rage, as seen in the media throughout the ninety's, anyone who is found guilty of such an act is sentenced to a lengthy jail sentence. Because the first solution is immoral and illegal it cannot be used.
The second solution, applying breaks as hard as possible in order to force a rear-end collision, is also not an appropriate solution to this problem. Flashing brakes at tailgaters may have once been an appropriate way to tell them to back off but now they have become over confident and ignore the flashing brake lights (Olson). Because tailgaters now ignore flashing brake lights, when a vehicle ahead of them actually does brake they are much more likely to hit it. If the offending tailgater is not able to stop before hitting the vehicles ahead serious damage to all the cars involved may occur, those ahead can even suffer personal injuries such as whiplash. Because of the possibility of personal injury and the trouble of automotive damage this second solution is not practical.
The final solution is to decelerate to precisely the posted speed limit and ignore the tailgating driver. Following a vehicle ahead excessively close is a sign of the driver's inability to deal with traffic (Drivers Alert, 2000). Therefore it would be inadvisable to give into the other driver's bullying by speeding ahead which would only increase the chances of a collision when that driver continues to tailgate. By following the posted speed limits and ignoring the tailgating driver completely the chances of a collision can be greatly diminished and if a collision does occur, more serious damage might be avoided. In order to ignore the aggravating driver cruise control can be used to keep the travel speed steady, the rear view mirror can be flipped up to prevent distraction from flashing headlights, and wearing sunglasses when possible is strongly recommended.
Tailgaters can be hazardous to blood pressure but if road rage or bad driving occurs they can also cause injury or even death. Maintaining safety and avoiding a road rage incident are paramount to staying alive on the roads in the United States. Although tailgaters may anger the drivers ahead of them neither shooting them with a twelve gauge shot gun (or any other type of projectile), nor causing them to be at fault of a potentially lethal traffic accident are solutions most people can live with. The only truly useful solution is to maintain a safe speed and ignore them.
References
Drivers Alert. (2000). Retrieved October 7, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.driversalert.com/site/small_truck_course/course6.htm
Huberman, A. (September 25, 1999). Take Just Two Seconds To Renew Your Driving Skills, Retrieved October 7, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www2.canisius.edu/~huberman/op-ed.html
Ness, S. (October 10, 2001). Following Too Closely, Retrieved October 7, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/trooper/47937157.htm
Olson, D. The Low-Tech Solution for Tailgaters, Retrieved October 7, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://cartalk.cars.com/Mail/Letters/2001/12.21/6.html
Copyright (c) 2002 by David Thompson
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