Does a tailgater fill your wake? :)
 

Wouldn't they need to be way too close? I was reminded of this when I drove home tonight and an SUV was way too close. Then I wondered if anyone ever actually gets close enough to hit the other car.

What is the correct procedure in that case? Normally, I would hit the brakes and pull over, but that would just make the damage worse, which might be okay, if you can get them to cover the repair bill.

The fun part was seeing light shine through red and blue plastic on top of the roof. The police finally went around.

I had my cruise control set to fifty-five in a fifty-five.

With passenger cars ? They should close in to about 3 ft before the lead vehicle gets any advantage from the drafting.

On a motorcycle, you can feel a semi a bit sooner.

A few folks on here have been rear ended IIRC.

I remember research on a group of cyclists revealed that the best position in a group is not at the back, but just in front of that; what made the difference was the other cyclistst bow wake which the last in the group obviously cannot use.
The wake was said to extend almost indefinitely forward, but gets insignificant if you're not close by. In a group, the wake and the draft of the object ahead can have a combined (positive) effect.

If you get hit you will usually come loose again. No need to hit the brakes while still attached, you might lose control.

My wife's aunt was hit on the motorway by a truck when traffic slowed down.
Her Renault Twingo came loose only to be hit again, now on the drivers side; the grill logo filling her door window.
Was pushed around like that for over a kilometer, until her wheels were worn so far down that the bottom of the car touched the pavement and began to smoke heavily.
The truck driver, who was just keeping up with the next car in front, finally noticed the smoke and honking, gesturing and signaling drivers and went to the emergency lane to investigate.

My wife's aunt came out of it shaking but unhurt. Bought a bigger car.

Wow!! what a description and good luck for her. got to watch the rearview just as much as the front when your driving slowly I guess. I seem to get a negative effect when people get a certain distance, say 50 ft back , coould be something there but hard to judge/

according to my UG, i can be as far back as 25 feet or more to catch the benifits. i don't see any reason to be any closer than 2-3 car lengths. i turn off the cruise by pushing in the clutch, slow down till they have no other choice than to go around me. caltrops would help also.

I am sure glad that she was okay! That accident sounded very confusing and terrifying!

Somehow, I visualize the car getting pulled to one side if I braked after being hit and was hit again, and then rolling over.

When you're the one following, right ?

But for the lead vehicle to get any benefits, you'd need to be far closer.

What if a passenger car is following a big rig (safely or dangerously)? What benefits would the truck see, if any?

I have often visualized someone trying to persuade a trucker to tow his car, explaining that the car would fill the truck's wake, while negligibly increasing the mass.

Honestly, I do not think that it would work unless you could somehow attach the car with the tires on the rear of the trailer. Got it, I am awesome at parking!

Sure...

The air right behind the truck will be very turbulent and by and large move with it, so the car will hardly build up a wake.
So, the truck has no profit whatsoever.

Two trucks following each other close by, that's another story.