How do you handle EXTREME tailgaters?

[groar]

In France being 50km/h = 31mph over the PSL and you are immediately stopped and they take your driving license for 6 months and 6 points out of 12.

The best is that since late Spring that isn't only for French people, that is for all Europeans
Before Europeans only had to pay their fee, so this summer hundred of people got bad surprise while visiting France...

Denis.

[JRMichler]

Wishfull thinking: xkcd: Road Rage

Don't forget the mouseover text.

[Ladogaboy]

I find it funny that some people on an ecomodding website are concerned with tailgaters as drafting is stated as a hypermiling option. As long as they aren't making a nuisance of themselves, I ignore them. If they are making a nuisance, I sometimes show them how much unburned gas there actually is in a rich-burning fuel mixture.

[kim88]

If im in my truck its brake check time. In the civic slowing down to 35 or 40 usually does it.

[JRMichler]

Had a tailgater come up behind me when I was driving 45 MPH in a 55 limit. Heavy wet snow with enough accumulation to completely cover the road surface, so I was driving on the fast side for the conditions. The tailgater went sideways when he tried to pass. He stayed on the road and followed at a safe distance after that.

[Chuck.]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

I find it funny that some people on an ecomodding website are concerned with tailgaters as drafting is stated as a hypermiling option. As long as they aren't making a nuisance of themselves, I ignore them. If they are making a nuisance, I sometimes show them how much unburned gas there actually is in a rich-burning fuel mixture.

You need to find out what hypermiling really is before you spread myths they condone drafting. Check out CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling - 1st page has a link addressing this misinformation.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

I find it funny that some people on an ecomodding website are concerned with tailgaters as drafting is stated as a hypermiling option. As long as they aren't making a nuisance of themselves, I ignore them. If they are making a nuisance, I sometimes show them how much unburned gas there actually is in a rich-burning fuel mixture.

Drafting is different from Tailgating.

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Drafting is different from Tailgating.

Very true, it is still possible to get some FE benefit at a safe following distance.

[brucepick]

In the past I've taken various approaches to tailgaters, not all of those approaches being particularly civil.

Lately I try to keep my cool, and let them pass if possible. I keep telling myself that's the adult and responsible thing to do.

If they race off ahead in a fuel-powered huff, I figure that they probably will get to heaven before I do. But I don't believe in the conventional heaven and hell... Interesting thought though.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Drafting is different from Tailgating.

Semantics. The difference between drafting and tailgating is simply a matter of perspective. Drafting can only happen if you are in the aero wake of the car in front of you. Depending on the vehicle that you are following, that wake might be feet away... or mere inches.

In terms of tailgating, it is purely a subjective matter. All that is necessary to tailgate is to follow closely enough to make the driver in the vehicle in front of you uncomfortable. In my experience, being close enough to effectively draft a semi requires that you are no longer in the truck driver's visible range (if you can't see the driver in the mirrors, the driver can't see you), and most truck drivers I know are VERY uncomfortable when they know a car is following them in their blind spot. As a driver, given that I can out brake 99% of the cars on the road, anything less than several car lengths makes me uncomfortable.

It is not a matter of condemning or condoning drafting; drafting is listed as one of the hypermiling techniques. No one can question the effectiveness of properly implemented drafting (all you need is an instant mpg gauge to see that). I'm simply pointing out the irony in complaining about others doing something that can be interpreted as an effective technique (and an often used one) by the very people who are complaining.