Tailgating gone bad!!!

[user removed]

That video has been seriously edited, now you don't see the speedometer reading. If the truck driver had been tailgating her for 3 minutes with the right lane clear, does any rational person here think, for a second, that he would not have blasted around her in the right lane.

The interesting thing, at least to me, is the comments and vicious criticisms of some of those making comments. From the original video she had two trucks in the right lane blocking her from pulling over. She made a left turn, which gave her every right to bein the left lane.

I generally stay in the right, since I am probably in the bottom 5% of the average speed of those driving I64. Coming home from east to west, my exit is the only one in 60 miles where you have to exit from the left lane. With groups of cars travelling at 75-80 with less than 50 feet separation, it can get really hairy trying to get in the left lane to exit. I usually try to do it in a gap in traffic and I try to match the speed of the traffic, even it it means going 80 in a 65 zone. I'll move over amile from the exit depending on the other traffic.

One time I moved over about a mile or a little more, traffic was very sparse, not one even close to me. Watching in my mirror I see an old Chrysler Concorde approaching rapidly, probably close to 90. I'm in the left lane, both lanes are clear of any oither traffic for hundreds of yards. The Concorde driver flies up on my rear and flashes his lights instead of just going around me on the right. By now I am about 25 seconds from my left exit.

He finally gets in the right lane, comes up beside me and flips me off, then passes pulls over in front of me and brake checks me, then takes off back to 90 and I make my left exit.

Must have been all my fault.

regards
Mech

[elhigh]

Looking at Florida State Uniform Traffic Control Codes, I see the pilot of the truck stands in violation of these:

316.083 and .084, regarding when and how passing may be done. .084 might be a bit iffy, passing on the right isn't ruled out but passing on the left is specified as the proper way of passing. If nothing else, he failed to signal.

316.0895 following too closely

316.192 reckless operation of a motor vehicle and

316.1923 aggressively careless operation of a motor vehicle. This last one is an additional face slap that you win by combining violations simultaneously, the ones listed above among others available.

Under 316.081 the lead driver is indeed obligated to operate her vehicle on the right-hand half of the roadway IF she isn't moving at about the same rate as surrounding traffic, except when passing other vehicles, which she was.

All of this is academic. The guy drove like a d!ck, lost it, spun out. At the end of the day it is his choices that led to the result. His choices were in part informed by the lead driver's choices, but his choices are the ones that actually affect him the most. He chose...poorly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubw5N8iVDHI

[niky]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Here's another thing you might find fun like the lady in the video, when there is room to pass speed up, just be sure and slow back down when the passing opportunity is gone.

Uh... from the video and the rate at which she passed both trucks, that looked like a pretty steady speed, to me.

Don't even know why anyone would want to go faster than fifty five through a built up area with side streets crossing the main thoroughfare... in the rain.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by P-hack

I'm sorry, what was her infraction? I must have missed it somewhere. Is she somehow responsible for the guys emotional response?

Did anyone say she committed an infraction? I must have missed it somewhere.

No one is saying she is responsible for the guy's emotional response. But instead of recording him she could have ignored him completely. Also, we do not know whether there was any interaction between the two of them before she started recording him. Did recording him escalate the situation? It certainly didn't defuse it.

"Road rage" is now a popular concept, calling for punishment for bad behaviour. Being angry should not be a crime. Driving recklessly is based upon actions and it IS a crime. I think anyone convicted of it should have their license revoked. Driving recklessly is at least as dangerous to road safety as is drunk driving.

[P-hack]

Originally Posted by XYZ

Did anyone say she committed an infraction? I must have missed it somewhere.

No one is saying she is responsible for the guy's emotional response. But instead of recording him she could have ignored him completely....

Originally Posted by XYZ

...
... What she did was questionable - because even though what she did was not necessarily illegal, her actions contributed to the situation.

The entire situation could have been avoided had both parties acted differently. It takes two to tango, and two to argue... but some people like to argue a case incessantly.

So... even if someone is tailgating, and other forms of reckless driving, we should ignore it because we are partly to blame. Am I reading you right? Your argument for questioning her actions and implicating her is that there are no true scotsman?

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

So two cars can travel alone down one side of a 4 lane highway as long as they want and if they go the speed limit it's called traffic? ...Your right it may not be traffic initially, but it will soon be.

You seem to have difficulty with reading comprehension, so I'll retype post #18, just more slowly this time:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

You've got to love folks who apply ideal situation, open road rules to high traffic situations- if there's a mess fighting the on and off ramps and I'm passing through, the left lane is the rightmost available lane for me- especially if I need to be in the left lane to get off the road soon. I'm sorry there isn't room in this high traffic for you to do 80 in...

Many times, moving right is not practical or safe- like when one is making a left turn or when there is other traffic. In this video it looked like that was the case. It's not my job to make myself scarce to allow idiots to do whatever they want, I'm other traffic just like they are.

XYZ- Generally people don't whip out their phone and start recording until someone else gives them the idea that a recording might be useful. If recording makes their behavior worse it just shows that it was the right move.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by P-hack

So... even if someone is tailgating, and other forms of reckless driving, we should ignore it because we are partly to blame. Am I reading you right?

No, you aren't reading me right. No one mentioned "blame" but you. In any situation that leads to a bad outcome, such as an accident, as drivers we need to consider what we could have been done differently, to have prevented a bad outcome from happening. That's not blame; that's awareness brought about through experience.

You can't stop another driver from tailgating you. Therefore ignoring the tailgater is usually the most prudent thing to do. When confronted with another driver who is driving recklessly, the safest thing to do is to put as much distance between you and them, if possible. Safety is the primary concern in driving defensively, even if it means yielding in some way to a reckless driver.

But we don't know what was happening between the two of them before she began recording him. Often when traffic becomes heavy you can spot an aggressive driver in the pack. Could she have moved to the right? Could she have done anything differently? We will never know. We only know how the incident ended.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by XYZ

The entire situation could have been avoided had both parties acted differently. It takes two to tango, and two to argue... but some people like to argue a case incessantly.

...like right now.

[Chuck.]

Originally Posted by XYZ

Everyone can plainly see that what Mr. reckless driver did was illegal, dangerous and wrong. What she did was questionable - because even though what she did was not necessarily illegal, her actions contributed to the situation.

Really?

Mr. White has a record of disorderly conduct and possession of weed, among other things - think it's apparent he has an anger management problem, so let's not place guilt on "Florida Driver."

If she was truthful that the right-lane traffic was too much, than in conjunction with the rain justifies her driving - it was not to annoy him.

I've lost count of the times goons like in the video have tailgated and swerved off in a huff and didn't have it on camera.

I've seen posts like this before focusing on the picture taker. Like it or not, you are advocating people like Jeffery Travis White remain enabled to continue this behavior. Videoing this is not a perfect solution, but it's not a perfect world. Goons drive like this because they don't think they will be seen and make accountable

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Many times, moving right is not practical or safe- like when one is making a left turn or when there is other traffic. In this video it looked like that was the case. It's not my job to make myself scarce to allow idiots to do whatever they want, I'm other traffic just like they are.

XYZ- Generally people don't whip out their phone and start recording until someone else gives them the idea that a recording might be useful. If recording makes their behavior worse it just shows that it was the right move.

Since she whipped out the cell phone and started recording him it shows that there was some interaction between them that preceded that moment. We can never know what led up to that.

Read my other post regarding defensive driving. If recording makes their behavior worse (as you just said) it just shows that it can and did make the situation worse. Certainly for him, but potentially for her.

Consider this: Even though she has done nothing wrong, what if he had spun out in front of her causing her to have hit him head on, resulting in her death? Would recording him have been worth it?

While driving and confronted with a reckless or aggressive driver, I sometimes think of this classic poem:

"Here lies the body of Johnny O'Day
Who died Preserving His Right of Way.

He was Right, Dead Right, as he sailed along
But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong"