Bruh, chill

I have a strategy for when I get tailgated in the slow lane and it's not brake checking because that's what they expect. I'll lock the cruise control to my desired speed. They get right up on my ass and don't back off, I speed up putting space between me and them. At this point they'll speed up and I'll take my foot off the gas and let the car slow down back to cruise control speed. Repeat as necessary. The trick is to never touch the brakes. The driver behind me is alternating between speeding up and hitting the brakes. Eventually they'll get tired of it and either pass or back off
- Thanks I'm gonna try this

What's with Lemmy and Avatar memes as of late?
Not that I'm complaining. I'm a foaming mouth guy tier fan, but I see a Koh the Face Stealer meme as more niche than, I dunno, a Doge meme or Spongebob.
- Occasionally I just get on trends. If I see something posted and I've got memes of it, I'll stick with the trend. Sometimes I'm just like fuck it I'ma just post the same thing a bunch which is why last week I had like 8 ratatoiulle memes in one day
  
  I'm all for that.
  There was a King of the Hill phase I was rather fond of too.

It always seems like white dudes in pickup trucks are the biggest assholes in the world
- they give white women in SUVs a run for their money
  (disclaimer am white woman. don't drive SUV tho. moped/ebike)

at night with brights. how about 10mph until they rage on by.

Easy fix, go 10 mph under. If they are still a dick, keep slowing down
- I've had a much easier life following a super easy rule for highways:
  Left lane: Passing/Fast
  Middle lane: Cruising
  Right lane: Exit/Slow
  If I'm in the left lane doing 110 MPH and there's a pickup truck right on my ass, I'll signal and go middle lane and just cruise for a bit.
  9 times out of 10, I'll see that exact same pickup or other car on the right shoulder with a state trooper writing him up.
  It's happened so often in my life, it's made me believe in "instant karma". Just let them pass.
  
  "Never be the fastest car on the highway" is a pretty good rule for avoiding state troopers.
  
  Right lane is for cruising.
  Any lanes to the left are for overtaking, and you move back to the right after passing.
  Of course it depends on how heavy the traffic is, but if you're not willing to move faster than the cars on your right, CHANGE LANES.
  People driving in the middle lane when there's nobody on the right are a pet peeve of mine.
  Edit: pasting this below, since people seem to be unaware of the actual rules.
  Edit2: This is UK, flip left with right for almost every other country.
  The highway code, the official rules for road use in the UK, reads:
  (General Rules, 160) "keep to the left, unless road signs or markings indicate otherwise. The exceptions are when you want to overtake, turn right or pass parked vehicles or pedestrians in the road"
  (Motorway lane disciple, rule 264): "Keep in the left lane unless overtaking. If you are overtaking, you should return to the left lane when it is safe to do so (see also Rules 267 and 268)."
  Many other EU countries have the same rules. I wouldn't know about America.
  
  I try to drive in the rightmost lane where I can maintain my desired speed without needing to weave back and fourth, unless someone is coming up behind me, in which case I'll reduce my threshold for moving to the right to let them by, unless they are driving aggressively enough that I think there's a high chance they'll pass on the right after I've passed someone but before I'm far enough ahead of whoever I just passed to move over.
  Oh one more exception for if the right lane is clear but there's an onramp with cars, I'll leave them the right lane to merge into and move over once I've passed them. I'll also avoid cruising in front of semis if I can.
  
  This is how lanes should be driven in. If I'm passing someone in the left, and I see someone screaming up behind me, I'll usually try and speed up, get over to clear the lane, and then resume where I was at. I don't cut anyone off, ideally the person passing doesn't catch me before I get over, and life goes on with minimal interruptions.
  Too many people go on autopilot and are completely unaware of other traffic around them. I'm consistently watching mirrors, traffic around me, and for animals deciding to cross the the road. It's not no work, but it's where everyone should be at when driving.
  
  Let them be the cop bait.
  
  This is assuming the person isn’t tailgating you in driving lane refusing to pass you, because that happens constantly…
  
  What highways are there with a 100mph+ speed limit? I'd love to visit.
  I thought the highest in the US was 80mph, which means at least 30mph over. I thought you could start getting your vehicle impounded and get reckless driving charges at that point. It's a little more than common speeding
- But for real, if someone is tailgating you at speed the right move really is to ease down slowly. Because if you have to stop quickly at speed, they're going to catastrophically rear end you. Slowing down steadily lowers the stakes and may induce them to pass you and harass someone else.
- That's my two lane strategy. I use cruise everywhere I go, and I consistently go a little over the speed limit, usually about 10% of the posted amount. That's not enough for some people and they tailgate. I will immediately set my cruise to the speed limit, and if they don't back off, I will gradually get slower and slower. I don't break check, but if there is a hill, I will ride the brakes all the way down as to not accidentally exceed the speed limit.
- That's just plain rude
  
  No it’s not. It’s safety conscious to keep space in front of you because you will need to reduce speed at a slower rate so the asshat behind you doesn’t slam into the back of you.
  
  It's literally safer than someone on your bumper going 80 mph (as long as you're not in the fast lane).
  
  That's heavily dependent on context. Oftentimes each person commenting in these threads has a different situation in their mind.
  If they're on your ass on a multi-lane highway and there's plenty of space for them to pass you AND you're in the designated lane for slow traffic (eg, right-most lane in the US) then it's not rude at all. Encourage them to get off your ass and in the meantime, you're giving both of you more time to react in an emergency.
  If you're on a two-lane road (ie, one lane per direction) I get wanting to slow down below the speed limit, but really, you don't know whether that person has a friend bleeding out next to them while trying to get to a hospital, or maybe they are at the boiling point for a road-rage incident with a gun in the glovebox. I maintain a safe speed and if I get to a passing zone, I make a point to slow down for them to make an easier pass.
  
  Rude, safe, who's to say.
- Easy fix, move over and let them by.
  
  Lemme just pull into this lane of oncoming traffic real quick
  
  Lol, no, we don't reward selfish pricks
  
  So your solution to someone tailgating you while in the driving lane is to pull over into the passing lane and slow down to let them pass? Real genius…
  
  No reason to move over if you are already at the speed limit. If you are over you should slow down.
  
  Every time the circlejerk assumes the worst out of comments like these.

Why the hell is speeding so normalized?
- Because on a lot of highways the speed limit is a joke. The 4 lane one I take to work is completely straight for like 30 miles and they have it set at 60mph. Many vehicles can (and do) easily go 80-90 on that without an issue. Proper lane usage and adhering to a safe following distance are far more important in terms of safety. There shouldn't even be a speed limit in my opinion considering the wide variety of vehicles on the road. It's pretty simple, drive as slow as you want just do it in the correct lane unless you're passing. Signal. Pass in the passing lane. Don't tailgate.
  If they need to write tickets for revenue they can get people for cruising in the wrong lane all day long.
  
  I'm pretty sure those who have set it at 60mph have calculations you didn't consider.
  Maybe there are places on the road where someone may suddenly appear, be it human or a wild animal? Maybe the road can get slippery? Maybe the cars going above 60mph create too much noise in the neighborhood? There are many more reasons one could set a road at that, and many may not even come to your mind.
  And no, this is almost certainly not about tickets. If it is - screw them and follow the rule!
  
  I wish vehicles made it harder to go above 65 MPH.(Like a mandated regulation to have the foot pedal feel harder to push past 65). Like I want to save money in this economy. Going above 65 is mostly a complete waste of money and will more likely than not save less than a minute or none at all because we all will hit the same red lights on the city streets. I hate how normalized we all become to it. I now mostly drive city streets with either electric vehicle or electric bike. Rent is criminally expensive, people really expecting me to waste money driving 75 on the highway? Fuck that
- And why the hell is effectively running stop signs and red lights so normalized too?
  
  If you are in America, its because our police fucking suck. There are no consequences until an accident happens.
  
  I haven't seen this in Sweden, while speeding is fairly common.
- Because people don't like to obey rules mostly
  
  Because most speed limit zones have little to do with public safety and more to do with enforcing monetary ticket infractions.
  But tailgating is and will always be a dick move
- This.
  I drive by the limit, and every time I say this a bunch of folks jumps in saying I am the problem when I stop my lane and poor poor speeders have to adapt and not crash into each other.
  Speed limits are there for a reason. Speeders love to say shit like "they're outdated", but this is also wrong, they are up to date with vehicles on the road.
  Drive. By. The. Damn. Limit. Those who installed them are more informed than you about risks and dangers on this track, and no, your car brakes are not as good as you think they are (and also there's likely someone behind you with worse ones).
  
  Nah. Drive by the flow of traffic.
  Unobservant people who are "following the rule" in dynamic situations usually create more danger than people adapting to the situation.
  Especially when they get all the way in the left lane to drive 65mph while others are passing them on the right.
  
  Technically speaking, speed limits are set for worst conditions.
  As in very rainy, very windy, poor visibility, etc.
  So no, in your day to day life in ideal conditions — you do not need to follow the speed limit. Am I saying go double the speed limit? No. 10 miles above the speed limit is fine, though.
  That being said, people who tailgate others can go fuck themselves. There's never a good reason to be so close behind another car.

I've had people tailgate me in the right lane for miles before deciding to pass, even with a completely open left lane. And it's usually a pickup.
- most people are brain dead cruise control zombies. i stay as far away from all cars on the highway as possible.
  
  ... there's nothing wrong with cruise control
- Why not just pull into the empty left lane and have them pass on the right? One less thing for you to think about.
  
  Because the safest thing for everyone is to drive predictably, and that means following the rules and you don't pass in the right lane.
  
  I did this recently, scared the shit out of them and they quickly found a spot to turn off and park. I think they thought I was trying to do some kind of pit maneuver to get behind them or something, when I just wanted them off my ass.

The closer you get the slower I drive
Edit: in the right lane. I ain't no fucking hammer lane cruiser
- Same. I just take the cruise control down slowly until they back off. If they get off my ass, we can go back to the speed limit.
- I love this.
  And if they start honking and flashing their lights to pressure you?
  
  Clearly they are warning you of danger. Best drive extra vigilant, which might imply driving slower :P
  
  I ignore them and pick my nose when they angrily pass. Keeps me from engaging.
  
  Well they're obviously letting me know that my windshield is dirty, so I fire up the washers. So considerate!
  
  🥱
  
  If you know, you know
  
  Clean ur windows

It’s the same when there’s a BMW, Audi or MB behind you. You can’t go fast enough to get them in your neck.

my radar detector says time to let them by

Had one doing that while I was going the same speed as the 10 cars in front of me on the highway during traffic time. He was flashing his lights and when there was an opening on my right he changed lane and then I saw... The guy was in a full size truck and was pulling a 20' trailer and was trying to pass me on the right and squeeze between me and the car in front of me so he would have been stuck behind them instead. I didn't give him enough space, he got back behind me even more angry than before and 3km later reached his exit so he wouldn't have saved a single second if I had let him through.
- It’s crazy to me how many pickup trucks with trailers drive so recklessly, it’s like they don’t know they are hitching something. I see other cars being accommodating to them by slowing down more than usual to let them merge in.
  
  I've seen one stuck sideways on the highway with his trailer flipped on its side and another driving in the middle of the night in the fog without any working lights on the trailer... Maybe they should require an exam before you can tow...
- Was driving on the highway and it was packed. It wasn't stop go, but we were under the speed limit with cars lined up as far as you can see.
  I look in my review and I can't even see the headlights of the guy behind me over my bumper. (I'm in a sedan, not a high bumper by a long shot). This is a dangerous situation so I ease off the gas and move over as soon as I get a chance.
  This guy then proceeds to pass me, move in front of me, and slow down. I'm sorry, I thought you were in a rush considering how much you were riding my ass, but looks like you have plenty of time to be an asshole.
  Next gap in the left lane and I pull over and accelerate, he doesn't have room to get in front of me, and doesn't have room to get behind me again due to all the cars.
  I have no idea how long he had to wait to get back into the left lane, but for someone so impatient he was very effective at wasting his own time.

I love my Mustang for this one reason. People don’t ride my ass and get out of my way. It’s nice.
- I drive a NV200 (compact cargo van).
  I could be driving warp 7 in a school zone and I swear people would be passing me and flipping the bird. It's like they see that is not made for speed, so they're required to treat it as slow.
  
  I’d say those are hard to see around. So people are passing you to clear up their view.

Time to engage cruise control on exactly the speed limit.
- The one thing that I really care about is consistency. If you want to do 60 in a 65 on the hwy, and you're in the right lane, that's fine. What I hate more than most things is when you pass me doing 75 in a half mile, and then I pass you again after that. I hate that so much, I just want consistency and predictability.
  
  I used to have a longish commute on the highway and would use cruise control the entire way. It's bizarre how often I'd encounter some that we would pass each other 3 times because they can't decide what speed that want to go at. My speed hasn't changed.
  
  Couldn't agree more. Consistency and predictably; I wish more people would think - and drive - like that.
- that's just how i drive normally, makes life very easy. only costs a couple minutes.
  
  I do +5, just below fine limit. Haven't had one in years.
  
  On most cars I've used that would mean a real speed of around 4-5 km/h under the actual limit.
- You bet your sweet ass if youre driving like a dick, im slowing down. Flash your light? I flash the little red ones on the back of my car to let you know that i saw you. Every time your lights come on, so do mine!

If you are on any U.S. highway, there is always someone who thinks the ideal speed limit is 10 mph faster than whatever the speed of traffic is in the left lane. They will tailgate you until you change lanes to let them pass, causing everyone in the lane to the right to adjust to the change in traffic, and then repeat the process for every car in front of them, or they will attempt to pass you on the right, creating dangerous traffic situations. Best of all, this person genuinely believes that, "If everyone drove like me, there would be no traffic."
- Just to confirm, does this imply you just drive in the left lane like normal without activley passing?
  
  Why is this passive aggressive "hurr durr found the left lane camper" comment on every literally post about left lane tailgaters?
  Have you literally never driven in any Metropolitan area ever? I see it daily... lines 10+ cars deep of traffic maybe a single carlength apart, all doing 85 in the left lane, constantly passing middle lane traffic, as if that's somehow going to make the 1/2 mile of traffic ahead of them go faster.
  The number of aggressive tailgaters I see during my commute easily outweighs the left lane campers by 10:1
  
  there is always someone who thinks the ideal speed limit is 10 mph faster than whatever the speed of traffic is in the left lane.
  No, I very specifically called out people who want to drive faster than what the speed traffic is in the passing lane. How you think that implies going slower than the middle lane is beyond me.
  
  Are you implying that you break the speed limit just to pass people?
- They don't care about how quick they arrive (otherwhise they wouldn't speed up to a redlight), they just wanna feel fast, in this case by driving faster than everyone else
  
  Exactly. I just drove from New York to Boston, and no matter what the speed was, I'd run into a tailgater every 30 minutes. I'd be cruising at 80 to 85 mph, keeping a minimum safe distance from the guy in front of me, there'd be 5 cars in front of me doing the exact same thing, but some dick (usually driving an oversized pickup) would decide that wasn't good enough. He'd tailgate until I found an opportunity to drop into the middle lane, let him pass, then I get back into the ~~right~~ left lane and watch him do the same thing to the guy in front of me. It's as if he thinks he's gonna reach the, "front," and then their won't be any traffic.
- Totally right, considering there is traffic in front of you. If there's only one car in the left lane however they should still move over to the right for a faster driver behind, even if they're already going 30+ over the limit.
- the replies to you are merely conflating "speed of traffic" with "speed limit of traffic", so because your statement was (wrongly) misinterpreted, you are now replying to each comment crying about "I'm being victimized by hurr durr left lane camper accusations" calm down buddy

It’s funny how the ‘acceptable’ amount to go over the speed limit is always 10. No matter if it’s kph or mph. It’s 10.
- "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"
  — George Carlin
- nice round number

Especially when there's a free passing lane.

I do not miss driving. Public transit forever.
But when I did drive, after my reckless youth, I'd usually just chill in the right lane. I don't care. Fly by at 120mph. I'll be here going with the flow of traffic, or about the speed limit if I'm alone.
I do remember one time in the suburbs when I was visiting my parents, I was driving to the grocery store. It's a short drive (because it's the suburbs, you can't safely walk to the supermarket), no highways. About 10 minutes to get there from driveway to parking lot. Some guy behind me started absolutely losing his shit, screaming, and passed me dangerously by driving onto the shoulder. He pulled into the same parking lot. I parked well away from him because I didn't want to deal with crazy.
I'm not good at math, but if the entire trip was about 10 minutes, I feel like the time difference between me going about the speed limit and me speeding is, at most, what, 2 minutes? 5 minutes? The guy probably took more than 5 minutes off his life being so angry.
- It's a short drive (because it's the suburbs, you can't safely walk to the supermarket)
  It's funny that suburbs get touted as safer, but you can't even expect your kid to walk to the supermarket alone until they are well into their teen years. Usually because it's over a mile away and across a state highway (and likely one without any nearby crosswalks, either).
  It's like pedestrian safety isn't considered safety at all.
  Sure, it's safe enough for a young kid to walk or ride their bike around their cul de sac, sure...but it gets exponentially less safe the further you travel out from there...and that's where their friends and everything else are..
  My childhood home was 1.2 miles away and across such a state highway from literally anything. No sidewalks or crosswalks along the entire path.
  I could walk to a bus stop without crossing a state highway, but I'd be walking along it with no sidewalk for most of it...and after 5.5 miles, I'd get to the bus stop. And I did do that a couple times in the summer before I got my license, to get to work.
  
  If I was raising kids, I absolutely would not want to do it in the suburbs. It's isolating and limiting. I was always so jealous of the kids I knew that lived in the city. They could do things. I was stuck indoors , or walking for like 90 minutes to get anywhere.
- In an ideal situation you'd save maybe a minute. But in the real world with stop lights and signs you'd probably be closer to 20-30 seconds.

I'm a school bus driver and I love to be tailgated ... because I can't even see a fucking car when it does this. I don't know what these dipshits imagine they're accomplishing.

The left lane is for active passing. It’s not a long distance cruising lane. If you have someone behind you, be courteous and let them pass. It’s not that hard.
- Not every street has multiple lanes
  
  If I'm on a road that isn't the highway and someone is tailgating me I literally just pull over and wave them by. Same with people blasting me with their high beams. It is infinitely safer.
- Yes, in theory, everyone should be in the middle lane at all times except when actively passing the car in front of them, and they shouldn't use the left lane as a, "fast lane." In practice, virtually everyone uses the passing lane as a fast lane, and dropping in and out of the right lane over and over again is going to create more traffic than just staying in your lane.
  Sure, if someone is barely going faster than the middle lane, and there's no one in front of them, then they're being a lane hog and need to move over. But if there are multiple cars in the passing lane, all going significantly faster than the middle lane, then that's just the speed of traffic and you need to accept that. Just because the passing lane isn't passing as fast as you'd like, that doesn't mean you're justified in forcing a car to change lanes every 50 feet.
  
  Exactly. There's a difference between ideal operation and practical reality. In reality, three-lane highways induce three lanes full of cars. And if I'm going 80 in a 60 in the left lane, the guy behind me going 90 can fucking relax. Likewise I'm not getting bent out of shape by the guy in front of me who is also going 80. We're all going really really fast, as is.
  
  The driving lane is the rightmost lane. All other lanes on the left of it are for passing. Do not just cruise in the middle lane. You exacerbate the problem.
- If you think this post is about being tailgated in the passing lane, instead of the crazy amount of (usually truck) drivers that tailgate in every lane and on every road, then it's very likely you are the problem being discussed.
- don't know why you're getting downvoted for this. probably because lemmy is full of children that never learned how to drive.
  
  bro still thinks hes on reddit

In Europe, its either a BMW or a Porsche, like this behind you. Blinking their lights, ever there is no space for you to move.
- The trucks will often flash their lights as well, often blinding drivers of sedans and smaller SUVs due to height difference and poor regulations for headlight height.
  
  I've been in situations like that, where I was more than happy to pull over and let them pass, but I missed all the safe spots because I couldn't see them while being blinded. I had to drive slower because they made it harder to see ahead on dangerous mountain roads, too. Bloody idiots.
  
  I want a mirror whose only purpose is to force SUVs to turn off their high beams. Somebody's gonna be blinded either way; better it be brief than constant.
- They can flash their lights as much as they like, when I am cycling I don't have mirrors so I won't even see it. Then they start revving. Yeah I don't care. I am here, won't kill you to wait for the children to finish crossing the road.

Important context is missing. If traffic is light and you're cruising in the passing lane at the same speed as the rest of traffic, get out of the passing lane.
Edit: I'm enjoying the upvote/downvote ratio. 1/4 of people feel justified in creating a rolling roadblock. The other 3/4 of people would like them to change lanes.

I just realized the meme says 10 MILES above the speed limit.
10 km/h above the limit is pretty standard here in Canada.
10 m/h over is crazy.
- Pretty standard where I’m from.
  If the speed is 55, most people are going 65. Cops won’t mess with you for it unless you give them a reason. You know, having a dead tag, a dead sticker, being black, brake lights are out, something like that.
  
  People in cali (at least norcal) go 80mph, some go even faster (like 100 lol) on the highway
  Socal is always a traffic jam so probably not applicable there
- 10 MPH over the signed limit on the highway is very typical here in the US. And yeah it's not great, lots of car fatalities here.
- 10 mph over is completely standard in most of the US. Less so on residential roads, of course.

This but me going the legal limit on an e-scooter on a road-bikelane with a truck riding half of the lane right behind me.

https://youtu.be/MiuLvLobAs4

Move out da way

this always makes me think about logic and math.
speed limit is 70. that INCLUDES the passing lane. if I am passing someone who’s going 65, at most I can go 70.
I am NOT camping in the passing lane. I’m just not willing to get pulled over and possibly shot. Guy behind me can deal with it.
- Would probably be best for overall traffic efficiency and safer for you too to slow down to that 65 than pass going 70
  
  sure in the same way it would to just stay home.