(OT:) I suppose this made sense...somehow...

I've found that turning on the windshield washer/wipers is an excellent hint.

Will the washer fluid shoot all the way back onto his windshield if the car behind you is *right* behind you? One of my car's washer fluid jets (or whatever they're called) were capable of doing that. I finally had them adjusted, since the fluid often missed *my* windshield - for which it was actually intended.

Cathy

Sometimes, but it was a smutty day and was doing that anyway...

Why does tailgating bother people so much? I either ignore the person or move over and let them by. The way I see it I'd rather have them ahead of me so I can watch them and/or they are bound to get caught by any waiting police before I will.

I call them the scouts, :)

Works all the time.

I call 'em "drones".

It does, indeed. About five or six years ago some idiot was riding my bumper. I waited until the time was right, and let him launch by me easily at 15 mph over the limit, right before he encountered the radar of the biker cop I'd spotted when I went the opposite direction earlier.

I honked as I passed him at the shoulder, the parked cop talking on his radio.

Good for you! I hate bumper riders as much as the pigs who throw the contents of their loaded ashtrays into a parking lot. I'd almost like to have a lighted sign made for the back window, saying "In one minute or less, I'll be testing my brakes. If you don't back off, you'll rear end me. Please do, because I need the money" I've tried lowering my speed, speeding up, and about everything but whizzing out of my sunroof to try to get these fools off my back, but perhaps a big can of tacks thrown out the sunroof would work. The police are never around when you need them. BTW, these fools are almost never in sedans, but in large SUVs, large pickups or little pissant pickups. I wouldn't mind a little pickup in my tailpipe, but with a large truck, I'd wind up the loser.

The mist will go back, carried by the wind. The more radical guys will adjust the opposite of what you did for *extra* effect. I have done it but it takes a pretty serious and clueless tailgater for me to resort to spraying.

When I drive I sometimes pretend that instead of cars, everyone is in a boat. In my boating days I just assumed that *all* the other boaters were drunk or inexperienced or both. Lower expectations means fewer surprises. :)

Because the weather was lousy. It has been snowing since Sunday (although not enough to amount to anything, but enough to make the roads slick in spots).

If ANYTHING comes out in the road in front of me, I hit the brakes! Rabbits, cats, squirrels, balls, mice, etc, etc. If ANYTHING gets in front of my car the foot goes for the brake. A 5,000 lb van at 3 feet off my bumper is NOT going to be able to stop, let alone the compromised road surface.

See the text: he wouldn't pass no matter how slow I went.

Yup. Me too...

I was working on an LED sign a lotof years ago with a propellorhead friend of mine.

We gave up because Road Rage was starting to involve guns...

I often keep eggs in the back seat. In the summer. For WEEKS! Just pray one doesn't break before the off!

In a hurry to get nowhere.

Hmmm... I rarely have problems with tailgaters, especially when I used to patrol

No you don't.

Think about the theft deterrence.

It's a plague lately, meaning the past 10 years. My theory is that it's gotten worse because of cell phone use. It's also much more prevalent with young women.

IME, the cell phone users are the ones being tailgated (and creating a hazard). Once they start yakking (yes the women are worse) they seem to always slow down. Around here the freeways have definitley sped up in the last few years. The whole culture is becoming more and more frantic. Common these days to be doing 75 and have several cars pass you like you were standing still. Odds are good that the talker and the speedball are going to meet with a bang from time to time.

Well, not any more.

But I did. Ask a few tailgaters on the Mass Pike...

If you think being passed at 75 is something, try a drive on an English motorway. One day in 1998, I was going 90 on one, and within a minute, some guy was flicking his bright lights at me, with his knickers evidently in a twist because I was dawdling so. Ya can't win.

Because they don't want to get hit or killed?

I try to do that, but sometimes it's impossible because of traffic. Worse, some tailgaters go nuts and refuse to pass

My brother was stationed in Germany for two years. The Autobahn is legendary that way.