Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Riding Technique Tailgating.............

How do you handle this........ You have a car behind you that you feel is to close? And you're following someone. I couldn't speed up to put some distance between us. I tried flashing the brake light to keep the guy back. I ended turning off the road and going another way......

Whenever that happens to me I stop at the next red light, turn around and give them the WTF look. Works 90% of the time. The other 10 % I get out of their way.

-Josh

I am a huge fan of the WTF look.

Hi Neal,
I have this problem all too often. I flash tail light (never works), then I turn around and look at them, holding up my left hand as to say "what are you doing?" Flash tail light again, then usually pull over and let them pass. As I watch them go by, I note that they almost always have a cell phone glued to their ear, 6 out of 10 are teenage girls. The other 4 are 3 soccermoms and 1 man in a suit.
People don't think about it, but if you rearend a car, you damage vehicles and maybe hurt someone. You rearend a motorcycle - SOMEBODY DIES!
Cell Phones, should be outlawed nationally while in motion.
I was at a shopping center yesterday and once again saw someone get in their car, start it and got the cell phone out to call someone before they put their seat belt on. For GOD's sake - That's An Addiction.
Possible solution to tailgaiting:
1. Carry some glass marbles in a handlebar pouch, and flip one over your shoulder onto the windshield (windscreen) of the offending vehicle. Marble should shatter as it bounces off and may damage windshield of said vehicle. It will also create a noise that gets drivers attention.
2. Paint Balls! I know they are too tough to break with the minimal impact created by the marble flip. If the paintball could be made weaker (warming or slightly cutting the surface) it might splatter, forcing THEM to pull over and allowing me to continue my journey.

AnyWay, I guess you can tell, I'm gonna get my butt whipped one day following a road rage incident. Maybe I could throw my cell phone at them.

Ride Safe, Stay Invisible (they can't see you anyway), And Stay Outta Their Way,
Dennis

Tailgators almost always do not get messages that they are following too close. If the extra brake light action doens't work, I agree probably the best thing is to pull over and let the stupid a..holes pass.

-PES

I'm still on the fence about actually todding stuff at the car, but I do know a rock on my windshield gets my attention every time. Of course I pay attention when I drive so I usually see it coming and try to duck out of the way as if it were gonna hit me like I was on my bike...

I usually try some sort of .... hand signal:) Usually not very polite, but the WTF look is a good starting point.

Only time I can see it being difficult is on the highway where you might not really have room to get outa the way, or it may not be safe to take your eyes off the road for even the second it takes to give them the WTF. Some sort of "back off" hand menuver would be good.

I say be safe as possible. First slow down to limit the potential for needing a quick stop by increasing the distance between you and the traffic in front of you. No need to get rear ended just because someone else is following too close. Take the control of the issue by slowing down.
Then get out of the way by changing lanes and letting the idiot pass, or turning off into a street or parking lot to let them go. (I don't need to use this tactic too ofter. Most roads where I ride are two lanes at least.

Neal, I try the flashing brake lights, then I raise my fist up in the air like the hand signal for stopping (which by the average uneducated motorist who has completely forgot handsignals can also be construed as "I'm going to punch your lights out"), and usually the movement catches their eye enough that they wake up. If not, I keep going till I can put enough distance between us to find a place to turn off, then follow it with a hand gesture. My only fear is that if I don't find a place to give myself enough room, and start to slow down to turn off, the dipstick behind me won't be paying attention and will rear end me! It's almost happened once when turning in my drive way, and the woman behind me showed no signs of slowing down, so I floored it, and got enough room between us and pulled over

Thanks for the replies. This was only a 2 lane road with on coming traffic, that I couldn't pass, or I would of just to get the heck out of there. I didn't want to do anything to aggressive (hand signals.....) or I think the person would of clipped me. Ruined a nice bike, Stayed safe for another day. Later

Sorry... Ruined a nice bike ride........

Just toss a clear glass marble over your shoulder. They shatter into glass shards as they crack the windshield that are too difficult to distinguish from windshield glass to be used as evidence.

Retune your carbs to make the pipes pop as you back off the throttle. I find that at least some the time, speeding up a bit so the idiots can see the pipes, then backing off so they can see puffs of blue and yellow flame from the pipes is enough to convince idiots that they don't want to get too close.

I KNEW there was a reason I haven't gotten rid of the popping in my exhaust. Every once in a while I get a nice loud POP out of the pipes, now if I can just figure out how to time it to scare the ****** out of someone....

Quote:

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Thanks for the replies. This was only a 2 lane road with on coming traffic, that I couldn't pass, or I would of just to get the heck out of there. I didn't want to do anything to aggressive (hand signals.....) or I think the person would of clipped me. Ruined a nice bike, Stayed safe for another day. Later

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Excellent judgement in not doing anything aggressive, if the a-hole gets pissed, he might act out. And guess what? regardless of who's right, you lose. Every time.
Best thing to do is just slowly back off and leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front of you, so you have time to stop slowly if you have to. ASAP get out of his way.

How ironic that we talk about this yesterday morning, and I took a ride out to Montauk yesterday and low and behold, out in the Hamptons (with Buffy and Muffy and Biff) some dude in a Beemer decides to tailgate me. I was leaving a lot of room in front of me because I was following a van with a trailer with a bunch of loose scrap wood on it. We came to a light that had two lanes and the guy swung around me into the right lane... The worst part about these NY drivers is that they only see what's directly in front of them.... IF they looked around and saw that NOBODY was going any faster than them, they'd be less impatient!!

McDonald's ketchup packets.
Keep one in your pocket. If some D'bag starts riding your a$$, grab a packet - give a tooth tear - extend arm behind you and squeeze.
Ketchup on the windshield...they'll get the hint

Motorcycles and condiments. A force not be messed with.

I'll given them the WTF and if that doesn't work I pull over and let them pass. It's not worth becoming a hood ornament. You just have to shrug it off and go about your business.

I would imagine speed would have something to do with the trajectory of the ketchup/catsup... you may end up just making your fender more yummy looking... Unless you have some kind of "Popeye" grip... he could make spinach fly pretty far out of the can...

Maybe mustard would be better, if you were ever in an accident, a few busted catsup/ketchup packs could drive the paramedics nutz...

I just swallow my pride and pull over to let them pass if possible. A good WTF look and hand gesture makes me feel better but they are typically clueless.

Like Skillet says, the ****** cell phones are frightening. DC/NY and NJ have laws against cell phone use but I can see minimal enforcement. I live in MD and my wife works for a state legislator. I've tried to get him to propose a bill against cell phone use but he has no interest. I followed him on the interstate one day and he is a prime offender. Every one of my vehicles has a hands-free device so I try to practice what I preach.

I never argue with a car/truck. On a bike I know I can't win. Gotta play defense ALL the time. It's just one of the few downsides of being on 2 wheels. Although once, years ago after several miles of having a car on my fender for no good reason (2 lane rural, lots of straights) I slowly came to a stop in the middle of the lane, got off the bike, walked back and politely asked the driver why she was stuck to the back of my bike. She didn't seem to know and appologized. I had her go around me and never saw her again. Looking back, it was a stupid thing to do. Nowadays the car driver could easily turn out to be very nasty and physically dangerous. There's a lotta pent up anger out there for some reason.

I slow down gradually, often well below the speed limit. I don't nail the brakes like I do in my car in the same situation. I keep an eye on them to make sure they SEE me slowing down. Usually they get the hint. I've only had one b!tch continue tailgating me and getting MORE aggressive so I let her by. I tried to give her "the look" as she went by but she refused to look.

I don't think I'd flip them off or throw anything at them. When all is said and done they outweigh me by at least five times. Can't argue with that if they want to escalate things.

Whether I'm in the car or on the bike, if someone tailgates me I beckon 'em to come closer! It's amazing how often the fall right back.
Doesn't usually work with BMW drivers though 'cause they're usually too thick to get it .. or anything come to think!
If they're still there, and when it's safe, I pull over - at least if they're in front, I can keep an eye on 'em! Obviously give 'em the finger as they pass - goes without saying.

I once saw a bumper stiker that seemed to be working. It said, "Not too close, I'm in heat".

I installed the flashing/running indicator rear lights from kriss.com. I tap the rear break and they usually fall back. I think they think you have an emergency since the lights blink for 3 seconds.

I don't know if this is the proper place for this but there was a recent news story about a couple in Germantown, Pa. It seems they had a verbal altercation with the woman's ex-boyfriend and afterwards got on their bike and rode away. The neanderthal boyfriend followed and rammed their bike with his pickup truck. Both of them were killed and he is now facing vehicular homicide charges. A witness to the arguement said he intended to kill them.

So bear in mind that there are a lot of unstable people out there.... and 4 wheels beats 2 in a crash.

Yeah Grump it's amazing how reason escapes some people. Is an argument or someone "stealing your spot in line in traffic" really worth KILLING someone?

Greybeard the thing with the glass marbles,is this tried and tested?they,ve got to be lighter to carry around than sparkplugs, right?

on my bsa i don't have turn signals & do i get a lot of close calls when turning left from behind. i'm pretty demonstrative w/ my hand signals but a lot of people don't know what they are. besides i have to pull in the clutch.

i like the wtf look, too, but mostly let them go around then get right behind their a$$es and give then the wtf look.

if you see a Grand Am, let the teenage cell phone mornic looking girl go
past. they are the worst next to soccer moms.

cat

I doubt that there is anyone under the age of forty or fifty who knows what "hand" turn signals mean... they probably think you're waving to someone or that your just nutz....

Hey Grump, I know the hand signals, but only because I learned em in boy scouts and my dad, who's well into his 50's, tought them to me.

Here in the land of idiots, it's safer to not signal anyway, or at least give an incorrect signal. Giving a correct signal is taken as a challenge to keep you from doing what you want/need to do.

You mean you guys so slow enough cars can get up behind you?

There is so much traffic here that there are always cars behind, just after I pass them.
And, I very often have to slow down when I am behind some idiot that is just too scary driving to pass.

Unfortunately yes, traffic is often times so bad that speeding up isn't an option!! What's worse there is that, when traffic is SO bad, I don't see what good tailgating does, we're all gonna get there at the same time!!

The WTF look usually does the trick. Too bad there's never a cop around when you need one.

I guess I am in favor of the WTF look, but always best to just pull over to the side and let them go. Because, if they can keep up with me, they have to be nuts!

From my cop days, especially the motor-cop days, I can say with a smile that nobody ever got a break when I stopped 'em for a tailgating violation. It was absolutely my favorite. Saw way too many wrecks from those idiots.

Is this right, that in some states over there they can use mobile phones while driving and its all legal??? It's illegal here though only moderately policed but people still have to do it...when they realise how much revenue there is to get out of these w*%kers it'll be go to town time on them.
I'm a fan of the WTF look, the throwing things over your shoulder is so so, you could scare the sh*t out of them so much they swerve to incoming traffic with drastic results.

I wish some electronics genius could come up with a short range (maybe 200 ft) device with a directional antenna that we could mount on our bikes, facing backwards, that would interfere with any cell phone signal, so that when people come too close to us, they at least wouldn't be able to have all their attention directed to the person at the other end of the line.