Getting back to the original post and vid, here’s the lowdown as told by the person who made the video:
[i]"This happened to me on SR 41 in Tampa on Monday March 24th. This pathetic excuse for a human being tailgated me for about three minutes. After about a minute, and me shaking my head, I pulled out my phone and started recording. I couldn’t move over because there were trucks in the right lane, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to speed on a rainy day with the roads being as slick as they were. I was turning left in about a half-mile when this happened.
Now bear in mind, that this guy had already passed a truck in a left turn lane, was tailgating and driving recklessly on a wet slick road, wasn’t paying attention, and all in all being an ignorant ass. In the full video which I will post later, you will be able to see that not once was I mouthing off, I never brake checked him, and in fact until I watched the video after the accident I didn’t even know he shot a bird at me because I wasn’t looking at him at all, I was paying attention to the road while holding the phone up with my right hand. I’ve recorded circumstances like this before, catching idiots doing stupid things, but never ever had this happen.
He initially fled the scene of the accident, but thanks to this video he has been caught and charged. Massive props to the Sheriffs Department and most especially the Highway Patrol who responded to the scene. This moron could have easily killed somebody with his moronic behavior, and my laughing at the end would have been replaced with tears. Needless to say though, I’ve never seen Karma come back so fast."[/i]
[quote]CLINK wrote:
Getting back to the original post and vid, here’s the lowdown as told by the person who made the video:[/i][/quote]
I have a few issues with this “statement”.
-He was tailgating for 3 minutes but camera man had a left turn in 1/2 a mile. Sorry, you’ve driven at least 2 miles in three minutes, so no immediate need to ride the fast lane.
-If camera man was being tailgated for 3 minutes and pulled the phone after 1 minute, he could have pulled in BEHIND those trucks for 5 seconds to let him pass on. The film starts with the cameraman in a position where you can’t see the trucks in the video. I would guess for that first minute the camera man was actually behind the trucks.
-Rainy day? Wet, slick road? I don’t remember seeing any rain or wet pavement. Nor any water drops on the windows. Vid is now private…
This statement certainly paints the entire incident in a certain light, removing any “doubt” that they may have played into the outcome at all. As said before, if this person already knew what was coming they could have, SHOULD HAVE, moved over briefly.
At the speed this guy wanted to drive, it wouldn’t have been long. Certainly not the full 3 minutes that is claimed the guy was behind them. Again, the “I couldn’t move over because trucks” is awfully convenient given the positioning of those trucks at the start of the vid.
Was the guy a reckless ass? Yep. Do I think the camera man had a part in the outcome? Seems pretty likely.
Had court last week. I was impressed with the appropriateness of my fellow offenders. No one was wearing death metal T-shirts or ICP make-up, even the guy who worked at a quick-oil change place had a tie on over his work shirt. The judge was pleasant and the DA was a cute young brunette. My lawyer approached her for a few minutes, she looked up at me, back down to the tickets, and shook her head.
uh oh.
My lawyer approached me and said that the trooper who pulled me over showed up that morning and she’s hesitant to throw out/let me plea down the charges in front of him. No idea why the trooper has such a hardon for me. Other than doing 32 over. In a construction zone. With no proof of insurance.
A little more haggling and my lawyer comes back with the good news:
No proof of insurance - thrown out with proof
Construction zone - thrown out
Misdemeanor speeding (32 over) - reduced to 20 over and petty speeding offense.
Three months supervision, $150 fine, $100 “donation” to some state trooper fund, and $235 in court costs.
Throw in $400 for my lawyer and it was a $835 ticket, plus a bump in my insurance for the next 3 years.
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Update:No idea why the trooper has such a hardon for me.[/quote]
Were you wearing your pink panties and bunny ears in court again?
And you got lucky on that ticket. $835 for 20 over is damn cheap.
james
[/quote]
Suit and tie.
Maybe he just likes a sharp dressed man.
But yeah, $835 for my multiple offenses isn’t bad. Plus, my insurance company would have dropped the coverage on my Mustang if I had a misdemeanor. Right now, I pay them $235/year for an agreed-value collectors policy. If they dropped me, I would have been forced to use a traditional insurance policy which would have cost 3x as much and paid me out $1500 if the car were totaled.
If you can clearly see that some jerk is getting up on your ass, just move over and let him continue being a jerk. No need to compound the situation further by ALSO being a jerk and antagonizing the guy.[/quote]
Yeah, maybe I am getting old, but I cant be arsed to fuck around at 60-80 miles an hour.
I like my intestines where they are at and a functioning spine is also a nice a nice thing to have.
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
I think it is on a case by case basis. Move over as soon as convenient.
I have been screwed over countless times by moving over for someone going a bit faster than me, only to get stuck in the right lane. I generally try to be a considerate driver but often screw myself by doing so.
[/quote]
I think Testy has it right. If you’re on wide open highway, get over (actually don’t cruise in the left lane to begin with). What gets me is when you are driving in heavy traffic, going as fast as traffic will allow in the left lane, but still maintaining a safe distance behind the vehicle in front of you. I don’t mean hundreds of feet. 2-3 car lengths is plenty to still give you enough reaction time to stop and also not making the driver in front of you uncomfortable. It is the people that tailgate in this situation that endanger the rest of us, all so they can get one car further ahead? I’m not going to get over for a tailgater if I am already going as fast as traffic allows and if moving to the right would mean cutting someone else off or putting myself too close to another vehicle in the right lane.
What makes it even worse is when there is a very brief opening and you do get passed on the right (or in some cases on the shoulder), and then immediately cut off when someone tries to squeeze into the very tight space between you and the car ahead of you.
Driving with the speed of traffic and maintaining a respectable distance is not weak. Passing to gain yourself one position in heavy traffic is careless.
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
I think it is on a case by case basis. Move over as soon as convenient.
I have been screwed over countless times by moving over for someone going a bit faster than me, only to get stuck in the right lane. I generally try to be a considerate driver but often screw myself by doing so.
[/quote]
I think Testy has it right. If you’re on wide open highway, get over (actually don’t cruise in the left lane to begin with). What gets me is when you are driving in heavy traffic, going as fast as traffic will allow in the left lane, but still maintaining a safe distance behind the vehicle in front of you. I don’t mean hundreds of feet. 2-3 car lengths is plenty to still give you enough reaction time to stop and also not making the driver in front of you uncomfortable. It is the people that tailgate in this situation that endanger the rest of us, all so they can get one car further ahead? I’m not going to get over for a tailgater if I am already going as fast as traffic allows and if moving to the right would mean cutting someone else off or putting myself too close to another vehicle in the right lane.
What makes it even worse is when there is a very brief opening and you do get passed on the right (or in some cases on the shoulder), and then immediately cut off when someone tries to squeeze into the very tight space between you and the car ahead of you.
Driving with the speed of traffic and maintaining a respectable distance is not weak. Passing to gain yourself one position in heavy traffic is careless.[/quote]
Yes! This! And I can’t even begin to tell you how often this happens in H-town traffic. They’re nuts here!
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
OMFG! that was pretty awesome!
I don’t get why people try so damn hard to control what others do on the road (by tailgating in this instance in an attempt to get the woman to go faster)…why not just go around her?
Another thing I love is when people flip another person off (It just says “weak” to me, like something an adolescent girl would do). Nothing says I’M SO FUCKING MAD more than when someone puts up their middle finger, I always love to just smile and wave back at them, or purse my lips at them.
of course nothing works quite like the ol’ “ignore” manuever, like they don’t even exist…[/quote]
Well sometimes there’s no option to go around the other person if they’re driving slow in the passing lane. Not that I would tailgate someone, I’d flash my lights.
I like the smile and wave back response to a middle finger. I’m going to do that next time it happens.
