🚀 go-pugleaf

In <slrn6rsqiq.la2.joelga@pebble.org> joelga@pebble.org (Joel Garry) writes:

>If Rahul had his way, an LLB would somehow let [ tailgaters ] know they
>are doing it, so they would stop.  I consider this unrealistic.

Tailgaters do whatever it takes to get the next vehicle to change lanes.
If it became clear to all motorists that the only way to persuade the
guy ahead to yield was to NOT tailgate, then the intelligent ones would
stop tailgating.  

The dumb ones, who don't care if the next vehicle, probably would not
learn.  Any statements in which I talk about tailgaters learning
anything should assume a certain minimum amount of intelligence.

>...Don't make things worse by
>enraging them, or assuming they are _not_ ignorant. Frankly, I don't 
>understand why Rahul's assertion doesn't lead to the same conclusion:

>    "Any idiot can avoid automobile accidents that are his own fault.  It
>     takes skill to avoid accidents that are the *other* person's fault."

It's true that in isolated cases you can enrage a tailgater by ignoring
him and not yielding.  But in the majority of cases he's annoyed
already, and there is no way to make him not annoyed.  The instant you
yield to him he moves up and is annoyed by the next vehicle ahead of
him.  The only way to not annoy him would be for all vehicles in the
lane to simultaneously move to the right.

>To belabor the point:  It can be difficult to divine motivation, so you can
>only observe behavior.  Unfortunately, the safety nuts have to define
>speeding as an aggressive behavior, which muddies the waters.  Plain old
>10mph over is not overt aggression in my book.

Within some limits, almost no speed can be considered aggressive
provided you stay in your lane and maintain a safe following distance
from the next vehicle.  Aggressive driving invariably involves either
repeated changing lanes or tailgating.
-- 
Rahul Dhesi <dhesi@spams.r.us.com>
a2i communications, a quality ISP
   "Life is an obstacle course.  Get used to it."