Why you shouldnt tailgate when driving a brand new AMG

I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?

223rem wrote:

> I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
> SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
> Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
> couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
> of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
> curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
> the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
> shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
> afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
> new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
> that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?

Why are US drivers so aggressive ?

Graham

223rem wrote:
> I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
> SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
> Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
> couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
> of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
> curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
> the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
> shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
> afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
> new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
> that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?
I always keep a lot of distance between traffic in front. Unfortunately
Drivers insist, on jumping in front, closing the gap. Then I have to
back off again and again. They can't go any faster.
It's like driving an airfoil. Everything that comes off of a vehicle or
off the road sails over the hood and windscreen.
I wonder why they don't coat the car with the same ceramic clear coat as
Ferrari.

223rem wrote:
> I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
> SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
> Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
> couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
> of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
> curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
> the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
> shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
> afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
> new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
> that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?

Maybe he didn't engage the adaptive cruise control properly..?

Ulf

On Apr 28, 10:11*am, Eeyore >
wrote:
> 223rem wrote:
> > I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
> > SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
> > Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
> > couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
> > of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
> > curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
> > the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
> > shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
> > afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
> > new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. *Was it my fault
> > that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?
>
> Why are US drivers so aggressive ?
>
> Graham

Why are British posters to RAD so consistently arrogant, narrowminded,
and prone to making offensive stereotypical judgements?

nate

On Apr 28, 12:47*pm, N8N > wrote:
> On Apr 28, 10:11*am, Eeyore >
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > 223rem wrote:
> > > I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
> > > SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
> > > Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
> > > couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
> > > of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
> > > curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
> > > the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
> > > shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
> > > afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
> > > new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. *Was it my fault
> > > that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?
>
> > Why are US drivers so aggressive ?
>
> > Graham
>
> Why are British posters to RAD so consistently arrogant, narrowminded,
> and prone to making offensive stereotypical judgements?
>
> nate

Lol. <rolls eyes>
-----

- gpsman

Eeyore wrote:

> 223rem wrote:
>
>> I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
>> SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
>> Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
>> couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
>> of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
>> curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
>> the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
>> shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
>> afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
>> new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
>> that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?
>
> Why are US drivers so aggressive ?

That wasn't aggression, it was stupidity and/or inattention. Pretty much
universal, I think, but the US is less inclined to kill the stupid out of hand
than some other countries. Sometimes "equal protection" isn't all it's cracked
up to be.

--
Cheers, Bev
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo
If it weren't for pain, we wouldn't have any fun at all.

223rem wrote:
> Behind me there was a shiny black
> Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
> couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
> of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
> curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
> the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
> shoulder.

Maybe that was a new "feature" for stupid drivers, avoiding the crash by
driving off the road. There should also be a feature added that forces
the car to accelerate when merging into traffic.

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:26:10 -0700 (PDT), 223rem > wrote:

>I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
>SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
>Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
>couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
>of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
>curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
>the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
>shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
>afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
>new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
>that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?

Among the "cures" for a tailgater that I've contemplated, I think maybe a
photoflash rigged to fire out the rear window every 5 seconds or so might do
the trick, and not be illegal. Could even attach a camera and say you wanted
a picture of all the idiots that are trying to get you killed... Maybe rig
that old, 70's Honeywell Strobonar 880 that will burn the chrome off their
front bumper when it fires...

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:11:21 +0100, Eeyore
> wrote:

>
>
>223rem wrote:
>
>> I was in the carpool lane of a busy surface street ("expressway", with
>> SL 50 mph) in rush hour traffic. Behind me there was a shiny black
>> Mercedes AMG with dealer plates. He was following so closely that I
>> couldnt see his headlights at times. We approach stopped traffic (lots
>> of brakelights were clearly visible ahead as the road was gently
>> curving) and instead of braking I downshift, and in the mirror I see
>> the Mercedes veering sharply left and coming to a stop on the left
>> shoulder. He then shook his fist at me, but he kept his distance
>> afterward. I then exited, and had a chance to have a look at his brand
>> new car and its idiot driver giving me the finger. Was it my fault
>> that he was on autopilot, relying on my brakelights on when to brake?
>
>Why are US drivers so aggressive ?
>
>Graham

'Cuz we have so many abject boneheads on the road its real easy to get fed up
with them, and driving in general.
>