Texas Tailgater

[Pauls1150]

Here's a clip and a news article from Dallas -

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Army-Vet-Survives-Motorcycle-Crash-on-Tollway-120670244.html

[TexasT]

I get tailgated constantly while riding through any city along I-35, in Texas or any other state up through Minnesota. It makes me nervous because I am always wondering what the moron is thinking or doing behind me.

I am very grateful that this CPL survived, and I hope he does ride again. Problem is, he will only have another idiot right up behind him, as we all do everyday.

Tickets? How about attempted manslaughter? In Killeen, if we get cut off on our bikes and we go down (which has happened to 3 different friends of mine in the past 2 months), we get cited for "failure to maintain control" even when it was the fault of the driver of the automobile.

A slap on the wist will not discourage any driver from tailgating a rider. It's time we got organized and started demanding stiffer penalties for these fools who are trying to injure or even kill us!

[PGlaves]

Even though I worked for 32 years as a City Planner I am a country boy. Look at where I live now. I have a love hate relationship with Interstates and other divided multi-lane controlled access, roadways. I particularly hate riding on them in metropolitan urban areas. I will ride a considerable number of miles or hours to avoid needing to ride in or through the likes of Chicago, Dallas, Cleveland, Seattle, or similar cities. There is a special place on my dislike list for both Los Angeles and Atlanta because of the total willful disregard for any semblance of safety among the thundering hordes that drive there.

I once got on I-95 just south of Washington DC intending to ride it for 32 miles to an exit I wanted. I rode exactly 1.5 miles and took the first available exit. I then found my way to where I was going on nice back roads. That 1.5 miles was all I could take of four lanes of traffic rolling along side by side and bumper to bumper at 80 mph with a fraction of a second spacing, and an array of constantly blinking brake lights as far forward as I could see upsetting the flow even worse. I knew somebody would get rear ended and then chaos and carnage would follow. According to the news that night it did, as usual.

So while I hate riding on these roads, I am glad they exist as magnets for the brain dead motorists which frequent them. They keep massive amounts of traffic off of the roads I prefer to ride - whether on a short trip or a summer ride around the continent.

If for just one day troopers would massively ticket drivers for tailgating I'd cheer loudly. If they made it a priority instead of speeding I'd be ecstatic.

It used to be that was a tough ticket because it was "he said - she said" and officers much preferred the technology of radar to back their opinions. But now, in the days of dashcams they have new technology to support tailgating tickets.

I would actually be in favor of the use of cameras and tickets-by-mail if the tickets were for following too closely.

And a massive crackdown on tailgating would prevent far more accidents and save far more folks from injury or death than speeding tickets will ever do, in my opinion.

Rant mode off.

[AKBeemer]

Enough with the equivocation.... say your piece. :p

[PGlaves]

Enough with the equivocation.... say your piece. :p

OK. I love 4 lane divided roadways. The pavement is often quite good and the geometrics and drainage usually work quite well. It is actually all the drivers, in all the cars, with their newspapers, nail polish, razors, lipstick, cell phones, video games, and self-centered sense of self importance that mildly irritate me.

[AKBeemer]

It became clear to me that the urban freeway was to be avoided when I was passed in rush hour traffic by a man eating noodles with chop sticks while reading his morning paper. He will be speaking in complete honesty when he says to the officer investigating the accident he caused when he says, "I did not see him."

[Pauls1150]

I've lost a bike to due to such an idiot. I've always enhanced the rear lighting & reflectors (plastic and/or Scotchlite and/or trucker's tape) on every bike since then; it's helps "somewhat", but you can't fix stupid.

I typically ride in the left tire track - hopefully this puts me directly in the driver's line of sight, so he cannot subconsciously look "past" or "through" me. This is especially bad with SUVs since they sit up higher.
When I pick up a 'gator (and around here, that's pretty often), flashing the brake light MIGHT help...
Sometimes I'll do a few quick wiggles back & forth in the lane, hopefully it'll wake him up or make him wonder "what the heck is he doing?"

I also have a little custom frame around my license plate...
IF YOU CAN READ THIS
____________
| |
| |
|____________|
BACK THE F*** OFF

[henzilla]

I used to commute in Houston in the 70's on a bike...scarey days and I got knocked down twice from a tail hit. Once by a mother dropping her kids off and putting on mascara. I never got on I-45 and still had issues.
Have driven thru Dallas because my trusty wingman thought Sunday morning would be light...surprise, it was NASCAR weekend and insane:bolt

Then I moved to Austin and got back to it. I rarely got on I-35 on a bike or four wheeler because driving a two- ton service body as I did daily was also a scarey proposition. The Motor LEO's rarely worked I-35 thru town due to it's unsafe characteristics. If you have driven that stretch, you understand.

When I got bumped on a divided four lane road one afternoon on my RT while easing along at a whopping 10MPH, I put the sidestand down and walked back to ask the lady in the BMW convertible on the phone AND touching up her makeup "if she wanted to date me, there were better ways to get my attention", and "was she going to send me some flowers & a card since she was so dang close?". She left two car lengths between us until I could exit:whistle

I just got back from a run to Redondo Beach, CA from TX...Had to freeway it some upon entering the Golden State to get anywhere. I couldn't filter or lane split as easy as others I watched cause my big ol' GSA and Micatech cases are a wide load.
Gotta say, those SoCal drivers rival anything I have seen on a bike in recent years. They have a hands free cellphone law carrying a huge fine, but you see a lot of looker-downers doing something stupid. I was a hyper-lite brake tappin' fool on several occasions. I did enjoy free use of the carpool lanes and ability to find a space cushion while in them...usually! I crossed a double yellow marker to avoid a run over a few times, rather take a chance on a carpool lane violation than a hit.

[SeabeckS]

I too used to commute by bike when the weather was reasonably nice...until...

In July several years back, it was national "Ride to Work Day", and even though it was a bit of hassle for me to ride that particular day, I did it. Two miles short of my destination a woman in a Subaru decided to use the same space in the HOV lane that my Ducati happened to inhabit at the same moment of time.

I survived with very minor injuries, the bike was a total loss. When the state trooper asked her to provide her license, registration, and proof of insurance, the first words out of her mouth were, "I never saw him". The trooper stared at her for about 15 seconds, then in a sort of irritated tone of voice said, "no ma'am, YOU NEVER LOOKED!" (Hard to see a bright red motorcycle, with headlight on high beam, rider wearing a white helmet)

Silver lining to my spill (in addition to lack of serious injury) was my witness was an off duty city police officer. He "badged" the trooper and told him what had occurred. This accident was on a sunny day, but also happened to be on a day when that particular driver was late for work and was busy using her cell phone to tell her boss about the delay.

Now I'm retired, so I can, and do, avoid freeways whenever possible. Too many idjits on the road for this old boy...

:lurk