Ooops. I was driving along tonight, getting ready to enter the on ramp for 95, when I noticed someone following me really closely. I was in 3rd gear and I wanted 4th, so I shifted and accidentally wound up in 2nd, so the car slowed down rather quickly without any brakelights.

I think this really pissed the tailgater off, because he/she (it was a Nissan Altima 2.5 with Maryland tags) started flashing their brights at me on the single-lane on ramp, as though I could move over to the right lane and let them pass.

I concluded that someone so skilled in the art of high-beam flashing would surely be aware that the left lane is generally the lane used for passing, but alas, this driver proceeded to tailgate me in the right lane of I95 (the left and middle lanes were empty). I slowed down and eventually he/she passed.

So, to whomever that was, I'm really sorry if my accidental gear selection caused you to piss your pants but maybe, if you have an IQ over room temperature, you might have learned something from that experience.

tailgater h8r Wrote:
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> So, to whomever that was, I'm really sorry if my
> accidental gear selection caused you to piss your
> pants but maybe, if you have an IQ over room
> temperature, you might have learned something from
> that experience.

let me guess what we have all learned from this story. people that drive really slow are too incompetent to operate their own car properly and are the sole reason for slowing down traffic. did i get it right?

ok, i really didnt mean that but it was a perfect setup.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I wasn't driving any slower than the car in front of me.

Well, till I hit 2nd anyways.

I have a techtronic shift, and I've never driven a true manual shift car, so I wonder if it is bad for the transmission to "brake" the car by shifting down, suddenly at high speeds.

I have a bunch of copies of a bumper sticker that says "Hey Tailgaters! If you're going to ride my ass, at least wear a condom!". I'm not gay, just a smart-ass. If you want one, email me. I'll sell them for 1$ apiece.

drivers like you are what cause acciidents
too bad you didnt burn

Ilovegravis Wrote:
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> I have a techtronic shift, and I've never driven a
> true manual shift car, so I wonder if it is bad
> for the transmission to "brake" the car by
> shifting down, suddenly at high speeds.


The transmission doesn't matter as long as during the actual shifting period there is no grinding, nor immediately after the shift change the RPMs don't exceed the fuel cut-off restriction to the engine, there is no damage to the trans nor the engine.

I guess maybe this is why you're supposed to leave a 2-second following distance?

I couldn't even see the ground in front of this guy's car, that's how close he was.

There might have been a little bit of clutch wear due to my shifting down like that, but that's probably insignificant.

tailgater h8r Wrote:
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> I guess maybe this is why you're supposed to leave
> a 2-second following distance?
>
> I couldn't even see the ground in front of this
> guy's car, that's how close he was.
>
> There might have been a little bit of clutch wear
> due to my shifting down like that, but that's
> probably insignificant.

2 second following distance on the highway is tailgating.

It's supposed to be one second per 10 mph you are travelling. Going 40 or so on a mixing bowl exit ramp means the driver should have been four seconds behind.

Yea, you're right. When I had driver's ed it was always a 2-second rule, but I think they changed that to a 4-second rule a few years later and then a 1 second per 10MPH rule after that.

pgens Wrote:
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> 2 second following distance on the highway is
> tailgating.
>
> It's supposed to be one second per 10 mph you are
> travelling. Going 40 or so on a mixing bowl exit
> ramp means the driver should have been four
> seconds behind.

at 40MPH that would be 234.3 feet behind the next car and 443.6 at 55MPH. now... let's take 495 with this very optimistic speed and distance. there is enough road on this planet to handle the number of cars that travel at the same time on 495 with these figures. now let's take a more realistic speed of 70MPH on 495. you would need 718.6 feet between each car. that's over 2 football fields. try being realistic when it come to traffic.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pgens Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 2 second following distance on the highway is
> > tailgating.
> >
> > It's supposed to be one second per 10 mph you
> are
> > travelling. Going 40 or so on a mixing bowl
> exit
> > ramp means the driver should have been four
> > seconds behind.
>
> at 40MPH that would be 234.3 feet behind the next
> car and 443.6 at 55MPH. now... let's take 495
> with this very optimistic speed and distance.
> there is enough road on this planet to handle the
> number of cars that travel at the same time on 495
> with these figures. now let's take a more
> realistic speed of 70MPH on 495. you would need
> 718.6 feet between each car. that's over 2
> football fields. try being realistic when it come
> to traffic.

First Gravis, I didn't invent the rule. Second, you create your own "realism" in how far back you drive behind someone because it is easy for the driver to control. Given how shitty you have admitted to driving, perhaps you have been to a AAA defensive driving course as I have when I used to be a shitty driver. In there they teach you about creating a safe space cushion around your vehicle and that includes not following so close. Is ~720 feet excessive at 70 mph? Probably, but if you are only two car lengths behind someone at 70mpg you are going to hit them if they hit the brakes to avoid hitting someone in front of them.

You are better off in the insurance arena if in a chain reaction accident someone rear ends you but you don't rear end someone else. But I don't see where your view of "realistic" driving on 495 changes the braking power of typical vehicles. Nothing on the road comes to a complete halt from 70 mph in two seconds.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2006 11:31AM by pgens.

it's called engine braking, it's fine.

yeah if you have a lambo

no. it's fine.

well, specifically it'd be cool if we knew what kind of car it was. unless he wound up 3rd all the way to, say, 70 (like my short geared car), and immediately downshifted, i almost guarantee his car is fine. 60... maybe 50 mph followed by a downshift to 2nd isn't a great idea, but it won't result in anything other than an obvious lurch as the transmission matches engine speed. you really only have to worry if the motor is suddenly and dramatically introduced to a shitload of power. that can result in bent valves and other crappy problems.

believe me - i've seen what happens when you go from 5th to 2nd at about 80mph in an m3. THAT is a problem.

if he is rev matching then its fine

I was going about 35MPH. On ramp is posted for 25MPH (it's a loop). This happened before the onramp, in the enter/exit merge area between the loops. 2nd gear in that car redlines at about 58MPH or so. That car has 134,000 miles and 11 years on it so if this did any damage, boo hoo.

going alot slower than i thought

Nothing worse than being stuck in front of a tailgater and behind a Toyota minivan. It's like the forces of light and dark want to collide with you in the middle.

I have equal hate both for morons who can't analyze a situation and react, such as speeding up if the ramp isn't so dangerous after all, and tailgaters, who know they will be at fault if the accident happens and yet usually take the position that the lead driver was wrong.

I also have no love for Jerry Falwell, OPEC, Gary Trudeau, the Washington Times, Post, Examiner, and Blade, and Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream. All those chunks just ain't part of proper universal order.

But the Broadside is cool?

I bear no ill will towards the broadside

Six years after the original posting and I had this happen to me - well, I didn't shift to a lower gear but only allowed my car to slowly reduce speed until I was at the speed limit. I would have loved to have a cop in the vicinity at the time.

hmm..a nissan with md tags..what color do you think the driver was...

poop?

I would have pulled up next to you and shot at you.

Ralph Pootawn Wrote:
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> I would have pulled up next to you and shot at
> you.

You sir are a moron.

mikumsmukim Wrote:
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> Ralph Pootawn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I would have pulled up next to you and shot at
> > you.
>
> You sir are a moron.


Go fuck yourself

I was in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago and I was amazed by how much better they are out there about lane discipline. I mean they actually had lane discipline for a start, and the only car I saw that didn't had out of state plates. It was pretty cool, as was the desert. And the mountains.

Maryland plates - black
Nissan Altima - black female

This has been Race and Gender Profiling with Gonads & Strife

Gonads & Strife Wrote:
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> Maryland plates - black
> Nissan Altima - black female
>
> This has been Race and Gender Profiling with
> Gonads & Strife


It's funny... cuz it's 98.7% chance that's spot on!! LOL