• Introduction
• Taligaters of the Past:

• Tailgating...Guilty as Charged
• Morality of Tailgating
• Conclusion
• For Future Tailgaters...
• Epilogue

 Introduction

    Tailgating has two different meanings.  This report is about the one nobody likes.  It is about that annoying habit people have of drivng much too close.  You are either guilty of committing the offense or been a victim of others who've done it or both.
There are many reasons why people tailgate.  However, I think it is mostly because people are in a hurry.  They are impatient and don't want to wait.  Tailgating is a no-win situation.  The tailgatee gets upset because he's being tailgated, and the tailgaters gets upset because he's not getting his way.

 Tailgaters of the Past
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1.Sandra Scarbrough, G4

    For Sandra, tailgating is probably one of the most annoying habits people have when driving. It wastes energy and time spent better else where. In her opinion, this particular habit is annoying for everyone involved. Just think of all the energy a person uses up just to kiss bumpers with the person in front of them. The energy the tailgater uses is negative energy that could be used for more posotive things in life. Sandra agrees with the writer of Tailgaters Need Therapy. The writer states that the tailgaters are aggressive, and impatient people.  She believes this because of personal experience. She also believes that there may be some exceptions like Kevin Bogan. He says that sometimes he tailgates when he is late for an important meeting. However this still does not justify this annoying habit.
    Sandra , herself havebeen a tailgater but stopped after one of her tailgater friends got into an accident.  She also would like to add that her tailgating friend also stopped. After seeing all the things she had to go through after that accident she learned her lesson. In her opinion, some of these tailgaters don't think of these implications or consequenses, they are being over-ruled by their emotions. If the tailgater would stop and seriously think about why he is angry, maybe the driver will realize it's not worth it.
    Sandra see tailgating as "not nice" and pointless. The only results you get out of tailgating is a bad attitude. The tailgater gets irritated and fustrated because of it. The tailgated get irritated and annoyed also. Therefore when you add that together all you get is a couple of pissed off drivers. In her report, Sandra points out thatTodd Crawford has a good point on the morality of tailgating,he points out that tailgating is an infringment on the driver.  She agrees with Todd because when she's tailgated I do feel like the other driver is putting undue stress on me. Stress that usually leads to irritation, than she ends up lashing out at other drivers. The tailgater has just started a chain reaction of hostility.
    Snadra believe tailgating is a form of power people will use to control the driver in front of them. The reason why they tailgate is because they want to force the person in front of them to drive faster or get out of thier way. The tailgater may think for example,"You WILL drive faster, or you WILL get out of my way." If a frequnt tailgater listens to thier own self witnessing report they may here something similar to this. Sandra believes that it is unethical, unfair, unjustifiable, and spiritually wrong to tailgate. She sees it as forcing your will on other person with out their consent.

2.Kathy Teruya, G6

    If a tailgater succeeds in getting away with their behavior it reinforces their actions to continue to do it. For example, if a tailgater follows a car that drives too slow and the slow vehicle moves out of the way, it reinforces the tailgater's behavior because he got his way by tailgating. Kathy does not believe that being a tailgater is fair, morally right, or can be justifiable in any way. In Her report, Kathy Teruya recalls an incident when she was being tailgated. One day, she was driving in traffic, and was trying to merge onto the freeway, but the traffic was moving slowly with cars trying to get onto the freeway and cars trying to get off the freeway. She was trying to merge into the lane, but there was not much space between cars. Therefore, when traffic came to a halt, there wasn't much space to react. Although she stopped in time and had enough space in front of her to not hit the other car, the cars behind her did not have enough space to make a complete stop, therefore, causing a four car accident.
    Like everyone who drives, Kathy admits to have tailgated on couple occassions, she is not proud of her actions. She believes that drivers should not take the law into their own hands, especially since there are other alternatives instead of tailgating. She suggest having a stress ball while you're driving. So, instead of squeezing your car on another person's bumper you can squeeze your anger into the stress ball.

3.Holly Ishikawa, G8

    Holly believes that tailgating can be serious, harmful, and/or dangerous, not only to the driver who's being tailgated, but also to the tailgater, and the other drivers on the road.  It also has moral implications, especially if it's a conscious act, since it can ilicit fear, anxiety, and tension. Holly gives personal experience as an example.  The incident happened when she was driving home on the freeway going about 60mph and the car behind her was tailgating her. When she noticed him behind her, she immeditely looked at her speedometer because she thought she was driving too slow, but she noticed that she was going above the speed limit. However, it made her nervous that he was driving so close behind, that her first impulse was to drive faster because she did not want to upset him anymore by her "so-called slow driving."  Shen thinking back on that situation, Holly realized that tailgating can be very dangerous because she could've got into an accident since she was too preoccupied about the tailgater and was not paying much attention to the road and the other cars around her.
    Holly didn't give an definate answer to whether or not she thinks tailgating is ethically or morally wrong.  However, she does believe that tailgating is a moral issue, if tailgating is defined as following too close to another car with the intention to coerce or punish the other driver when you think they have done something wrong to you. Given that definition, tailgating appears to be not only morally wrong, but also ethically wrong because there is an evil intentionbehind it, either to force a behavior on another driver and/or to cause harm or distress.

4.Michael Silva, G8

    Michael believes that tailgating is neither fair nor ethical.  In his opinion, tailgating is a reflection of our society in that we feel as motorists it is our privilege to force our wishes onto others.  Ever changing moods and differing driving techniques clash when motorists feel they will control the actions of another by tailgating causing confusion, aggravation and panic. We all must work to make our roads a safer place to share. In all the reports I've read about tailgating so far, I think Michael's view has the most psychological perspective on it.  As I said above, he points out the soceity's role as well as our own role in that soceity in why people feel the need to tailgate.
    He compares tailgating to drunk driving.  Saying that in both cases the drivers are disregardind other's safety and are oblivious to anyone but themselves.
    Michael also believes that tailgating is not justifiable.  No matter what the situation, people don't have the right to pressure others into doing something they're not comfortable with.  Especially if it  can compromise their safety.  As for the moral and ethical percespective, he feels basically the same.  He feels that it is ethically and morally wrong.  Nobody likes to be tailgated.

5. Terrence Nakamatsu, G10

    Terrence explains tailgating as a vehicle following another vehicle too closely.  He sees it as a personal issue.  The tailgater is invading the personal space of the tailgetee.  And when that personal space is invaded we become defensive and or aggressive.  In his report, Terrence extends that personal space to our vehicles.  Like everyone, Terrence also feels that tailgating is neither fair or ethical.  He also brings the role of society and the pressure of society in our lives.
    Like everyone else Terrence does not think that tailgating is either fair or ethical.  He see tailgating as the society's way of forcing our wishes onto others.  He thinks of tailgating as a form of roadrage, which I agree.  Whenever you're driving aggressively with the intention of forcing other people to drive the way you want them to is a form a roadrage.   It is a matter of respect for him.  He also doesn't believe that tailgating is never justifiable, no matter what.

 Tailgating...Guilty as Charged
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    I admitt it, I'm guilty of tailgating.   I ride on other people's bumpers in hopes that they either go faster or move out of my way.  I know it's wrong, I know i hate it when other people tailgate me, yet I can't seem to stop myself from tailgating others.  It has gotten better since I don't have an access to a car anymore, since I'm living away from home, however, whenever I do go home, I resort back to the same tailgating behavior.
I know the feeling of being tailgated, it really stresses me out. I makes me feel that I have to speed up and that makes me like I'm going out of control.  Yet even though I know how stressful it can be to be tailgated by someone, I do it anyway.
    I think maybe I do it because someone has done it to me.  I feel like why should I be the only one that's getting stressed because someone's closing in on me.  Even though I know that's not true, I can't help myself.  I try not to do as so much whenever I'm driving, but sometimes it can't be help.  Like when I'm in a traffic jam where practically every car is just inches away from each other.
    I couldn't do a self experiment on tailgating because I don't have a car, so my account of tailgating are from memory.  When I'm tailgated, it makes me think that I'm going too slow and I feel pressured to go faster than I'm prepared to go.  That really stresses me out because I give into the pressure and speed up, which in turns makes me feel and think that I have less control of my car.  I feel nervous that I'm going so fast.  That I won't be able to react in time to prevent something if I'm going so fast.  Then I get upset that the person tailgating me is giving me so much stress.
    When I'm the the that's doing the tailgating, it's a different story though.  I get upset that the person in front of me is going so slow.   I don't think about the why the person in front of me is going so slow, I just want them out of my way so that I can have a clear path to my destination.  I know that I should know better and infact, I do know better, yet I don't act it.

 Morality of Tailgating

    I agree with everyone.  Tailgating is wrong.  It is putting yourself as well as the other drivers and other people that may be involved in needless danger.  However, I don't the the people who engage in tailgating think that way.  They only think about the present.  The moment when he or she can get out from the behind of the slow moving car and be on their way.  They want that instant gratification when they see the clear road and can speed away.  Probably for the people doing the tailgating, it is a convenient way to make other people do what you want and it's no big deal.  However, for the people being tailgated, it probably is a very stressful and upsetting event for them.  They prabably feel a  bit confused because they don't know why the other person is tailgating them.  Is it because they were driving too slow or did they do something to offend some other driver and now that driver wants revenge?  Not knowing why they are being tailgated can add to their stress of being tailgated.
    I don't know how tailgating is related to ethics or spirits, but I do believe that it is morally wrong and unfair and not justifiable.  Even though sometimes I give in to the urge of tailgating, I recognize that it is wrong.

 Conclusion

    Tailgating is an all-around bad driving habit, no matter how you look at it.  It is another form of aggression, coercing other people to do things your way.  You show your aggression by driving way too close to the car in front of you, sometimes by honking your horn as well.  No matter how slow the car in front of you is going, he or she is not doing on purpose, at least most of the time.  Most of the time they don't even know that they are going slow and blocking traffic.
    Tailgating happens because people get impatient.  They get impatient at driving at a certain speed and waiting.  That impatience often leads to frustration which in turn can lead to anger.  And being angry while you're driving is very dangerous.  You become more reckless and oblivious to others.  
 

 For Future Tailgaters...

Hey you future tailgaters.  I know that some of you at one time or another in your driving history have or will have tailgated.  Even though you know it's bad, sometimes you just can't help it.  My advices for you tailgaters is that think carefully about why you tailgate.  Is is just for fun, revenge, in a hurry, etc.  Another advice is that if you don't have a care, like me, and can't do the experimentm relie on your memory.  Also, you could ask the people around you if they have tailgated and the whys.  You could also ask them things like how did they feel before and after, what did they do, etc.
 

 Epilogue

    I never noticed how much tailgating is part of our driving.  It seemed like everyone was doing it.  Even though I don't drive right now, I remember the feelings and thoughts of when I was tailgated and when I was the tailgatee.  They are very different from each other.  One being  of intimidated while the other being of frustration and anger.
    I haven't really give any thought to tailgating before this report.  I certainly didn't gave any thoughts to the moral or ethical implication of it.  I also didn't think it was wrong to do it.  It was a bad thing to do, but I didn't feel it was strong enough to be a wrong thing to do.  Doing this report make me see how wrong tailgating really is.  It is a form of coercion tactic.  You're trying to force someone to doing what you want, and you don't even know the person.  And you make sure that person knows it.
    Driving can turn the mildest manner person into the incredible hulk.  This report made me realize that I should control myself more when I'm driving.

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