Terence Nakamatsu believes that "tailgating occurs when a vehicle is being followed by another vehicle too closely (closer than normal). Many people have different feelings on how close one has to be to another car to consider it tailgating. I feel that it is a personal issue. It all depends on the situation and on an individuals "personal space." We all define our own personal space. This personal space is an invisible barrier that surrounds us. When someone invades our personal space we tend to become defensive or aggressive. This also applies to us when we are driving.
Terence's defintion of tailgating summarizes of the many definitions of tailgating. I also agree that tailgating is an invasion of space and it is a personal issue when another driver invades that space. When someone tailgates me (that is if I'm paying attention) I tend to get angry at the driver because he/she is invading my personal space on the road. Although we may not own the road, but we as drivers need our space. If another driver passes the line then it is personal.
Juliet Baptista says that "From a moral and ethical aspect, I don?t think that tailgaters think that they?re doing anything wrong. They may feel that they have the right because drivers may tend to only care about themselves."
I agree with Juliet because I too do not realize that I am actually tailgating the car in front of me. I guess it is because that I do not care about the cars around me except the one that I am driving. Drivers do not realize that they are actually tailgating because we do not take the time to think to ourselves as well as time to look and think about our surroundings.
Chris Flores claims that "tailgating is unethical if done on purpose. Being to close if he does and then react by backing off. Tailgating is in most cases wrong and does not really serve a purpose. Most times a person being tailed will not yield just to spite the other driver. Therefore even if you don't agree with other's mistakes on the road it is easier for all to let him go on his ignorant way and think to yourself that you are a better driver than that. The main thing to remember is that it is not your road and it is not your lane so try and think of other's feelings and how your actions could affect those feelings then make a decision on what you are going to do."
I also agree with Chris in that we all need to do as drivers is to be aware of our surroundings as we drive on the road. We also need to realize what we are doing while driving. When a driver is tailgating, we must let them go on their merry way because they may not realize what they are doing. When drivers are in a rush, they only think of getting to their destination and not concentrating on what they are doing. Besides, tailgating is not such a harmful act, or is it?
Cherisse Eguchi states that "having experienced the diversity in traffic and envronments in general, I realized that "tailgating" can mean differently in different situations. I really believe that "tailigating" can have both a negative as well as positve effect depending on where you're driving and when you're driving. I think when I tailgated it was becuase I am in a certain mood. I was in a "bad mood", I was rushing, or I got ticked-off by someone because they took too long to go when the light turned green. I think my thoughts were feelings at the time were negative, my thoughts were irrational, and then my behavior was a result of all this negativity."
I agree that moods determines the way we drive as drivers. Sometimes when I am in a foul mood I do not even realize that I am weaving in and out of traffic and coming so close to a car when switching lanes. I remember a time when I was ticked off and pulled onto the freeway, not realizing that I was tailgating the car in front of me. I did not realize I was tailgating the car in front of me until my friend saw me on the road and told me that I was really tailing the car in front of my car. I think that we all need to realize what exactly we are doing on the road or else we may never change the way we drive.
Joanne Humphreys quotes that "the reason for the behavior could be unconscious. If we look at it this way, we should definitely be wary of self-reports. In my opinion, the reason for tailgating is different for all individuals. Some people could care less while being tailgated while others wish that they had a gun. Some people even are amused by it. Some people do it intentionally for no reason at all. Others will tailgate without even realizing what they are doing."
I agree that some drivers do it for fun. They may feel that they own the road and that they can tailgate the car in front of them because it is not an illegal thing to do because everyone is doing it. I for one sometimes do not care if a car is tailgating me, as long as we both do not get into an accident.
The behavior involved while tailgating is that the driver does not really realize what he/she is doing. When we as drivers tailgate, our behavior may seem aggressive to the car in front of us, but to us, we may just believe that we are in a rush and we are not doing no harm whatsoever. We concentrate on getting to our destination and are not aware of our surroundings and acts as a driver tailgating another. Our feeling at the time of tailgating may be that we are feeling a little anxiety because we are rushing to get to a certain place. We may also feel that the car in front of us may be going a little too fast so we need to hurry them up. Another feeling we may experience as tailgaters is that we just do not realize that we are doing it. The thoughts that run thru our heads could be that this driver in front of us just does not belong on the road. If we are getting tailgated by that car behind us, we may think that this idiot has no patience and no consideration. All in all, there are two sides to the issue of being the tailgater versus being tailgated.
I think that tailgating is definitely a big "no-no." Although I admit that I too tailgate, I realized that tailgating has no plus sides to it. Tailgating can lead to accidents and even fatal ones. The only positive thing that comes out of tailgating is getting there a few seconds early. Being a few seconds late does not compare to getting into an accident or actually killing another or yourself. I see that it feels that we are getting there a little bit earlier and that doing something like tailgating is better than relaxing and taking the road as it comes. When we are all in a rush, we feel that we need to do something and that is why I think we all tailgate. If we as drivers all tailgate then I think that there will be much more hostility on the road and much more accidents. Tailgating is not a way to get to a place faster but rather, planning ahead by leaving early than usual. We all can admit that we do not enjoy being tailgated, then why do we still do it if we think it is not a justifiable way to drive?
I admit that I am a terrible tailgater. When I am on the road all I can think of is that I need to get a certain place at a certain time. I do not realize what I am doing as a driver, weaving back and forth and coming way too close to the driver in front of me. There was one time that I tailgated a woman and she started hitting her brakes. At first I just thought that she had a problem and then I realized that she was telling me to back off. It was very dangerous for me as the tailgater to see her brakes going off and me being too close to her. If I was not paying a close attention to what I was doing I could have created an unfortunate accident. After her gesture, she made me realize that I was actually tailgating someone and I needed to stop. After self-witnessing myself for a week, I actually improved the way I drove on the road. I tried to stay as far as possible from the car in front of me as how much I would want the car in the back of me to be away. When drivers are tailgating me, I retaliate by slowing down to irritate them back as they irritate me. I just think that there is no way of seeing that tailgating can be a good thing for the tailgater and the one being tailgated because at the end, everyone does not win.
Tailgating has its plus and negative sides to it. Tailgating is considered a positive thing because it makes us feel good as drivers in that we are actually doing something to get to our destination a little faster. We may not think about how the car in front of us is feeling, but as long as we get to where we need to get a little faster. In many ways, tailgating is a negative act because we as drivers are not thinking about our acts as well as the feelings of the driver in front of us. We as tailgaters are also considered to be inconsiderate on the road because we are creating hostility between other drivers as well as creating an accident waiting to happen. Although a lot of drivers on the road are tailgating one another and is considered to be a norm, we all need to control our urges on the road but most of all be aware of what we are doing as drivers.
To all of you future generations in improving in this report is to pay real close attention in how you drive. I would recommend that you also bring a buddy to help you realize what you are actually doing on the road. I also would recommend that you carry a tape recorder where you can record yourself while driving. A paper and pen is always better than nothing. It will help you recall faster when you jot down little notes instead of relying on memory so much.
My learning steps throughout this report is that I started at the beginning of a weekend, like a Friday. I found it much more fun to self-witness myself while I'm in a rush to get to a certain place. I did my self-witnessing for tailgating for about a week. A week is a good amount of time to realize what you are as a driver and more importantly a tailgater. A driving buddy is what I used as well as a pen and paper to jot down my acts, thoughts, and feelings while driving. Towards the end of the week I realized more that I definetely needed to do a total make-over especially concentrating on not tailgating so much. After realizing that I was a tailgater, I came to a conclusion that I needed to relax a lot more while driving no matter what the circumstances could be. After my one week witnessing, I can honestly say that I learned to back off a little more than I used to do. I thought about how the other driver was feeling and how I would feel if someone was doing the exact same act as me. I thought of others besides myself and am now aware of my surroundings. Overall, it was a good report to work on because it benefited me to become a better driver and a better person on the road.