Remember the last time you went for a peaceful afternoon drive? Think about it, the green country side slowly rolling by, your radio playing your favorite tunes that obnoxious driver in your rear view mirror attached to your bumper. Yes, the tailgating phenomenon affects everyone on the road. Tailgating is annoying and dangerous, yet as a self-admitted tailgater fun and satisfying. Another admitted tailgater Sharla Supnet says,
I must admit that I am a tailgater. I think the main reason why I do this is revenge for another driver. (One day) I was, driving home in the fast lane. When all of a sudden, the car next to me decides he wants to get into my lane without checking to see if I was there. If I didn't move, he would've side swiped me and that would be the end of my car. I guess he saw my gestures because right away he cut back into his own lane. That is where the tailgating began. I followed him into his lane and tailgated him until he cut over two lanes away from me.Was Sharla justified for tailgating when she did? Many would say yes, as the driver she tailgated did deserve to be punished, although her anger and actions to punish the other driver ended up being just as irresponsible and dangerous. Another studentAaronReisner believes that...
most tailgaters do not realize to the full extent what they are doing. From the observations I made about myself and others, most people only tail when they are in a hurry. They are not doing it to be mean or anything else. The reason I say this is because when I was in a hurry and started to tail someone, that person let me go. (Sometimes) if you rely on their (other drivers) humanity, you might just be surprised with the results.Unlike Sharla, Aaron is obviously a very positive driver but also a tailgater relying on nice or irritated people (humanity can be read in different ways) to let him pass when ever he feels like going a little bit faster. However, is Aaron really a cool guy or the devil in disguise as Terri Slaughter puts it? Terri says,
The worst tailgater is the ones that do it on purpose or are aware that they are doing it. How can you tell that the person is aware of tailgating you ask? Well, when you look in your rear view mirror and you make eye contact with the devil and your breaking to indicate that you would like that person to get off your tail, that's how you can tell. It's all in the eyes. Morally, it is not right to tailgate if done maliciously and once aware of doing it, the person should morally stop tailgating. After all, it is not right to endanger or intimidate anyone else.Terri is absolutely correct in her summation of tailgaters. Yes, we tailgaters really are the devil in disguise because we know we are wrong and completly unjustified by trying to force our will on others, yet we continue to do it. Each one of the students I quoted admitted to this and yet two of them including my self still readily admitted that they were tailgaters themselves. It is so easy to take tailgating for granted. I could probably go the rest of my life blowing it off as no big deal but for the fact that I now know tailgating is wrong. By tailgating I neglect all logical, ethical and spiritual standards. Stop being silly and admit to the problem! Keep your car bumpers to yourselves!
Report 1: What is Traffic Psychology
Report 3: The Three Domains of Traffic Psychology
Report4:What is a Driving Personality Makeover?
Report 6: My Self Witnessing Driving Experiment
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