Now they’re stressed out and it’s making them act nasty I think.

I hardly drive anywhere and traffic is still way down. However, the idiots who were idiots before are still idiots. Had a tailgater myself recently in a 30 mph residential area. WHERE on earth could this person be going in such a hurry?

.... I used to speed up in order to shake a tailgater. A State Trooper told me I had it backwards. He said that if you want to get a tailgater off your ass, just start slowing down. That was 20 years ago, and I've had a 100% success rate since. "In a hurry to get somewhere? Well, it's going to take a lot longer now." They get the message pretty quick.

to turn on my windshield wipers and press the "wash" button. At any speed at all, the fluid flies straight back to the tailgater's windshield.

I've actually done that before in my pre-slow down days. Problem was, back then, it was rare I owned a vehicle that had a working wiper fluid mechanism.

If someone was really being an ass about tailgating me I would stomp the accelerator to the floor board. The car wouldn't go any faster (I used to say it could go 0 to 60 in five minutes) but a huge cloud of black smoke would pour out of the tailpipe making it impossible for the tailgater to see anything, plus it smelled bad. They'd back off pretty quick.

If you can't see where you are going, the last place you want to be is on somebody's ass.

Maybe the pickup truck in the other lane would've slowed down too in this instance?

It was very bizarre. The car apparently couldn't temporarily change lanes to continue their race, or whatever the hell they were doing?

They remained side-by-side as they drove really fast down the road. No cop to be seen, of course.

I don't think you will be disappointed.
Like you, I don't know how many times I've said to myself, or to a passenger and my car, "Where's a cop when you need one?"

Nowadays I not sure you would like to know where the cops are or what they are doing.

.... and I'm talking about 45 or 50 years or so, and before I was "woke" to the grim reality that is evident today, my smarter older brother told me to think of the cops as a "necessary evil". What he meant was, you hate it when they pulled in behind you with the blue lights on, but, if you're being mugged at knife or gun point, there is no one you would rather see. At the time I thought it was a pretty good definition.

I once had a TG riding my bumper on a single lane road, I kept my speed legal, as it was a notorious speed trap, and the light turned yellow, I hit both the brakes and gas and ran the yellow, making him have to slam on his brakes.

Me sped on smiling, leaving the idiot swearing in my dust.

These moments give us more pleasure than they should, hehheh

"These moments give us more pleasure than they should, hehheh"

....yes they do.

I usually stick 5 miles above the limit because both Clayton and Englewood speed check all over. Especially on Union.

If I am turning left I get in that lane. They go right, fly past me. We get to the light, the arrow turns green, I sail past. Still childish enough to think,Ahah!

Sweet? HELL YEAH!!

if there is a tailgater. I don't think its safe, but she says they back off. She drives fast, and I'm surprised anyone can keep up.

Not only do you make the tailgater angrier, but there is always the chance they are not paying attention and you end up in an accident with a good chance of injuries. If there is an accident, brake checking is considered illegal even if someone is tailgating you. If there is a witness to the brake checking it could go against your daughter in the legal sense. Someone else may have a different view on brake checking, so it will be up to you and your daughter to decide what is best for you.

I drive 10-15 km/h above the speed limit (8-10mph), which is pretty common here in Ontario. Haven’t gotten a speeding ticket in 20+ years, so it’s kind of the expected allowable speed above the limit cops tolerate. When a tailgater comes up behind me I will often speed up just a little, because I know I’m not at the top end of “allowable” speeding. If they continue to tailgate (and they almost always do), I slow right down to the posted limit. After a minute of that, I’ll go back up to my normal speed. They usually get the message.

I think some people just subconsciously want to tailgate. Being right behind a car gives them a sense of security, like “I know how fast to go because I’m right behind another car”. They won’t pass, even when given a chance (and encouragement via me slowing down), so my little trick seems to break them out of it. Just a little poke to say hey man, stop riding my tail!

I guess there are several good methods of dealing with tailgaters. I would however, discourage those methods that could be dangerous such as brake checking, and speeding up to a dangerous limit.

I believe some people get the message.

Maybe they see the writing on the wall and they can't cope with it.

I felt sorry for the woman because she looked even more poor than me, and walked like she was exhausted after getting off work in the heat. Then she acted furious at me despite me trying to be pleasant and courteous, so my attitude changed to "meh."

The county is purple, but I'm pretty sure that my town is red. Lots of Trump signs in 2016, and Trump won a mock election at my town's middle school with about 65% of the vote. I'm assuming that several girls voted for Hillary even if their parents voted for Trump, so the real election was probably even worse here. The racial demographics here are about the same for the state overall, though.

I suppose the people in your area must be very frustrated with what they must see right now. Trump is failing badly, and has failed them badly, and they are probably panicking.

They probably put all their faith in him, and they are realizing on some level it's all a complete bust. Their anger must be just spilling out all over the place and they are directing it toward anyone but the person who is responsible.

The drivers of the two vehicles might have decided to bully everyone else off the road, to get back a sense of "control" or something weird like that.

There was another car in the distance that they were approaching, but I stopped paying attention for whatever reason. Maybe they did the same thing to that driver? I just sat quietly in the parking lot for awhile before pulling onto the road again.

Was the string of Obama signs in Oakwood. No Trump signs in 2016.

I think they still have one of the highest-rated public schools in all of Ohio, and probably rated the best in Dayton.

My town's school district is "average" for the Dayton area, I think, in terms of average SAT scores and such. I'm still surprised by all the Trump signs that I saw in 2016, though. Maybe it'll be different this time around?

Hint: I live where Trump gave a speech and a student from Wright State rushed the stage.

Crossroads of the Country.

I live a couple of blocks from I 70.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, a daily occurrence. I had a driver on my tail, decides to pass me and the car in front of me, with a double yellow, this ass had to swerve over to avoid a collision with another vehicle, coming from the opposite direction.

I've been mostly isolating myself for the last three months, so I probably don't know the half of it.

Just wait until the coronavirus $600/week ends.

People are gonna lose it big time.

On the autobahn especially, people do this even at 120 MPH (200KPH) if you dare drive at that speed (we don't).

In other words, nothing has changed much here. Just normal driving habits.

My poor Dad driving a rental Beetle, trying to get around slower trucks without a Mercedes, BMW or Porsche quickly appearing out of the blue with flashing headlights.

That was expected over there, and Dad tried to comply with the customs as best he could with that weak little car.

I wasn't driving slow in this instance, and I think their whole point was to make me get off the road. I couldn't change lanes with the pickup truck always alongside me, matching my speed, and the car was right on my bumper the whole time. Then they sped along, side-by-side, after I finally pulled off. They probably did the same thing to the driver that I saw in the distance ahead of them.

Some do it behind the wheel. Some do it behind the desk of the Oval Office.

... Trump is a bully-fascist like them.

Edit: The weirdest part about Germany for my family was the STARING. We were a quiet family, but the Germans could tell we were Americans and looked at us like they were watching a TV set while eating their meals. They didn't look angry at all, but just nonchalantly stared. Lol.

Whereas most people with evil whims know to keep their behavior in check, knowing that Trump is there lets some of them feel that they are now free to act upon their worst instincts, since the country's leader does it it every day.

Having a Biden bumper sticker can be dicey these days. Still, I'm keeping mine.

It's an old Toyota Camry with nothing on it. Maybe they were thinking, "Damn kung flu car!" Lol.

I think they planned to do it to anyone. I saw them in the rearview mirror speeding towards me in both lanes, surely before they could see any details, and then they both slowed down to a little over the speed limit to "box me in" or whatever.

Idiots.

people were at their limits. Now many minds have just snapped. I still don't think people realize just how dangerous a time we are at right now. Every institution is broken and it may be permanent.

People are tired of quarantine, being afraid, the insanity of the president and scared of their job security and finances.

It didn’t need to be this bad but our leadership at the federal level sucks. I live in a blue state and our governor and my mayor went into action right away but if you live a red state you are screwed.

what with quarantine. The idiots aren't really driving more erratically, but it seems like it, because the sane people aren't on the road as much.

treated as important.

There are lots of jokes about 4 drivers in a 4-way stop all waving each other on for hours. Still true.

However I've noticed that people want to make sure you understand they are smiling under their masks.

Eye crinkles are the rage. Much easier to do when we're a bit more "mature" than the average.

So that woman's reaction was odd, and I started wondering if she was mentally disturbed and needed meds or something.

Then there was the incident with the cars not long thereafter.

Ugh, maybe just one of those days?

I'm sorry that it is happening to you.

Best of luck to you.

Impetuous honker, white lining idiots on motorcycles, and more hotheaded pickup truck driving than usual.

It was ridiculous, so many angry drivers on I-35. They weren’t even good at driving aggressively, no, people were driving emotionally. I mean, it wasn’t even a full moon when people tend to drive all batty.

Y’all take care extra on the road. People are stressed and pissy behind the wheel. Folks gotta let some of the angst go before starting the car.

I’m glad you posted this, Buckeye, because I was thinking this kind of PSA was needed.

As others stated in this thread, there's a bunch of reasons for people to be more stressed lately.

That, indeed, Tuesday, was a standout for bad driving in my area. Want folks to be safe.

First tournament this season for my senior softball team (60 Major division).

I'm already concerned about social distancing, and now I'll have to look out for crazies too.

I noticed yesterday people were a lot more polite in the grocery, lots of "sorry" and "excuse me" if they needed to pass somebody else in the lane. It's working both ways, some people snarling and acting out while others are realizing we're all in this together.

Cognitive dissonance has to be excruciating for Chumps. Around here, it's expressed in revving engines, fireworks every night, and gunfire that I sincerely hope isn't aimed at anyone else. I would suggest we all tread lightly around them until that asshole is gone.