Blocking traffic in the left lane should never be done, regardless of who is trying to speed.
That said, some drivers are idiots. They don't care how fast they get there as long as they are passing other cars. Speed up or move to the right, and put a camera out the window and pick up the phone like your calling the police and point. Most will hopefully get the hint.

The best bet is to drive respectfully, keep a constant speed, let others over when they need to, and always leave yourself an out.

I really hate tailgaters....I think they must be the number one cause of accidents? One way I used to deal with them was back when I had a big beater 1966 Chrysler 300 I would slow down...drop the auto-tranny into low first gear and then take it to high revs and then just take the foot off the gas. No brake lights would come on and suddenly a 6000 pound chunk of Detoit steel was coming at them VERY fast. Too bad I dont have any big beater boat cars anymore.

The downshift trick works very well - another one to use in lieu, or in combination with the downshift, is to reach down and pull up the e-brake.

Seems to me I've had less problems from tailgaters since I had the headers and Supertrapps installed. Of course that's been a few years so my fiberglass packing is probably mostly gone..... ;-)

Rob

I had a weird problem recently. Accelerating from a light at moderate throttle (a 3.0 in a '73 can be pretty quick without trying) I get to acceptable speed (110% of posted MPH) and cruise. Well, I look up and some Dilbert in an Accord behind me thought we were racing, and catches me at a really scary closing rate. Must've had to slam on his brakes to keep from hitting me. After a second, he pulled right to pass and did so without a sideways glance. Prolly 30/35 year-old guy in a white business shirt. Just some oblivious f*ck who has suddenly decided his Honda is a race car. A lot of that going around these days.

no tailgaters here....maybe it's cause everyone has heavy weapons (i.e. big guns mounted) and an attitude! LOL

The e-brake is a handy tool to keep from rolling back. Set the brake and let if off when you feel it start to load as you let the clutch out.

My wife got a brand new 1975 Toyota Celica when we were dating (grad gift!). She wasn't comfortable with shifting yet so I took her to the steepest hill we could find. Once she mastered zero roll back she felt much more confident. Using the e-brake really helps preserve the clutch and removes a lot of stress if someone is on your butt.

years ago I had some twat tailgating me so badly that i couldnt see ANY of his front end. so i hit the brakes and let him run into me. I got the new rear panel, bumper and paint that I couldnt afford and he got a rise in his insurance policy. lovely.

Andy

A friend of mine would guide his car toward any potholes ahead and swerve at the last moment, the tailgaters didn't have time to react and would slam into the holes. It works pretty good if the roads are bad enough. :D

This is what I find enjoyable about driving my Nissan truck, especially in the winter. It my sound difficult to believe but with a locked transfer case it will stop on a dime in the snow. I see a tailgater and I get right up on them so all they can see is a huge tubular bumper out their back window, they usually get the picture! If that doesn't work I do everything I can to get in front of them and load their windshield with snow and road debris that inevitably flies off my large mudder tires. MY other favorite for tailgaters and left lane bandits is just to turn on my highbeams, both my trucks are high enough to hit 'em squarely in the mirror! When I get a tailgater in the P-car, I don't give them the pleasure of passing me. I will either slow down and drive them crazy or take off like a jackrabbit as soon as I have clear road in front of me. My number one pet peeve however happened to me several times on my way to and from the Hershey swap meet. I'm pulling a trailer and giving myself plenty of room to slow down and the jerks figure they can just pull right in front of me after passing, this is why I have insurance and personally I don't care if 10000lbs of truck and trailer flattens them and their car in an emergency. Why do people think it's necessary to pull right in front of other cars and especially trucks with trailers on the freeway?

I've noticed the tailgating as well. It seems as if every freakin' rice burner is trying to push my buttons an get me to race. This simply is not going to happen. Now, on the open freeway, they don't have a prayer! All they see are these two little red dots off in the distance! All I see in my RVM is a cloud of smoke coming from their blown motor. Simply put, I will drive my car the way it was built to be driven and not how some idiot thinks I should!

i've acted like a maniac driver a few times while being tailgated. swerving in your lane and being jumpy with the throttle seems to work pretty well, they stay way back. it's actually pretty fun. though it did cross my mind that if a cop saw me doing that, he might pull me over and make me do a field sobriety test. hehe
oh, by the way, i haven't done that at highway speeds.

DC is nutty. Getting the P-car resulted in even more people tailgating me...especially bung holdes in mini-vans...Dodge mini-vans...what is the deal with that? I don't care, I just let them freak out and go around. Some jackoff is not going to determine how I feel or what mood I am in today.

However, I will occassionally drop it to 3rd and punch it till I hit a, ahem, higher rate of speed...that usually provides a decent cushion of space.

oh I was soooo stupid,but I FElT so much better, sure bet in Texas that when you spy a MiniVan (FATHAULER) that the occupant is already plagued with multiple issues,bought a Minivan=I can get my fat a** in here,don't care about driving =need good cellphone reception,wish I had a real car=Fat other half can only get into a Fatvan, but to the tale,
it's morning rush hour, bumper to bumper ,me and spouse rolling in first gear at idle all is fine,fatso starts dancing on my butt,races by me and is now between me and my lady,starts dancing on her nice rear,its roll and slam,this all at idle ,4 lanes across, pull up beside him and back it front of him and STOPPED the car. He was so close he could not enter other lane,
offered to redo the Fatvan,my Rotti who comes to work sometimes offered to redo his interior and anatomy,once back and driving ....the Fathauler is still parked, like I said before, not smart or right......

just note, I'm much better now=in therapy= looking for P number 2,and I have cut back on my mornining expesso's
Rika

its all good Rika. I know what you mean though. Tubbies often occupy these tail gating mini vans. Their lack of consideration and jelous behavior toward everyone else (people of normal weight) greatly reflects these tail gating tendencies. I personally can not stand the ones with the mcdonalds, wendy's, etc.. wrappers all over their dash and inside the car. They just toss them all over the place as they reach into their bag of 29 cent hamburgers while they wipe their thick as$ fingers on their grossed out steering wheel cover. OK, *Rant mode terminated*

Oddly enough, I drive 40 miles on the Mass Pike every day and encounter very few tailgaiters. Of course, I also drive in the right hand lane and mind my own business. However, on those rare occassions when someone does decide to ride my bumper, it actually scares me. I figure the culprit has absolutely no clue about the truly awesome stopping power of the Porsche 911. And in a panic stopping situation, I know we ain't gonna all be stopping together. So I sometimes actually find myself talking to my rear view mirror saying, "What are you thinking? I don't care how good you think the brakes are on your POS pickup/SUV/civic. If I so much as lean on my brake pedal, my car will stop with such overwhelming force that my retinas will detach from my eyes and TIME, itself, will stop. This is not a game you can win, buddy. Back the f**k off!!"

George Carlin once said "ever notice how anyone driving faster than you is a maniac and anyone driving slower is an idiot?" Seriously, though, what can you do that won't simply add to the problem other than finding a way out of it? Seattle traffic used to be the mellowest on Earth; it is now acknowledged as some of the worst. I drive either my '72 911, '71 Super Beetle, '71 Land Cruiser, or '00 Harley through it every day. I used to think people reacted to my different vehicles differently, with the most aggression surfacing around my Harley ("that bike will HAVE to get out of my way...") and the least around my L.C. ("look at that P.O.S., he has nothing to lose..."). I used to consider acting differently, as in less likely to try to avoid collisions, depending on my vehicle. I have actually managed to total four other cars with the old L.C. (really not on purpose, none my fault, all related to poor braking/manouverability). Would I be satisfied if I could say I did it on purpose and "taught some one a lesson"? No, I think I would feel like a jerk. In the end I have finally realized I'm not treated much different, nor am I inclined to behave much different, regardless of the vehicle I'm in or on. The world is full of clueless, dangerous jerks. I do everything I can to avoid them, and to avoid joining their ranks.

Hey Russ, remind me not to follow you at the next PCA fun-run!

Well, wouldn't you know it, got tail-gated by 2 Dukes of Hazzard types while going for a run in the mountain twisties this eve! The backed down when a local law enforcement car passed us.

I think you guys are looking at tailgating all wrong. I use it as an opportunity to enjoy my car.

I don’t get tailgated very often but here is my technique for turning a potentially frustrating situation into playful fun.

If someone is uncomfortably close to my rear bumper I simply pull to the right a little and let them pass me. Obviously they must want to drive a lot faster then I’m going which, sometimes, sounds like fun. As soon as they pass me their tendency is to want to put a quarter mile or so between us.

Anticipating this I smile to myself and speed up to closely pace them. Let me emphasis that I do not tailgate at any time, I maintain a safe distance but I don’t let the car in front of me widen the gap beyond that. I enjoy spirited driving and it’s fun to see if my old car can keep up with other types of vehicles. It’s fun and I don’t experience the anger that others describe when facing this situation.

Admittedly, I don’t know what this is like from the tailgaters perspective but the former tailgater isn’t concerned with curtesy so I assume they don’t require it from me.

This technique transforms arrogant 4x4s into luckless play things.