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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!seismo!philabs!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!barryg
From: barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Barry Gold)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: 55mph and tailgateing
Message-ID: <449@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 15-Aug-83 13:17:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.449
Posted: Mon Aug 15 13:17:51 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Aug-83 20:14:53 EDT
References: <519@ihuxi.UUCP>
Reply-To: barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Barry Gold)
Organization: System Development Corporation, Santa Monica
Lines: 63

I have been on both sides of this issue.  I have been tailgated by idiots who
couldn't figure out that the traffic in front of me was going the same speed
I was.  I have followed people who refused to move over because they were going
the speed limit and saw no reason I should go faster.  I have even tailgated
others without good reason (if there is such a thing) because I was in a hurry/
bad mood.

FRIENDS, THE WORLD WORKS THE WAY IT WORKS.  NOT THE WAY WE WANT IT TO WORK, OR 
THE WAY IT *SHOULD* WORK, BUT THE WAY IT DOES WORK.  Most of us are smart enough
to realize that when it comes to the purely physical world.  We will be happier
and more successful if we realize that it applies to other people.  Honking,
tailgating, blocking other people doesn't get them to do what you want.  It
just makes them dig in their heels like any other donkey.

However, there are natural consequences of anti-social actions.  You may get a
ticket for tailgating, speeding, or following too closely.  If you take 
dangerous chances - or do things that enrage other people so THEY take dangerous
chances around you, you may get hurt or killed.

If you persist in tailgating, you will eventually get into a serious accident.
Your car will probably be demolished, your insurance rates will go out of sight,
and you may be killed or hospitalized or know that you killed or seriously
hurt somebody else because of your impatience.

If you persist in driving much faster than everybody else on the road:
	1) you will find yourself having to slow down periodically in areas
where traffic is bunched up, then speeding up when you finally get through.
It MAY even seem to you that other drivers are trying to block you.  This is
unlikely (least hypothesis).  They just want to get where they're going, as
fast as they think it's safe.  A little arithmetic will show you that you
will spend a disproportionate amount of time slowed down and hence will have
little gain for your weaving, tailgating, cutting in-and-out, etc.
	2) you will have a lot more accidents than the average.  The average
California driver has one (reported) accident every four years.  You are more
likely to have one or more each year.  Your car will shortly look like an
assortment of scrap that is somehow managing to move down the highway as if
it were an automobile.  Once again, your insurance rates will skyrocket.

If you persist in being a "traffic cop" and driving 55 in the left lane,
about 25% of the faster drivers will tailgate you.  If you have to slow down
(or stop) suddenly, you will be rear-ended and suffer a whiplash injury.
Your neck will hurt for weeks, months, or years.  You may even become a 
paraplegic or quadriplegic.  In addition, about one driver in twenty will,
when he finally gets to pass you, cut you off or get in front of you and jam
on the brakes.  See above for probable consequences to your car, yourself,
and your insurance rates.

Think about it.  A little courtesy - both ways - and a little patience with
the idiosyncracies of other people - will make for a much smoother, less
expensive, and less painful life.

By the way, one traffic ticket will take up much more time than you can hope
to save by tailgating, speeding, etc.  The paperwork and arguments from even
a fenderbender will ruin your schedule even on an LA-to-San Francisco length
drive.  And a serious accident can cost you weeks or months in the hospital
or you MAY NEVER ARRIVE AT ALL.  Is it worth it to teach "the other guy" to
drive the way you think he should?

Barry Gold
System Development Corp.
Santa Monica, CA 90406