road rage, tailgating, and Big Vehicles

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: kaboom10
I have a 6000lb vehicle. Anything like a 3-3.5k vehicle won't stand up. My wife has an SUV and the use of her left side to get her thru. If she gets hit I want her to have some good protection. I've been hit by a buick and I only knew it because of the thump.


But in Mich climate you may not be able to stop such a huge car in the snow, and the chance of roll over....


The F-150 is not prone to roll-over. They also stop remarkably well.

I've noticed nobody tailgates my buddy's big F-250 either.... Vehicle size makes a BIG difference.

 

[kaboom10]

We're taking a defensive stance to driving not an offensive one.

 

[kaboom10]

I'm still gonna take my truck down 2-3" all around to improve stability. It came with the off road package.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: kaboom10
I'm still gonna take my truck down 2-3" all around to improve stability. It came with the off road package.


The FX4 package? Yeah, it sits high!

 

[oldmaninsc]

I don't know - I used to think the same thing - big vehicle no or not as much tailgating. But recently that theory has gone down the tubes.
I drive either a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis (Mercury version of the Ford Crown Vic) and a 2005 Chevy Trailblazer EXT SUV. It doesn't seem to matter which vehicle I'm in.
Maybe I should drive my old beater van and let them hit me! Actually though with the huge drop in value of SUV's a minor traffic accident would just about total the Trailblazer anyhow. Hmmmmm. . .

 

[kingrob]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: kingrob
Here, the undercover vehicles have everyday plates. It just goes to show you people really don't care if they're tailgating a cop or not, and I have seen unmarked cars slow down as little as possible, wait for the guy riding his bumper to pass them, then flip on the blue lights. I used to wonder if people really were that stupid, and yes, they are.


Here, most only have govt license plates. Your a moron if you think I tailgate when I did not say in my post I didn't.

Most idiots on the highway see a crown vic and drive below the speed limit in fear of passing a cop. Pretty obvious, it's not a cop car when you see an elderly guy driving when I pass by.


Kinda of quick with the name calling there. My post wasn't in regards to anything you wrote, I just stated the fact that a lot of people still tailgate cop cars. These people ARE stupid.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: kingrob
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: kingrob
Here, the undercover vehicles have everyday plates. It just goes to show you people really don't care if they're tailgating a cop or not, and I have seen unmarked cars slow down as little as possible, wait for the guy riding his bumper to pass them, then flip on the blue lights. I used to wonder if people really were that stupid, and yes, they are.


Here, most only have govt license plates. Your a moron if you think I tailgate when I did not say in my post I didn't.

Most idiots on the highway see a crown vic and drive below the speed limit in fear of passing a cop. Pretty obvious, it's not a cop car when you see an elderly guy driving when I pass by.


Kinda of quick with the name calling there. My post wasn't in regards to anything you wrote, I just stated the fact that a lot of people still tailgate cop cars. These people ARE stupid.


I'm pretty stressed out. Sorry if I took your post out of context

 

[kingrob]

No harm, no foul.

 

[kaboom10]

Our oldest greatnephew loves being up that high. The kid wouldn't mind a 6" lift on it.

 

[ARB1977]

On the Taco when i add the ball to my hitch, people stay away...when its removed they seem to get alittle close but not too bad.

 

[kc8adu]

i have often owned p71/9c1 ex cop cars.
i always excange the 800mhz stingers with ones cut for 2m and 70cm.
if it still had a low band ant it got set up for 6m.
spotlight left in place as it is occasionally usefull.
i often noticed folks hesitate to pass or tailgate me.
i guess the that looks like a cop thing gets some of them to behave.
anyone with any knowledge whatsoever knows its an ex copcar with the convenient antenna mounts and cables put to use.
saves time in putting in a mobile rig if most of the work is done already!

 

[PF52]

I own a Fiero; EVERY car looks like its tailgating me in the rear-view mirror! Even a small car like a Civic looks like a big SUV in comparison because its so much taller.

 

[kingrob]

Quote:
I own a Fiero; EVERY car looks like its tailgating me in the rear-view mirror!


How can you see what's behind you with all the flames and smoke pouring out of the back?

 

[Challenger71]

LOL, that's that same experience I get to see around here. It's almost animal like behavior to watch these sub-humans calculate driving only ten feet beyond them. I always say that if you want to see a persons true character, put them behind the wheel of a car.

Originally Posted By: XS650
I get a kick out of the ones that will come roaring up behind you, sit on your bumper a few seconds, the jump over to another lane and sit on someone else's bumper because he is 50 feet further down the road only to find out that the person they switched to is actually going slower.

A lot of drivers are totally unaware of what is happening any further down the road than the bumper in front of them.

 

[XS650]

Animal like?

We are thinking along the same lines. The tailgaters that mindlessly jump from lane to lane remind me of dogs walking down the sidewalk sniffing other dogs.

Originally Posted By: Challenger71
LOL, that's that same experience I get to see around here. It's almost animal like behavior to watch these sub-humans calculate driving only ten feet beyond them. I always say that if you want to see a persons true character, put them behind the wheel of a car.

Originally Posted By: XS650
I get a kick out of the ones that will come roaring up behind you, sit on your bumper a few seconds, the jump over to another lane and sit on someone else's bumper because he is 50 feet further down the road only to find out that the person they switched to is actually going slower.

A lot of drivers are totally unaware of what is happening any further down the road than the bumper in front of them.

 

[ediamiam]

I don't seem to get tailgated as much since someone put a major dent in the tailgate of my Nissan Frontier.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
...
The F-150 is not prone to roll-over. They also stop remarkably well.

I've noticed nobody tailgates my buddy's big F-250 either.... Vehicle size makes a BIG difference.


The most devastating crash you can be in is a hard side-impact, on your side of the car. In frontal crashes, you have all that front end and engine out there to absorb collision forces. In a side hit, you have maybe six inches of door (beam included) to absorb the impact energy before the wave gets to you, an the soft side of your skull.

I'd MUCH rather be in a car, any car, with side curtains and side seat bags than a truck without.

I'd almost certainly be dead today were it not for the side curtains in my late, great 2002 Camry. On a whim, I picked a gold one (the color I wanted) with side curtains (then a ~$500 option), after almost taking one without.

The last thing I saw in my 3/03 wreck was the grille of a Tahoe about a foot from the driver's side window. The Tahoe driver admitted to the cop he was doing about 40 mph.

If you believe that a pickup or SUV is your ticket to safety, fine (consider the cost you're paying for this "insurance" that may or may not pay off...). Just make sure you get your behemoth with side curtains and seat bags, or you may find yourself explaining to St. Peter how a Camry hit your mastadon on the side and terminated you early...

 

[OVERKILL]

My F-250 ate a Buick LeSabre in the side, T-bone style. It got a big dent. There is a BOXED frame rail, likely containing more metal than your entire Prius running down each side of the truck. The door still opened fine, so the dent was never repaired. The Buick was TOTALLED.

Trucks sit higher than cars. I don't care what car you are driving, if you go underneath an F-250 and wear that frame-rail in the face, all the side curtain airbags in the world are not going to save you. Try explaining THAT one to St. Peter.

Getting T-boned by a Tahoe in a CAR, is a lot different than getting T-bone IN a Tahoe BY a car.

 

[OVERKILL]

Worst wreck I've ever observed was a Honda Civic that had a "die grinder" lowering job (cut springs) that was merging onto the 401 at a great rate of speed.

Tie-rod let go, putting the car into a spin, which then flung it into the soft ditch-like median, causing it to roll over and into the oncoming lanes, where it landed on it's roof, which was quickly removed, and subsequently ground off the drivers head into the asphalt for hundreds of feet down the highway.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
I'd MUCH rather be in a car, any car, with side curtains and side seat bags than a truck without . . . Just make sure you get your behemoth with side curtains and seat bags, or you may find yourself explaining to St. Peter how a Camry hit your mastadon on the side and terminated you early...


Side airbags are great and I'd certainly pay for them on a new car, but I'd still prefer a 3/4-ton 4x4 truck with no airbags in most t-bone situations. I'll take my chances on a Camry going under me over having the bumper of a 7500 lb vehicle coming at my head. I think you're fortunate the Tahoe wasn't a heavier and taller vehicle. I have no actual evidence to back my opinion up, but I just can't see how a car is going to cause serious injury by hitting the frame rails beneath me.