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#3...I despise tailgaters with a passion, and I drive in the right lane because I drive at the speed limit. Don't like drivers that obey the law? Then pass.

AMEN!

And if traffic is too heavy to pass, then it's likely to slow down any second and make me hit the brakes, and *then* where will the jerk be?

I absolutely detest tailgaters. The only thing worst than tailgaters on the interstate are tailgaters on twisty back roads at night, where you can't see well enough to pull off because he's got his blasted lights crammed up your butt, blinding you. UNGH!

[I absolutely detest tailgaters. The only thing worst than tailgaters on the interstate are tailgaters on twisty back roads at night, where you can't see well enough to pull off because he's got his blasted lights crammed up your butt, blinding you. UNGH!]

Some years ago, as I was heading home from my night job at about 2:30 AM, I was overtaken by a tailgater at the beginning of the 10 mile long country drive. He was following about 1/2 second behind me so I slowed down from 60 mph to about 50 mph so he could pass. He stayed behind me. After about 30 seconds of this I slowed down to about 40 mph but he still didn't pass, even though there was no one else on the road and he had all the space he needed. I then slowed down to about 30 mph but he STILL wouldn't pass.

After about 20 more seconds of this I got a little worried, thinking that maybe some loon or drunk was after me for some unknown reason so I decided to get away from him. I sped up to 60 mph again and he accelerated with me (which convinced me that I should be worried) so I pushed the gas pedal of my V-8 Camaro to the floor until I outdistanced him doing about 120 mph. In a few minutes I was nearing my home town, so I slowed down to the speed limit and the same car caught up with me and started tailgating me again. I was starting to get more than a little nervous and wondering what the wisest thing to do was when this car turned on his blue and red lights and pulled me over.

I realized he was a genuine cop and he came up to my window, ran my license, and then he stuck his nose in my car and asked if I'd been drinking or using drugs. Since I hadn't, I said "no" and then he asked if I knew how fast I was going. I told him "Oh, about 120" and I was really pissed because I thought I had gotten suckered into a really expensive ticket and I told him (as politely as I could make it sound despite my anger) that it was his behavior that caused me to drive that way because I feared for my safety. He just said "Don't drive so fast and have a good night" and he went back to his car and drove away. In hindsight, I should have taken the opportunity to get his name and complain about his conduct but I was only 19 at the time and didn't know better.

I hate them too. They risk my life for no reason.

I don't tolerate them anymore. I'll speed for a few miles to get away. If I can't do that, I'll slow down to a crawl to force them to pass.