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I read in the StarTribune about a fatal car accident involving teenagers driving off the road and losing control of their vehicle.
The article mentioned that the teen drivers were flashing their brake lights at the car behind them. The car behind the teens slowed down some and sped up again. The teen drivers tapped their brake lights again, and the car behind them backed off. Then the car behind the teens passed them and flashed its brake lights to the teen driver now behind. But the teen driver overreacted and must have thought the car was stopping and just drove off the road and killed the driver and passengers.

My question:

Why do people think it's OK to tap on their brake lights?
This is very irritating to the person behind you.

Why do people tailgate when they should pass in another lane.
You can't expect the person in front of you needs to obey your feelings of driver superiority.

I know that when vehicles are tailgating the driver in the front somehow forgets about their own driving and can make dangerous driving manuevers. (changing lanes without looking)

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My thought:

If traffic on your right (slower lane) is moving faster than you...move over to that lane dummy.



There are a couple of...

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There are a couple of reasons people flash their brake lights at vehicles.
The vehicle following has their high beams on which is very irritating or maybe they are following much too close and a "brake check" is given as a warning.


Submitted by TW on June 28, 2007 - 6:39pm.

Or you could speed up...

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Or you could speed up because your driving is slowing traffic.
If you are one of those traffic "controller" (who drives the posted speed limit and continues to do so when 5 or more cars are waiting)...pull off the road and let other cars pass.

plus - 10 MPH over is perfectly OK.

( you won't believe this...I turn right on red lights. And sometimes turn left on red when nobody is coming.
Never have I been cited by the police...because I am a smart, and consciencious driver.


Submitted by ragnyb on July 1, 2007 - 9:28pm.

How can you call yourself a...

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How can you call yourself a smart and conscious driver when you drive 10 mph over the speed limit and turn left on red lights???
When you do end up getting pulled over by the Police, make sure you let them know how smart and conscious you are as they are writing out your ticket.


Submitted by Shelluie on July 2, 2007 - 2:20pm.

10 mph over is NOT perfectly...

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10 mph over is NOT perfectly ok. or else the last speeding ticket i got should not have been issued! also, if someone is going the speed limit, they do not have to pull over so others can pass. the others can pass if they want, at their own risk.


Submitted by me on July 2, 2007 - 10:43am.

I never fault someone for...

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I never fault someone for driving the speed limit but when people are driving less than the speed limit it is very irritating. In my mind, driving under the posted speed limit is selfish and inconsiderate. Just because you have time to waste doesn't mean the people behind you do as well. As far as 10 mph over the limit, I KNOW most law enforcement officers would give you a ticket and making a left hand turn on a red light gives the officers a reason to ticket you because it is against the law. So if you do get a ticket for that you have no legal grounds to stand on to get out of the fine.


Submitted by just1opinion on July 2, 2007 - 11:16am.

I do believe that I have a...

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I do believe that I have a couple of simple answers for everyone on this topic: Well I am pretty sure that it is illegal for anyone to travel over the posted speed limit, and for anyone to complain about getting a ticket when they were travelling over that limit is completely and utterly wrong! The law is the law and this law is not open to interpretation. Now it is up the individual officer whether or not they will give you a ticket or not, but I think this topic is pretty cut and dry.

And to you Ragnyb, you obviously, I am going to state OBVIOUSLY again, are not a smart and consciencious driver because you break the law, you have only been lucky to not recieve a ticket to this point or worse, get into an accident and hurt someone else. I would be willing to bet a paycheck that your response of "I am a smart (or consciencious) driver!" would not work when you are talking to an officer after you plowed into someone trying to make a left turn on a red light when you thought everything was clear, or better yet when you are trying to explain things to your insurance company when you need a new car.

I also wanted to comment to you regarding your statements about the fatal crash involving the teenagers. Correct me if I am wrong but I beleive that there was a little more invovled in that crash than this car just losing control when they "tapped" their brakes. The car that caused the crash "slammed" on the brakes directly in front of this car causing them to in turn slam on their brakes and lose control, may I remind you kill one person and seriously hurt others before cowardly driving away to escape being caught. I don't care if these people did "tap" thier brakes when this out of control driver was tailgating them, and it sounds as if this person has a problem with this type of behavior, being that there was a couple of similar reports within the days leading up to this crash. There is no excuse for this type of driving behavior. I tell you what, if you are tailgating me for no other reason than you have a lead foot and you think you own the road, I will not give in to you, I pay my taxes just like you and you simply have to live with my driving, which is at or slightly below the posted speed limit. You don't like it, you can find a country, state where speeding, aggresive driving and tailgating is allowed and move there (good luck).


Submitted by Canthelpbutlaugh on July 2, 2007 - 3:02pm.

A few years ago, I became...

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A few years ago, I became quite convicted that I needed to go the posted speed limit instead of always trying to beat my best time. You know what I found? I found that it is actually less stressful to just set the cruise and let it go. I used to speed BECAUSE I cared what the person behind me thought(among other reasons). I didn't want to be some fuddy-duddy in my mid-20s. But now, I really don't care what the car behind me thinks, I don't go the speed limit to police them, I go it because it's right.

Many times, when there is a line up of cars, it is because the second car is following too close to the first, and dosn't want to or dosnt have an opportunity to pass. And the third car can't pass both of the cars. That's a whole other problem, and much more serious than someone going the posted speed limit.

Whatever happened, I feel this is a very sad situation, and my prayers are with these families involved.


Submitted by frogmama on July 3, 2007 - 1:05pm.

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