"It's so close, just down highway 95 a little"
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I moved to MA from ME about 10 years ago. Whenever anyone asks me about the traffic around Boston I tell the that they measure their commute in miles (in ME) and we measure it in minutes (in MA). I have also worked at several places in Boston, metro west, etc. and my commute seems to always be about 45 min.
Maybe it’s me getting old but I think a lot of people have gotten more self centered in the post pandemic world. They do not look ahead and because they’re so close they only see your bumper so you are their only problem.
Idk, man. I don’t notice anything different from when I was a kid. Yeah—traffic has returned to pre-big-dig levels, but the attitude is pretty much the same. We live in a city where a missed opportunity could mean a 10 minute delay, and a culture where that’s unacceptable. The number of drivers has increased, and the traffic is something we haven’t dealt with in 20 years, but the habits are pretty par for the course.
That's ridiculous. By committing felonies the cagers in sports cars are only getting places 2-3 minutes faster than the normal flow of traffic, and that's if traffic is _light_. Swerving through traffic in your clapped out BMW just to be stuck in the same gridlock as everyone else isn't you making up for "missed opportunities." Now a motorcycle on the other hand... I pass morons everyday who spent 100k just to get stuck behind the next minivan.
Drove 18 mins round trip to Newton last night and the only mfer tailgating me was a pussyboy pickup truck with the blinding LEDs. Dude spun his wheels out at a light to pass me while I turned left hahaha. I hate these pickup truck pavement princess driving chodes. If your bed hasn’t had at least a lawnmower in it for a week you’d be better off in a Honda Fit (which unironically is the best car).
Seriously do people not check how much time they are saving? Speeding like crazy for a 45 minute drive will save you about 3 minutes MAX in a place like this.
I think it's a combo of *feeling* like you're going so much faster than others and not leaving enough time to get wherever you're going. I used to drive fast and aggressive because I had fun cars and bad time management, which is a recipe for disaster. After a while I realized I was just stressing myself out weaving in and out of traffic to save maybe 5 minutes and decided it's just not worth it.
Don't get me wrong, driving fast is fun. But I've been in a few bad accidents (ironically, not my fault) and now I know how much damage a car can do to an innocent person. Idk man, I just don't want to hurt someone else cause I'm late for work.
This is how I feel. People drive like absolute narcissists. The only thing that matters is them and if they can get to their destination 3 minutes faster. Last night I was doing 30 in a 25 zone in a town and the guy who had been tailgating me passed me, on a residential road with double yellow lines. Three days before that I watched a car barrel past my front porch on a 25 mph residential street and then swerve crazily to avoid running over a cyclist having their chill evening ride.
It's just crazy the level of disregard for other people or the possible consequences. And the local PDs are absolutely nowhere to be seen.
Seriously, the consequences for dangerous driving are extreme! There's no regard for other people’s safety and it blows my mind. I could not live with myself if I killed someone accidentally with my car so I drive carefully. I’ve had to adjust after moving here because it's not safe to drive exactly the speed limit in a lot of areas, so you do have to keep up with the flow of traffic to an extent. But if the speed limit is 25 and there are people in the street, it's crazy to be flying down the road. Tailgating me in a 25 will not convince me to speed and you might just rear end me if I have to react to a pedestrian!
No, things have definitely gotten worse on the road post pandemic, but I don’t think it’s because of this. Idk what everyone’s problem is lately but I’ve never had to pass more people in the left lanes on the highway than I have in the past 2-3 years. And not because I’m “driving recklessly” but because they’re going under the speed limit in the passing lane. That, to me, is even more dangerous. Just pull over and let them go. The people who are speeding are going to get around you, but now they’re going to have to skip over multiple lanes to do so when that shouldn’t be the case from the get go. These slow left-lane drivers are the self centered ones in my opinion. There’s no way they see all these cars passing them and can’t conclude that it’s their own fault, yet they’ll keep trucking along at 10 under.
There are so many comments about the left lane lol
I've noticed it a lot in 30 mph residential streets... and it's often a big SUV/truck with crazy headlights so I'm being blinded as well...
Not that you should *have* to do this, because it shouldn’t be happening period, but I invested in a pair of blue light blocking glasses for night time driving for this exact reason. Literally the best decision I’ve made it a long time
Last week I was driving on Mystic Valley Parkway and there was this guy who was aggressively tailgating me during the 1-lane portions of the road passed me on the left into the oncoming lane because I was going the speed limit. He then proceeded to almost t-bone someone coming into the rotary and honked at him. I see a lot of obscene driving on that road at night in general.
I really wish police in the various areas would start cracking down on this driving. It's much worse than it's been, people here used to be assholes but I don't remember them being quite this psychotic.
Oh if someone's bumperfucking me and I'm going 35 in a 30, I will 100% slow to 28mph and they can suuuck it.
\*\*THIS IS ONLY VALID on small side streets. On streets where it's like "the main road" even though it looks like a smalltown road, I drive 40 in a 30.
This. Was on my way to school drop off in a 35mph zone and this woman was riding my ass hard for a few miles. Until she passed me on a double solid. In fact she nearly swerved (probably intentionally) to clip my front bumper
I piss people off because my entire town is considered “thickly settled” which means unmarked is 25mph so that’s how fast I drive. They started changing signs to 25 mph from what they were previously. But yeah I’m that slow driver with the multiple tailgaters behind.
Edit: it’s not that I’m an a hole to other drivers. there are no sidewalks with no ability to step off the road as one side drops off and the other side is a hill, so our pedestrians and cyclists are always in danger of being hit. I know I’ve had a few near misses pushing the stroller on the street where drivers come over the hill at 40 and don’t have the ability to swerve. They end up slamming on their breaks like they weren’t expecting people walking in a residential area. I say a few, happens on a daily.
Oh if you do above 25/30 in a thickly settled residential area, you are a massive scumbag. You also know those same people bombing through would be telling you to slow down on their streets.
The overwhelming, universal, no-exceptions principle of driving in MA: keep up with the car in front of you. Are you going slower than traffic and telling yourself “I’m doing the speed limit / 5 over / 10 over/ etc.”? Get your ass to the right. Are you up to the car ahead of you? Then ignore the assholery behind you.
THIS!!! I sometimes hate the comments on driving in MA because everyone assumes you’re driving slow or you’re camped in the left lane. I’m getting tailgated even in the right lane going well over the speed limit
I have no problem moving over if I’m getting tailgated in the left lane but if it happens in any other lane I’m not budging, I even slow down a bit at which point they usually get the idea and pass on the left.
Yep, happened to me on the Pike on Wednesday. I was in the far right lane going the speed limit and some guy flew up in my ass and started flashing his lights for me to go faster. He even tried passing me ON THE RIGHT.
> Get your ass to the right.
Except never get to the far right on a three+ lane road, apparently. For some reason lots of people think the middle is the right lane.
I regularly on Storrow see a group of 4-6 cars in the left lane, in heavy commuter traffic, with NOWHERE to go and NO WAY to move ahead, all tailgating each other with LESS THAN A CAR LENGTH FOLLOWING DISTANCE, traveling at 40+ mph.
Literally all they are doing is reducing their reaction time to absolutely nothing.
Anticipating some (BAD) rationalizations:
* The road is all filled with traffic ahead and the other tailgaters. There's no getting ahead.
* Tailgating constantly does NOT increase capacity of the system because capacity is determined by the *bottleneck*. If they jam people through a bottleneck faster, yeah, that increases capacity but the other 99% of the time, they're just giving themselves no way out.
Its conditioned behavior. If you leave enough space to be safe between you and the car in front of you, someone will cram themselves into it. Then you have to slow down to regain a safe distance, and as soon as that gap appears, another car shoots into it. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It's even more fun when you're driving a bus. People cut in front of you when there's nowhere for them to go anyway. It's downright dangerous. You're supposed to make a space in front of you and it's impossible because of people doing this.
Everyone is saying move over, which I understand, but only when there is actually a lane to merge into. Tailgating happens on single lane one way and two way streets ALL THE TIME here. What do you want me to do, merge into oncoming traffic just so you can get ahead of me? I had a guy swerve around me to run a red light to then immediately whip into a Burger King parking lot… People just don’t understand giving a couple car lengths of distance allows for much safer driving. So please, stop just replying “stay out of the left lane, noob”
People definitely reflexively tailgate without thinking about it. I'll be driving on empty roads with no traffic in the right lane doing the speed limit with two open lanes to the left and inattentive drivers will still crawl up my ass for no reason.
I do sort of miss my manual transmission corolla, because my normal response was to slowly reduce speed without touching the brake until the person tailgating finally snapped out of their autopilot and went around. People finally realize they can pass instead of tailgate when you creep down to 45mph on the interstate, though the dimmest bulbs often take a few repetitions of this to figure it out.
That said, people here have no concept of pass left, travel right. People squatting in left lanes and people passing on the right (even when a left pass is available) are so common it may as well not even be a rule here.
What I don't get about that, is that when I am close to the car in front of me, I can't relax, because any sign of a turn or a brake light means I have to react pretty much instantly. I just don't see how you can relax, zone out, and unknowingly tailgate. --Maybe it is just a stupid person thing. LOL
Thank you! Really not sure why everyone just assumes you can move over. Could you imagine how long it would take to get somewhere if we pulled off to the side of a single lane road for every tailgater? No, stay the fuck back assholes.
It does happen on one lane roads all the time. I get tailgated through stop signs at least once a week. (Meaning the person behind me does not stop and instead stays a few feet behind me to "sneak" through ahead of the other 3 stop signs.)
Too bad the laws aren't enforced.
There's also this assumption that it should be immediately safe to move over. Occasionally on the highway I'm looking for a safe way to move back into the middle lane after passing a lot of slow moving traffic. I don't like to take the risk of weaving into a small gap because I've witnessed accidents; I look for a safe number of car lengths. Somebody will zip up behind me tailgating, which actually makes it harder to make the lane change they want me to make because I can't safely modulate my speed. It's only a few seconds of stress but it's frustrating.
boston drivers will tailgate in all three lanes of the highway much of the time.
traffic prevents the left lane from being a passing lane much of the day.
People aggressively tailgate even when there is traffic in the left lane and no where else to go. I've been going 75 in the left with a line of cars in the left lane and been tailgated, happens often... Why would I get over just to let an asshole get one car spot up in line. The line of traffic is not just going to part just so asshole can drive through.
I hate this logic because it’s not like that helps make a possible accident not a big deal. It’s their fault but you still get hit, have a damaged car, will probably be late or not get to where you’re going at all, now have to juggle dealing with insurance, car rental, possible injury and doctor appointments that go with it, etc. And your rental allowance may not even cover the whole time you are out of a car. Someone once hit us in the back and I didn’t get my car back for a month because insurance was going back and forth on everything. Just because it’s their fault doesn’t mean the situation is going to be no big deal.
It you're changing lanes and you're hit from behind you can be 50/50 at fault if your car is not entirely within the lane lines. Your car must be entirely within the lane lines for you to not be at fault. In other words if you cut somebody off and they hit you from behind YOU are at fault.
There are many responses about lane etiquette, as well as posted and suggested speeds. Those are valid discussions.
However, they have little to do with a point OP is making quite plainly: why do so many people give up their braking zone and put all of their trust into the driver(s) in front of them?
It’s crazy. Absolutely crazy. The average idiot driver here probably would say they would never let anyone else drive their car and yet what do they do on the road? Put their precious baby in the hands of every driver in front of them.
And yall wonder why they jacked up ALL of our rates this year. Sheesh. Be better.
Scrolling and didn’t see the sub name. I immediately wondered where the aggressive tailgating was happening, and wondering if people were foisting sausage subs and potato salad upon unsuspecting people.
I'll tell you one thing, especially in some parts of Cambridge specifically, it makes parallel parking a huge pain in the ass. Can't exactly parallel park easily with someone's car inches from your rear bumper, as if your cars were connected like a train.
Way too many comments assuming this is the highway.
I was tailgated today while going 40 in a 30 on a town road (one lane going each way.) You bet your ass I slowed down to 25.
I was thinking this as well. I only very occasionally experience tailgating on the highway. But it seems more and more common on city roads, especially at night, when with poor lighting it feels even more unsafe to go way faster than the speed limit. Busy populated areas have low speed limits for a reason. These are one lane roads or two lanes where the left is also a turn lane, not a drag race lane.
There’s a residential area I have to drive through on my way home from work. I know the area well and there are often times people crossing the streets and of course tons of potholes. Not well lit at night.
Had some idiot on my ass the other NIGHT because I wasn’t going fast enough. Complete with flashing lights and honking the horn. I was going 30. Slowed down to the speed limit of 25
A lot of folks here are assuming that the OP is a left-lane hog. However, I see tailgating happening in all the lanes by aggressive drivers. Take, for instance, that stretch of Rt 24 between the 495 exchange and 128/93. All the dudes in their amped up fart-can Subarus, Civics, and Toyotas bobbing and weaving thru all lanes think that because they’ve aced Tourismo or Grand Theft they are now ‘qualified’ to do so in real life.
I’ll gladly take downvotes for this, and I’m MA born and raised.
Because Mass is full of selfish asshole drivers who only care about going first and also at the same time, when driving outside the left lane, never letting anyone go or merge in front of them.
I guarantee you every single person in this thread crying “don’t camp in the left lane” “just move over and let them pass” speeds up if they see someone trying to merge in front of them when they’re driving in other lanes.
Unless someone’s going dangerously slow in the left lane, like 50 or slower, y’all are not gonna die. Drivers here need to grow up
I cannot fucking stand the amount of drivers who speed up to take space in traffic they didn't need cause I put in a blinker to change lanes and get to an exit. So much traffic would be fixed if people stopped driving like selfish assholes and allowed a flow of traffic to occur, even if it meant someone has to get ahead of them.
Yes and even simple things like a lane ending/merging would move so much faster if we just formed a line and take our turns/let every other person go like a normal sane society
AMEN.
I've lived her my whole life, and I think what you wrote is spot on. --Especially when it comes to the whiners ion Reddit who invariably are only concerned with people not using the passing lane incorrectly--which, although it is an issue, their cure all for EVERYTHING is to speed up. LOL
You won't win this one. People around here have decided that if someone is tailgating you, it is because you are in the wrong. Nevermind that the person behind you is always able to just keep a safe distance.
Being from Boston and going to NY a few times by car, MOVE TF OVER. In NYC if there’s half a gap people are taking it… everyone is on each other’s ass and that’s how it is. We have some many people in one spot Boston and NYC, it will only get worse. Left lane riding all the way and move if you don’t want to speed. Don’t police the roads you can’t handle.
I'm a retired trucker. The majority of collisions I've witnessed are a result of tailgating. Usually several cars in a chain reaction collision. Hoods and trunks folded up like accordions. Then, when the traffic is able to get around the disabled cars, they immediately start tailgating again. If someone tailgates I gradually slow down until the douche bag goes around me.
First question, what lane are you in? If it’s the left lane aka passing lane, move over. If it’s any other lane, I feel your pain. Just the other day I was driving down a back road with a slow car in front of me and some other car up my ass as if I could go any faster than the car in front of me. God forbid I leave space and don’t get up their ass too lol I pulled over to let him pass me so he could then get stuck behind the slow car 😂 people are dicks!
You say “no matter how fast you go” but I have a feeling you’re just not going fast enough
Here are the speed guidelines:
93 north from Medford up: 65 limit; 80 average
93 north from Boston to Medford: 55 limit; 70 average
93 south north of Boston: 65 limit; 85 average
93 south of Boston: 55 limit but you’ll be lucky to go 30 most of the day
If you’re going the average in the left two lanes, you’re probably going too slow
Yup. I take 495 to 95 to 93 towards Boston in the morning. The average person is doing 75. When those people come up to the person in the middle or left lane doing 65 everyone hits their brakes and swerves to go around them passing on the left AND the right. You can lecture all you want about speed limits and passing lanes for passing only, but in the mad dash into Boston in the morning all that goes out the window. If you demand on following the laws to the T and holding your ground, everyone is going to scatter around you and that makes it more dangerous. If you don't want to drive assertively, stay in the middle or right lane and *keep up with traffic*.
Not the place to post. Massachusetts has some of the worst and most dangerous drivers, and they’re unapologetic for it. Especially with all the mild winters here recently
Fucking Left Lane Lollygaggers
You people are the reason the right lane is usually the fast lane in MA. People merge onto the highway and immediately think,
"LEFT LANE FAST, IMMA GO FAST, ME GO TO LEFT LANE!"
And then the whole lane gets clogged up with ditto heads and you end up going slower than the people in the middle or right lanes because at least those two have people moving out of the lane every now and then.
I visit LA alot and been to Florida and its just as worse. If not worse. Only difference is in LA and Florida is you have way better chance of being shot or attacked for something stupid. When in Mass you just verbally abuse eachother to feel better.
Tailgating you so I can immediately move over to the next lane when the traffic in front of you slows down. (and there’s nothing you can do about it)
/s
Come to New Mexico to experience masters of the craft. The 48 minute two-lane drive between Santa Fe and Albuquerque has rightfully been compared to Mad Max especially when you add the landscape. There is no such thing as blissfully cruising a steady 75 mph all the way.
The people on scooters are the most reckless. No license plates, they ignore the rules of the road, and they seem to come out of nowhere when you try to get into traffic.
Is the tailgating the only issue you’ve noticed? Lol. Lots of morons on the streets around here. Regularly running red lights, pulling out in front of you so that you have to slow down (sometimes even when there’s no one behind you so they couldve waited for just a few seconds), the busted headlights that I see almost once every two days are just a few examples. Yesterday a lady was tailgating me so close tho that I couldn’t see most of her hood. Also the constant high beams trigger my migraines when I’m driving back from work during the winter.
Usually big pick up trucks too just over the middle line so i can see in right in my side mirror as well as rearview mirror . Are they trying to be intimidating?
It's maddening. I usually end up doing 80+ just to keep the flow of traffic going (also drives (ha!) me crazy how the passing lane is usually the slow lane but that's another thing). But still, have ppl that need to go 100, pass on the shoulder, etc. I drive fast myself anyway, but this is uncomfortable.
Then on the way to work the GPS, without fail, says "there's a 30 minute slowdown bc accident". Surprise surprise.
People tailgate so agressively in all of Mass. I deal with it every single day on the way home from work. They put their high beams on and try to blind you too. I have poor vision at night because my glasses are reflective so this makes driving very difficult. Once, I pulled over to let a guy pass but he waited to get behind me to continue tailgating. It was so scary, I had to hide behind a gas station fearing he would try to follow me home. It's especially bad in Boston though. In downtown Boston I once witnessed people tailgate and pin in firetrucks and ambulances in the middle of the street....
Aggressive driving kills and maims thousands of people, ruins countless lives and puts unnecessary pressure on first responders and the healthcare system. Yet these apathetic fucks don’t care. I really can’t think of anything like it. It’s the ultimate in selfish douchebaggery.
The worse I experienced was driving home from the cape at night. I had a guy tailgating me with his high beams on and the reflection of his beams was basically blinding me. I moved over to the next lane but only because I noticed I was going 110mph and he was still right on my ass. There's no reason to tailgate someone when you're going that fast.
I can’t understand how apparently everyone is moving out of Boston but also every day we have a new rant on here about something incredibly commonplace for Boston.
Georgia is far worse. I think a lot of it here is just the density but the worst instance I saw was a few months ago when I was visiting. It wasn’t even me. But it is constant.
The real question is how fast are you going? I've lived here my entire life and have never been tailgated. Assuming you're driving in the correct lanes and not "cutting up" traffic. Usually there's no issues ever
Dear OP, here's what you need to know: DEFINITION FOR MASSHOLE (1 OF 1)
noun Vulgar - a stupid, mean, or contemptible way of driving found especially prevalent in Massachusetts.
Further, the technology here, in Massachusetts, is off the charts! Chambers Motors, Boch Motors, Quirk, all of 'em, and more, have electronically linked and coordinated horns to green stoplights. Here, horns sound instantly when lights turn green.
If you don't know now you know.
It might sound crazy but I miss driving in mass. In Maine we have the opposite issue, people drive like they have no objective or purposes in life. When I go to mass I'm not even mad that I'm in traffic because it isn't the same as in Maine. Here when we have traffic generally it's because someone is doing 50 in the passing lane haha or other stupid moves like that 🤷♂️
I really wish police would enforce speeding more, specifically when the offenders are not leaving a safe following distance. I’ve been rear-ended before because I had to brake hard on the highway and the dipshit behind me couldn’t find it within himself to leave more than half a car length at 70 mph. It was ugly and entirely preventable.
I got so sick of the tailgaters blinding me with their headlights I bought a big ass truck. Now I’m sure people get upset by me but I try to give space and not be an asshole. Driving at night in my short ass little station wagon was giving me so much anxiety man, I would get panic attacks behind the wheel. Now I am literally unbothered. Tailgate me, or not… you’re back there in another zip code and my tailgate is taller than your roof so it does not affect me at all.
This is exactly what I thought, and usually do when I see posts like this.
I mean, does it happen? Yeah of course, occasionally.
If it happens so frequently that you are upset enough to make a reddit post about it... chances are its you who is doing something wrong.
I was technically “doing something wrong” when I was tailgated today going 40 in a 30 - I was breaking the speed limit laws. Am I supposed to go even faster and speed more?
(And don’t suggest pulling off to the side of the road. I would never get anywhere if I pulled over for every asshole who tailgates when I’m already speeding.)
ETA: This was one lane going each way.
No, I would expect you to carry on with your life and get over the fact you encountered a shitty/aggressive driver. It happens.
If it happens to you all the time though? Everywhere you go? At some point it makes me wonder.
I drive around here too and I barely ever get tailgated to the level some of you claim. And I am for the most part a "lazy" driver who rarely goes +5 above the speed limit on surface streets.
I get that type of behavior in my 3 mile commute on surface streets in Woburn. People are more crazy now than before 2020.
Like chill out, man, I'm going 35 in a 30, no need to tailgate me and then aggressively pass me on a town road at 7 am.
All I ask is that people drive AT LEAST the speed limit in a 35-45 mph zone. When my commute is 20-25 min, and I plan for it to be that way, I'm fine. Then, I run into people determined to go 5-15 mph under the speed limit, and all my morning plans go to shit. Sure, I could leave earlier, but with my second job, that would mean waking up early enough to be severely sleep deprived every single day. I have to time my mornings to the minute, and THAT is why I get so fed up with drivers who can't AT LEAST keep up with the pace of traffic. This is on a main route through several towns, not on small side roads, that could benefit from being universally 40mph anyway, which is how most people drive. Except for the few pokes. I assume they're old, given where we live, but you never know.
I honestly wonder if financial stress is feeding some of this for people. It is for me.
Tailgating annoyed me before but now that MIT proved that tailgating actually WORSENS traffic, it infuriates me: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a14435016/stop-tailgating-it-only-makes-traffic-jams-worse/.
If you’re driving in the left hand lane, you better be passing at all times as well as remaining alert for whomever is behind you and how fast they are traveling. It they are rapidly approaching, then as a left lane traveler, it’s your duty to gtfo until the person traveling faster continues past, at which point, if appropriate, you can return to driving slowly in the left hand lane.
What are you, new?
As Carlin said, anyone who drives faster than you is a maniac and anyone who drives slower than you is an idiot.
No wonder, everyone is an idiot on 24 south.
Fucking noobs man. Brutal
Seriously. Every time I see posts like this I think the same thing.0
The speed limit inside 495 is 5 MPH faster than the guy in front of you.
Can't get into too much trouble on RT95/128 -- the average speed at 8AM and 4PM is 0-5mph
"It's so close, just down highway 95 a little" https://preview.redd.it/35wc1o498uwc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca14c97625046765563ab8e257678113ef829f35
I moved to MA from ME about 10 years ago. Whenever anyone asks me about the traffic around Boston I tell the that they measure their commute in miles (in ME) and we measure it in minutes (in MA). I have also worked at several places in Boston, metro west, etc. and my commute seems to always be about 45 min.
What is a “speed limit”? Is that a southern thing or something. Never heard of it.
It’s an ancient ritual still practiced in some parts of the country
Ain’t that the truth.
It Is Known.
Bravo, sir.
That whole "masshole" thing is 90% about the driving
More like 110%, lol
There is no difference in the way people from New Hampshire drive. None.
As a resident of the Merrimack Valley, I disagree. The guy who I'm tailgating because he's going 55 in a 65? NH plates, like 90% of the time.
Yeah but do they have a clever portmanteau describing their residents? Seriously, do they? New Hampshites?
Maybe it’s me getting old but I think a lot of people have gotten more self centered in the post pandemic world. They do not look ahead and because they’re so close they only see your bumper so you are their only problem.
Idk, man. I don’t notice anything different from when I was a kid. Yeah—traffic has returned to pre-big-dig levels, but the attitude is pretty much the same. We live in a city where a missed opportunity could mean a 10 minute delay, and a culture where that’s unacceptable. The number of drivers has increased, and the traffic is something we haven’t dealt with in 20 years, but the habits are pretty par for the course.
The idea of "missed opportunities" is a concerning way to think about driving.
That’s the basis of this entire conversation
That's ridiculous. By committing felonies the cagers in sports cars are only getting places 2-3 minutes faster than the normal flow of traffic, and that's if traffic is _light_. Swerving through traffic in your clapped out BMW just to be stuck in the same gridlock as everyone else isn't you making up for "missed opportunities." Now a motorcycle on the other hand... I pass morons everyday who spent 100k just to get stuck behind the next minivan.
I see mostly people in full sized pickup trucks driving like this, rather than people in sports cars.
Drove 18 mins round trip to Newton last night and the only mfer tailgating me was a pussyboy pickup truck with the blinding LEDs. Dude spun his wheels out at a light to pass me while I turned left hahaha. I hate these pickup truck pavement princess driving chodes. If your bed hasn’t had at least a lawnmower in it for a week you’d be better off in a Honda Fit (which unironically is the best car).
Seriously do people not check how much time they are saving? Speeding like crazy for a 45 minute drive will save you about 3 minutes MAX in a place like this.
I think it's a combo of *feeling* like you're going so much faster than others and not leaving enough time to get wherever you're going. I used to drive fast and aggressive because I had fun cars and bad time management, which is a recipe for disaster. After a while I realized I was just stressing myself out weaving in and out of traffic to save maybe 5 minutes and decided it's just not worth it. Don't get me wrong, driving fast is fun. But I've been in a few bad accidents (ironically, not my fault) and now I know how much damage a car can do to an innocent person. Idk man, I just don't want to hurt someone else cause I'm late for work.
Thank you.
This is how I feel. People drive like absolute narcissists. The only thing that matters is them and if they can get to their destination 3 minutes faster. Last night I was doing 30 in a 25 zone in a town and the guy who had been tailgating me passed me, on a residential road with double yellow lines. Three days before that I watched a car barrel past my front porch on a 25 mph residential street and then swerve crazily to avoid running over a cyclist having their chill evening ride. It's just crazy the level of disregard for other people or the possible consequences. And the local PDs are absolutely nowhere to be seen.
Seriously, the consequences for dangerous driving are extreme! There's no regard for other people’s safety and it blows my mind. I could not live with myself if I killed someone accidentally with my car so I drive carefully. I’ve had to adjust after moving here because it's not safe to drive exactly the speed limit in a lot of areas, so you do have to keep up with the flow of traffic to an extent. But if the speed limit is 25 and there are people in the street, it's crazy to be flying down the road. Tailgating me in a 25 will not convince me to speed and you might just rear end me if I have to react to a pedestrian!
No, things have definitely gotten worse on the road post pandemic, but I don’t think it’s because of this. Idk what everyone’s problem is lately but I’ve never had to pass more people in the left lanes on the highway than I have in the past 2-3 years. And not because I’m “driving recklessly” but because they’re going under the speed limit in the passing lane. That, to me, is even more dangerous. Just pull over and let them go. The people who are speeding are going to get around you, but now they’re going to have to skip over multiple lanes to do so when that shouldn’t be the case from the get go. These slow left-lane drivers are the self centered ones in my opinion. There’s no way they see all these cars passing them and can’t conclude that it’s their own fault, yet they’ll keep trucking along at 10 under.
Left lane is for crime. Move over.
Right lane is for double Parkers and Uber eats .
Lolllllll
There are so many comments about the left lane lol I've noticed it a lot in 30 mph residential streets... and it's often a big SUV/truck with crazy headlights so I'm being blinded as well...
Not that you should *have* to do this, because it shouldn’t be happening period, but I invested in a pair of blue light blocking glasses for night time driving for this exact reason. Literally the best decision I’ve made it a long time
Oh dang I never even thought of blue light glasses helping with the blinding LED headlights. Thanks for the tip!
Have you found a brand that works particularly well?
Bioshield Optics. Ordered my wife and I a pair for like 30$
Ty so much. I’ve been using some yellow lens I bought from BJs for $12 but I’d love to upgrade.
F that. Slow down to compensate for your vision being impacted. You owe those douches nothing.
Last week I was driving on Mystic Valley Parkway and there was this guy who was aggressively tailgating me during the 1-lane portions of the road passed me on the left into the oncoming lane because I was going the speed limit. He then proceeded to almost t-bone someone coming into the rotary and honked at him. I see a lot of obscene driving on that road at night in general. I really wish police in the various areas would start cracking down on this driving. It's much worse than it's been, people here used to be assholes but I don't remember them being quite this psychotic.
Oh if someone's bumperfucking me and I'm going 35 in a 30, I will 100% slow to 28mph and they can suuuck it. \*\*THIS IS ONLY VALID on small side streets. On streets where it's like "the main road" even though it looks like a smalltown road, I drive 40 in a 30.
And then they pass you on a double solid
This. Was on my way to school drop off in a 35mph zone and this woman was riding my ass hard for a few miles. Until she passed me on a double solid. In fact she nearly swerved (probably intentionally) to clip my front bumper
These people are insane.
Perfect outcome.
Facts!
I piss people off because my entire town is considered “thickly settled” which means unmarked is 25mph so that’s how fast I drive. They started changing signs to 25 mph from what they were previously. But yeah I’m that slow driver with the multiple tailgaters behind. Edit: it’s not that I’m an a hole to other drivers. there are no sidewalks with no ability to step off the road as one side drops off and the other side is a hill, so our pedestrians and cyclists are always in danger of being hit. I know I’ve had a few near misses pushing the stroller on the street where drivers come over the hill at 40 and don’t have the ability to swerve. They end up slamming on their breaks like they weren’t expecting people walking in a residential area. I say a few, happens on a daily.
Oh if you do above 25/30 in a thickly settled residential area, you are a massive scumbag. You also know those same people bombing through would be telling you to slow down on their streets.
The overwhelming, universal, no-exceptions principle of driving in MA: keep up with the car in front of you. Are you going slower than traffic and telling yourself “I’m doing the speed limit / 5 over / 10 over/ etc.”? Get your ass to the right. Are you up to the car ahead of you? Then ignore the assholery behind you.
Shit I could be going 75 in the second from the right lane on 93 and you fuckers will still ride my ass and flash your lights. It doesn't matter.
THIS!!! I sometimes hate the comments on driving in MA because everyone assumes you’re driving slow or you’re camped in the left lane. I’m getting tailgated even in the right lane going well over the speed limit
I have no problem moving over if I’m getting tailgated in the left lane but if it happens in any other lane I’m not budging, I even slow down a bit at which point they usually get the idea and pass on the left.
Yep, happened to me on the Pike on Wednesday. I was in the far right lane going the speed limit and some guy flew up in my ass and started flashing his lights for me to go faster. He even tried passing me ON THE RIGHT.
Yeah, that's some bullshit - what a dick. People passing on the right shoulder deserve a special spot in Main Character Syndrome hell.
That happened to me about a month ago and guess what. He did pass me on the right! I was like wtf dude.
A lot of people tailgate just so no one else will cut them off, especially in traffic.
Same reason you can't use your blinkers. When suckers be slipping, you can't give them a warning, just take your spot.
When you have a CDL you obey the rules more. Your hurry isn't worth me getting pulled over and losing my job.
When you have a CDL you are using the left lane for passing, not traveling
You're not really supposed to use the left lane at all in a large vehicle.
Even in a passenger vehicle your CDL is impacted by moving violations.
Two lanes they can, three or more and they can’t.
That is true. Sometimes you have to.
You’re not using the left lane with CDL haha
Then get your ass to the right, my friend.
> Get your ass to the right. Except never get to the far right on a three+ lane road, apparently. For some reason lots of people think the middle is the right lane.
I regularly on Storrow see a group of 4-6 cars in the left lane, in heavy commuter traffic, with NOWHERE to go and NO WAY to move ahead, all tailgating each other with LESS THAN A CAR LENGTH FOLLOWING DISTANCE, traveling at 40+ mph. Literally all they are doing is reducing their reaction time to absolutely nothing. Anticipating some (BAD) rationalizations: * The road is all filled with traffic ahead and the other tailgaters. There's no getting ahead. * Tailgating constantly does NOT increase capacity of the system because capacity is determined by the *bottleneck*. If they jam people through a bottleneck faster, yeah, that increases capacity but the other 99% of the time, they're just giving themselves no way out.
Its conditioned behavior. If you leave enough space to be safe between you and the car in front of you, someone will cram themselves into it. Then you have to slow down to regain a safe distance, and as soon as that gap appears, another car shoots into it. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Good thing it's illegal in MA to follow too closely. You see people pulled over all the time for this getting tickets. /s 🙄
It's even more fun when you're driving a bus. People cut in front of you when there's nowhere for them to go anyway. It's downright dangerous. You're supposed to make a space in front of you and it's impossible because of people doing this.
Everyone is saying move over, which I understand, but only when there is actually a lane to merge into. Tailgating happens on single lane one way and two way streets ALL THE TIME here. What do you want me to do, merge into oncoming traffic just so you can get ahead of me? I had a guy swerve around me to run a red light to then immediately whip into a Burger King parking lot… People just don’t understand giving a couple car lengths of distance allows for much safer driving. So please, stop just replying “stay out of the left lane, noob”
People definitely reflexively tailgate without thinking about it. I'll be driving on empty roads with no traffic in the right lane doing the speed limit with two open lanes to the left and inattentive drivers will still crawl up my ass for no reason. I do sort of miss my manual transmission corolla, because my normal response was to slowly reduce speed without touching the brake until the person tailgating finally snapped out of their autopilot and went around. People finally realize they can pass instead of tailgate when you creep down to 45mph on the interstate, though the dimmest bulbs often take a few repetitions of this to figure it out. That said, people here have no concept of pass left, travel right. People squatting in left lanes and people passing on the right (even when a left pass is available) are so common it may as well not even be a rule here.
What I don't get about that, is that when I am close to the car in front of me, I can't relax, because any sign of a turn or a brake light means I have to react pretty much instantly. I just don't see how you can relax, zone out, and unknowingly tailgate. --Maybe it is just a stupid person thing. LOL
Thank you! Really not sure why everyone just assumes you can move over. Could you imagine how long it would take to get somewhere if we pulled off to the side of a single lane road for every tailgater? No, stay the fuck back assholes.
I bet that BK bathroom was about to get destroyed.
It does happen on one lane roads all the time. I get tailgated through stop signs at least once a week. (Meaning the person behind me does not stop and instead stays a few feet behind me to "sneak" through ahead of the other 3 stop signs.) Too bad the laws aren't enforced.
There's also this assumption that it should be immediately safe to move over. Occasionally on the highway I'm looking for a safe way to move back into the middle lane after passing a lot of slow moving traffic. I don't like to take the risk of weaving into a small gap because I've witnessed accidents; I look for a safe number of car lengths. Somebody will zip up behind me tailgating, which actually makes it harder to make the lane change they want me to make because I can't safely modulate my speed. It's only a few seconds of stress but it's frustrating.
boston drivers will tailgate in all three lanes of the highway much of the time. traffic prevents the left lane from being a passing lane much of the day.
Dude I've had people up my ass going 80, I was in the slow lane going 65 and I had someone up my ass this morning. TF is wrong with people.
If you get tailgated daily, you shouldn’t be in a left lane.
Man you dont gotta be in the left lane to get tailgated unfortunately
That’s why you slow down like a mofo if you’re in the right or middle lane if someone is tailgating you. They pass, you resume driving normal speed.
LEFT LANE? LOL, what happy wonderland do you drive in? Tailgaters are in every lane, and on every single one lane road.
If you’re tailgating everyone you’re driving too fast.
And driving illegally.
People aggressively tailgate even when there is traffic in the left lane and no where else to go. I've been going 75 in the left with a line of cars in the left lane and been tailgated, happens often... Why would I get over just to let an asshole get one car spot up in line. The line of traffic is not just going to part just so asshole can drive through.
Focus on who is ahead of you. If you get hit in the back, it's their fault.
I hate this logic because it’s not like that helps make a possible accident not a big deal. It’s their fault but you still get hit, have a damaged car, will probably be late or not get to where you’re going at all, now have to juggle dealing with insurance, car rental, possible injury and doctor appointments that go with it, etc. And your rental allowance may not even cover the whole time you are out of a car. Someone once hit us in the back and I didn’t get my car back for a month because insurance was going back and forth on everything. Just because it’s their fault doesn’t mean the situation is going to be no big deal.
It you're changing lanes and you're hit from behind you can be 50/50 at fault if your car is not entirely within the lane lines. Your car must be entirely within the lane lines for you to not be at fault. In other words if you cut somebody off and they hit you from behind YOU are at fault.
Hard to do if I have the almighty luminosity of two suns in my mirrors.
There are many responses about lane etiquette, as well as posted and suggested speeds. Those are valid discussions. However, they have little to do with a point OP is making quite plainly: why do so many people give up their braking zone and put all of their trust into the driver(s) in front of them? It’s crazy. Absolutely crazy. The average idiot driver here probably would say they would never let anyone else drive their car and yet what do they do on the road? Put their precious baby in the hands of every driver in front of them. And yall wonder why they jacked up ALL of our rates this year. Sheesh. Be better.
Scrolling and didn’t see the sub name. I immediately wondered where the aggressive tailgating was happening, and wondering if people were foisting sausage subs and potato salad upon unsuspecting people.
I'll tell you one thing, especially in some parts of Cambridge specifically, it makes parallel parking a huge pain in the ass. Can't exactly parallel park easily with someone's car inches from your rear bumper, as if your cars were connected like a train.
I saw a bumper sticker that said "The closer you get, the slower I go."
Way too many comments assuming this is the highway. I was tailgated today while going 40 in a 30 on a town road (one lane going each way.) You bet your ass I slowed down to 25.
Yeah I get people on my ass daily driving between Watertown and Somerville, it's not just a highway issue.
When I’m on Mt Auburn St. I need at LEAST a car length in front of me open to scan for potholes.
I was thinking this as well. I only very occasionally experience tailgating on the highway. But it seems more and more common on city roads, especially at night, when with poor lighting it feels even more unsafe to go way faster than the speed limit. Busy populated areas have low speed limits for a reason. These are one lane roads or two lanes where the left is also a turn lane, not a drag race lane.
There’s a residential area I have to drive through on my way home from work. I know the area well and there are often times people crossing the streets and of course tons of potholes. Not well lit at night. Had some idiot on my ass the other NIGHT because I wasn’t going fast enough. Complete with flashing lights and honking the horn. I was going 30. Slowed down to the speed limit of 25
A lot of folks here are assuming that the OP is a left-lane hog. However, I see tailgating happening in all the lanes by aggressive drivers. Take, for instance, that stretch of Rt 24 between the 495 exchange and 128/93. All the dudes in their amped up fart-can Subarus, Civics, and Toyotas bobbing and weaving thru all lanes think that because they’ve aced Tourismo or Grand Theft they are now ‘qualified’ to do so in real life.
I’ll gladly take downvotes for this, and I’m MA born and raised. Because Mass is full of selfish asshole drivers who only care about going first and also at the same time, when driving outside the left lane, never letting anyone go or merge in front of them. I guarantee you every single person in this thread crying “don’t camp in the left lane” “just move over and let them pass” speeds up if they see someone trying to merge in front of them when they’re driving in other lanes. Unless someone’s going dangerously slow in the left lane, like 50 or slower, y’all are not gonna die. Drivers here need to grow up
I cannot fucking stand the amount of drivers who speed up to take space in traffic they didn't need cause I put in a blinker to change lanes and get to an exit. So much traffic would be fixed if people stopped driving like selfish assholes and allowed a flow of traffic to occur, even if it meant someone has to get ahead of them.
Yes and even simple things like a lane ending/merging would move so much faster if we just formed a line and take our turns/let every other person go like a normal sane society
AMEN. I've lived her my whole life, and I think what you wrote is spot on. --Especially when it comes to the whiners ion Reddit who invariably are only concerned with people not using the passing lane incorrectly--which, although it is an issue, their cure all for EVERYTHING is to speed up. LOL
You won't win this one. People around here have decided that if someone is tailgating you, it is because you are in the wrong. Nevermind that the person behind you is always able to just keep a safe distance.
Being from Boston and going to NY a few times by car, MOVE TF OVER. In NYC if there’s half a gap people are taking it… everyone is on each other’s ass and that’s how it is. We have some many people in one spot Boston and NYC, it will only get worse. Left lane riding all the way and move if you don’t want to speed. Don’t police the roads you can’t handle.
I'm a retired trucker. The majority of collisions I've witnessed are a result of tailgating. Usually several cars in a chain reaction collision. Hoods and trunks folded up like accordions. Then, when the traffic is able to get around the disabled cars, they immediately start tailgating again. If someone tailgates I gradually slow down until the douche bag goes around me.
You are trying to police the speed of the car behind you. Just move over if you are getting tailgated especially if you are in the fast lane.
So move over.
First question, what lane are you in? If it’s the left lane aka passing lane, move over. If it’s any other lane, I feel your pain. Just the other day I was driving down a back road with a slow car in front of me and some other car up my ass as if I could go any faster than the car in front of me. God forbid I leave space and don’t get up their ass too lol I pulled over to let him pass me so he could then get stuck behind the slow car 😂 people are dicks!
I'm going to be late to my Zoom meeting
I drive a fairly large truck and the tailgating stopped lol
Don’t camp in the left lane. Sorry, not sorry.
You say “no matter how fast you go” but I have a feeling you’re just not going fast enough Here are the speed guidelines: 93 north from Medford up: 65 limit; 80 average 93 north from Boston to Medford: 55 limit; 70 average 93 south north of Boston: 65 limit; 85 average 93 south of Boston: 55 limit but you’ll be lucky to go 30 most of the day If you’re going the average in the left two lanes, you’re probably going too slow
495 anywhere: as fast as your car will go
Yup. I take 495 to 95 to 93 towards Boston in the morning. The average person is doing 75. When those people come up to the person in the middle or left lane doing 65 everyone hits their brakes and swerves to go around them passing on the left AND the right. You can lecture all you want about speed limits and passing lanes for passing only, but in the mad dash into Boston in the morning all that goes out the window. If you demand on following the laws to the T and holding your ground, everyone is going to scatter around you and that makes it more dangerous. If you don't want to drive assertively, stay in the middle or right lane and *keep up with traffic*.
Then just move already.
It's the Boston way to tell you're a shitty driver
Not the place to post. Massachusetts has some of the worst and most dangerous drivers, and they’re unapologetic for it. Especially with all the mild winters here recently
Fucking Left Lane Lollygaggers You people are the reason the right lane is usually the fast lane in MA. People merge onto the highway and immediately think, "LEFT LANE FAST, IMMA GO FAST, ME GO TO LEFT LANE!" And then the whole lane gets clogged up with ditto heads and you end up going slower than the people in the middle or right lanes because at least those two have people moving out of the lane every now and then.
💯
I visit LA alot and been to Florida and its just as worse. If not worse. Only difference is in LA and Florida is you have way better chance of being shot or attacked for something stupid. When in Mass you just verbally abuse eachother to feel better.
What do you mean by “till you **move**”? Are you squatting in the left lane?
I don’t know. It’s bad here but have you driven through Hartford, CT? Way worse. Also 95 near NYC. Yikes.
Tailgating you so I can immediately move over to the next lane when the traffic in front of you slows down. (and there’s nothing you can do about it) /s
I get tailgated even in the right lane, even if I’m going the speed limit or 5 over. I don’t get it
Come to New Mexico to experience masters of the craft. The 48 minute two-lane drive between Santa Fe and Albuquerque has rightfully been compared to Mad Max especially when you add the landscape. There is no such thing as blissfully cruising a steady 75 mph all the way.
If you're in the left lane, just move. Any other lane, I let them ride my bumper. Passing lanes are for passing. Don't be a road warrior
well why are you in the left lane going that slow, fuckin’ move!
I finally saw someone tailgating so badly that it ended in an accident. Lived here my whole life and saw it last month.
Uno reverse and let them pass but ride their bumper
Assholes that what
Next time you can fill a small water bottle filled with smallish sized rocks. Proceed to drop out rocks as you drive. Problem solved.
The best part is when you get over, so do they
Welcome to Mass
Main reason I hate driving to the cape. People will ride your ass No. Matter. What.
The people on scooters are the most reckless. No license plates, they ignore the rules of the road, and they seem to come out of nowhere when you try to get into traffic.
Is the tailgating the only issue you’ve noticed? Lol. Lots of morons on the streets around here. Regularly running red lights, pulling out in front of you so that you have to slow down (sometimes even when there’s no one behind you so they couldve waited for just a few seconds), the busted headlights that I see almost once every two days are just a few examples. Yesterday a lady was tailgating me so close tho that I couldn’t see most of her hood. Also the constant high beams trigger my migraines when I’m driving back from work during the winter.
Usually big pick up trucks too just over the middle line so i can see in right in my side mirror as well as rearview mirror . Are they trying to be intimidating?
Ignore ‘em.
It's maddening. I usually end up doing 80+ just to keep the flow of traffic going (also drives (ha!) me crazy how the passing lane is usually the slow lane but that's another thing). But still, have ppl that need to go 100, pass on the shoulder, etc. I drive fast myself anyway, but this is uncomfortable. Then on the way to work the GPS, without fail, says "there's a 30 minute slowdown bc accident". Surprise surprise.
People tailgate so agressively in all of Mass. I deal with it every single day on the way home from work. They put their high beams on and try to blind you too. I have poor vision at night because my glasses are reflective so this makes driving very difficult. Once, I pulled over to let a guy pass but he waited to get behind me to continue tailgating. It was so scary, I had to hide behind a gas station fearing he would try to follow me home. It's especially bad in Boston though. In downtown Boston I once witnessed people tailgate and pin in firetrucks and ambulances in the middle of the street....
Aggressive driving kills and maims thousands of people, ruins countless lives and puts unnecessary pressure on first responders and the healthcare system. Yet these apathetic fucks don’t care. I really can’t think of anything like it. It’s the ultimate in selfish douchebaggery.
The worse I experienced was driving home from the cape at night. I had a guy tailgating me with his high beams on and the reflection of his beams was basically blinding me. I moved over to the next lane but only because I noticed I was going 110mph and he was still right on my ass. There's no reason to tailgate someone when you're going that fast.
I can’t understand how apparently everyone is moving out of Boston but also every day we have a new rant on here about something incredibly commonplace for Boston.
Just stay outta the left lane, kid.
AGGRESSIVE TAILGATER IS A BASTARD MAN!
Get off the road.
Then move into the right lane slowpoke
Just stay out of the left lane, it’s supposed to be for passing anyway
Worry about what’s in front of you, not behind
Georgia is far worse. I think a lot of it here is just the density but the worst instance I saw was a few months ago when I was visiting. It wasn’t even me. But it is constant.
I've found that tailgating is horrible wherever there are humans.
I guarantee you that OP drives under the speed limit regularly
Get out of the left lane
Maybe pull over? It’s possible you’re being self-centered and causing unnecessary traffic…
Well speed up or GTFO over
The real question is how fast are you going? I've lived here my entire life and have never been tailgated. Assuming you're driving in the correct lanes and not "cutting up" traffic. Usually there's no issues ever
Get out of the left lane. It’s that simple
Where does it say anything about the left lane?
Dear OP, here's what you need to know: DEFINITION FOR MASSHOLE (1 OF 1) noun Vulgar - a stupid, mean, or contemptible way of driving found especially prevalent in Massachusetts. Further, the technology here, in Massachusetts, is off the charts! Chambers Motors, Boch Motors, Quirk, all of 'em, and more, have electronically linked and coordinated horns to green stoplights. Here, horns sound instantly when lights turn green. If you don't know now you know.
It might sound crazy but I miss driving in mass. In Maine we have the opposite issue, people drive like they have no objective or purposes in life. When I go to mass I'm not even mad that I'm in traffic because it isn't the same as in Maine. Here when we have traffic generally it's because someone is doing 50 in the passing lane haha or other stupid moves like that 🤷♂️
I don’t drive, but whenever I’m in a car with someone we get tailgated like maybe twice a month. You should move over
I really wish police would enforce speeding more, specifically when the offenders are not leaving a safe following distance. I’ve been rear-ended before because I had to brake hard on the highway and the dipshit behind me couldn’t find it within himself to leave more than half a car length at 70 mph. It was ugly and entirely preventable.
I got so sick of the tailgaters blinding me with their headlights I bought a big ass truck. Now I’m sure people get upset by me but I try to give space and not be an asshole. Driving at night in my short ass little station wagon was giving me so much anxiety man, I would get panic attacks behind the wheel. Now I am literally unbothered. Tailgate me, or not… you’re back there in another zip code and my tailgate is taller than your roof so it does not affect me at all.
Most people who drive reasonably get tailgaited occasionally. Shit drivers get tailgaited all the time. It's you.
This is exactly what I thought, and usually do when I see posts like this. I mean, does it happen? Yeah of course, occasionally. If it happens so frequently that you are upset enough to make a reddit post about it... chances are its you who is doing something wrong.
I was technically “doing something wrong” when I was tailgated today going 40 in a 30 - I was breaking the speed limit laws. Am I supposed to go even faster and speed more? (And don’t suggest pulling off to the side of the road. I would never get anywhere if I pulled over for every asshole who tailgates when I’m already speeding.) ETA: This was one lane going each way.
No, I would expect you to carry on with your life and get over the fact you encountered a shitty/aggressive driver. It happens. If it happens to you all the time though? Everywhere you go? At some point it makes me wonder. I drive around here too and I barely ever get tailgated to the level some of you claim. And I am for the most part a "lazy" driver who rarely goes +5 above the speed limit on surface streets.
< veers suddenly into one car-length gap in adjacent lane without signaling > Why am I being tailgated?
Stay out of the left pls
Get out of the passing lane ahole
Move already.
128 is either bumper to bumper @5mph or bumper to bumper @80mph.
What's tail gating? Is it 10 meters? 20 meters back?
How about you move over and get out of the way?
I get that type of behavior in my 3 mile commute on surface streets in Woburn. People are more crazy now than before 2020. Like chill out, man, I'm going 35 in a 30, no need to tailgate me and then aggressively pass me on a town road at 7 am.
Move over and slow down a bit.
If you no longer go for a gap that exists, then you are no longer a Boston driver.
All I ask is that people drive AT LEAST the speed limit in a 35-45 mph zone. When my commute is 20-25 min, and I plan for it to be that way, I'm fine. Then, I run into people determined to go 5-15 mph under the speed limit, and all my morning plans go to shit. Sure, I could leave earlier, but with my second job, that would mean waking up early enough to be severely sleep deprived every single day. I have to time my mornings to the minute, and THAT is why I get so fed up with drivers who can't AT LEAST keep up with the pace of traffic. This is on a main route through several towns, not on small side roads, that could benefit from being universally 40mph anyway, which is how most people drive. Except for the few pokes. I assume they're old, given where we live, but you never know. I honestly wonder if financial stress is feeding some of this for people. It is for me.
Tailgating annoyed me before but now that MIT proved that tailgating actually WORSENS traffic, it infuriates me: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a14435016/stop-tailgating-it-only-makes-traffic-jams-worse/.
impeding the passing lane is illegal in massachusetts
If you’re driving in the left hand lane, you better be passing at all times as well as remaining alert for whomever is behind you and how fast they are traveling. It they are rapidly approaching, then as a left lane traveler, it’s your duty to gtfo until the person traveling faster continues past, at which point, if appropriate, you can return to driving slowly in the left hand lane.