called 911 on a tailgater today

[kt-rose]

We don’t own the road

and when most of are driving our horse trailers we are going at or below the speed limit. Might work better to find a spot to pull over and let the cars behind pass. I try to do that whenever I can hauling to my lessons because it is also the time of day most people are trying to get to work and I am sure they don’t leave any more extra time in their mornings than I do. Consideration rather than confrontation would make everyone safer in the long run. From us as well as them!

[Liberty]

[QUOTE=marta;4357761]
that afterwards, while doing barn chores, i started questioning myself and the decision to report this asshat, but your posts reassure me that i made the right decision.

so anyone w/ a police connection know how long this ‘complaint’ will remain lodged with the police? is that something that clears out of their system within the next few hours or does it remain in there for a long time? i’m just curious whether it’s possible that they stop this guy 3 weeks from now.[/QUOTE]

No question; your report was the right thing to do, especially if that moron gets involved in an accident on down the road somewhere. Don’t know how long the info stays in the system though.

DH and I had a tailgater in very much the same type of situation. Speed limit of 45, which is what we were doing. Speedy Gonzales in a shiny new Mustang roars up behind us and nearly sits on our trailer bumper. A bit of a straight stretch comes up (still double yellow though), and he races on by. I say to DH, “Man, where are the cops when you need 'em?!”

Lo and behold, about a mile further on down the road, we see it. Flashing blue lights of a state cop car, and the officer writing up Mr. Speedy Mustang. If there had been a suitable shoulder to safely pull off on, we’d have done so and given that cop a bit more info about Speedy.

As for getting irate with other drivers, I abstain from it openly, especially when hauling my horses. Way too many nutzos out there behind the wheel.

[marta]

I’ve pulled over many times in the past to let drivers go by

especially when im on a road where I know they will not have an opportunity to pass for a while.
There are polite ways to ask to be allowed to pass. Tailgating my trailer is not on that list. The road opened up only a mile or 2 later. I was going the speed limit. His behavior was unwarranted.

[chaltagor]

[QUOTE=kt-rose;4358138]
and when most of are driving our horse trailers we are going at or below the speed limit. Might work better to find a spot to pull over and let the cars behind pass.[/QUOTE]

People tailgate me all the time as I usually drive five miles above or below the speed limit. No one has the right to tailgate at any time, and there’s no way I’d pull over just because someone wants to break the law and endanger others further. There’s usually a good reason the speed limit is set to what it is. If they don’t like my speed they can take it up with the road authority.

Most people want to drive as fast as possible and no speed is fast enough. Being behind a horse trailer has nothing to do with it.

[Tiffani_B]

My bf and I were just having this conversation yesterday as we were returning home from a horse show, trailer in tow. I told him I was going to order a bumper sticker from Cafe Press that says “This Trailer Brakes for Tailgaters”.

[Buffyblue]

Good for you, Marta! I hate NJ drivers! What is the point of tailgating anyway? Do they actually think it will make you go faster? I even get them on the highway (speed limit 65 -which is what I do). I just turn on my wipers and hit them with a blast of wiper fluid. Usually wakes the boneheads right up! After all, they have 2 other lanes to drive in. Had one follow me for a while and then pass me on 514 with a double yellow line when I was going the speed limit (45 MPH) and happily saw him stopped up ahead by one of the Hillsborough police cars! YAAAA!

[MountainGirl7]

Glad you called it in. That always scares me and then makes me very angry. People need to learn how to drive.

[WNT]

I always wanted a bumper sticker that read “Tailgaters will be fertilized”.

[kookicat]

Good for you!

I’ve phoned the police before for idiots on the road. I had one in a Audi Q7 try to run me off the road. He was not happy when I refused to be bullied and kept driving towards him. Got his plate, pulled over and reported him. Made me day to drive past and see him sitting at the side of the road getting a ticket.

If I’m not towing, and I have someone sitting on my bumper, I give the brakes a good tap. Usually backs them off quite nicely!

[Huntertwo]

@Buffyblue;4359078

Do they actually think it will make you go faster? I even get them on the highway (speed limit 65 -which is what I do). I just turn on my wipers and hit them with a blast of wiper fluid. Usually wakes the boneheads right up! YAAAA!

:lol::lol: My Jeep Cherokee is perfect for spraying the cars behind me, which I will do to tailgaters. There is satisfaction when you seem them turn on their wipers to wipe off the fluid.

Good for you Marta!

I find in my older age (just turned 49) I have no tolerance for stupidity and won’t turn my back on it.

I’ve called A/C on a neglected emaciated horse. Called the police on a dog left in a car at the supermarket in the heat. And a couple of other animal concerns.

Just yesterday had a confrontation with a pony ride guy who had a pretty sore pony that looked like it was foundering. (That is on another post)

If you gave them the plate number, couldn’t they track this person down ASAP?

[crazy_gray_horse]

I am also glad you called it in. Drivers like this are so frustrating. There is no good reason to tailgate - horsetrailer or not. Without the trailer I’ll give my brakes a couple of lite taps. Can’t do that with the trailer though.

Just tonight I was pulling an empty trailer back from the trainers. I’m on a county highway and 3 cars in front of me is a jeep pulling another car at 45 mph (posted speed limit is 55). I get a jerk tailgating me and swerving in and out trying to pass. As soon as he thinks he’s got some room, he passes me then immediately cuts in front of me because he doesn’t have enough room to go any further :mad::mad: I’m glad I didn’t have a horse in the trailer. Eventually he manages to get around all the traffic and leave us all in the dust. He is nothing more than an accident waiting to happen.

[JollyBadger]

[QUOTE=bumknees;4358105]
I had a friend who I assume had this made and she lived by it…
the bumper sticker read " The closer you get the slower I go

I would love to have that bumper sticker…[/QUOTE]

LOL - I like that one, too!

Saw one a couple of years ago that I wanted to get; it said “If you didn’t want to get stuck behind me, you should’ve left five minutes earlier.”

It never fails to amaze me how stupid other drivers can be when it comes to vehicles that are pulling trailers; not just horse trailers, but other campers, storage trailers, big rigs, whatever. I’ve seen people drive right next to my boyfriend’s horse trailer, instead of passing, so that their kids can see the horses. I mean, it’s fine if they point out the horses while they’re passing by, but they intentionally stay there for several minutes. It’s especially scary when the person driving the other car is paying more attention to the horses in the trailer than the road in front of them.:eek:

[MMorgan]

How about a bumper sticker that says “I brake for jackasses”, then tap on the brakes a few times.

In all seriousness, when you’re trailering horses, you are very limited to what you should do antagonistically, that is. There’s too much potential for road rage, and jerking the driver around as I used to be prone to do (by speeding up, slowing down, etc) when I was younger is taking too great a chance.

The police should be more responsive because there is nothing a driver can do. However, they typically don’t pull over for aggressive driving like tailgaiting, just speeding, despite that tailgaiting has many potentially serious consequences for the drivers.

[threedogpack]

“Cop stops us and tries to ticket us for going too slowly! We talked ourselves out of it, but it was a bit over the top. Idiot”

next time take a hearing.

[threedogpack]

“Might work better to find a spot to pull over and let the cars behind pass.”

in PA, if you are holding up traffic, it is the law to pull over. You are a hazard if you are going to slow or making frequent stops (think school bus).

[baysngreys]

As someone who has driven all around, and back and forth across the US with a horse trailer, I would much rather drive alongside the big rigs any day. The idiots who drive in the cities scare the daylights outta me!

I followed a neighbor with her horse trailer the other day, going 40 in a 55mph, on a 2 lane black top to town. At one point she had 8 cars behind her. Rule is - “five or more, pull over”.

Why the heck she was going so slow I’ll never know? Clear conditions, straight road, but just creeping along. That’s the type of horse person gives the rest of us a bad rap.

[gotabuk]

A friend of mine had a bumper sticker on her trailer that read: “If you can read this, you are what you see.” i.e. a horse’s a$$. :lol:

[piaffequeen]

Once when we were coming home from a show-we had an A$$ in a Mercedes tailgating & honking his horn at us-we were going the speed limit maybe 5 miles over-I think the speed limit was like 30 miles an hour- My friend and I kept making comments like what an a$$ and wouldn’t it be funny if one of the horse decided to take a dump! No sooner did the words come out of my mouth then sure enough my friend’s arab let one go! Landed right on the hood of his car!

Then we had to stop at a stoplight and the driver got out and started cussing big time at both of us. We both got out of the truck and proceeded to argue with the guy. Pretty soon a State Trooper pulled up-I could hear the ST laughing to himself. Now the best part was that the stupid a$$ had parked so close to our trailer that both of the horses crapped again on his car! :lol:

The driver got a ticket for tailgating. Trooper stated that he had seen the whole thing and if he was that stupid to drive close to a horse trailer that was going above the speed limit legally then he got what was coming! Guy said he was going to sue us for the damage to his car-but State Trooper said he had it all on video tape where he had stopped close to the trailer. Guy left-we didn’t exchange anything.

Needless to say those horses got extra treats that night!

[MMorgan]

Piaffequeen,

Now that’s a beautiful story with a happy ending:lol:

[piaffequeen]

[QUOTE=MMorgan;4359763]
Piaffequeen,

Now that’s a beautiful story with a happy ending:lol:[/QUOTE]

Yeah but I forgot to mention that it was a WHITE Mercedes!!!:lol: