Hey, you! Get outta the way

My Oct. 6 column on drivers who tailgate prompted an unusually high number of reader comments. Some decried the dangerous driving behavior and called for police to crack down on offenders, while others blamed slowpoke drivers for causing the problems.

Tailgating can quickly escalate into road rage and has become the leading cause of rear-end collisions in California, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

From 1999 through May of this year, 46,917 people were injured and 43 killed in accidents primarily caused by tailgating, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Here’s a sampling of comments:

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There is no excuse for tailgating because it is reckless and dangerous. However, there is also no excuse for those who drive 10 to 15 miles slower than the flow of traffic to hog the road.... Their driving is just as dangerous and reckless.

Ernest Zimdars

Claremont

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I doubt [most] tailgaters engage in this activity because it’s enjoyable to them. They’re probably tailgating because the lanes of traffic are being clogged up by inconsiderate drivers that occupy the fast lane and they are frustrated. If slow drivers would simply allow the faster drivers a lane of traffic to do their speeding, tailgating might actually decrease.

Michael Duffy

Saugus

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I was going 5 miles over the 55-speed limit on state Highway 154 when a car that had been tailgating me for several miles ... sped up and crossed a double line at least 20 to 25 miles over the speed limit. I called 911 because he appeared to be going even faster as he passed other cars. In fact, he was going so fast I couldn’t even get part of his license plate. It is doubly frustrating when there are not enough patrol cars to catch these maniacs. At that speed he was long gone by the time the alert is sent out and a car can get into position to nab them.

Ed Kushner

Solvang

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I drive fast, but I really try to use the three-second rule when up near 60-65 mph. But 9 out of 10 times it is just an invitation for another car to cut in. It is a jungle out there.

Peter Linny

Los Angeles

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The three-second rule is absurd. At 65 mph, a car is moving at 95 feet per second. In what world does the CHP think that urban drivers can possibly allow 285 feet of following distance between them and the car in front of them?

Stephen Greenberg

Los Angeles

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Everyone who drives in Los Angeles knows that tailgating has gotten worse, except for the offenders ... because they keep right on doing it. Tailgaters in carpool lanes are the main reason I hate driving in these lanes; I’ve never figured out what to do when a tailgater appears on my bumper. Speeding up in response is a terrible idea, and illegal to boot. Crossing over the carpool lines to get out of the tailgater’s way is illegal too.

Bonnie Sloane

Los Angeles

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While I agree wholeheartedly that tailgating is a serious problem, I feel you have missed one of the primary causes not only of tailgating accidents but also of traffic congestion in general: the driver in front. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a slow driver in the left or passing lane congregate a whole line of cars that would otherwise be spread out along the highway.... The closer cars are to each other, the more likely they are to collide.... Many drivers seem to feel that they have a God-given right to control the speed of traffic simply by virtue of being first in line.

Eric Webster Nerenberg

Atlanta

Jeanne Wright can be reached at jeanrite@aol.com.