We drove from New Jersey to Virginia over the weekend to attend a family reunion and take in a football game. We tailgated before the football game. It was fun. The food was good, the company was better.
Driving back to New Jersey through Pennsylvania, I muttered something to my traveling partner about some one tailgating us.
"I don't remember anybody tailgating us in Virginia," she said.
"Or Maryland or West Virginia," I added.
In New Jersey, tailgating is all too common. It's not safe and it's not smart. And it needs to be called something other than tailgating. We need to differentiate between good behavior and bad behavior.
'Following too closely' is the term used by states that have laws against tailgating. Let's use that term, though it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker as nicely.
Maybe those people 'following too closely' are trying to read our bumper stickers. Sure, when they pass us they're all friendly, roll down their windows and yell out "nice bumper sticker!"
Yeah, that's it.
I asked my partner, who is licensed and accredited in drug and alcohol rehabilitation, why people follow too closely.
She replied that they are unable to self-regulate. They drive as fast as they can until they are slowed down by someone in front of them. Then they engage in dangerous behavior until they get what they want, which is to get by you so they can run up against someone else's back side.
In other words, these people are sociopaths.
I have read through several state motor vehicle sites that discuss how to deal with drivers that follow too closely. They all recommend letting the offender get by as quickly as possible. They advise against braking suddenly (to teach the bum a lesson) or tapping your brakes several times (it doesn't do any good and creates a 'crying wolf' situation).
The sites advise against doing anything confrontational as it may be lead to 'road rage' and endanger other people's lives as well.
For me, that sums up our culture fairly well. We reward sociopathic, bullying behavior. We advise against doing anything about it. "Just let them go."
Political discourse, social discourse, and religious discourse in our culture more often than not resembles this kind of bullying, sociopathic behavior. It's not surprising it crops up on the road as well.
Being gentle and kind are seen as signs of weakness today. It shouldn't be. We're better than that. Or, we used to be.
Driving back to New Jersey through Pennsylvania, I muttered something to my traveling partner about some one tailgating us.
"I don't remember anybody tailgating us in Virginia," she said.
"Or Maryland or West Virginia," I added.
In New Jersey, tailgating is all too common. It's not safe and it's not smart. And it needs to be called something other than tailgating. We need to differentiate between good behavior and bad behavior.
'Following too closely' is the term used by states that have laws against tailgating. Let's use that term, though it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker as nicely.
Maybe those people 'following too closely' are trying to read our bumper stickers. Sure, when they pass us they're all friendly, roll down their windows and yell out "nice bumper sticker!"
Yeah, that's it.
I asked my partner, who is licensed and accredited in drug and alcohol rehabilitation, why people follow too closely.
She replied that they are unable to self-regulate. They drive as fast as they can until they are slowed down by someone in front of them. Then they engage in dangerous behavior until they get what they want, which is to get by you so they can run up against someone else's back side.
In other words, these people are sociopaths.
I have read through several state motor vehicle sites that discuss how to deal with drivers that follow too closely. They all recommend letting the offender get by as quickly as possible. They advise against braking suddenly (to teach the bum a lesson) or tapping your brakes several times (it doesn't do any good and creates a 'crying wolf' situation).
The sites advise against doing anything confrontational as it may be lead to 'road rage' and endanger other people's lives as well.
For me, that sums up our culture fairly well. We reward sociopathic, bullying behavior. We advise against doing anything about it. "Just let them go."
Political discourse, social discourse, and religious discourse in our culture more often than not resembles this kind of bullying, sociopathic behavior. It's not surprising it crops up on the road as well.
Being gentle and kind are seen as signs of weakness today. It shouldn't be. We're better than that. Or, we used to be.
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