Motorcycle rules do apply, tonnage wins. We are small and light, give yourself lots of space in front and back, slow down early at lights to let everyone behind you know that they have to stop also. Be defensive, be smart, leave earlier so that you don't have to rush to wherever it is, I find that letting aggressive drivers go by me makes me happy, I hear their bigger cars sucking down $4 a gallon gas while I sip gently and go much farther.
I am glad to know that I am not the only one. p1nball, from your description, probably the same one. Hopefully she will smarten up before she eats the back-end of something much larger than she is capable of digesting.
Thanks for all of the "adult" answers and valid points.... invisible, I like that. I guess I was beginning to take it a bit personal. At 6' 5" and 245lbs, I am not accustomed to anyone invading my personal space, so I expect the same in my little car. I need to lower my expectations..... and leave a little extra distance in front to "loan" to the goober behind in the event of a mishap.
I think we have an officer that owns a smart. I would love to get his input on the subject. It seems to be an issue. I was sitting in traffic this morning and someone drifted into me!!! No damage, but it proves people get too close too often.
I am an officer but do not have my smart yet (August), it does sound like they draw a lot of sometimes unwanted attention. As too tailgaters, the advice I give to others is to let off on the gas and slow down, let them pass you and then continue on your way. Until the smart is a common vehicle you will always have people who want to take a look and unfortunantly we are not always aware of their intentions.
Just tonight I added a bumper sticker (okay, perhaps window sticker since I put it high) that says "Can you BE any more up my ASS?". Never thought about doing that with my 4Runner. But maybe I will get lucky and this will help remind people on my 2 lane no-pass lane commute.
People don't tailgate the smart as much as they do the Miata. The smart is a relatively tall car and that keeps tailgaters back but the Miata can be seen over easily from the average car or any truck, and the drivers of those look well beyond the low car so they tend to come too close without thinking.
Also, the smart is very short, so in order to determine whether you're being tailgated you need to consider that the car behind will appear closer than it would normally with any other car.
What I've found happens more with the smart is that drivers cut dangerously close in front when changing lanes. If you drive slower than the average flow this will happen often, if you drive faster it will almost never happen. The same with tailgating.
Regardless, leave more room between you and the car in front than is normally done - and excuses that someone will pass and pull in front of you is just nonsense. Alternatively, just drive faster.
I've adapted my driving habits to be MORE aggressive in the smart, knowing that folks have a tendency to think that you're moving slowly. If they see you're going much faster, they usually let up a little.
I have the same problem with both my Geo Metro and my smart passion! It's like people are completely oblivious that pulling right up on our bumper is not considerate at all! So I had a bumper sticker made up for my Geo that says, "It's a Geo. It doesn't go any faster. Go around!" and ever since, no one's tailed me when I drive it!
I'm thinking about making one up for my smart now!
Monday afternoon, someone deliberately tried to run me off the road, and then hung his head out the window laughing at me as I very clearly mouthed every obscenity I knew at him. That really shook me up. However, looking at him and the beater of a van he was driving, I figure karma had already had its way with him.
Yeah, having a smart is like being a celebrity. There will be those people who are going to single you out without regard to your feelings (not to mention everyone's safety) simply because you're not politely confining yourself to a place in their little world.
It's just one of those things you've got to gear up for when driving a car that is obviously different in nearly every way from every other car out there. People like that would rather you just conform and be like everyone else. And that's something I refuse to do! I'm having too much fun!
~Jas...
My solution: #1, tap the brake just enough to show my lights. Sometimes that gets them to back off. If it doesn't work, phase #2, keep foot off brake, and lift right foot from gas peddle. Slow down to 10 MPH below the speed limit ... slower if that doesn't work. This aggravates them enough to get them to go around, and the lower speed makes it easier for them to do it. And, if worse comes to worse, their dangerous driving could cause an accident (obviously), and I'd rather have that wreck at a lower speed.
Criticize me if you must, but I do not tolerate tailgaters. I wish I could shake some sense into the morons.
While I don't criticize the behavior, I've seen too many people experiencing road rage when the person in front slows down. It no longer becomes an issue of getting around the slow person but of making them go faster. People can be blinded from any logical thought.
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