Tailgaters - WHY?? (A Rant)

[Trish Miller]

Forgive me, but why do people in golf carts think they need to tailgate other golf carts?
It can make one VERY uncomfortable!!
Are you in that big of a hurry?
This is a RETIREMENT community my God's sake!!!

I'm venting because this stupid woman was on my ASS the other night and she simply wouldn't back off!! I came to a complete stop in the golf cart lane and told her to back off. Then she turned on the street and then decided to pass me!! Dumb broad!!

Soooo I'm asking people to STOP tailgating as it is NOT necessary!!! :swear:

[rubicon]

How fast were you going? Being retired does not mean that you can or want to ignore your timelines. We all have places to go and people to meet.
Are you one of those drivers who puts the headset on and boops at 10mph listening to your favorite tunes. Or the person who lights up a a cigar puts one foot on the dash and rolls along at 8mph? If so then expect that some people are going to be a little impatient.

If neither applies then might I suggest you may want to do what I do and let those in a hurry pass because 19mph is the safest on cartpaths and I have no desire to go faster.....after all I am retired.:D

[Trish Miller]

How fast were you going? Being retired does not mean that you can or want to ignore your timelines. We all have places to go and people to meet.
Are you one of those drivers who puts the headset on and boops at 10mph listening to your favorite tunes. Or the person who lights up a a cigar puts one foot on the dash and rolls along at 8mph? If so then expect that some people are going to be a little impatient.

If neither applies then might I suggest you may want to do what I do and let those in a hurry pass because 19mph is the safest on cartpaths and I have no desire to go faster.....after all I am retired.:D

I was going 19mph and no to the rest of your comments. :wave:

[missypie]

If I am able to I just pull over.

Maybe her hubby was ill

Maybe she had to use the facilities

But really, I just pull over...no stress for me!

[DonH57]

I've gotten used to this behavior Trish. Between the tailgators and the ones behind me who curse or make other comments when I make a stop and check traffic before crossing at roundabouts or gates. I simply reach up and turn up the radio to drown them out. I cannot count the people who pass me when I'm doing 20. Not my fault they started out to late to get where they are headed.

[missypie]

I've gotten used to this behavior Trish. Between the tailgators and the ones behind me who curse or make other comments when I make a stop and check traffic before crossing at roundabouts or gates. I simply reach up and turn up the radio to drown them out. I cannot count the people who pass me when I'm doing 20. Not my fault they started out to late to get where they are headed.

That is really terrible behavior. Sorry people do that.

[ilovetv]

Sometimes we pass people who are going agonizingly slow to be behind them. Our gas cart is governed to go no more than 19.5, and so if we have the power and speed to pass the slow one ahead, we do.

One reason for "tailgating" as you call it, is that the faster cart behind you in the diamond lane cannot pass you if there are cars steadily coming alongside on their/your left. This does happen, where a faster cart has come up upon an agonizingly slow one, and the faster one can't pass because of the steady car traffic on their left.

[buggyone]

I just slow up a bit and let them pass me. My cart is set at 19.5 and I check it on a regular basis with a GPS.

If the legal limit is 20 mph for a cart, I wonder why so many can easily go 35 - of course, a car can go over 100 mph and there is no speed limit anywhere in the US over 70 (but I am sure someone will correct me on that).

I have never had anyone yell or curse at me when driving a golf cart at 19 mph. I also do not yell at them when they pass me like I am standing still. Sure, I pass carts going very slow - like the rentals from the Villages Golf Cart Store. I always pass carefully. I have not been passed carelessly by others.

[DonH57]

Whether I'm on a cart path or a road with a cart lane and I come up on a slow cart I wait til a safe condition, signal and pass while gesturing a polite smile. When it's the other way around I never pull over or off the path and if they desire to pass, so be it. I'm not putting myself or my cart in a hazardous position due to someone else's impatience.

[Warren Kiefer]

How fast were you going? Being retired does not mean that you can or want to ignore your timelines. We all have places to go and people to meet.
Are you one of those drivers who puts the headset on and boops at 10mph listening to your favorite tunes. Or the person who lights up a a cigar puts one foot on the dash and rolls along at 8mph? If so then expect that some people are going to be a little impatient.

If neither applies then might I suggest you may want to do what I do and let those in a hurry pass because 19mph is the safest on cartpaths and I have no desire to go faster.....after all I am retired.:D

Why do some continue to attack every poster ???I have decided to not post any opinion I might have ...

[ajbrown]

IMO, it is a personality defect with a person that tailgates, I cannot think of any other explanation. If their cart goes 21 and you are going 20.5 they will be within a cart length of your :censored:. It has nothing to do with speed, I have no issue being passed as described by DonH57, but I hate being tailgated, made even worse by a LOUD cart . It can certainly ruin an other wise wonderful evening ride in the golf cart.

Luckily there are not too many of them.

I do have pencil sketches for a hidden squirt gun mounted on the rear roof, but wouldn't that be wrong :evil6: ?

[jblum315]

IMO, it is a personality defect with a person that tailgates, I cannot think of any other explanation. If their cart goes 21 and you are going 20.5 they will be within a cart length of your :censored:. It has nothing to do with speed, I have no issue being passed as described by DonH57, but I hate being tailgated, made even worse by a LOUD cart . It can certainly ruin an other wise wonderful evening ride in the golf cart.

Luckily there are not too many of them.

I do have pencil sketches for a hidden squirt gun mounted on the rear roof, but wouldn't that be wrong :evil6: ?

Even better if it squirts red paint LOL

[Golfingnut]

I just slow up a bit and let them pass me. My cart is set at 19.5 and I check it on a regular basis with a GPS.

If the legal limit is 20 mph for a cart, I wonder why so many can easily go 35 - of course, a car can go over 100 mph and there is no speed limit anywhere in the US over 70 (but I am sure someone will correct me on that).

I have never had anyone yell or curse at me when driving a golf cart at 19 mph. I also do not yell at them when they pass me like I am standing still. Sure, I pass carts going very slow - like the rentals from the Villages Golf Cart Store. I always pass carefully. I have not been passed carelessly by others.

Many states in he west have 80 MPH legal limits on Interstate Highways.

[DonH57]

Yea, I like the hidden squirt gun idea.....................LOL. With maybe the sound effect of a 50 cal machine gun!

[DonH57]

I do like driving out in the western states. You can easily get cruising at 90 + without realizing it.

[JoeC1947]

Even better if it squirts red paint LOL

Yeah, that would be real funny. :rolleyes:

[drdodge]

there are some people that should not be allowed to own a golf cart or even drive one
drd

[Trayderjoe]

We used to have one of the really slowww golf carts, even when I had "the pedal to the metal" and I had no problem with people safely passing me. If someone is going to tailgate me, I take consolation that I have a good attorney. Maybe, there is an opportunity for a new bumper sticker?

"Tailgating? In case of accident, make your check payable to my attorney: J. Doe Esq at 555-555-1212"
:024:

[maybe]

How fast were you going? Being retired does not mean that you can or want to ignore your timelines. We all have places to go and people to meet.
Are you one of those drivers who puts the headset on and boops at 10mph listening to your favorite tunes. Or the person who lights up a a cigar puts one foot on the dash and rolls along at 8mph? If so then expect that some people are going to be a little impatient.

If neither applies then might I suggest you may want to do what I do and let those in a hurry pass because 19mph is the safest on cartpaths and I have no desire to go faster.....after all I am retired.:D

Trish's rant was not against other carts passing her. Passing would help someone get to their destination more quickly, but tailgating per se would not.

[Buffalo Jim]

I haven`t been in the Villages for very long and I believe that most of us feel that living here exceeds anything we might have imagined .

However there is an " under current " of " edginess " that we experience far too often and seems also to be manifested on this site to the point that it would discourage many from posting .

[JP]

I think if you are in the golf cart lane and pass someone, you are effectively becoming a car and if you are going well past the 19 1/2 mph governor limited speed, you are opening yourself up to get a speeding ticket.

[marianne237]

could we make that squirt gun a "super soaker"?

[George Bieniaszek]

Tailgating is not just delegated to golf carts. I recently traded in my Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel for a new car. Before that I was driving down Morse Blvd towards SS when I noticed somebody driving the smallest sub compact up against my rear bumper to the point that I almost didn't see the car in my rear view mirror and side mirrors. Checked my speed and saw that I was driving approx. 37-38 MPH so I gradually reduced my speed to 30. When Morse widened to two lanes, the car stayed glued to my back bumper up to the gate. How this idiot didn't hit me I will never know.

[asianthree]

when you are driving a rental everyone passes you :22yikes:

[DonH57]

The only time I've passed other carts, bikes, or walkers while in the cart lane I never broke the 20 mph limit and did it assuring clear distances. Our cart won't go faster than 20 so I never worry about the " unregistered vehicle" horse collar.

[bluedog103]

I was going 19mph and no to the rest of your comments. :wave:

Trish, do you have a speedometer? Often people putt along at 16-17 mph and are certain they're riding at the max 19.something. I agree that tailgaters are a p.i.t.a. If they pass me, that's ok. Doesn't bother me at all.

[collie1228]

Trish, I'm with you 100%. I don't care much how fast anyone's cart goes (but I do admit to a feeling of pleasure when I hear about big fines for carts doing 27). But I'm sick and tired of being tailgated for a long distance before the inevitable pass on Morse. And I have a speedometer what says my cart does 19.5.

[Serenoa]

Aggressive personality types have always got to be first...so impatient, can't let anyone get in their way. I work with a guy who passes me on the freeway almost every morning. Our hilly, rolling terrain allows me to see him up ahead in his red Challenger tailgating, weaving in & out of traffic constantly trying to get ahead of the next person. At the end of our 18 mile commute I usually see him walking into our building just as I'm pulling into the parking lot. His dangerous, aggressive driving gains him about 45 seconds, maybe. Not worth it IMHO.

[Mikeod]

Aggressive personality types have always got to be first...so impatient, can't let anyone get in their way. I work with a guy who passes me on the freeway almost every morning. Our hilly, rolling terrain allows me to see him up ahead in his red Challenger tailgating, weaving in & out of traffic constantly trying to get ahead of the next person. At the end of our 18 mile commute I usually see him walking into our building just as I'm pulling into the parking lot. His dangerous, aggressive driving gains him about 45 seconds, maybe. Not worth it IMHO.
I think people tend to bring with them the driving habits they used in their previous location. I used to drive the SoCal freeways to and from work, and it was almost game to see if you could gain a car length on the other cars. Like you saw, there was a lot of tailgating and weaving from one lane to another. It seemed you had to drive aggressively to get ahead. It took a few months for me, plus reminders from my dear wife, to leave that mode behind. Hopefully, those that are tailgating either in car or cart will do the same.

[Don H]

Texas just opened up a stretch of highway with an 85mph speed limit. God Bless Texas. We need an Autobahn in the US! :coolsmiley:
Just wanted to say that the German Autobahn is not the unlimited speedway that most people imagine. There are many areas where the speed limits exist such as in more densely populated areas around cities. The 'open road' , 'suggested' speed limit is 130km/hr, about 81 mph. While motorists are not held to that speed by law if you're involved in an accident while exceeding that speed you become partially responsible for the accident automatically. Also, most German motorists on the 'bahn' are sticklers for the rules. They all drive in the right lane except when passing after which they immediately tuck back into the right lane. Spent a bit of time on the Autobahn. Enjoyable if you follow the rules. :-)

[looneycat]

I think if you are in the golf cart lane and pass someone, you are effectively becoming a car and if you are going well past the 19 1/2 mph governor limited speed, you are opening yourself up to get a speeding ticket.

the minute you cross the solid whit line you are operating an uninsured, unregistered motor vehicle on a road and open to getting a very expensive ticket if an officer having a bad day spots you.

[Trish Miller]

Trish, do you have a speedometer? Often people putt along at 16-17 mph and are certain they're riding at the max 19.something. I agree that tailgaters are a p.i.t.a. If they pass me, that's ok. Doesn't bother me at all.

Yes I have and use my speedometer :)
I'm glad it doesn't bother you, but it does bother me.

[DonH57]

If you are in a cart in the cart lane you may pass another cart, bicycle, walkers, turtles, as long as you do it in a safe manner and not exceed the 20 mph. You are not expected to follow a walker or bicycle all the way down Morse blvd or any other street.

[tommy steam]

Aggressive personality types have always got to be first...so impatient, can't let anyone get in their way. I work with a guy who passes me on the freeway almost every morning. Our hilly, rolling terrain allows me to see him up ahead in his red Challenger tailgating, weaving in & out of traffic constantly trying to get ahead of the next person. At the end of our 18 mile commute I usually see him walking into our building just as I'm pulling into the parking lot. His dangerous, aggressive driving gains him about 45 seconds, maybe. Not worth it IMHO.
His actions could get himself or some poor souls in an emergency room. There is no excuse for aggressive driving ,tailgating , none whatsoever ever.