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Janny
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Safety Issues: Cars
Many of us feel inviolable in our cars. They are like little portable fortresses surrounding us with thousands of pounds of steel. We can curse or sing off-key and nobody will hear us. Sometimes we almost feel invisible.
If another car starts messing with us, that illusion goes out the window. Being followed, being cut off, or being tailgated is a frightening experience for anybody. But for ritual abuse survivors, especially those who have escaped recently, such incidents make us question immediately if we are being harassed by the cult.
Here are some safety suggestions. Some are simple and can be put into place immediately; others are a little harder to implement. Choose what works for you.
If at all possible, keep your car in an alarmed garage. Don't let another person borrow your car keys, and if you think there is a possibility your key has been stolen or duplicated, get the locks changed.
Whenever practical, park in high traffic areas. Know where the highly populated areas are in your town, for you are less likely to be attacked where there are plenty of witnesses. Lean on the horn to attract attention and draw witnesses to you if you feel you are in danger.
Lock the car doors when you park and whenever you are in the car. Keep the windows closed and use the fan for ventilation. Before unlocking the car, check the back seat to make sure nobody is hiding on the floor.
If you have a cell phone, take it with you whenever you use your car. Keep pencil and paper handy to record incidents, including time, place, description of the car and driver, and license plate if at all possible.
It's a good idea to vary the times that you use the car, as well as the routes that you take to work, friends' houses, or stores. Being unpredictable makes it a little harder to follow you.
If you think you are being followed, make four right turns and see if the suspected car does too. If you are being followed, never go home or to a friend's house; instead, drive to a police station. Park illegally and stay in your car until an officer arrives rather than going into the station. Make a report of the incident, giving as many facts as possible.
If you are worried about tampering, check the tires and lug nuts to make sure they are tight before starting out. You can protect your gas tank by buying a locking gas cap that can only be opened from inside the car.
Ask the Department of Motor Vehicles not to give out your name and address. Remove your name or identification from reserved parking spaces at work. Remove bumper stickers and easily remembered items like magenta fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror: they make your car easy to spot. |
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longneck242002
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I just pull over if I can and let them pass. |
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andy m
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do what i do--- slow donw a bit, speed up a bit, slow down a bit, speed up a bit etc etc....... they get really fed up with eratic driving and usually stop it... |
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Porterhouse
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I normally give the brakes a good stab and hold on tight. Sometimes I will weave across taffic in front of them to appear to be as dangerous as possible.
The best thing to do is to let the car pass. If you can find a safe place to slow down and let them by, do so.... be sure to flip them off as they drive by!! |
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RBJ
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EASY. Switch your hazard lights on and lift foot off throttle! |
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noobienoob2000
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defensive driving courses tell you to slow down so they will eventually pass you. You can give them the message by tapping your brake just enough to turn on the brake lights but not enough to slow you down.
If your brave hit the brakes hard and cause a collision. You may get lucky and earn yourself a weekly paycheck for life. If your rear ended it's the other guys fault 99.99% of the time. Just tell them you seen a squirrel. That SHOULD teach them a lesson. |
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Dirtydog
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tailgating annoys us all... most especially at night...but you never know whats going on with other drivers...it may be a true emergency so always give them the benefit of the doubt...if you slow down that's only going to make matters worse...if your traveling at the speed limit move to the right most lane if possible..if it is a two lane road move to the right as far as possible...above all avoid confrontation with another driver, you don't want to make the 6 o'clock news... |
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taz c
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Ignore them, but be aware of them - they're only looking for you to get agitated. Only get alarmed if they bump/ram you. |
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Terry K
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,It's unsafe to put the breaks on, they might hit you, so, slow down more until they pass you. |
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D
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Everyone gets tailgated: it's very dangerous and annoying.
I've done some of the things suggested above to combat it, flashing my brakelights, foglight etc., but think carefully before doing this. If the tailgater is an aggressive person as opposed to plain stupid, this sort of response will make them MORE aggressive - your response could escalate the situation from an annoyance to getting attacked. So, pull over at the first safe place to do so (leaving a safe exit route for yourself in case you're being followed) and let the tailgater past. Problem solved.
Don't even think about slamming the brakes on. If your tailgater is stupid they'll run into you. If they are aggressive, it'll infuriate them into doing something drastic.
Also remember to drive up to the speed limit where the road conditions allow (this is what the Highway Code advises). You might be going too slowly and making tailgating situations more likely.
Hope this helps! |
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"Call me Dave"
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Get your speedo calibrated and stop annoying everyone by driving at 62 in 70 zones.
You could alos get one of those programable red LED Dsplays for the back window to say Drop Back and Polite alternately |
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Lydia
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I always sloooow right down -makes them so angry! |
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soph
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depends where you are, In the area I live in (East Anglia UK) there is a gang going round tailgating, and the 1st person who retaliates either by slowing down or putting lights on become the victims of a sick game called cat and mouse, They will eventually run you off the road and drive off.
Incredibly dangerous, immature and pathetic I know but it happens all the same! |
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Pit Bull
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Slow down , especially to the truck or bus's speed limit, because those drivers are the worst of the lot and think they can just push you out of their way. |
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SuperWales
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Have someone ( or yourself if you know what you're doing ) fit a switch that allows you to turn on the brake lights.
A push switch that doesn't latch in the on position is best, so you don't forget to turn them off!
Or a nice halogen spot fitted to shine out of the rear window, but this is only good in the dark.
Very effective.... |
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polyesterfred
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get out of the way if you can. people are foolish nowadays and shoot each other over things like parking spaces so let em by if you can if you can't then flip that little switch on your rearview so you can see and just drive follow the traffic laws and get out of thier way as fast as you can. thats all. not worth wrecking or getting shot. let it ride amigo |
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kitten6444
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if it happens in the day turn ur lights on they think u are breaking |
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Iam!!
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Leave plenty of room between your car and the car in front of you. That will give you plenty of room to stop if needed, and enough warning for the car tailgating you. As far as getting them of your rear end, that probably wont happen. But that doesn't stop you from being safe. |
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Bealzebub
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Give them the opportunity to pass by slowing down and pulling nearer the side of the road, they will take this opportunity and probably thank you if they're just in a hurry, if they're fools just doing it to frighten you though, slow down further, then speed up agressively, then so long as they're a reasonable distance behind you, jab on the brakes again. this should frighten them into backing off with no real danger. Don't pull over and let them pass as if they are fools that wanna frighten you your opening yourself right up if they want to be really intimidating. If they continue to drive up you *** just make a call to the police and advise them of you location and situation. they normally will have a patrol car around a minute or two away.
If you are a distance from a city and therefore the police, your best bet would be to continually slow down, then if they try to overtake you accelerate hard. Defensive driving courses will tell you not to do this as its provoking problems but if you already have invited them to overtake and they refused in order to make your life miserable they probably have agressive intents in mind, SO DO NOT STOP!!! You need to put fear back into them as they will not want an accident into the rear of you. They will almost certainly be held responsible for this and are far more likely to be injured as a result of this than you are. If you really can't get them off your tail without serious risk of danger then just cover your rear view mirror up, they aren't a threat if you can't see them. |
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grease
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Don't you just HATE THAT? One of my all time pet peeves!!! Someone gets on my tail and I slow right down to a snails pace then they are forced to pass because now you're the one who's driving HIM crazy! Who's got the power then? Then I just laugh and laugh 'cause I know I got under his skin and I'm driving him NUTS!! Try it my friend, it's amazing how good you feel when the silly bugger finally drives on past. That's about the time that I just look over; smile...... and wave.LOL LOL LOL |
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samadhi.samararatne
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speed up a little, slam on the brakes suddenly and cover your ears. Er........and it helps if you're in KIT.
;-) |
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simonbeever2000
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If it happens at night, pop your fog lights on, they always drop back then |
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barfoeng
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Ignore them, you should pay attention to the road ahead and don't worry about what's behind you... |
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k
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Keep slowing down, eventually the tailgater will get fed up and back off |
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barrin
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brake if they hit your car they at fault and hopefully you get a new car out of it |
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zzzzzzzzt
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Just change lanes, and hopefully they will get theirs someday |
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Lisa W
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I don't change my driving style or habits at all. Sometimes I move my rear view mirror so I don't have to watch their erratic driving in my back window because it makes me nervious. I just continue to drive as I normally do. I'm in front and they have to follow course or they can pass. I usually never pull off the road to let them pass either unless I suspicion a drunk driver. |
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dolittle
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go slower |
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Michael B
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Slam your brakes on, then claim compo, works every time. |
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Leeder16v
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are you driving to slowly? if so speed up
if your not then just slam your brakes on! when they smash into you say you braked as a cat ran in front of you, will be there fault for hitting you, you get whiplash nice compen claim, money in your pocket, everyones happy (except the clown driving to close to you) |
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Francis7
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I carry a digital camera in my car and ask the wife to take their picture,works like a charm,funny how many are camera shy. |
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