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Detecting Tailgaters With Lasers

stoolpigeon writes "Police in Arizona are using laser range finders to detect and ticket tailgaters. An officer can now measure not only the speed of passing vehicles but also how close they are to one another. The detectors described in the article are built by Laser Technology Inc., a company that provides lasers for traffic control, engineering, and even tactical/military solutions. The article mentions how tailgating is connected to many accidents and incidents of road rage; this observation fits my experience."

14 of 1,136 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Tailgating by Iamthefallen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tailgaters aren't that bad, I can live with them behind me.

    It's the fuckers that are really close in front of me I can't stand. How the hell am I supposed to be able to stop in time going 80mph when that guy is just 10 feet in front of me?!

    --
    Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
  2. Re:Tailgating by nizo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I always wanted a little TV in my car's back window, so I could show video of cars smashing into each other, bloody bodies flying into the air, etc which could be played when people follow me too closely. Either that or a pneumatic arm with a ballpeen hammer on the end to put holes into the hood of cars following too closely.

  3. Moo by Chacham · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems like they could spend money on so many different things. . . . They need to catch speeders more than tailgaters."

    Umm, no. Tailgaters are worse. There can be a smart speeder. There is no such thing as smart tailgater. Becauses, it is not speeding that causes accidents, it's the person speeding needs to take extra caution. It can be done, even if it usually is not. Tailgating in-and-of-itself is dangerous.

    "I've seen people at 0.04 seconds. That is less than half a second," he said.

    Talk about enlightening comments. :)

    Some of the comments there say that someone else will just pull ahead of you. Ahem, they will then get tickets. That's the point. Then they complain that they're close for a minute and get tickets, well, this complaint and the first complaint are opposites.

    I hope these tickets work. Next we can take on gawkers.

  4. Re:Tailgating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Like they say, there are only two types of drivers:

    The assholes in front of you, and the assholes behind you.

  5. California rules by wsanders · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're supposed to allow 1 foot for each 10 MPH of speed, you inconsiderate clod. And an extra 10 feet if you're watching a movie on the DVD player in the dash, and 10 more feet if it's a porn movie.

    --
    Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
    1. Re:California rules by serbanp · · Score: 5, Informative

      I guess you're a little slow [sic]... Your math is very good if you're doing 50mph at 5ft from a freaking wall. Then it's good for the genetic pool to slam into it, you deserved that.

      In the real life, though, the car in front of you moves at the same speed as you. Since they can't decelerate in zero time, the math to compute the allowed reaction time is a little more complex.

  6. Re:Tailgating by fm6 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My idea was a flashing neon sign that says, "back off!"

    Problem is, everybody thinks they're a perfect driver, and get very weird when anybody tries to tell them otherwise. Hence all the road rage incidents connected to tailgating.

    My strategy is to slow down, but subtly, so they don't register that I'm pissed at them. I don't even brake, I just don't push the accelerator as hard as a normally do. Invariably the tailgater gets impatient and passes, without registering any change in my driving.

    It is, of course, frustrating to see bad driving and not be able to communicate your concerns to the other driver. But frustration is better than being targeted by a psycho.

  7. But leaving more than 10ft gets you cut off by dircha · · Score: 5, Funny

    In traffic, leaving more than a single car length between you and the guy in front of you gets you cut off. It's an invitation for some asshat in the next lane over to cut in. You know the type.

    I tell ya... roof-mounted laser gun turrents. "We've got a Jetta at 3 o'clock! Get in there and keep him occupied until I can engage the damned lightdrive!"

    That and enemy symphathizers - traitors. You rode that bumper like an animal in heat and kept the Jetta out of your lane. But what's this? The Jetta pulls ahead and that weak-willed pansy Corolla two cars ahead lets him in, after all your work! "Dammit man, we're trying to hold a line here. Get on that fucking bumper and ride it for all you're worth you fucking pussy!"

    Where did these people learn to drive? Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood?

  8. My nutty idea by tkrotchko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I run into a tailgater, I (... and don't criticize me if this seems wacked out or dangerous) I pull to another lane. Then they go on by.

    And if I'm on a road that is 2 lanes, and I get a guy 2 inches from my bumper I (... get this...) I pull off the road for two seconds as soon as I can and let some other person deal with them as they rush on past..

    Seriously, I want to concentrate on driving, not whether some nutball in back of me is going to slip up and ram into me because he's got anger management issues.

    To my way of thinking, guys who slow down in front of tailgaters have the same mentality as the tailgaters, they only express it differently.

    --
    You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
    1. Re:My nutty idea by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seriously, I want to concentrate on driving, not whether some nutball in back of me is going to slip up and ram into me because he's got anger management issues.

      Bingo.

      Safe driving is not just about avoiding accidents, more importantly it is about avoiding dangerous situations.

  9. Re:Tailgating by StarvingSE · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Its not so much that people drive too slow, its that people like to ride their brakes, or brake for stupid fender benders on the side of the road. Try this little applet out for size to see the effects of it.

    Gawkers should have their driving privileges revoked.

    --
    I got nothin'
  10. Re:Tailgating by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did you ever notice that people driving slower than you are idiots and that people driving faster than you are maniacs?

  11. Re:Tailgating by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, I haven't.

    You can drive slower than me and not be an idiot: don't hog the passing lane, don't match the speed of the drivers in the lanes who are right next to you (thus creating a wall), and be going at least 60 mph when you merge onto a freeway.

    You can drive much faster than me and not be a maniac: just take the first opportunity to go around me (I probably won't be in the left lane, or will quickly vacate it when I see your speed) rather than tailgate, and don't change lanes close enough to me such that I panic.

  12. Re:Slow drivers--Know Your Surroundings! by endlessoul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's jerks like you that people hate when driving on the road.

    Flash your high beams right in someone's rear-view? That's dangerous. Drive "dangerously close"? How is that justifiable in any situation? Oh, but it's only to "wake him up".

    Try telling that to the cop that arrives on the scene of the rear-end accident that you just may have caused.

    Driving like a prick is never ok.

    That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.