Mr. Tailgater

Question: My husband is a terrible tailgater. It’s actually a miracle we’ve never been in an accident. I do give him credit: he is a good, watchful driver who doesn’t try to do three other things while he’s driving. The lack of accidents has made him believe there isn’t any real danger connected to this driving style. But it makes me so stressed I’ve actually refused to ride with him sometimes (during the worst rush hour congestion, for example) and I drive myself to meet him at the restaurant or whatever for dinner. Can you offer anything helpful? Answer: Well, first I’ll refrain from commenting on a guy who refuses to alter a behavior that day after day so distresses his wife she comes up with ways to avoid spending time with him. But here’s the facts, ma’am. As you already know, he is significantly increasing his chances of a wreck, and one day his luck will run out. Since you can’t seem to convince him of that, here’s another little fact of life you might want to bring to his attention: Aggressive driving practices - and tailgating definitely falls into that category even if he doesn’t intend for it to - can trigger “disproportionate responses” from other drivers who get fed up and that can easily “escalate into road rage,” according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Indeed, the group says, aggressive driving behaviors were found to be a factor in more than half of fatal crashes. Moreover, 80 percent of drivers in a study said they believe aggressive driving is a serious or extremely serious to safety. Among the things that qualify as aggressive driving: cutting drivers off, tailgating, making offensive gestures and laying on the horn. Does he tailgate because he’s always late? I doubt that’s the reason, but if it is, maybe you can have a leave-five-minutes-earlier rule. I’m guessing it’s just a habit that he sort of enjoys, and he’s disinclined to change. Maybe you can get him to take the aggressive driver quiz online at aaafoundation.org (look under Resources and click on “Aggressive driving quiz.”) I’m betting he’ll probably score pretty high in the hostile-driver quotient. What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email Sharon@ctwfeatures.com.