Comments on: Fuel Economy Tip – Don’t Brake Check

By: dustin

dustin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:54:40 +0000

So I was driving down a 55mph highway, when this crossover suv was on my a**. I stayed at a steady speed for a while, then slowed down about 5mph below the speed limit. *** They never get the hint*** So I waited till a right turn came up at a Mc Donalds no less. It was a 35mph zone by then. But the frusteration got to me. I turned on my turn signal at the last second & slammed on my brakes. Their tires Screamed Errrrrrrrrrrr!!!!, as they kept from nailing me from behind. The only thing that sucked was, at 30mph…….them rear ending my car would not kill them. When their bloody flesh on the black pavement, embedded with glass was what I was ultimately was trying to acheive.

By: tf 09

tf 09 — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:14:14 +0000

I personally don’t like brake checking, I just get out of the tailgater’s way ASAP or even pull over if I have to to let them pass. Brake checking them could only get them more pissed off. I do have a question though, if someone tailgates you, passes you and brake checks you and you hit them, is it your fault or theirs? Some punk-ass kid did this to me and my buddy when we driving on the interstate a couple days ago, and he brake-checked so hard we had to swerve off the road and onto the shoulder to avoid hitting the little bastard. If we had hit him and it would have been our fault that would be total BS.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:09:14 +0000

I don’t brake check… No way. If a person is 6″ off my rear bumber, I just drop the car into a lower gear. That way there’s no brake lights to warn them. BAM! “I never hit my brakes, officer… they just rear ended me!” Then their insurance company buys me a new car. Don’t tailgate! You’re 100% at-fault if you rear-end someone!

By: Roberto

Roberto — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:55:42 +0000

slower traffic to the right.

by the same token, faster traffic to the left.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:50:47 +0000

I ended up here for the same reason as Diane. Some girl was tailgating me so close, I could not see their headlight or grill. I was going the speed limit and I brake checked her. I rarely do it, but the person was dangerously close to my car. The person swerved to the side since their cars brakes were not very good. Had I slammed on the brakes in a real emergency there would be a serious accident. The girl eventually passed me in a no passing zone and sped up to 70 MPH in a 45MPH zone.

Looking back at the situation, I will just continue on with the proper speed and have the person behind me raise their blood pressure.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:43:58 +0000

For all of the people who like to tailgate a tractor trailer. I have a question for you. How close do you think you can get to our trailers before we can’t see you back there. Well if you are with in 80 feet directly behind us we can’t see you.Let me tell you what.Our bumpers aren’t anything like the bumpers on a car. If you are tailgating a tractor trailer and we don’t know you are behind us and we have to stop with no warning odds are you are going to see what a DOT bumper will do to your car. It is going to total your car and probably end up killing anyone in your car.So next time you want to tailgate a tractor trailer I hope you remember this.

By: ln

ln — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:00:08 +0000

The gas economy point is a legitimate one, but I really don’t think that’s a convincing enough reason to refrain from brake checking. In fact, it’s not a reason at all.

Brake checking, like tailgating, is dangerous and it puts everyone on the road at risk.

I did a major brake check on some idiot this morning, who had to come to a screeching halt because he was following THAT closely. The person proceeds to throw an infantile fit, go around traffic /on the shoulder/ to get in front of me and do the same, which made me laugh because brake checks only work on idiots who tailgate.

Look, I admit it. I was really satisfied with myself at the time. After thinking about it for a couple of hours, though, I felt stupid and negligent of my responsibilities as a driver. It was a dangerous and irresponsible thing to do. My action was spurred from one of those emotional “justifications” for doing such a thing, as I’ve had this sort of vendetta against negligent and careless drivers ever since someone’s carelessness and idiocy took the life of my mother. Thinking about the hypocrisy involved herein just makes me cringe at my own stupidity. What I’ve come to realize is that it only aggravates road rage and it puts people other than myself in danger.

The justification for brake checking is often, “What if I had needed to make a sudden stop? That idiot would have been embedded in the ass end of my car.” I thought about that, and now beg this question: “Who the hell cares?” The tailgater is going to get exactly what he deserves if you need to make a sudden stop. I guarantee you that someone riding my ass will not keep me from braking if a dog or a child runs out in front of me. Anybody who says that such a thing would prevent braking really needs to examine himself and/or his driving ability.

Though one can certainly get a few minutes of satisfaction and amusement from brake checking, after that feeling is over, really think about it. “What could have happened?” I think that thought alone will be shocking enough to most reasonable drivers to make them at least refrain from brake checking, if not never do it again.

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:30:03 +0000

whose grill I CAN’T see

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:52:13 +0000

I have only brake checked someone about 6 times in 28 years of driving. Saved for extreme cases only – like I can’t see their grill in my review mirror. I consider it a warning that if a child runs in front of me or a car pulls out unexpectedly they are without a doubt going to hit me. I don’t think some people realize just how quickly a car can stop in an emergency. I ended up here today because I was on a city street doing 35, in 35 zone, in left lane cause I was gonna turn left and I’ve got this guy on my tail whose grill I can see. He got a wake up call! No matter how close you get to my car you will NOT be able to reach my gas pedal! I brake for tailgaters, they need to learn a lesson before they kill themselves or someone else.

By: Driving Delays and Distractions | The Blog of Rudy Amid

Driving Delays and Distractions | The Blog of Rudy Amid — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:37:11 +0000

[...] Slow down by down shifting the gears, or just let go of the accelerator early. Don’t “Brake Check“. Keep ample distance with the car ahead. When traffic is not in a stand still, it [...]