When you are out driving, what scenario makes you the most paranoid?

All of the above make me a little edgy, but being followed is what frightens me most....I have been known to go to the courthouse or other public building to wait out a person who appeared to be following me during the day....the nearest ER is my "hideout" when it has happened at night....paranoid, perhaps, but I'd rather be paranoid than become a statistic.

I get nervous when someone is driving next to me. I try to look straight ahead but I have expect them to either shoot me in the head...or try to push me off the road!

Someone driving next to me matching my speed. That's not something that happens often here in California, since I drive the speed limit everyone is either tailgating me or speeding past flippin' the bird. But if they start driving next to me matching my speed, I can't help thinking it's some disgruntled person, upset because I'm not going 90 mph, and preparing to push me off the road so I can't disturb any other drivers...

What makes me most paranoid is when the car following me happens to have flashing red and blue lights on top of it.

Someone tailgating me upsets me more. Since I'm always going over the limit, that makes it seems more like they are gonna hit me because they have to be going over the limit, too.

Tailgaters are one of my biggest driving annoyances!!!
Do they want to cause an accident - or are they just that stupid?!
(Let me guess... )

It's never happened to me before where someone sped up and then slowed down and waits for me. If it did, though, I think it would definitely make me nervous!
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LOL Jelp, and ditto!

I hate tailgatting! It makes me really nervous all the time when someone does that and i tend to speed up then i get another ticket...they SHOULD ticket them not me!

I always slow down when I have a tailgater.....the closer they push, the slower I go. I always consider it a job well done when I'm rewarded by honking horns, people giving me a double bird, and yelling obscene things that accuse me of having an incestuous relationship with my mother.

LOL @ Jelp..

Another things its hard to tailgate someone when they are going 90 miles per hour but they still mangage somehow to do that to me...then the darn things even put this stupid blue/red lights on the top of their car to let me KNOW they are there...that is iritating to me! That makes me want to go even faster to get rid of them.. Thats why I love to ride my horse you can cut thru fields to get rid of them!

You do that too Jelp? I tend to flip down my rear view mirror so I don't see the tail gater...and then start going slower...and slower...and slower...heck, sometimes I'll even point to a speed limit sign!

I think what bothers me most is people from another car trying to talk to me when I'm driving. People roll down their window and motion me to roll down my window. Or guys who wave at me or smile from another car. I hate that!

Lots of the things mentioned here bother me.

Tail-gaters don't scare me...they just make me mad.
I also don't like it when a cop has nothing better to do than to follow me.

But, similar to Georgia, I do feel uncomfortable being stopped at a light, with the next driver over positioned where he can look directly at me...I always try to stop a little ahead or behind, in case it's some weirdo.

MsSue, that happened to me Friday, coming home from work. But instead of feeling uncomfortable with the situation, I decided to have a little fun with it. So I slowly turned my head (a la Linda Blair in the Exorcist) to the right and then slowly to the left. Never once made eye contact with anyone, just continued to do so in a very robotic manner.

OMG, that'll teach 'em not to stare!

There must be a lot of wierd drivers on the roads of America! Though I didn't notice them when I was there. I only recognise tailgating as a problem in The UK and like Jelp and Georgia, I slow right down, that bugs THEM more than their tailgating bugs you! That's a fact and also, it's what 'The Highway Code'* advises you do in that situation.



* The roaduser's guidebook to rules and regulations and advice on road safety in The UK.

I am not paranoid about any road situation. I drive on offence, not defense. I don’t tailgate, but on a moving highway I will flash my lights (once) to the joker in the left lane to move over. If they don’t move over, or slow down I don’t get closer, I simply look for my next opportunity to move to the right and pass them there.

Well, the only thing that does make me nervous is going over the Goethals Bridge in moving volume type traffic. (It connects Staten Island, New York & Elizabeth, New Jersey.) Very narrow two lanes each direction bridge. It was built prior to 1930 for different types of traffic. You need to pay attention here especially driving a larger vehicle. Passing a SUV or truck is a non-option there .

In traffic or while moving I am always alert to what is around me. I drive a full sized van so I am looking down at anything smaller. I constantly use all my mirrors and turn my head often to double check. I always look at people too, (Not stare, thanks for that image MsSueM) and sometimes I do smile at them. I am not “checking them out” or attempting any contact whatsoever; but most times if I see something that makes me smile, I smile .

This morning it was a lady picking her nose while waiting at a traffic light. I was watching her dig around looking for the inevitable prize when she noticed me looking at her, and yes I was smiling . She became embarrassed and stopped her quest and stared straight ahead like a sculpture .

note to our non-American members: whatever is discovered in one's nose is only considered a "prize" in New York City and Long Island.

In certain parts of West Virginia and Arkansas it is considered nourishment.

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