[spdrun]

DUI checkpoints are specifically for checking for intoxication. I’m not a fan of them, but the ones I’ve gone through either asked me to blow, or asked me whether I had been drinking (cop sniffed the air) and didn’t do anything else. They didn’t go on a fishing expedition as to my itinerary for the next few weeks.

When you’re given a license, you sign an implied consent form allowing breath and drug testing. This does NOT extend to being required to state your personal business for the next few weeks.

BTW – the Border Patrol checkpoints don’t only necessarily check drivers. The 2-lane portion of Rt. 94 is theoretically usable by pedestrians and cyclists.

[spdrun]

Apparently not, so long as they can prove you’re a legal citizen and not carrying any contraband.

[spdrun]

The swinish part wasn’t them checking my citizenship. It was being bombarded with personal questions AFTER presenting valid proof of citizenship (i.e. US Passport).

The purpose of the internal checkpoints is to check for citizenship, not to go on a fishing expedition. As a citizen, I shouldn’t have to account for why I choose to travel in my OWN country. And didn’t, despite what the pigs wanted me to do.

Your situation in Europe was different since you were a foreigner.

[spdrun]

NAStyCAR drivers. Hahahahahahahaha. Cars using technology from 1949 running round in circles like hamsters. Give me a LeMans race or a good rallye any day over NASCAR.

Anyway, what’s cool on the track isn’t necessarily on the street.

[spdrun]

Depends on the engine. Some have throttle plates, some don’t.

Trucks have a way to alter valve timing(?) to provide a braking effect – that’s the loud burping noise you hear when a truck slows down on a steep hill.

[spdrun]

I don’t.

That’s the point – that the braking effect is very controllable and can even be zero. But at least in my car, it almost doesn’t exist unless you downshift.

[spdrun]

Try this.

Push the clutch. Downshift a gear. With the clutch still pushed in, rev the engine to roughly where it would be revving if it were in the “new” gear. Let go of the clutch pedal with the engine still revving.

No braking effect at all until you start letting go of the gas. Unless you want the clutch to last 30,000 miles, that’s the way a downshift should be done.

Double-clutching to save on synchros is optional (my first car has no synchro on 1st gear) 🙂

[spdrun]

I said “a gear or two.” The point is to vary distance by a foot or two, making the tailgater uncomfortable without him knowing exactly WHY he’s uncomfortable. It generally works.

[spdrun]

Yeah, the point was to put the car in a position to control speed without flashing the brake lights. This control can be very precise, whereas just letting go of the gas in top gear will cause the car to sort of roll along. Note that I did say “gradually slow down” not “put it in 3rd and dump the clutch at 70” 🙂

[spdrun]

See my response above. If you’re driving a stick correctly, downshifting doesn’t have to make you slow down hard, since the engine is already spooled up before you re-engage the clutch. Once you’re running at 4000 rpm or so, you can basically control speed with the gas pedal alone.

[spdrun]

Nope.
(a) my car’s a diesel. No throttle plate, so not much engine braking
(b) if you rev-match properly before letting the clutch back in, and ONLY THEN gradually let off the gas, the slowing will be very gradual. Not to mention that downshifting and letting the clutch in with the engine idling chews up clutch plates.

If you’re talking about doing the same in an automatic, I’d actually agree, but unless it’s an electric car, any car I own will have the correct # of pedals.

[spdrun]

Regarding brake-checking:
If I’m slowing down, I actually look in the mirror and don’t let the gap close too much. Brake checking where you actually slam the brakes is a whole different game, and a fool’s game IMHO.

My goal is NOT to piss off a tailgater, BTW. In fact, I really don’t want to annoy them at all. I just want them to pass me or back off. It’s not a question of revenge or whatever, it’s a question of the safety of myself, my passengers, and my car.

Gently speeding up and slowing down will generally cause them to detach without even knowing why they did. Brake checking would put myself, them, and everyone else next to us on the freeway in danger. Not an option.

[spdrun]

That would work for most user. What would work better is to just move to a slower lane. When people do that to me, I just gun it, pass that person and get into their lane, then slow down below the speed limit just the piss them off.

Lovely. Just the kind of punkass idiot I want to be sharing the road with.

Hopefully one of the people whom you brake-check will either not react and rear-end you, or follow you home and beat the living snot out of you.

If someone tailgates me in the passing lane, I’ll move over, and I generally keep right when not passing anyway. If someone does it on a 2 lane road but refuses to pass, or on the right lane of a freeway, I’ll try to detach them. Brake checking isn’t cool, but slowing down and speeding up slightly isn’t dangerous, but still gets the point across.

Lastly, I’m from NYC. Driving is a competitive blood sport here, but at the same time, brake checking and road rage aren’t all that common here. Relax and be a good sport about things. How can San Diego drivers be so angry in such a lovely place? Paradox.

[spdrun]

Whenever they get too close, tap your brake pedal lightly enough for your brake lights to go on, but not enough to actually apply the brake and slow down.

I just downshift a gear or two and let off the gas gradually … accelerate a bit … let off. The varying distance without brake lights generally creeps most tailgaters out, and causes them to finish their proctological exam.

[spdrun]

‘roo bars on the front of the car + a gun rack in the rear may help people think twice before inserting themselves.

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