I hate tailgaters in Dickinson, North Dakota.  Dickinson is the worst place that I have ever lived regarding tailgating.  The second worst tailgating place that I have ever lived, is the small town in Idaho where I bought a home.

You might think that the worst tailgaters, would be the pushy, aggressive people in Tampa, Orlando, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, or Salt Lake.  But the people in the big cities who drive in heavy traffic every day, know that if you follow too closely behind another vehicle, you are going to be in an at-fault vehicle accident for rear-ending another vehicle.

In Dickinson, and in the small town in Idaho where I used to live, it appeared that the local people were too stupid to have ever had the thought, “If this vehicle in front of me slams on the brakes, there is no way that I could stop in time before running into the back of this vehicle.  I would be the one who was blamed for the accident, for following too close, driving too fast, or not paying attention.”

It’s like the people in Dickinson have this thought process, “The stoplight up ahead has just changed to red, even though there is no way to continue through the stop light at this moment, I will follow as closely as possible behind the vehicle in front of me, so that at least I might get into an at-fault accident, have some points assessed against my driver’s license, have my vehicle insurance go up or be cancelled, and have some damage done to my vehicle so that I won’t be able to drive it for a while.”

The tailgaters in Dickinson fall into the following categories, from the most common, to the least common:

1. Ford F250/F350, Dodge 2500/3500, Chevy 2500/3500 owners that follow too closely because that is what they think their vehicle is for, tailgating.  In Dickinson, probably 50% of the people who own these 3/4 ton-1 ton pickup trucks, do not own a trailer of any kind, or do any heavy hauling, so the next best thing in their mind, is to drive like an asshole.  Even if you are driving at the speed limit, or a little over the speed limit, in a 25 mph, 35 mph, or 45 mph zone, they follow as closely as possible, because they are in big hurry to get from one red stop light to the next red stop light.
2. Stupid, inexperienced, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder young people with $2,500 vehicles.  Mostly from poor families, but a small few are from middle class or upper middle class families, mixed up, troubled, confused, drug addict young people who can never think more than one step ahead, they just don’t know how to not get into a car accident yet.
3. Highway drivers outside of Dickinson, that can’t use logic, reasoning, understand physics, or do math.  Scenario: “If you are driving one mile behind a vehicle, and over the course of five minutes, you steadily become closer, and closer, and closer to the vehicle ahead of you, are you going faster than the vehicle ahead of you, and is the vehicle ahead of you going slower than you are?  Do you think that you will need to pass the slower moving vehicle ahead of you, or if you follow the slower moving vehicle ahead of you as closely as possible, will you be going the same speed as you have been going?”
4. Highway drivers that feel safer driving as closely as possible behind you.  There are women drivers that are young, middle-aged, or older who somehow feel like they are safer, if they can drive as closely as possible behind your vehicle, that you know where you are going, that you know the speed limit, that everything will be O.K. if they stay right behind you.  It’s like they are scared to be alone in the woods, alone in the dark, or alone on the highway.  There are some confused men, maybe they don’t even have a driver’s license, that try to stay right behind another vehicle, because they feel like they will get into less trouble and not be noticed by law enforcement.

The least likely people to tailgate, are truly successful people who have accumulated many assets.  They do not want any vehicle accident, personal injury, or property damage of any kind, because this would only be a waste of their time, a nuisance, an inconvenience, and possibly cause them other problems.  They do not want to have any altercation with people, if they can possibly avoid it.

Wealthy people, successful people, have experienced the frustration of being stuck in slow moving traffic, so they have gone and gotten their pilot’s license, and have bought an airplane either by themselves, or jointly with several other people.  If they want to or expect to travel long distances, they use their airplane.  They have planned ahead, not to be frustrated with traffic.

Wealthy people, successful people, plan on taking several or more vacations and trips each year.  They look forward to going to their vacation home in a different state, or a different country.  They look forward to laying on a warm, sunny beach, going sailing, going deep sea fishing, or going scuba diving.  How or why, would they want to be involved in an at-fault vehicle accident, wasting their time and money, and causing other problems, by driving so close behind other people that they can’t stop in time to avoid a rear-end collision?  They plan, not to get into vehicle accidents.

Wealthy successful people, spend their time looking at investments, buying real estate, starting a business, buying businesses, and instructing and mentoring their children.  They plan what they do with their time.  Why would they plan on being in a vehicle accident by driving so close behind other people that they can not stop in time to avoid a rear-end collision?  They plan, not to get into vehicle accidents.

It is only the poor people, the stupid people, the drug addicts, the feeble minded, the white trash, and the dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks blue collar people that can not get it through their stupid fucking thick skulls, that driving so close behind other people that they can not stop in time to avoid a collision, is something that is going to waste their time, waste other people’s time, cause an altercation, cost them money, cause points on their driver’s license, require repair on their vehicle, raise their vehicle insurance or cause insurance to be cancelled, and possibly cause them problems with their current and future employment.