AITA for Adjusting Mirrors to Deal with Tailgaters?

A night drive turned into a full-on drama when a stranger decided tailgating was the best way to communicate. The OP says they already struggle with bright headlights, and when someone rides their bumper at stoplights, the glare hits through their mirrors so hard it turns driving into something like a light show you cannot escape.

To cope, the OP started adjusting their mirrors to bounce the headlights back at the driver behind them. Then it escalated fast: after a long, miserable day in the cold and rain, a guy in a lifted truck pulled up close, flashed brights, and even used a light bar to pressure them to move. When OP didn’t, he backed off, until he followed them home to yell about “causing him to crash.”

Now the OP is stuck wondering if they crossed a line, or if the real issue was the guy’s behavior from start to finish.

Original Post

Im writing this post because of an altercation I had with a complete stranger. I have difficulty driving at night because of all the bright headlights.

I know some cars come stock with them and you can't control that, you can however control how closely you follow other people. If someone is tailgating me or stop so closely behind me at a red light it blinds me through my mirrors.

Ive started to adjust my mirrors so their headlights will be reflected back at them. Now one day I was on my way home from work being outside all day left me cold, wet and tired.

All of a sudden a guy probably early 20s in his lifted truck starts tailgating flashing his brights and light bar trying to get me to move out of his way. I could have, but my turn was coming up so instead I stayed in my lane and adjusted my mirrors, it must have worked, because he backed off.

Or so I thought he ended up following me home just to yell at me saying how I could have caused him to crash. I told him and tailgating in the rain doesn't prevent that either.

After about 10 minutes I told him he'd better get going before I call the cops and have their lights blind him for trespassing. He peeled out of my driveway cussing me out some more.

So I gotta ask am I the a*****e?

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This feels similar to someone asking their estranged father for an inheritance share to secure their family’s future.

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That first moment of OP getting blinded by tailgaters is what sets the whole “adjust the mirrors” plan in motion.

When the lifted-truck guy shows up later, flashing brights and a light bar, it turns a driving annoyance into a confrontation in the rain.

The situation gets worse when he doesn’t just back off, he follows OP all the way home to yell about a crash that OP says tailgating still wouldn’t prevent.

By the time OP threatens to call the cops because his headlights are “blind[ing] him for trespassing,” the whole thing is basically a parking-lot-level feud with a driveway exit.

What are your thoughts on this situation? Share your perspective in the comments below.

He might be the a*****e, but that lifted-truck guy definitely wasn’t driving like he cared about anyone else’s safety.

For more awkward entitlement, read what happened when a restaurant refused delivery unless the tip was paid.