You can’t influence the size of the safety margin between you and the car behind you. But you can influence the speed at which the person behind you slams into you in case of an accident, by reducing the speed that both of you drive.
When I drive in deer country, especially at night, I will always slow up when encountering a tailgater because I might have to brake hard for an animal and don’t want to hit a deer AND/OR get rear ended - going slower means they will at least hit me less hard. They can go around if they don’t like my speed. Also, statistics show that drivers that stay well behind other vehicles have far fewer accidents. Finally, traffic tends to travel at the speed of the slowest drivers on the road, so they gain little on our curvy, hilly two lane roads.
It’s not just petty, it’s safety.
You can’t influence the size of the safety margin between you and the car behind you. But you can influence the speed at which the person behind you slams into you in case of an accident, by reducing the speed that both of you drive.
When I drive in deer country, especially at night, I will always slow up when encountering a tailgater because I might have to brake hard for an animal and don’t want to hit a deer AND/OR get rear ended - going slower means they will at least hit me less hard. They can go around if they don’t like my speed. Also, statistics show that drivers that stay well behind other vehicles have far fewer accidents. Finally, traffic tends to travel at the speed of the slowest drivers on the road, so they gain little on our curvy, hilly two lane roads.