DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there any way to inoffensively and effectively address dangerous driving when riding as passenger in a car? I would be grateful for just the right words to use when the driver insists on maintaining eye contact with passengers (rather than watching the road) and/or tailgates at high speed. The situation is especially difficult when the driver is a boss, colleague or customer.
GENTLE READER: Words are not what is required here. Miss Manners trusts that cries of warning ("Watch out!") and relief ("That was a close one!") arise from you spontaneously, but they tend not to affect the general driving level.
She recommends the technique perfected by mothers of new drivers: noisy intakes of breath and foot stamping on a phantom brake at the passenger's seat.
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