Vehicle: Car: Tailgating
Running Man / Following Man   (+50, -10)  [vote for, against]
a man who runs in front of your car and a man who runs behind it

Running Man is a half sized manikin that dangles in front of your car on the end of a pole and runs along ahead of you, occasionally turning his head to leer backwards over his shoulder. He also shouts gibberish at those on either side. If you get too close to the car in front he runs up unto their roof and dances about, but you also suffer reciprocally in this situation because he is complimented by Following Man.

Following Man runs along behind your car and grimaces at those who get too close, climbing up unto their bonnet if he can, and bouncing around on all fours like a monkey on speed. When you stop at traffic lights Running Man starts picking his nose. The female versions, that are also available, start putting on lipstick and adjusting their hair. Running Man can also be accompanied by a pet in the form of a hideous pecking bird, but that’s another story.
-- xenzag, Nov 09 2005

And I thought I had a lock on this idea Tandem_20Treadmill
[theircompetitor, Nov 14 2005]

The promised follow-up http://www.halfbake...us_20Pecking_20Bird
Not as good but still inspired. [Mr Phase, Feb 16 2006]

Make it a law. Beautiful.
-- JoeyJoJoShabadoo, Nov 09 2005


Will Running Man have to carry a red flag?
-- moomintroll, Nov 09 2005


Likely to skewer pedestrians & make it difficult to get round corners.
-- DrBob, Nov 09 2005


A work of art. I'd rather pay for this than anything on the Turner Prize shortlist.
-- Jacob Marley, Nov 09 2005


Hey! What happens in traffic when "Running Man" catches "Following Woman"? Or vice versa, or indeed any combination!
-- TrapCheese, Nov 09 2005


trapcheese - they breed/wrestle/admire each others cars/suits etc Jacob Marley - thanks means more to me than I can reveal Dr Bob, they would wave regally and blow kisses/rasberries at pedestrians as they streaked past. moomintroll - yours could wear red
-- xenzag, Nov 10 2005


Yes! Can I be following man?
-- wagster, Nov 10 2005


Following man could have a squeaky toy insert, to help with reversing.
-- Ling, Nov 10 2005


These are, um, mechanical puppets? Androids? Golems?
-- DrCurry, Nov 10 2005


Does following man replace running man when driving in reverse? something funny should happen here.

You're not saying how this could be done, but I've never cared about that in the halfbakery, so bun for you.
-- Pericles, Nov 10 2005


Fabulous! +
-- Zuzu, Nov 10 2005


Love it! +
-- energy guy, Nov 11 2005


i get the feeling this great idea was on the tip of everyone's tongue and xezang was the one to say it. like einstein's relativity theory i suppose.

kudos for putting this into words
-- sweet, Nov 12 2005


May I suggest that the running men retract fully when stopped? Wouldn't want them flicking boogers at pedestrians.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 12 2005


Or fraternising with the Following Woman ahead.
-- Adze, Nov 12 2005


In an accident does he become Burning Man?
-- RayfordSteele, Nov 14 2005


In a major accident, both running man and following man are launched into the air, and parachute to safety with their new found freedom.

Oddly, freedom is something they do not want, since they really have nothing to do (like when the car is parked and they just spend time arguing or discussing politics). So they do everything in their power to prevent accidents.

And yes I am sure about this...I used to date a following woman.
-- sleeka, Nov 14 2005


When you go fast, running man and following man both lean forward into a sleek dive position to help cut down wind resistance.

Of course, you'd always be driving behind a running man who's breaking wind....
-- sophocles, Nov 14 2005


So THAT's what the cow-catcher's for on the front of trains! .... to get the cow's arse attached to the air-intake to extract the methane for better efficiency. It's all coming together now.
-- sophocles, Nov 15 2005


At freeway speeds these little fellows would be terrifying to watch. Big, frenetic BUN!
-- elhigh, Feb 17 2006


You could have your running dog tied to the bumper and when people try to get you to stop you can just smile and wave as if you don't know they want you to stop. This happened last summer when i tried to let a woman know her tire was about to fall off.+
-- pydor, Sep 30 2006


Where do I sign up? I've been hoping to have a woman chase me for years!
-- ye_river_xiv, Aug 15 2008



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