Best defense against aggressive tailgaters is...
 

...to put sunshades on your back window. When the turn on their highbeams it has absolutely zero annoyance to you. They soon figure that out.

I then drive 5 mph slower than normal.

If they honk, I drive another 5 mph slower and bring my speed down to 45 mph.

Steeling yourself to put up with this confrontation requires the calm and mindset of a Zen, Buddhist monk.

It's common the other driver will accelerate around me ONLY to get off the quickly approaching offramp and then quickly ride their brakes off the exit, as they slow down.

How do you handle aggressive drivers?

Like you I find the slowing down technique works wonders. And in town, as I approach a RH side street (your LH) I touch the brakes sufficient to bring on my brake lights but not have any retarding effect. They think I am stopping for a turn I have not signalled for and get in a flap. A couple of junctions like that ("as I look for the correct turn"), soon has them hanging back.
Mind you, I'm an old man driving a Jazz, and in the UK that means I am going to be slow and doddery, so they usually just leave me be!

I wouldn't deliberately annoy aggressive people Doug, its just asking for trouble. A gun was pulled and/or used more than 600 times during road rage incidents in the US last year, and like all firearm related incidents, that figure is rapidly rising. Is it really worth getting killed over?

I hypermile frequently. In the past 2+ years, and 48,000 km, I've had only one tailgater. I kept my speed steady (already in cruise control), and I hugged the right side of the slow lane (where I was already driving) to give him ample room to pass. He eventually "got it" and chose to pass rather than fume behind someone who wasn't accommodating him.

My observations suggest that most drivers are okay people, and that there is only a tiny proportion of seriously disturbed drivers who get upset that others don't respect that the universe revolves around them.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.
In the UK that tiny minority seems to drive BMWs or Audis (no offence intended).

I simply let them pass. Slowing down a smidgeon usually works. If it's a two lane road I usually will make a bit more haste in the name of social cohesion until they're able to legally and safely pass, then slow down to force the issue.

I'm not worried about road rage, I simply balance my desire for fuel economy vs. being a jerk to others, and try to weigh it more towards my aims while not discounting others' desires.

I never give priority to fuel efficiency over harmony on the road. I always drive as close to the speed limit if in traffic on a two lane roads, and although I am driving at the legal limit I still get regularly tailgated. That is when I say, "sod it", and start to slow down.

I had a tailgater follow me with less than two car lengths separation for over a mile on a deserted 4 lane (not divided) highway. It started at 52mph on a pulse when they got on my tail. Around here some drive this way, lazily matching my moves and using me for their "rabbit". After a while of 10-15mph variations with them just matching every move, I did and engine off coast until they passed when I got down to 25 in a 45. Then I matched their previous actions for a while before they slowly pulled away.

Possibly another hypermiler, soon forgotten, now remembered.

On two lanes I just increase my overall average speed and if they want to draft me they are welcome, I get better mileage if they do.

Endless conga lines of hypermilers, why would that piss me off?

Ive seem it in the congested construction zone on the local interstate getting it's first lane widening in 50 years.

The ones that bug me are those who overaccelerate then overbrake, just dumuses.

Precisely :coolsmiley:

That's the ones I am talking about. They come sailing up behind me at well over the limit. Slap on the anchors. Sit 6 feet off my back bumper for three or four miles, then get fed up, do an illegal overtake and accelerate off into the distance. If they are hypermilers I'd hate to see what mpg they are getting!