There's always going to be someone that thinks they have more right to the road, but it does cut both ways. It's curious to me though how in almost 30 years of driving I've rarely had incidents of tailgating others or being tailgated myself.
I've been in plenty of queues behind slower drivers. What strikes me about them is how rigid and inflexible they are. We have quite a few rural roads where I live. Speed limits change going from open road through villages and back again. It seems to me that the lead driver is happy to speed through villages at 10mph over the limit, but miss the opportunity to make adequate progress when the going is good. That, or they stick exactly to the speed limit regardless of road conditions. That's even more dangerous. The limit might be 50mph, but road conditions or poor visibility or hazards might mean it's not safe to do even 20mph for a spell. Mr or Mrs Road-Righteous are oblivious though. They plow on through regardless. Then have to anchor on when the miss all the danger signs and run in to a heard of cows or 16 tonne tractor round the next bend.
good advice.. BUT what if when you slow down, they slow down. you speed up they speed up. and they start to flash their lights at you.
a young woman may become scared.
If in doubt indicate left and pull over and then everyone is happy.
Sadly, there's not a great deal you can do. If the opportunity is there and it's safe, try moving over to to let them pass - it's better to be rid of them.
On a few occasions, I've made left turns off into different roads just to rid myself of persistent tailgaters. It wastes my time in taking me off my route, but it gets rid of the tailgater for me.
I recall driving home from work on the A34 dual carriageway, overtaking a queue of slow moving lorries, and some complete idiot in a BMW drove right up my arse and began flashing his lights as I had the temerity to drive at 70mph instead of the 80+ that he'd prefer.
In what I can only assume was a malfunctioning accelerator, as I reached the final lorry in the queue, my speed began to decrease until it matched the lorry's, effectively resulting in a rolling roadblock.
It quickly became a battle of wills - would I give in and let Mr Impatient get past or would his ever-increasing blood pressure cause his already reddenning head to explode?
Naturally I pulled over after a short while as rational thought returned to me and he sped past, only after swerving in front and brake-checking me to give me a taste of my own medicine.
Was it childish of me? Yes
Was it dangerous? Possibly
Was I left with the satisfaction that an impatient bully driver didn't get his own way on the road for once? Definitely!
I admit to being a tailgater.
Keeping to the speed limit is no problem.
What annoys me are drivers who are driving so slow even in a 60mph area and they are holding up traffic and causing a lot of other drivers including me to get frustrated and take unecessary risks to get past them.
So basically you blame everyone else for your own lack of patience and your tendency to take risks?
I admit to being a tailgater.
Keeping to the speed limit is no problem.
What annoys me are drivers who are driving so slow even in a 60mph area and they are holding up traffic and causing a lot of other drivers including me to get frustrated and take unecessary risks to get past them.
As to slowing down on purpose because you think the driver behind is to close that is so stupid it can cause an accident.
But if you're really close, you won't be able to overtake. If you're a bit further back, you're far more likely to be able to see clearly to be able to get past.
If someone is going more slowly than you'd like, the chances are there is a reason. Maybe their car isn't as powerful as yours. Maybe they're about to imminently run out of petrol and are trying to conserve it. Maybe they can see something up ahead that you can't. Maybe their clutch is about to fall off and they're carefully heading to the garage. It could be one of a million reasons, only one of which is that they're an idiot. You won't get past them any faster by driving two feet from their bumper.
I admit to being a tailgater.
Keeping to the speed limit is no problem.
What annoys me are drivers who are driving so slow even in a 60mph area and they are holding up traffic and causing a lot of other drivers including me to get frustrated and take unecessary risks to get past them.
As to slowing down on purpose because you think the driver behind is to close that is so stupid it can cause an accident.
What do you expect your tailgating to achieve?
Do you realise you're being an arsehole?
Do you understand that sometimes it has the opposite effect, and instead of cars speeding up, they in fact slow down, so it makes the situation worse?
Are you aware it's very dangerous to tailgate?
I rarely encounter proper tailgaters.
By that I mean the aggressive kind that are trying to bully you off the road, or wanting you to speed up, flashing their lights or waving their arms about and gesturing rude things at you.
What is far more common is people following far too close. They're not trying to tailgate you, they just don't have any concept of keeping the correct distance. They think that being a single car length from you when you're travelling along at 60mph is perfectly acceptable. Not realising that should the car in front has to brake suddenly they probably will be in the back of the car before they've had time to react.
I tend to just ignore the genuine tailgaters and carry on driving normally. If they want to overtake then let them get on with it. If they don't feel brave enough to overtake, which surprisingly some don't, they can sit stewing behind me.
If it's night time though, what really annoys me is having someone's headlights blaring through the back window because they're too close. It's happened quite a few times coming home along the A5 but I usually just pullover to a layby or left turning and then come back on behind them after they've sped off into the distance.
If I'm driving a bit slower because I'm in an area I don't know well or there's a particular road I'm looking out for I'll pull over and let them pass providing it's safe to do so.
If I'm at the speed limit and they're being arseholes I'm less charitable.
I find more often than not if someone's tailgaiting me (or driving like an arse in general), then they quite often seem to be Audi drivers. I wonder what it is about that particular make of car which makes the people who drive them such arses.
I must admit I can be a very impatient driver. However, it only occurs when I am working. I am a district nurse and time is of the essence. We are very busy and need to get about town quickly.
When working I always drive at the speed limit. However, especially at weekends some people insist on driving at 20-25mph when the road conditions do not warrant it. I am usually stressed due to the heavy workload and the type of work we do and usually we need to get to people quickly due to timed injections and chemo etc.,
We drive our own cars and we are not an emergency service by any means. But sometimes we do need to get to patients quickly...and slow moving drivers add to the stress.
Having said that in 35 years of driving I have had few problems and generally drive safely. However, the level of bad town driving I see is definitely increasing.
If road conditions allow please drive at the speed limit. Many times I need to slow down to look for house numbers on a busy road etc., but I only do so if there is no traffic behind me. Once traffic appears I pull over - get out of the car and walk to find the appropriate house.
I wish others would do the same. I think it's called consideration for other road users.
tailgating is not a major pet hate for me right now - doesn't happen that much at the mo.
Odd driving styles on the road - like this evening the MK1 Vauxhall Agila on the A4 doing a "sound breaking" 35mph in the 50 and 60 zones.
People driving with full beams on all the time - even in street lit areas - very common.
People on the phone, inc using a smart phone for things like Facebook, with the car still moving at main road speeds, or in stop/start traffic.
People using headphones in car while driving.
Cars in poor condition yet people don't notice - the big one is the number of cars with below legal limits of tread remaining. Another is poor state of wiper blades - our friend is driving her sh!tty Citroen with the blades actually scraping the glass, yet doesn't get them replaced.....what u need a light to come to tell you that there worn out?
Town driving = most dangerous roads to be on right now (imo). Nobody looks to their right at rounabouts, nobody signals.
I would say make things worse, and makes you no better than the person tailgating you. Just as easy to let them passed you, and easier to keep away from them. Better to have them in front of you.
Slowing down makes it easier for the person tailgating to pass.... if they don't pass when you slow down, you can indicate and pull into the kerb.
Its the sensible thing to do
I must admit I can be a very impatient driver. However, it only occurs when I am working. I am a district nurse and time is of the essence. We are very busy and need to get about town quickly.
When working I always drive at the speed limit. However, especially at weekends some people insist on driving at 20-25mph when the road conditions do not warrant it. I am usually stressed due to the heavy workload and the type of work we do and usually we need to get to people quickly due to timed injections and chemo etc.,
We drive our own cars and we are not an emergency service by any means. But sometimes we do need to get to patients quickly...and slow moving drivers add to the stress.
Having said that in 35 years of driving I have had few problems and generally drive safely. However, the level of bad town driving I see is definitely increasing.
If road conditions allow please drive at the speed limit. Many times I need to slow down to look for house numbers on a busy road etc., but I only do so if there is no traffic behind me. Once traffic appears I pull over - get out of the car and walk to find the appropriate house.
I wish others would do the same. I think it's called consideration for other road users.
Tailgating is dangerous full stop. Don't blame your occupation for this.
I drive with my rear view mirror in the dipped position.So I can't see them even if I cared to look.I use my side mirrors all the time.Try it,it works.:)
I detest tailgaters with the flaming passion of Hades. Sorry but if we're doing the speed limit DONT GET UP MY ****ING ARSE. Learn some goddamn patience and BACK OFF. Many times i'm being driven around by friends and BAM ****-tards are up our arse as per usual when we're doing the speed limit. I tend to just glare back at the asses to give them the hint to back off. There is NO reason to tailgate, if you are having a bad day DONT BRING THAT ON THE ROADS. Christ on a segway.
Just the other day we were slowly turning right on a juntion she looked both ways several times as she pulled out, then BAM idiot dumbass in an orange car comes out of nowhere right next to us, blaring their horn. Listen knob, YOU nearly crashed into US we were looking both ways and YOU decided to be a total smuck and zoom up next to us.
*Sighs*
Drivers like that just make me despair who think tailgating is acceptable.
There's always going to be someone that thinks they have more right to the road, but it does cut both ways. It's curious to me though how in almost 30 years of driving I've rarely had incidents of tailgating others or being tailgated myself.
I've been in plenty of queues behind slower drivers. What strikes me about them is how rigid and inflexible they are. We have quite a few rural roads where I live. Speed limits change going from open road through villages and back again. It seems to me that the lead driver is happy to speed through villages at 10mph over the limit, but miss the opportunity to make adequate progress when the going is good. That, or they stick exactly to the speed limit regardless of road conditions. That's even more dangerous. The limit might be 50mph, but road conditions or poor visibility or hazards might mean it's not safe to do even 20mph for a spell. Mr or Mrs Road-Righteous are oblivious though. They plow on through regardless. Then have to anchor on when the miss all the danger signs and run in to a heard of cows or 16 tonne tractor round the next bend.
Couldn't have said it better myself, either you live in Sussex or it's common country wide
It's the 'respectable' drivers that drive 38mph everywhere, in 30s and 60 limits.... no doubt smug that they're driving very safely and only paying £52 a year fully comped :P
For me, the most important thing, is that I arrive at my destination safely without crashing. If on a rare occasion, I have some car stuck on my bumper, I will pull over and let them past, continue and forget about it.
If I have someone in front who is slow, I leave a two second gap and overtake at the earliest opportunity.
Then I get home / work and completely forget about the drive.
I'll just stick to driving to the conditions of the road up to the speed limit and not be dictated by the car behind thanks.
It's pretty cut in a way in that tailgaters think they can drive but they can't.
I really don't know whether tailgaters actually know they are the ones that are f***ed if the car they are tailgating breaks harshly for a genuine reason.
Personally I leave around two to three second gaps because I just don't feel safe being any closer (cyclists included). This obviously changes depending on road conditions.
Comments
I've been in plenty of queues behind slower drivers. What strikes me about them is how rigid and inflexible they are. We have quite a few rural roads where I live. Speed limits change going from open road through villages and back again. It seems to me that the lead driver is happy to speed through villages at 10mph over the limit, but miss the opportunity to make adequate progress when the going is good. That, or they stick exactly to the speed limit regardless of road conditions. That's even more dangerous. The limit might be 50mph, but road conditions or poor visibility or hazards might mean it's not safe to do even 20mph for a spell. Mr or Mrs Road-Righteous are oblivious though. They plow on through regardless. Then have to anchor on when the miss all the danger signs and run in to a heard of cows or 16 tonne tractor round the next bend.
If we were going that slow I would have plenty of time to stop or slow down.
If in doubt indicate left and pull over and then everyone is happy.
I've done that. I've pulled over to let the idiot pass as it puts me off. Sometimes the best thing to do.
In what I can only assume was a malfunctioning accelerator, as I reached the final lorry in the queue, my speed began to decrease until it matched the lorry's, effectively resulting in a rolling roadblock.
It quickly became a battle of wills - would I give in and let Mr Impatient get past or would his ever-increasing blood pressure cause his already reddenning head to explode?
Naturally I pulled over after a short while as rational thought returned to me and he sped past, only after swerving in front and brake-checking me to give me a taste of my own medicine.
Was it childish of me? Yes
Was it dangerous? Possibly
Was I left with the satisfaction that an impatient bully driver didn't get his own way on the road for once? Definitely!
Then how, as you say, can it cause an accident? You seem to be arguing opposing positions.
But if you're really close, you won't be able to overtake. If you're a bit further back, you're far more likely to be able to see clearly to be able to get past.
If someone is going more slowly than you'd like, the chances are there is a reason. Maybe their car isn't as powerful as yours. Maybe they're about to imminently run out of petrol and are trying to conserve it. Maybe they can see something up ahead that you can't. Maybe their clutch is about to fall off and they're carefully heading to the garage. It could be one of a million reasons, only one of which is that they're an idiot. You won't get past them any faster by driving two feet from their bumper.
What do you expect your tailgating to achieve?
Do you realise you're being an arsehole?
Do you understand that sometimes it has the opposite effect, and instead of cars speeding up, they in fact slow down, so it makes the situation worse?
Are you aware it's very dangerous to tailgate?
By that I mean the aggressive kind that are trying to bully you off the road, or wanting you to speed up, flashing their lights or waving their arms about and gesturing rude things at you.
What is far more common is people following far too close. They're not trying to tailgate you, they just don't have any concept of keeping the correct distance. They think that being a single car length from you when you're travelling along at 60mph is perfectly acceptable. Not realising that should the car in front has to brake suddenly they probably will be in the back of the car before they've had time to react.
I tend to just ignore the genuine tailgaters and carry on driving normally. If they want to overtake then let them get on with it. If they don't feel brave enough to overtake, which surprisingly some don't, they can sit stewing behind me.
If it's night time though, what really annoys me is having someone's headlights blaring through the back window because they're too close. It's happened quite a few times coming home along the A5 but I usually just pullover to a layby or left turning and then come back on behind them after they've sped off into the distance.
If I'm at the speed limit and they're being arseholes I'm less charitable.
Do you realise you're being an arsehole?[/QUOTE]
How dare you call me that.>:(
When working I always drive at the speed limit. However, especially at weekends some people insist on driving at 20-25mph when the road conditions do not warrant it. I am usually stressed due to the heavy workload and the type of work we do and usually we need to get to people quickly due to timed injections and chemo etc.,
We drive our own cars and we are not an emergency service by any means. But sometimes we do need to get to patients quickly...and slow moving drivers add to the stress.
Having said that in 35 years of driving I have had few problems and generally drive safely. However, the level of bad town driving I see is definitely increasing.
If road conditions allow please drive at the speed limit. Many times I need to slow down to look for house numbers on a busy road etc., but I only do so if there is no traffic behind me. Once traffic appears I pull over - get out of the car and walk to find the appropriate house.
I wish others would do the same. I think it's called consideration for other road users.
Odd driving styles on the road - like this evening the MK1 Vauxhall Agila on the A4 doing a "sound breaking" 35mph in the 50 and 60 zones.
People driving with full beams on all the time - even in street lit areas - very common.
People on the phone, inc using a smart phone for things like Facebook, with the car still moving at main road speeds, or in stop/start traffic.
People using headphones in car while driving.
Cars in poor condition yet people don't notice - the big one is the number of cars with below legal limits of tread remaining. Another is poor state of wiper blades - our friend is driving her sh!tty Citroen with the blades actually scraping the glass, yet doesn't get them replaced.....what u need a light to come to tell you that there worn out?
Town driving = most dangerous roads to be on right now (imo). Nobody looks to their right at rounabouts, nobody signals.
I have noticed that as well, thought it was just coincidence that so many were doing it.
Slowing down makes it easier for the person tailgating to pass.... if they don't pass when you slow down, you can indicate and pull into the kerb.
Its the sensible thing to do
Tailgating is dangerous full stop. Don't blame your occupation for this.
Just the other day we were slowly turning right on a juntion she looked both ways several times as she pulled out, then BAM idiot dumbass in an orange car comes out of nowhere right next to us, blaring their horn. Listen knob, YOU nearly crashed into US we were looking both ways and YOU decided to be a total smuck and zoom up next to us.
*Sighs*
Drivers like that just make me despair who think tailgating is acceptable.
Couldn't have said it better myself, either you live in Sussex or it's common country wide
It's the 'respectable' drivers that drive 38mph everywhere, in 30s and 60 limits.... no doubt smug that they're driving very safely and only paying £52 a year fully comped :P
If I have someone in front who is slow, I leave a two second gap and overtake at the earliest opportunity.
Then I get home / work and completely forget about the drive.
I think a lot of people do it, but don't realise they do it.
People seem to forget what they learned about stopping distances and think a single, or even half a car distance is an appropriate gap to keep.
Even worst, most don't make any attempt to alter that in wet or icy weather - they just drive around as if they're invincible.
It's pretty cut in a way in that tailgaters think they can drive but they can't.
I really don't know whether tailgaters actually know they are the ones that are f***ed if the car they are tailgating breaks harshly for a genuine reason.
Personally I leave around two to three second gaps because I just don't feel safe being any closer (cyclists included). This obviously changes depending on road conditions.