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Aggressive Sunday evening tailgaters ....
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SaddlerSteve
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by mushymanrob:
“not read the thread.... so sorry if i missed this but

ive been plagued by slow drivers this crimbo. people driving well below the 30 limit. this is annoying because it means i have to drive in a lower gear (more fuel used, more pollution) when at 30 i could trundle along legally and efficiently.

so ive been made to tailgate, by slow drivers.”

Even if someone is being annoyingly slow in front of you, you don't "have to" tailgate someone.

Just leave a reasonable gap and overtake when possible.
Hurlley
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by mushymanrob:
“not read the thread.... so sorry if i missed this but

ive been plagued by slow drivers this crimbo. people driving well below the 30 limit. this is annoying because it means i have to drive in a lower gear (more fuel used, more pollution) when at 30 i could trundle along legally and efficiently.

so ive been made to tailgate, by slow drivers.”

You are not MADE to tailgate you can still keep up a reasonable distance, if you are incapable of doing so that is your reason for inefficiency not the slow driver, you may need to go for a refresher course and ask for advise on this ability, you should not have to drive in a much lower gear, at least second should be possible if not third. The whole point of it is that say it is a bit slushy/wet, you want to pickup speed at a slower pace in a higher gear to maintain control.
Andy2
02-01-2017
It's not just Sundays. Every evening we seem to get a whole different type of driver on the roads than the usual daytime driver. Pimped-up Corsas, aggressive Golfs and Screaming Subarus are everywhere, often racing with each other. They have their cars done up like discos and have absolutely no manners.

BTW Mushymanrob - no-one 'makes' you tailgate. All you have to do is wait until it's safe to overtake and then do so. And when you do there is no need to cut the other driver up or rev you engine fit to burst. Just grow up and clam down, eh?
SaddlerSteve
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Hurlley:
“They have introduces 20mph limits on x 30mph limit roads, when i say new limits these are across large areas not just one road. So me bumbling along at about 22 because honestly I am holding up traffic so I feel i have to go over a tad. A man came along side me gave me the finger and sped off. Diddnt go very far turned left and stopped. So I felt the need to confront him. When i did he turned to jelly, in any case im not threatening I just advised him that the roads are now 20Mph and since you clearly work around here you should know this and tell everyone else working here too. he just apologised and said ok.

In general though I think people just don't understand, just don't know and or just don't care. They just want A-B.

I've seen grannies have their fog lights on, i used to think its people using it as an intimidation tactic which they do but some people just have it on because their brain isnt.”

That's the thing.
People are really brave behind their steering wheel because they think they'll be able to drive off but not so brave when they're confronted. Anyone with sense would avoid confrontation because you never know when you're going to cross paths with someone who is an aggressive psycho.
Susie_Smith
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by MK184:
“A problem I most often encounter are the idiots on dual carriageways who could overtake you, due to the right lane being free, yet choose to drive practically in your boot, all the time refusing to overtake. I had this the other day, when doing 30mph in a 30 limit.”

The speed limits in built-up areas are there for safety reasons.

Personally, I would rather get to my destination 2 minutes later than run someone over by mistake.
MikeJW
02-01-2017
Yes, had that yesterday. I was doing 40 in a 30, though not built up, no parked cars or pedestrians or other hidden dangers so it's normally safe to go faster. Still ended up with that scary level of tailgating where they're so close you can't see their headlights any more (gulp).
Pumping Iron
02-01-2017
It depends who I was with, as to how I'd react. I wouldn't put my wife, kid or mum into any potential confrontational situation, so would react more passively if they were in the car than if I were on my own, or with a mate.
Finglonga
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Andrew1954:
“Point taken. But when the tailgater is clearly driving aggressively and not overtaking when they easily could ...?”

The thing is they do not know that, that is their normal driving style and many that do that will not overtake as they do not have the confidence.

Dabbing the brakes just makes your driving as bad as theirs and may even make the situation worse.
tealady
02-01-2017
I think some people are just clueless and like to be a certain distance regardless of the speed. Then there are yobos who just think it is clever to act this way.

Did you consider stopping and letting them go by?
Doctorb
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by DadDancer:
“I think one of the problems is setting speed limits too low, which has become a big thing with local authorities introducing new extended 30mph in non built up areas where the limits should really be 50mph. People just can't respect the limits anymore, it's the nanny state gone mad. So now they act all aggressive and bully people who stick to them religiously in a form of rebellion. I think Sunday winds them up even more, because of all the dozy Sunday drivers who are out in force.”

I think there might be an element of truth to drivers not liking the limit and wanting to go faster, those who know the car in front is 'in the right' and not doing anything wrong, but I suspect most drivers do so because they're not paying attention. Their default driving is only observing limits when they see a yellow box, police car or when someone flashes them for a speed trap warning. They are mostly in la la land, don't concentrate and end up blindly following the car in front.
Welsh-lad
02-01-2017
Touch the brake lightly with your left foot.
It'll be enough to engage the brake lights and make them shit themselves.
voteout
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by MikeJW:
“Yes, had that yesterday. I was doing 40 in a 30, though not built up, no parked cars or pedestrians or other hidden dangers so it's normally safe to go faster. Still ended up with that scary level of tailgating where they're so close you can't see their headlights any more (gulp).”

Why were you doing 40 in a 30?

Let me guess, you were doing 40 in the 60 immediately before that village weren't you?
MikeJW
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by voteout:
“Why were you doing 40 in a 30?

Let me guess, you were doing 40 in the 60 immediately before that village weren't you?”

It wasn't a village. It's just past the outskirts of a city, near industrial parks, but no houses, parked cars, pedestrians, regular slow traffic (bikes/ horses/ agricultural vehicles), sharp curves, hidden junctions or anything else hazardous at all.

Not trying to defend myself, btw, I just meant I think that's why I was getting tailgated. I was "only" doing 40, most people do 50-60, and to be honest if you looked at the road it's hard to see why it's not a 50.
muggins14
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by LakieLady:
“I find it more effective to just ease off the gas so you slow down a bit without them actually getting any warning.

After finding themselves unexpectedly getting close to your bumper a couple of times, they tend to leave a bigger gap. It works really well imo.”

Yes, I do this when somebody's not driving at a safe distance from my car (tailgating in other words ).

Originally Posted by mushymanrob:
“not read the thread.... so sorry if i missed this but

ive been plagued by slow drivers this crimbo. people driving well below the 30 limit. this is annoying because it means i have to drive in a lower gear (more fuel used, more pollution) when at 30 i could trundle along legally and efficiently.

so ive been made to tailgate, by slow drivers.”

Nobody makes you tailgate - you are in charge of your vehicle and in charge of keeping a safe distance between you and the car in front. Basic driving lesson instruction, that 2 second rule that instructors drum into us.

Originally Posted by MikeJW:
“Yes, had that yesterday. I was doing 40 in a 30, though not built up, no parked cars or pedestrians or other hidden dangers so it's normally safe to go faster. Still ended up with that scary level of tailgating where they're so close you can't see their headlights any more (gulp).”

So you thought you were 'safe to go faster' than the speed limit by 10mph yet you were also being tailgated to a 'scary level' and still think you were driving safely, whilst concentrating on the person behind you rather than what was in front of you?

There's an awful lot wrong with your driving!
Monkey_Moo
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by mushymanrob:
“not read the thread.... so sorry if i missed this but

ive been plagued by slow drivers this crimbo. people driving well below the 30 limit. this is annoying because it means i have to drive in a lower gear (more fuel used, more pollution) when at 30 i could trundle along legally and efficiently.

so ive been made to tailgate, by slow drivers.”

That's the stupidest thing I have read today. But then this is DS and it's only lunchtime.
Andrew1954
02-01-2017
Dabbing the brakes can be a bad idea in my experience. It can just wind 'em up even more. Years ago I did that coming along an A road in a stream of traffic all doing 45 to 50 mph. A tailgater was stupidly close behind me for mile after mile. Several times I thought he would come in the back of me. Eventually I dabbed the breaks and he went wild, accelerating up behind me, flashing his lights. Crazy. Eventually the line of cars stopped and he got out and was hammering on the window. Fortunately I'd locked the door. What does someone getting into that state achieve? I couldn't go any faster, there were cars in front as far as the eye could see. He could have over taken me if he had wanted to .... not that it would have got him far. Surely the sensible and rational thing to do in this situation is to relax, listen to some music or whatever and to drive at a safe distance from the car in front. You won't get there any faster by getting het up about it.
MikeJW
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by muggins14:
“So you thought you were 'safe to go faster' than the speed limit by 10mph yet you were also being tailgated to a 'scary level' and still think you were driving safely, whilst concentrating on the person behind you rather than what was in front of you?

There's an awful lot wrong with your driving!”

As I said, I wasn't trying to defend myself.

In terms of how people react to tailgaters, though, I don't concentrate on them in the slightest. That's what makes it scary, for me: I realise someone's too close because I've seen lights approach in the mirror, then I'm focusing very, very much on what's in front of me because I know that if I don't give myself the maximum time to react to something, there could be an accident.
bri160356
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Welsh-lad:
“Touch the brake lightly with your left foot.
It'll be enough to engage the brake lights and make them shit themselves.”

Not the best course of action ,IMHO;…it may antagonize an aggressive and determined tailgater to even greater levels of recklessness;

... unless the tailgater actually does shit themselves of course.
Blondie X
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“There's a 40Mph road near me that drivers 'think' they are driving at the speed limit on when they drive at 30, I do get annoyed and try and give them a bit of a clue that they are driving far too slow but I think they are so bad at actually looking at the road signs they drive too slow and hold everyone else up because of their incompetence. I have overtaken 1 or 2 and then driven at 40 ahead of them.”

There have been polls done which indicate that up to 40% of U.K. drivers don't actually know the speed limits which is worrying. The most common one people get wrong is that national speed limit is 40 or 50 which may explain so many slow drivers on some A roads.
I did a speed awareness course in 2015 and over half the group didn't have a clue of the main speed limits unless the actual number is on the sign.
Andrew1954
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Monkey_Moo:
“That's the stupidest thing I have read today. But then this is DS and it's only lunchtime.”

Yes, it's early yet. Also tailgating is a bad position from which to overtake. I watched a exemplary bit of driving the other day on the way to Henley on a windy but quite good main road. Most traffic was making good progress at about 50 mph when I spotted this bloke in a open topped sports car some cars back from me. He wasn't tailgating. He was holding back, reading the road and then when the opportunity occured overtook, coming up to a safe distance behind the next car, again reading the road before overtaking as the opportunity occured all the way up the line, past me and past the car in front and so on. That's how to do it.
Pumping Iron
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by bri160356:
“Not the best course of action ,IMHO;…it may antagonize an aggressive and determined tailgater to even greater levels of recklessness;

... unless the tailgater actually does shit themselves of course.”

See I quite enjoy winding up people like that.
Evo102
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Pumping Iron:
“See I quite enjoy winding up people like that.”

Just hope the next person you try to wind-up isn't 2017's version of Kenneth Noye or Matthew Daley.
Andrew1954
02-01-2017
It's quite interesting watching a serious tailgater from a safe distance behind. You notice their brake lights flashing on and off as they match the speed of the car they're so closely following. Perhaps It's not surprising they don't overtake because their tiny little brains are concentrating so hard on the car in front that they can't take in the wider picture and look for opportunities to overtake.
tealady
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by Andrew1954:
“It's quite interesting watching a serious tailgater from a safe distance behind. You notice their brake lights flashing on and off as they match the speed of the car they're so closely following. Perhaps It's not surprising they don't overtake because their tiny little brains are concentrating so hard on the car in front that they can't take in the wider picture and look for opportunities to overtake.”

I threaded my way forward on my bike at traffic lights. The guy behind me did not like this and rapidly undertook me, then tailgated...the bus.
I'm not sure he realised the driver was unable to see him...
Andrew1954
02-01-2017
Originally Posted by tealady:
“I threaded my way forward on my bike at traffic lights. The guy behind me did not like this and rapidly undertook me, then tailgated...the bus.
I'm not sure he realised the driver was unable to see him...”

Yeh! Why do people tailgate lorries and buses? I see that quite often. I just can't fathom how stupid some people are.
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