Tailgating

[Fiesta]

Living in Cornwall, the spinal A30 locally known as the Cornish motorway as it is the only fast trunk road in the county is a nightmare for victims of tailgating like myself.

On a 70' stretch (central barrier) of the A30 I was approaching a smaller car doing around 55mph in the inside lane so I indicated out to overtake. Very soon a much more powerful car came up behind me in the outside lane and was tailgating quite agressively.

As I was already at the top of the national speed limit for the section of road I was on I could only remain in a very dangerous place as the car I was overtaking had increased speed to keep up so I couldnt pull over. I became obsessed with the image of the agressive driver in my rear view mirror and struggled to control a panic situation.

My partner, who was riding passenger at the time, said that I should not consider speeding up to create enough space to complete the overtake, but what can I legally do to ensure road safety in this situation? Is it acceptable to speed up to 80-85mph in order to complete an overtake and avoid a tailgater by being able to move over, or should I sit it out and hope I dont get a shunt?

I would appreciate other peoples' responses to how to deal legally/technically with tailgaters and hear other experiences of the same.

[ScoobyChris]

As a non-advanced driver (still in training! ), I'd pull out (signalling for the benefit of the car behind if he was close), take a good look at the picture and watch to see the reaction of the car I'd be overtaking. If he sped up, I'd abort and pull back in behind him, if he remained at a constant speed and it was safe to do so, I'd go for the overtake at the legal limit.

If he were to speed up while I was out, I'd be aiming to pull back in behind him and might put on my left indicator to signal this to the tailgater so he is not surprised by my speed dropping off. If I was in a position where there was no other route than to complete the overtake, and as a last resort, I'd give it some beans to get past him.

Would be interesting to know what others think though

Chris

[JamesH]

It's an unfortuante situation when someone you're overtaking decides to speed up. The options depend on the speed differential between you and the car you were overtaking, and the nature of surrounding traffic.

Tailgaters are annoying, but you know you're in the right and are driving within the limit for that road. The thing to do is concentrate on the manoevre you are performing, and try not to let them agitate you. If nescessary, ensure you've got a decent gap between you and the car in front, and that you are looking well forwards to try and anticipate any braking they may do. This will give you more time to react, and mean any braking can be less firm - meaning that the t**t behind you doesn't end up in your back bumper.

Provided you're still trickling past the vehicle you're overtaking, I'd carry on, maybe give it a smidgen more gas, and pull back in as soon as it's safe to do so. Also tend to give the car behind a "thank you" wave with my right hand as he passes (note: NOT a middle finger!).

[7db]

It's a choice of abandoning the overtake and dropping back in -- probably best to allow tailgater numpty to get ahead and out of the way -- or pressing on above the limit temporarily.

With tailgaters, your main aim is to get onto a different bit of road as soon as safely possible and to take the danger out of the situation. This usually means getting out their way (with the added benefit of then having them press everyone else out of the way and take the laser first).

[TripleS]

Fiesta - hello there and welcome.

In the box to the left of this message it says something about 'Advanced BB Driver.' Ignore that, it's hogwash! Anyhow, I'd still like to try and help.

I'm guessing you might be fairly young and not yet particularly confident about driving, in which case this type of situation will be a bit upsetting.

What I would have done is opened up and completed the overtake ASAP (and to blazes with the NSL) so I could return to lane 1 and let Mr Tailgater rush off to the accident he was probably seeking. If I couldn't outgun the overtakee, I suppose I would ease off gently and drop back into lane 1 behind him and Mr Tailgater would just have to wait until this was completed.

It isn't always easy of course, but if you are at all uncomfortable try not to do anything in a hurry. That means nobody else is taken by surprise and presented with a difficult situation. Everybody then has a good chance of being able to take some minor action to keep things right, regardless of who might be responsible for the problem in the first place.

We often read about people being tailgated, and they claim that 'this lunatic was only 3 inches from my back bumper' etc., but sometimes these things get seriously exaggerated. The risk of actually being hit by a tailgater is extremely small unless you encounter a real nut case, but there really aren't that many of those around.

Try not to worry about it, keep some free space around you and give yourself time, and you'll be OK.

Enjoy your driving, but be wary of course.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Prelude]

Being tailgated is EXTREMELY annoying. Unlike, say someone pulling out in front of you, or lack of signals, etc. which an act like this would only last a few seconds and would result in a mild sigh, roll of the eyes perhaps. Tailgating lasts a lot longer and can turn even the most mild-mannered of motorists to become agitated and annoyed, and of course it distracts you from what is happening ahead of you too. The cops should really clamp down on these a*****es. Maybe they do, I don't know....

[vonhosen]

Tailgating is not a simple subject (IMHO)

I don't have a problem with somebody being close to the car infront at appropriate times. For instance, SC road, looking to overtake car infront, car is close in contact through a bend anticipating an overtake on the exit of the bend. Being close here is fine *if* the vehicle infront has no options to take coming up & there is sufficient potential performance differential (what speed the car infront is doing compared to the speed you could be doing - in other words they're holding you up). That isn't tailgating.

Tailgating is being close at inappropriate times.
ie When there isn't the prospect of a safe overtaking opportunity & the car infront does have options.

In a lot of ways being proportionally closer to a vehicle for higher speeds, is safer than being as close to a car at low speeds. At higher speeds, like on motorways, (provided you have good vision ahead of the other vehicle & can anticipate it's braking) the car has no junctions to take late. In the lower speed limits, there are likely to be far more options available for the vehicle infront & they won't have to lose a lot of speed in order to take them late.

The faster someone is going quite often the safer it is to be proportionally closer to them (if they want to turn off they are going to have to lose a lot of speed first). At low speeds vehicles can turn very sharply with little notice, so proportionally you need to give them more room to make yourself less reactionary as they are not as predictable.

[Fiesta]

While researching Tailgating on the 'net, I came across the RU2 CLOSE project run by the police late last year in Scotland. I thought it might be useful to get an angle on this from the Police:

Carl

Thanks for your e-mail. In surveys of drivers being closely followed is the number one pet hate. It is a form of road rage, aggression/ intimidation by the driver behind on the driver in front to get of their way. So I can empathise with your feelings of panic in such situations.

What can you do in such situations?
Firstly try not to be panicked, keep a cool head.

Look at the situation you are in at the time, i.e. road and traffic condition about you. The solution to the situation of being closely followed is to try and give the opportunity to the driver of the vehicle behind you to make a safe overtake. By doing so you resolve the problem. Possible courses of action is to slow down slightly to give the driver an opportunity to over take, if the road is wide enough ease over to the nearside again the driver of the vehicle following may get an opportunity to overtake you. Don't retaliate by flashing brake lights or fog lights as this is likely to aggravate the situation and encourage the driver behind to behave more aggressively i.e. driving closer or flashing their lights.

Sometimes the situation cannot be resolved immediately i.e. the road may be bendy with lost of oncoming traffic preventing any overtake by the driver behind. Your task is to keep a cool head, increase the gap between you and any vehicles in front of you, i.e. increase your safety margin to compensate for the lack of it behind you until the road clears and the driver behind can overtake. Try and concentrate on what's happening ahead of you rather than the vehicle behind that way you are less likely to make an error.

In the situation you describe there is no easy solution you will have to be patient until you have passed the vehicle you are overtaking and then when it safe move over to let the other driver passed. We would not advocate increasing your speed above the legal limit.

I would never advocate increasing speed, as it is likely that the driver closely following you wants to travel faster than you anyway and will match your speed. The result is you end up travelling much faster than you would feel comfortable travelling, possibly in excess of the legal limit with the same driver still closely following. In other words the dangers have increased enormously i.e. speed increased so impact in a crash is greater, braking distances and reaction distances and increased and the margins of safety have dropped to the absolute minimum. If someone, you, the driver behind or another road user has a lapse of concentration or makes an error of judgement the likely outcome is a crash.

I hope this answers your question. Have you thought about taking advanced driving course you may find this useful. Contact the following websites

Institute of Advanced Motorists www.iam.org.uk

RoSPA advanced Drivers Association www.rospa.com

======================
Looks like I would have been nicked if I had been caught speeding to complete the overtake, even if I were trying to get away from the Tailgating problem. Hope this helps.

[Søren]

Tailgating is not a simple subject (IMHO)

I don't have a problem with somebody being close to the car infront at appropriate times. For instance, SC road, looking to overtake car infront, car is close in contact through a bend anticipating an overtake on the exit of the bend. Being close here is fine *if* the vehicle infront has no options to take coming up & there is sufficient potential performance differential (what speed the car infront is doing compared to the speed you could be doing - in other words they're holding you up). That isn't tailgating.

Tailgating is being close at inappropriate times.
ie When there isn't the prospect of a safe overtaking opportunity & the car infront does have options.

In a lot of ways being proportionally closer to a vehicle for higher speeds, is safer than being as close to a car at low speeds. At higher speeds, like on motorways, (provided you have good vision ahead of the other vehicle & can anticipate it's braking) the car has no junctions to take late. In the lower speed limits, there are likely to be far more options available for the vehicle infront & they won't have to lose a lot of speed in order to take them late.

The faster someone is going quite often the safer it is to be proportionally closer to them (if they want to turn off they are going to have to lose a lot of speed first). At low speeds vehicles can turn very sharply with little notice, so proportionally you need to give them more room to make yourself less reactionary as they are not as predictable.

I agree with you almost entirely Von, and it's refreshing to see you grant the overtaker, if not the speeder with some intellect.

The 'only a fool breaks the two second rule' is an adage worthy of the Solon quote as being 'for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools’

My own remedy for the aggressive tailgating issue identified by the OP is to assess the driver of the vehicle you are overtaking. What is your experience with this vehicle on the road? Have you been gradually catching up with it, or have you been playing a cat and mouse overtaking game for some time? if you have been gradually catching up with it, it's clear that your average travelling speed is slightly higher. I'd get past and pull in as soon as is safe to do so. If the car you are overtaking is being awkward and increasing speed along with you, I'd pull back and allow the intimidatory driver to get past. You can then reassess your overtake of the car once the aggravator has moved on.

No traffic cop would tug you for manoeuvring safely back into lane one using acceleration to a speed marginally over the limit. Make sure, firstly, that you survey the road ahead for the dreaded camera van, as they lack the discretion you need to make the safest manoeuvre in this situation.

[hanse cronje]

if the faster car had not appeared what would you have done with the car on the inside matching your speed??

[TripleS]

if the faster car had not appeared what would you have done with the car on the inside matching your speed??

It depends on whether the bod in lane 1 is sort of accidentally matching your speed, or is deliberately changing his speed up and down to keep you alongside, i.e. being bloody minded.

If it is the former, I would expect to be able to accelerate past and leave them behind. Problem solved.

If it is the bloody minded type, I would continue until the situation changed, preferably in the form of us catching up somebody else in lane 1!

Best wishes all,
Dave.