Tailgating

[Halski]

I was not only furious this morning but indignant. Speed and you get a ticket and put society in danger - drive to the limit or below it and be abused and imperilled by selfish pondlife who feel that arriving 30 seconds sooner justifies putting everyne else's safety in doubt.

I was doing 30 in a 30. Behind me a middle aged hag in a brand new Discovery. We accelerated from some lights, her behind me and within about 30 metres she was gesticulating that I should get a move on, with EXTREME tailgating and shouting, then flipping me off when I didn't do what she ordered.

The injustice is of elegant sufficiency to say the least. It somehow made it so much worse (not that she knew it) that I had Finn (aged 2 1/2) in the back.

I know what the strategy for dealing with tailgaters is - pull over where you can etc etc etc - and comply with this but cannot help but feel that it reinforces negative behaviour and tells the bully that their strategy works.....

[martine]

I was not only furious this morning but indignant. ... but cannot help but feel that it reinforces negative behaviour and tells the bully that their strategy works.....

I sympathise we all come across people like this sometimes...she obviously got to you big time which is something you'll have to work on.

What I find difficult when someone is that close is it takes MY concentration away from the road ahead. I keep looking in the mirror and feel increasingly 'effected' by the idiot behind...in can only be bad for my own driving and I make a conscious effort to revert to 'normal' mirror use and concentrate on my driving, not theirs.

If you feel the 'red-mist' then I guess you really should pull over and let them past...in the knowledge that they will (if they haven't already) sometime soon get lots of points on their licence from speed cameras...I find this comforting!

[James]

The problem with this scenario is your damned if you do and your damned if you don't.

You can either;

Maintain speed and feel at risk of the car behind, taking your concentration away from the road ahead. This also might further antagonisie them by your lack of response, raising the chance they will try to overtake or undertake at a dangerous time, putting you and Finn at risk.

Speed up and break the law by doing so. This will probably encourage the vehicle behind to do likewise, so now you are in the same scenario but at a higher speed. The risk has not been removed as it is still behind you so you have gained nothing. You will still have the behaviour of the tailgater to deal with when you next come into close proximity, i.e the next junction or roundabout.

Slow down and let them pass. This will be the "suggested method" by most on here. This should remove the risk and ultimatley that is the priority, but as you say, it is almost like waving the white flag and admitting you are in the wrong, when you were not. Sometimes though we must sacrifice pride for common sense. You both walked away alive, thats all that matters isn't it?

I thought of a different approach. Change course. Just take the next available option, be it a side road or unplanned roundabout turn off, and drive a different route to your destination. That way the risk is removed with no show of defeat by you. It may lengthen your journey, but so what? What's a couple of minutes if you have beaten a tailgater?

[MarkH]

I've got a daughter who just turned one at the weekend. Tailgating is definitely the source of a great deal of stress when she's in the car. Because of her I find myself swallowing my pride every single time and going around roundabouts twice or pulling over in a lay-by. I'd rather my pride was dented than my daughter!

[PeteG]

I know exactly what you mean... the "come along, peasants... out of the way!" twirling hand gesture is often used, too.

Had a right one following me on my way to meet the examiner yesterday, was determined to stick to my bumper at the speed limit. Coming to a roundabout, I backed off the throttle and started to brake. He goes out to overtake, then goes "hang on! there's a ROUNDABOUT? with CARS waiting? what's he slowing down for?" and tucks back in... mentalism.

[899cc]

I was not only furious this morning but indignant. Speed and you get a ticket and put society in danger - drive to the limit or below it and be abused and imperilled by selfish pondlife who feel that arriving 30 seconds sooner justifies putting everyne else's safety in doubt.

I was doing 30 in a 30. Behind me a middle aged hag in a brand new Discovery. We accelerated from some lights, her behind me and within about 30 metres she was gesticulating that I should get a move on, with EXTREME tailgating and shouting, then flipping me off when I didn't do what she ordered.

The injustice is of elegant sufficiency to say the least. It somehow made it so much worse (not that she knew it) that I had Finn (aged 2 1/2) in the back.

I know what the strategy for dealing with tailgaters is - pull over where you can etc etc etc - and comply with this but cannot help but feel that it reinforces negative behaviour and tells the bully that their strategy works.....

I know exactly how you feel, and there are occassions when I feel very scared, and am not sure what to do. If it is bad I will usually try to let the other driver past, but on some roads this can sometimes be just as dangerous.

When you cannot let them past, the potential strategies are :
Ignore the driver - He gets red-mist, and gets even closer
Do something illegal (eg. speed) - Obviously not a good idea
Slow down (safely) - Increase safety, could make the other driver reallise, and allows you to increase the gap. However, can also make the driver behind more angry.

It's clearly a no-win situation. It will depend mostly on the type of person/driver behind and how they will react.

I recently slowed down assertively (but slowly, and gradually) for a tailgater... it ended up with him threatening to break my neck. However, I'm not convinced that the outcome would have been better with any of the other options. I did start by trying to ignore him, but it seemed to make him worse, and he even tooted me.

[Prelude]

Tailgating is a REAL pain! Coming back form the coast last week at dusk in a 40mph limit, I was being tailgated and I got the impression he was wanting to overtake me. The 40mph was the correct limit for that part of the road I thought, but I could not help looking in my mirror at the silly pillock (yes, it CAN be distracting!) As I was looking back and forth I saw a rabbit at the l/h side of the road, but it was far too late for me to do anything then as it ran straight for the wheels. All I could do was breathe in (SLIGHTLY brake because of the tailgater), cringe and wait for the squelch which of course did happen. I hoped it was a clean 'kill' although I was very upset as it was my first accident involving an animal. And the galling thing was while I had to immediatley recover from that, the @ssh*le behind finally overtook me!! So, yeah Tailgating can be a real pain, and of course some places you just cannot pullover into for quite a while. As for some of the 4x4 drivers, come on, they really should know a bit better! Coming out of a minor road to turn right on a main road which was on a slightish bend, and my right turn was almost a rightangle turn - quite tricky. But the road was clear as I made my turn......just getting my wheels straightened out, yet aware of a a couple of junctions ahead, the first thing I noticed was flashing headlights in my rear mirror and the ubiquitous tailgate position. Well on that day I was rather furious about this and if he/she is unable to read a right hand bend going downhill in a 30mph zone, then I give up hope! So I was a little bit naughty and slowed down, making sure my brake lights were showing all the time until it was my turn to turn left, which 'magically' my brakelights weren't needed then! Although of course I used my indicator. So Dear Mr/Ms 4x4 driver, a very tight right hand turn cannot be really accomplished at 40mph, especially when entering a 30mph with junctions immediatley ahead!!

[martine]

I know exactly what you mean... the "come along, peasants... out of the way!" twirling hand gesture is often used, too.

The other one is the head tilted to one-side resting on hand, elbow resting on door...i.e. driving one-handed and trying to look bored. Prats.

[TripleS]

I know exactly what you mean... the "come along, peasants... out of the way!" twirling hand gesture is often used, too.

The other one is the head tilted to one-side resting on hand, elbow resting on door...i.e. driving one-handed and trying to look bored. Prats.

I once overtook a Police Traffic Car on the M1 and the driver was doing exactly that. He was travelling at about 65 mph in lane 1 and looking very laid back about things. None of this ten to two formality for him!

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[PeteG]

I assume you were the only one passing him... "couldn't possibly overtake within the speed limit... there's a police car on the inside doing less!"

[Lynne]

I assume you were the only one passing him... "couldn't possibly overtake within the speed limit... there's a police car on the inside doing less!"

And I bet everyone else gawped whilst you did it Triple S!!

[ScoobyChris]

Tailgating is a pain and I've now removed the "Baby on board" badge and trim level and engine size off the back of the car. Bizarrely now the car looks like your average taxi, I get very little tailgating and those that do, tend to be left behind where it is safe and appropriate to do so

I've also found following RoSPA's advice and bringing their speed down by increasing the gap between you and the car an front helps make me feel more comfortable too

Chris

[TripleS]

I assume you were the only one passing him... "couldn't possibly overtake within the speed limit... there's a police car on the inside doing less!"

And I bet everyone else gawped whilst you did it TripleS!!

Oh it wasn't just me. The traffic was fairly light but everybody just steamed past at about 75 - 80 mph, all quite well behaved, and he didn't bother about us. I don't recall seeing anybody tucked in behind, nervously following him. Mind you, this was the West Yorkshire section of the M1 heading up towards Leeds. It seemed to me that reasonable tolerance was being deployed there, and rightly so IMHO.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Big Err]

Tailgating is a pain and I've now removed the "Baby on board" badge and trim level and engine size off the back of the car. Bizarrely now the car looks like your average taxi,

When my wife had her Golf GTI she was constanty being tailgated and harried by young males who probably had some inferiority or inadequacy complex going on.

Eric.

[rlmr]

I once overtook a Police Traffic Car on the M1 and the driver was doing exactly that. He was travelling at about 65 mph in lane 1 and looking very laid back about things. None of this ten to two formality for him!

According to the old Home Office Motorway Manual the Traffic Patrol Officers should generally be driving in lane 1, travelling at the speed of the vehicles in that lane (bit out dated and does not equate with High-Vis techniques). So that might be a plus point . Arm on the window etc. is definitely a no no and sets a very bad example . However it sounds like he/she had just fallen asleep... quite understandable for anyone using the M1