Safe Speed Forums

True, but I'm not sure that happens very often. If the congestion eases and cars speed up, the time gap between them doesn't change very much I suspect, although it probably should do if everyone is maintaining a safe gap. That is what this thread is about - tailgaters probably keep a constant gap in distance as they speed up, which means the time between vehicles gets shorter rather than longer.

This will be whenever you have a more-or-less constant stream of traffic, which, to my mind, is very common.

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

They will be using their indicators to let other people know and leaving a large enough gap so they can be seen by the car in front.

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Andrew.

Hiya, I'm new here, so be gentle with me!

I noticed a few comments from some on this thread saying they didn't suffer tailgating much, and offering some thoughts as to why....

Personally, I think much depends on what kind of car you're in! I drive a Smart car (heheheh) get tailgated a lot. But step into my other half's 4x4 and I get left alone - even though I'm travelling at the same speed as I would have in the Smart!!

The Smart is a classic example of how other, beefier cars will attempt to "bully" others out of their way though - AS WELL as tailgating, I suffer hugely in the Smart from undertaking, and hugely dangerous maneuvres *just* to get ahead of me at ANY cost - and I'm not a slow driver, nor is my car an unresponsive car (It's been tuned). I think perception is "oh, that's a slow car, must get ahead of it" and then some strange primal desire to leave me in the dust takes over - which is fine, as long as you don't have to drive like a total arse to achieve that!!

I have seen (I hate to name and shame, but it seems especially to be Astra and BMW owners) many, many incidents in 3 years of driving a Smart where bigger cars have literally, nearly killed themselves, or others, simply to patch a dented ego - where I have left the lights quicker than them, or got ahead of them somehow, and they feel they must redress the balance.

It seems to me that many cases of tailgating are about the driver behind feeling he has more right to use the road unhindered than I do, and that these rights are defined by bhp or engine cc.

The 'L' Plate is a warning to regulars to go easy on new users. But having seen a couple of your posts I'm not at all sure you're going to need its protection. It goes automatically after 10 posts...

It seems we don't have a link to the main website tailgating advice page in this thread. See: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/tailgate.html

Thinking ahead and dumping the stress makes tailgating easy to deal with.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Thanks for the link and the welcome, SS

To be honest, I'm of the passive variety - and let 'em pass if they're intent on lodging their radiators up my bum! Sometimes though, you just *can't* move over, or accelerate out of the way - which makes you wonder if *I* can see that , why can't they?! lol (And I'm a daft woman with poor spatial awareness! heheheh! )

There are lots of aspects of driving that can be pretty infuriating. Speed cameras are one of 'em, which is why I was interested in this site - I've driven for 13 years without a single accident or endorsement, and have just become the "proud" recipient of my first 3 points for speeding. I won't bore you all with the details, but I was hardly endangering life, and it does make me cross that lane hoggers, tailgaters, box junction sitters et al seem to get away scott free......

One of the other points about being tailgated in a Smart is that being a second behind the rear of my car, also means that you're a second from ME! - No back seats, very small boot. Some days I can literally see the whites of their eyes!

Apologies - I realise this is an old topic...

What are the recommended methods for dealing with tailgaters, when it's not practical to move over a lane. Some friends say they "will just slam their brakes on as it's the vehicle behinds fault" while others say they just gradually reduce their speed, so that if there is an impact, it will be at a lesser speed and therefore, hopefully, less damage done.

Others say they just touch their brake pedal so the brake light goes on.

Your advice/comments?

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Assuming that you are travelling at the prevailing running speed, if you cannot move over, ignore them. Any slowing down, touching of the brakes, or whatever will only inflame the situation.

The very worst thing you can do is become emotionally involved in the situation.

Brake testing, not a good idea. And like the Commander I'm not keen on flashing the brake lights unless I am certain the tailgater is only doing so inadvertantly rather than aggressively. It's just not worth further antagonising an already over aggressive driver.

Paul put some good tailgating tips up a while ago http://www.safespeed.org.uk/tailgate.html

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Stereo thread ahoy!

Other current tailgating thread!

just feel the need to dredge this up again having driven back to London from Folkestone yesterday.
Hard shoulder - under snow. Lanes 1+2 either covered in mush or wet, lane 3 under snow. Advisory speed limit of 40mph. Felt like an appropriate speed to me so I sat in the left lane. No problem there.
No trucks seemed to think it necessary to slow down, still sitting on their limiters regardless. The occassional car was also coming by but other than that Lane 2 was pretty much empty. So why exactly did several people feel it necessary to sit on my rear bumper? Tried easing off slightly to help them by, no luck. Sped up a little, no luck. They just sat there until their junction arrived and off they went to be replaced by the next dickhead who would move up to a few car-lengths behind and just sit there. WHY do people do this (especially in low-grip conditions)???

Just been training a new guy at work (62, driven everything with wheels) and yet he exhibits some truly awful driver behaviour.

Apart from not cancelling his indicator he also tends to pootle along in the slow lane at ~60 until he catces something up, then just sit behind them until he is slowed til about 40, getting closer and closer to them.

At this point he gives it full throttle (doesn't do much in a base-model Transit Connect ) and overtakes, getting up to the dizzying heights of 80, before slowly returning to about 60.

In this process he often re-overtakes several vehicles that have previously passed him.

This is the behaviour of someone who is adopting absolutely no plan to their driving whatsoever. I'm sure your, er, student is just one of many millions of drivers who react only to that which is happening immediately ahead of them.

I like my GF's approach to tailgaters, usually employed if she gets tailgated on A and B roads late at night when already doing some speed above 69mph. I imagine it will offend a few people here though.

If she drops a gear and floors it for a second, then lifts suddenly, the speed doesn't change much, but the engine dumps a load of unburnt fuel into the exhaust at which point it ignites.

They tend to back off after one or two of those.

(also note that this isn't a chav flamer kit, just a feature of how the engine is set up)

The other night while driving up a busy M5 i had a pratt in a van right up my arse, i had cars in front and was driving a safe distance behind and lots of traffic in L2 to my left. so i carried on for a while hoping he would back off, once he put his full beam on though i had to indicate and make room on my left to get out of his way. So as what usually happens he then proceeded to go right up the next cars arse this then causing that driver to get nervous and slow down enough to make my lane faster, 5 mins later i was back in L3 and guess who comes up behind me flashing his lights? what an arsehole! this time (to my wives displeasure) i gave him the middle finger, tapped the brake pedal and stayed where i was, not very clever i know but what am i supposed to do? i am trying to get home after a long drive and pulling over does not work. In the end he undertook me and proceeded then to wind up someone else. My only consolation was my thought that one day he will kill himself but that was quick lived as i realise he is more likely to take someone else with him.

If i drive a little too fast past a camera but in a very safe manner i am halfway to losing my license (i am a new driver on a 6point parole) but pratts like this are on the roads everyday causing death and serious injury and getting away with it. What a load of tosh!

Sorry, no matter how cross these people make you, its safer for everyone to just ignore them and get out of their way when you can. One day you might middle-finger someone who will try and kill you for it... (And possibly kill some other innocent motorist - like me - in the process of so trying)

i have watched tailgating and the antics of the repmobile in particular from L1 from the comfort of my cab, and the speed up and slam on brigade actually think they are getting somewhere, more often than not you see the same cars 70 -80 miles further on that you were alongside when you started off. im absolutely sure after reading some posts on here already im preaching to the converted but how often do you see L1 full of on off brake lights? its the hare and the tortoise scenario slow down a little get a nice rolling speed and a fair sized gap ahead and it is far more relaxing than inch pinching.

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Im difficult to spot in this 44foot truck sorry i must have it in cloak mode again

i meant to add I saw a funny sticker on the back of a trailer which read
"free airbag test here"
i liked it because it might just make some numpty back off a bit if he reads it and he is too close.

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Im difficult to spot in this 44foot truck sorry i must have it in cloak mode again

Tailgaters really wind me up, because as others have said a) I drive reasonably fast and b) I always try to pull into the left hand lane when not overtaking / imminently overtaking. I've taken a few streps down the 'middle pedal, middle finger' road myself. The temptation is always there to 'teach them a lesson' and possibly, by braking, make them realise how dangerous it is. Of course the safest and least stressful option for all concerned is just to let them past. But you can't help feeling that you've let them think their 'tactics' are working!

Read this: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/tailgate.html and rise far above any concerns about 'their tactics working'. Safety first!

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety