Safe Speed Forums

Has anyone got any thoughts ? Heres my dilemma..I consider myself to be a reasonable safe driver I dont drive like a nutter & I generally don,t break the speed limit, not by much anyway. I will generally sit at about 75-80Mph on the motorway for instance maybe 35 in a 30 etc. But quite a lot I get A/Holes sitting millimetres off my rear bumper becasue i,m not going fast enough for them. Tailgating winds me up to bursting point and my fiance has been known to physically restrain me from kneecapping some Bast£*& who is sitting on my tail. My own remedy (not on the motorway of-course) would be to stand all over the brakes LETTING them smash in to me from behind therefore they hit ME from behind the accident is therfore THEIR fault meaning THEIR insurance pays for the damage also meaning that THEIR insurance premiuim rockets up !! Happy Days !!. Until now I have never pulled that stunt but christ I would love to. My fiance drives a ford KA and she gets it on a daily basis, a woman driving a small car attracts these AHls like a fly to SH**. Any good constructive ideas that we could all employ to tackle tailgaters would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/tailgate.html

It's easier than you think...

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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

I stick to limits up to NSL, and usually only exceed that briefly when overtaking or there no other road users around, but have little problem with tailgaters - where safe i use the acceleration of my car to make space and usually the car behind follows at safe distance.

Those times that there is someone tailgating i just postion my car so they have better view of road ahead and let them go past.

Of course they then often sit in front of me doing same speed as i was, but at least they not inches from my back bumper - not speeding but "thumb in bum, mind in neutral".

Have also noticed that the more powerful the car that someone is driving then the less likely they are to tailgate, and the more likely they are to acknowledge me for moving over slightly to assist them when they overtake quickly and safely.

Kenco,

Check out this thread on the forum, here I explain waht happened when I braked to frighten a tailgating driver.

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1330

It isnt worth it mate. Get out of their way.

If they are tailgating let them go by and drive to the scene of their accident. You don't really want someone that stupid near you

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Stupid is as Stupid does

Tail gateing is just some peoples idea of fun, a road game. I dont do it myself because its to easy for the guy in front to cause you a lot of trouble. (They only have to call your bluff) and i dont have ABS.

There is something about the back of my white transit that seems to deter people from doing it to me though. But ocasionally I get to play, ive nver managed to catch anyone yet, but I do try, the main problem is no ABS.

My friend caught one by genuine accident, and made himself 1400 quid, the reason being his car was an old import, and the insurance said it was a write off. This gives me an idear of how to make some quick money, since you could do this untold times, all you need is an old banger, that is fully legal on the road. Each hit gains you the book price of the car. I bet a lot of people are doing it.

So much for road safety...

How many people have been killed by unnecessary panic breaking...

That makes you more dangerous than the tailgater...but then that is no surprise..

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Speed camera policy Kills

[quote="Rigpig"]Kenco,

Check out this thread on the forum, here I explain waht happened when I braked to frighten a tailgating driver.

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1330

It isnt worth it mate. Get out of their way.[/quote

Thanks for the advice mate, looks like I need to start chillin a bit. I just wish the police done more about this problem which seems to be happening every day nowadays.

Cheers Bud.

I just have to recount a story from my younger days when a tailgater genuinely got his "cumuppence".

I was driving along with the traffic when I noticed a car some distance back cutting wildly back and forth slowly catching up with the group of traffic I was in. As we approached a set of traffic lights I signalled and moved across to the extra lane on the left of the intersection which was clear. We often have an extra lane at the lights for slow moving vehicles that then merges back into L1 about 100 metres past the intersection.

Although this manoeuvre was completed several seconds before this extremely aggressive driver arrived he pulled up with an inch of the rear of my car. When the lights changed I moved off at a reasonable pace only to have the other car sitting so close that I could not see his headlights at all in the mirror.

This annoyed me somewhat so I took my foot off the accelerator and was immediately bumped by the other car. I had only dropped in speed about 2-3mph and he had hit me. Now this was intolerable so I gently braked and received a continual tap tap tap from the car behind all the way until I stopped.

I got out of my car (I had a broken arm in a sling at the time) and the other driver approached me extremely aggressively and grabbed me. He said words to the effect that I was a smart arse and if my arm wasn't in a sling he would be happy to put it in one. This guy was significantly bigger than me and I was in no condition to defend myself and thought I was in real trouble here.

At that point an old Ford Falcon pulled up behind both our cars and a guy I could probably describe as a small sumo wrestler squeezed out of the drivers door. He stood about 6' 7" tall and must have weighed in well over 300lb. He strode across to where we were standing and grabbed the other guy by the shirt, picked him up with one hand and slammed him into the side of my car. While holding him there with one hand and gesticulating at his face with the other he said something along the lines of "What sort of fu#$ing idiot are you, you have almost killed half a dozen people with your stupid and dangerous driving and... " pointing at me said "You, PISS OFF!" at which point I got back into my car and drive off.

I couldn't stop laughing for several minutes after watching the idiot getting a really good "talking to" in the mirror as I drove away.

At least that tailgater got what he deserved.

I now follow the guidelines Paul offers and would simply get out of the way rather than put myself and others into harms way.

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Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

The frustration you feel when tailgated is incredible. Probably because it builds up over a long period of time, i.e. the period you are being tailgated. In terms of driving there is no greater expression of selfishness and ignorance. That's why dealing with tailgating safely is a rewarding thing to do. It doesn't feel like it at the time but you will when you reflect on it later that night...

I had a Golf GTI tailgate me in fog, in the dark, on a very greasy road surface for some distance the other day. Wasn't safe to pull over to let him by, too many bends, constant oncoming traffic and the fact that I couldn't see far enough up the road to identify a pull over spot. Tailgating is bad enough but in those conditions it was beyond belief. I was very close to lighting up the brake lights suddenly to scare him off but I'm so glad I didn't. I joined the motorway, let him overtake. He'll get caught out one day, and I got home in one piece.

It is a constant pain in the ass. I have learned to be more tolerant and very rarely let it bother me. But it is very difficult and takes much self control. I have in the past been very close to slamming on, and in the heat of your rage you don't aknowledge that it makes you as bad as them. Tailgaters seem to fall into two categories:

1. Thumb in bum, totally ignorant of what is going on ahead and the safety distances required. These will often respond to a rebuke, even if it is the death stare in the mirror

2. Aggressive, get out of my way types who's rage increases ten fold if you try and administer any form of rebuke, they also get enraged by you gently backing off to increase your safety distance.

So as has already been said let them go as soon as you can, let them have thier accident somewhere else.

Max

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Tailgaters - Please Pass
You have an Accident to go to!

The only time I get tail gated is in 30 limits. I'm extra carefull there because (as long as there genuine 30's not reduced 40's) people live there, they don't need to hear me tear arsing around etc. On more open roads I like to drive at a speed I'm comfortable.

On motorways. if your doing 80 in lane three (regardless of the limit) your not going with the flow and should keep left.

Look at it from the tailgaters point of view. He's probably thinging, why has this person not seen me in his mirrors? Is he not looking? Does he not know that we should keep left on motorways and dual carrageways? Do you like being stuck behind tractors or caravans? It's no different than being stuck behind a volenteer traffic cop.

You are crediting tailgaters with thinking.

Tractors and Caravans dont usually cause hold ups - its mostly the following drivers not leaving enough space to see past and take safe overtaking opportunities when they occur that cause the queues. They pop out, find themselves facing oncoming traffic, panic and swerve back in, then miss a clear stretch of road while they calm down. And then repeat their mistake.

No surprise, as you can pass the driving test without ever having overtaken.

I posted something earlier but I cant find it now.

Basically I reallised that it would be very easy for people to make lots of money out of tailgaters.

My friend the other day had to jump on the brakes, inocently, not ralising someone was right up his a$$. To cut a long story short because he had an import car the insurance wrote it off, and he got to pocket 1400 quid.

We joked about it at the time, but im sure many are already doing it; making a scam out of this.

The insurance just dont want to know, if the 3rd party will take the book price, then thats good enough for them no more questions asked.

All you need is an old car, that is legal, and you can do this until the back door falls off it.

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If you cant pay the fine then dont do the crime.

Just clarify what you mean here. You are saying that unless I'm prepared to travel faster than 80mph I shouldn't be in lane 3 is that right?
In other words I'm not permitted to overtake because I may hold up somebody who wants to go faster. Or are you talking about folks who stay in L3 when there is no overtake in progress, in other words a typical lane-hog?
The reason I ask is because this is when I personally get tailgated most often, in L3 (or L2 on M54) whilst quite legally passing other vehicles at 80 odd mph. And if anyone tries to tell me I shouldn't be out there because I'm not travelling at 20+ above the legal limit then bring it on
Whichever way you, there is no excuse for tailgating another vehicle, no arguments,period, finito, end-ex.

True, but allow me to twist your words.

The problem is that whatever we do there will always be tailgaters. Maybe we can reduce the number.

So what are we as drivers going to do? We stop caring about whether or not tailgating is right or wrong and simply recognise tailgating as an inevitable hazard to be neutralised.

In a typical version of the problem expressed, (tailgated while overtaking at 80mph in L3) the typical solution is to clear the danger zone as soon as possible. It might well be a good example of accelerating out of danger. Given ample clear space ahead I'd accelerate. I wouldn't worry for a second about who was causing the danger, I'd just make it stop as soon as posible.

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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

Tailgating is one of the most frightening things I see on the roads - the HGV's terrify me at times. You see them so close behind each other and sometimes cars. If one breaks hard they don't stand a chance.

Very scary

Rich

I agree. One of the worst is where you have a line of vehicles all tailgating. The second in line may not have time to brake, but the thrid in line has less time (partly because the one in front is slowing much faster due to the accident and partly because things are happening within his reaction time.) As you count backward through the tailgaters time to react becomes smaller and smaller and the forces become greater and greater. but the time you reach number 8 or number 10 it's 70mph into a wall of metal.

This is related to "wave braking" if you haven't allowed a decent reaction time then you have to brake HARDER than the chap in front. Five of these in a row usually means an emergency stop for number five.

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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

I was on the M1 northbound the other day. I saw the most appalling example of tailgating in the fast lane.

I was driving at about 70 in the miffle lane ovetaking a column of trucks. A traffic police car came charging up the outside (must have been doing 80-90) with no flashing lights. Drive right up the the back bumper of the cars in the right hand lane (must have been within 4 feet!) then bullied them out of the way one at a time.

So what do we do about that then....!

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Speed camera policy Kills

This of course is the sensible thing to do, although it isn't always possible - I for one am not going to throw myself in front of a charging HGV just to get out of the way of a tailgater And less powerful cars may not be able to accelerate quickly enough to clear the problem - but they are still legally permitted to be in L3.
But in a civilised society, the answer to bad behaviour is not to accomodate it and thereby encourage it is it? I would like to see a realistic and concerted crackdown on tailgating drivers, starting with our old friend the '2 second rule TV ad'.

As for the later point about 'mindless' tailgating in streams of vehicles - again I couldn't agree more with how dangerous this is. So why do people do it ? And if we observe that people mindlessly engage in such an obviously dangerous (if you give it any thought which clealry most don't) act, why do we assume that their speed selection is any less mindless?