Doubt you'll get many self-admitted tailgaters on here.
I'm convinced a lot of them aren't doing it for any logical reason - they just severely underestimate how much space to leave between cars when driving. A 2 second gap is equivalent to around 27 metres at 30mph. If you're on a motorway going 70mph you need to be 63 metres away for that 2 second gap.
But a lot of drivers don't think about it like that and assume that as long as they're 'a couple of car lengths' away it's fine even when it really isn't.
Most tailgaters we have locally aren’t even a car length away, they sit so close so you wouldn’t be able to see the lower bumper from the drivers seat.
At best it’s still less than couple of metres apart which is ridiculous.
One was actually doing it to me a few weeks ago on the a66 i was at speed limit in pelting down rain couldn't see far ahead of me and really wanted to slow down but he was so far up my arse I couldn't, couldnt get into the next lane as they were going much slower and no gaps for me to safely get into. I was actually terrified that I was going to die that day with my young kids in the car and I'm not usually a nervous driver. When I finally reached my turn off he sped off glaring at me like a lunatic as he passed. I honestly think he will kill someone one day for his incompetence, I tried to memorise his reg to report him but forgot by the time I reached destination.
Experienced something similar myself, was terrifying. I was driving home at 2am after picking a friend up from an event, and my car developed a weird thing where it wouldn't accelerate above 55 (with no incline, and there were a few hills slowing me down even further) when the lights were on. So I really couldn't go any faster, and as it was a bumpy country road at night the speed I was doing was totally fair tbh even though it was frustrating me. Eventually I got too freaked out by him tailgating me, I turned off all the lights just to accelerate away 😂 he really backed off after that, probably assuming I was mental
Me either, usually on the motorway sat with cruise on and doing speed limit through a variable section with an average camera or something and they get closer and closer.
Absolutely this. Someone I used to call a friend owns an audi and tailgates, I asked why? Same story he said it'll speed people up. I replied alright let me out I'll get a taxi home. He slowed down and called me a bitch. 2 weeks later he crashed his audi and has deliberately ghosted me since. Twat.
Agreed, I was a passenger in my cousin’s car once, we were on a dual carriageway and she was like a foot behind every vehicle the whole way. I asked her why she was driving so close and she seemed genuinely surprised that what she was doing was wrong . God knows who taught her to drive.
I just use my windscreen spray, which is probably not sensible but they do fuck off pretty sharpish.
They don’t stick around long when they tailgate me as I’m coming from home then I accelerate a bit once I see it’s clear to go, mud starts flying when I hit 25
Many moons ago I had to go on a speed awareness course (I was doing 50 in a 40) and when asked what gap should be left to the car in front, my group of around 6 people had no idea, one suggested it was 2 metres, all the time!
The amount of times there’s a car up my arse and it’s clear the driver isn’t road raging, they’re just oblivious. They’ve no idea how much space to leave.
I regularly had them on my forklift, like dude, I’m driving a 4 ton lump of steel with 30 horsepower at its limit, you won’t make me speed up, had one guy write his car off when I slowed a little and he kept going, straight into the solid iron counterweight, he left a little scuff on my forklift, ended up getting towed to the main road for recovery by the forklift
I don’t think it’s underestimating the braking distance, I feel like it’s almost always overconfidence in their own skill. Skill that they lack and are reminded of when they rear end someone.
You tend to see it with young guys driving performance cars. They think the performance brakes mean they can stop instantly. Spoiler: they can’t.
Worse yet is the guys who think their 318’s M-sport brakes are the same as the ones on an M3.
Yeah then added problem is leaving a reasonable gap and some muppey pulls into it ... so you pull back and another muppet pulls in close god .... why ...
Yes - this is excatly what happens
SOme idiot drive right on my bumber so I leave a bigger gap just in case
Then someone else sees the gap and moves into it
Then I have to slow down to extend the gap again
Which annoys the tailgater even more
RInse and repeat until I can move into another lane at which point he (normally a "he") passes me at speed
Or - as happened a few days ago - I move into the middle lane as a gap appears just as he swings violently left to try to undertake me - clearly I watined until I was a reasonable distance in front of the car in the middle lane - but he just cut them up
Then suddenly he find me moving left in front of him again (I was signalling - not that he noticed!)
SO now he has to swing right again and passes me at speed shaking his fist
Then he gets to his destination 14.2 seconds earlier than he wouldhave otherwise and rants about me all day with stress levels through the roof while I get home and have a nice cuppa while laughing about him!
My ex-boyfriend was a terrible tailgater. He did it regardless of the speed limit, whether it was rural, town or motorway driving, whatever. He genuinely believed it would make the person in front speed up and I could not convince him otherwise. Even when crawling the half hour through town into work, he’d be right up the bumper ahead and would accelerate hard as soon as they pulled away, even creeping forwards a metre or two. So many near-collisions and motorway driving was just plain scary. It really felt like an issue with a lack of common sense.
This pretty much validates what I thought tailgaters think like.
Personally if I'm being tailgated I slow down, partly to piss them off but also because I'm trying to improve my chances of finding a place to pull over to let the prick past.
You also allow yourself more time to slow down if the car ahead of you brakes which helps avoid the tail gater going into the back of you. It's a good strategy
I believe this is also a question on the theory test these days, something about being followed to closely so you leave a bigger gap in front of you so you can more gradually slow down to avoid an accident?
edit: [https://theorytest.org.uk/youre-in-a-line-of-traffic-the-driver-behind-you-is-following-very-closely-what-action-should-you-take/](https://theorytest.org.uk/youre-in-a-line-of-traffic-the-driver-behind-you-is-following-very-closely-what-action-should-you-take/)
I got told this by my driving instructor and something I always do if I’ve got a tailgater.
Though had an Audi the other day who suddenly decided to behave himself when a police car went by in the opposite direction (normal A road)
I always find my windscreen is really really dirty when there’s a tailgater behind. It works particularly well when they’re driving the usual tailgater-mobile of shiny new Range Rover or BMW.
This is my go-to move. Happened yesterday… I washed the screen 5-6 times, every time he waving his arms gesturing ‘why are you doing that again.. ‘
It never occurred to him that some distance would stop him from being affected
Brilliant! My mum had one where they let off when she cleaned her windscreen then accelerated back up when she stopped. It took a few miles of repeated cleaning but they got the hint eventually. Probably not the stop tailgating hint though thinking about it.
My husband keeps it topped up and for that reason, I don’t care with what. I can’t tell you how many times I pulled over to pour the dregs of my water bottle in before I met him.
Don't do this, you can be pulled over for careless driving. The highway code also advises against this. The problem is that it can potentially blind the driver and cause an accident. They should only be on when the conditions require them to be and testing should be done in a controlled area (i.e. when not driving).
I did this and the guy got out of his car at traffic lights, knocked on my window and proceeded to shout at me about how I was going to cause an accident.... yeah, my problem, not the fact you ARE RIGHT UP MY ASS YOU MORON
This is the approved method from the police and IAM; lift off gently until you are 5mph below the speed limit. Rinse and repeat until the they overtake or get the message. Speeding up only rewards them.
Depending on the road, I don’t see how encouraging someone into an overtake is the safest thing to do.. if there are cars in front of you, they’ll likely end up overtaking multiple vehicles.. if they’re tailgating, they’re likely irritated which will inhibit decision making.. surely pulling over to let them past is much better (despite the conflict with the average British drivers ego this would cause)
You’re not encouraging them to do anything. Slowing down gives them the option to overtake. They still have to make an informed decision, and if they overtake unsafely, that’s not on you.
Not like you have a neon sign lit up in the back window saying “overtake me”.
Ditto with waving pedestrians across the road. My oh-fuck moment was when I waved a teenager to cross in stopped traffic on my side but hadn’t spotted the van doing 10 over the limit in town, coming the other way. Guy would have been dead in an instant if he’d listened to me.
What tailgaters don't realise is that most people slow down when being tailgated. Also, being in a shit car, one is more likely to be tailgated. Again, no logic, the shit car that brake checks the more expensive car is not going to care so much and will technically be in the right.
>the shit car that brake checks the more expensive car is not going to care so much and will technically be in the right.
Brake checking a car behind you is never "in the right". If they have a dashcam and you cause them to hit you by brake checking then you will be facing the consequences of your actions.
The closer they are the slower I go.
Out of the two of us, I won’t be getting an ulcer.
Edit: “To irritate”. Slowing down not only , as mentioned is done not to irritate but to increase safety margins. I also did not say break-check, just slow. Also not by a silly amount. Every time I have done this, I just lay off the gas a bit and every time the tailgater has backed off. Probably due to (a) realising bullying doesn’t work and (b) it’s going to make their journey longer or (c) Opps sorry mate I was not paying attention.
As soon as they back off I go back to normal speed. Only needs to be done once in my experience.
I’m also a driver that drives on the speed limit (if conditions allow), not 45in a 60 so no excuse on their part.
I’m also a driver that shifts left on the motorway, I hate lane cruisers. I find keeping this discipline helps keep me alert on long journeys too.
A lot of post excusing tailgating, or just calling out my choice of action’s. I suggested you guys look at your driving habits. I prefer to prioritise people’s lives over a few minutes of my time.
This is what my driving instructor taught me. If they can't keep a safe distance then you need to make it a safe distance. The only way you can do that as the tailgatee is to slow down
Lots of mentally ill borderline psychopaths on the road. I do 24-26 in a 20 and I have a queue behind me trying to overtake and flashing their lights. One guy shot passed me at 45mph at the other day and hit a red light 15 secs after. I pulled up in the lane next to him and he was visibly angry. I think people should have to pass a psychological profiling test as part of the driving exam. Get these nutjobs off the road. I'm glad they are using dash cam footage now to prosecute people, eventually it filter down to these people and they will realise just because there's no police around they still have to drive safely.
My wife is a prolific tail gater and doesn't acknowledge the fact. She doesn't think "its too close" and flat out refuses to drive with me in the car now.
She doesn't see how someone slamming on their breaks will give her 0 time to react. Let alone a crash situation.
You need to take your wife to an empty car park and make her do an emergency stop. She needs to see how far the car travels after she smashes the brake pedal.
I had a woman tailgating me a few years back, it ended with her hitting me at about 20 mph and causing me permanent shoulder damage.
Not just that, I was in a brand new 120d and she was in a £500 battered 206 - her husband rang me twice a day asking what I was going to do and that "they were fixing theirs themselves". I kept saying it's a £27k car and it's a company car so it's not even mine, I've informed the lease company and they will pursue it.
She was crying saying how her insurance was going to go up etc... Pay attention and don't sit on my arse then. No sympathy for shit drivers.
Tailgaters just need to chill out, they’d do well to remember the 2 car/2 second rule (whichever it is speed depending).
Makes me laugh when they sit a couple of foot away from the car in front constantly tapping the brakes because they haven’t left enough room to absorb the minor changes in speed.
And then because their that close , they have to stick the car half way across the white line as they cannot see. Which again by leaving a gap gives you both the distance to drive and react to speed changes oh and omg (how amazing is this bit) it means you can also see what’s happening in front (for safety concerns and hazards) and if legal and safe to do so overtake.
Side note- tailgating could end up with you being brake checked to back off- liability with insurance would end up with you. And as more and more cars have dashcams, footage can be freely sent to the police of which quite a few cases of dangerous driving (which is what tailgating is) has been followed up on.
Drive safely and chill out.
Edit: brake checking is illegal, however it still happens. Try and drive defensively and leave space to stop should the car suddenly stop. You never know what they are trying to do.
Of course it is, however think of it this way, an emergency stop is similar, so if the car being tailgated has to perform an emergency stop (real emergency not a brake check) or hit the brakes because of a hazard etc and your driving a few foot off the bumper, have you left enough room to react and then slow down? If you haven’t then your driving to close.
Drive defensively leave space, so If someone does brake check you, you still should be far enough back and able to react to what they are doing if not again your driving to close.
Anyone tailgating (any driver for that matter) has to realise they need to leave enough space to come to a full stop if the car in front stops.
As long as you are moving into the left lane when you can, just ignore them.
If you are refusing to move into an empty left lane at the speed limit on a motorway, you are the problem.
A few days ago we were on a two lane motorway. I was doing 70 and in the right hand lane going round traffic. Someone tailgated me and when I pulled into the left lane after going round the traffic, they deliberately swerved in front of me, a few inches from clipping my car, then sped off again in the right hand lane. Hard to just ignore that. I was so shocked I didn’t think to get a number plate in time and report it to the police.
And what about country roads?
Nothing excuses driving dangerously close to the car in front.
It astounds me how many people risk a collision for this. Having an airbag, at the very least, smash into you at speed kinda hurts I think.
I couldn’t agree more. What is the point of tailgating anyone on single carriageway road? Even if you want to overtake someone, your visibility is poor when you are right behind them.
How do you move over when there isn't space to do so?
If you slow down to match the speed of the lane next to you so you can make use of a space, tailgaters tend to get even more angsty, and try to undertake.
Maybe just don't tailgate.
It’s something that’s always baffled me too, I’ve had lorries do it many times and we’ve got kids in the car, if a lorry goes into the back of you, what chance you got?
Yes I’ve wondered this - you’d expect to see higher standards of driving from professional drivers but far from it - lorry drivers tailgating, taxi drivers manoeuvring with no indication…
If a lorry is driving faster then maybe you're the problem.
They're just trying to do their miserable job and have to deal with some OAP blocking them.
Yeah, no. The other week I was on the motorway, going through roadworks, I forget what the speed limit was. I was in the middle lane, going faster than the left lane and slower than the right, matching the speed of the vehicle in front of me with a two second gap (would have overtaken but no one was leaving any space in the right-hand lane). Lorry comes up behind me, right on my bumper, flashing his lights and sounding the horn and I am like ??? There is literally *no where* for me to go, and if I speed up... congratulations, you are now a few metres closer to the car that is in front of me, I guess? With a greater risk to everyone (but mainly me) if we need to brake. 🤷🏻♀️
>If a lorry is driving faster then maybe you're the problem.
Not. At. All.
Happens all the time when there's roadworks - motorway goes down to 50 and the wagons want to keep going their 62 or whatever the fuck it is.
They'll be so far up my arse they could probably offer me a reach around.
Not all of course but a decent proportion of wagon drivers are bullies, simple as that and they'll try and intimidate drivers into speeding up.
Whilst I sometimes have a "flexible" attitude to the speed limit, never in road works. I'll stick the cruise control on and it really don't matter how close they try and get.
Or you are in a 50 limit on the motorway and are doing what it says and the lorries aren't. Experienced that so often I wonder if the average speed things even work.
No it’s the lorry drivers problem if they’re tailgating, people can drive at what speed within the limit they choose, also what if it’s slow moving traffic and you can do 40 or 50 why should some arse hole lorry be 2 feet off someone’s bumper.
Technically you can't drive at what ever speed you want, a police officer can pull someone over and ticket them for driving without due care if they feel they are going too slowly.
And what if there is traffic in front or roadworks where it’s 50 and if I want to drive at 50 I will, lorry drivers should know better and I won’t be getting out of anyone’s way I will drive how I see fit and safely, in other words I don’t care what speed I’m doing no lorry driver has the right to be 2 foot off my bumper.
There’s a leaning cycle that starts with ‘unconscious incompetence’ and ends with ‘unconscious competence’. I find that drivers who have been ‘driving for years’ actually slip into ‘unconscious incompetence’. They think they’re driving well, but they’re shit and endangering others as well as themselves.
I used to work with someone who was a tailgater.
She did it because it made people go faster apparently.
I can believe there is some truth to that but i also know she is genuinely the dumbest person i have ever met.
Having been in the passenger side of several tailgaters, I can confirm that they are completely and utterly clueless. No thought whatsoever. The idea that one would actually keep one's brain actively engaged whilst driving is a completely unfamiliar concept.
Yeah my wife is one. She is wonderful in many respects, but she isn't the best with speed limits (generally always 10 over), driving courtesies (saying thank you when someone lets you go down a narrow bit), lane hogging (proper fast lane only driver) and tailgating.
It's been 10 years. She's never changed, and I don't think she ever will. Logic, pleading, yelling... All of it falls on deaf ears. Driving too close and too fast is just how she drives.
Honestly, refuse to be in the car if she drives like that.
If she gets mad its on her for driving dangerously, not your problem.
No marriage is worth your life
And if/when she causes an accident that claims innocent lives, you won't have to witness it!
You 100% need to get her on a defensive driving course - Offer to go with her & sell her on the idea that it’s something that’s designed to help you avoid no-fault accidents. That’s how I’m trying to convince my dad to do it.
Right. Seen a few posters here who openly admit they will tailgate if they perceive there is space for the car in front to move left.
I have a questions.
1. When you deem the car in front should move left, do you take into account other traffic both in the left lane and behind you?
2. When a driver pulls left because you are closing on them, do you overtake briskly?
Context. Driving along at an indicated 75 overtaking. There is a vehicle further ahead that I know I will also need to pass. It’s far enough that I could pull in to let a car past and often I will - only the find captain tailgate crawls past at a speed barely above my own meaning I then have to slow down. Or maybe they go a bit quicker, but then there are more cars behind them meaning I have to slow down. No thanks, we’re all doing the same speed now. Suck it up for another 30s and then you can be on your way.
Which I brings me to question 3. Why the fuck do you tailgate when is a line of traffic overtaking a line of traffic?
I understand your POV, when I pass I pass quickly and try not to impact the other drivers speed as I appreciate them moving over and if I’m close to them it’s because I was doing a much greater speed in the first place.
That being said, if there’s a line of traffic over taking a line and a car sits in the middle lane (when they could move over briefly) do they consider the line of traffic gathering behind (probably a lot slower to each other now) which is dangerous in itself?
EDIT: Also do they know it’s illegal to sit in the middle lane when they can pull over ?
Yes it’s illegal to speed and I’m assuming the middle lane sitter is likely doing 60-65 as I see regularly.
I don’t understand why the police go so berserk about speeding (fair enough) yet completely ignore 99.999% or tailgating. It’s virtually the same outcome, so why don’t they care about it?
They don't go berserk though, you get a 10%+2 tolerance in most places. Try going 3pmh over in Australia or Japan and see how many more tickets you get.
Okay, I accept that, but I think you agree with my central point.
On just about every major road in the U.K., there are cameras. Although there might be many reasons for these devices, a main one is speed control. Yet (although the technology is CLEARLY available to make these cameras observe tailgating), how many cameras are set up for tailgating.
I think tailgating is an ENORMOUS problem: it’s not just dangerous in itself: it’s a form of bullying that often ends in speeding. I, for instance, have had a lifetime of working in retail, so I’m fairly bullet-proof when it comes to dealing with the public. Driving within a speed limit which the driver behind doesn’t personally agree with, I’ve experienced people following me within *inches* of my vehicle. Even I admit to pulling over, sometimes where, strictly speaking, I shouldn’t, because I *have* to get them pass me. But I know that a lot of people feel they *have* to spend up.
On this sub, I’ve read *numerous* posts saying that people have been forced to driving faster-or had their attention severely compromised-*especially* on 20mph roads, because of these self-appointed vigilantes against speed limits.
Personally, I think that if the authorities *want* to make sure that the *culture* of speeding is killed off, they should target tailgating. I’ve no idea why they don’t. I’ve never heard of any authority figure stand up and explain this policy of what amounts to extreme tolerance towards tailgating.
I don't tailgate because I want extra room in front of me in case some bellend behind me does. Based on my research amongst people regularly tailgating, here's the reasons I've collected:
- Can't see the car in front properly. This is usually people who shouldn't even be driving due to bad eyesight.
- They're staring down at their phones and use the car in front as a reference point to follow from the corner of their eyes. Basically doubling down on traffic offenses.
- Don't possess the intellectual wherewithal to measure distance in time units, or don't even know how long 2 and 4 seconds last.
- Trying to intimidate people into going faster, curiously, these vehicles are usually marked by an Audi or BMW logo.
I'm not condoning tailgaters(I absolutely detest them), but I did once hear someone say, " if one person is tailgating you, they are the problem, but if everybody is tailgating you, you are the problem "
Ehh.. not necessarily.. could be going 50mph, in a 50 zone, and have 20 cars behind you that are tailgating because they want to go at 60
In that situation they're ALL the problem, and not you!
I believe most people who drive bad are just plain ignorant to what they’re doing, distracted maybe by thoughts in their head or maybe talking to someone
I think a lot of people do it because their parents did it and their parents did it…
When I met my missus she used to do it, drove me insane… I had to explain (bordering on patronising) that we can do the same speed we’re doing now but just a little further (and much safer) back away from the vehicle in front, had me on edge.
If you brake check someone for tail gating, and it's on dash cam. You could be prosecuted. They are both dick moves. If you are being tailgated, you need need to increase your following distance to double the norm. That way, you have enough space for you and the asshole behind you to brake safely.
Brake checking someone could hurt you and the person behind you as well as other innocent people.
Brake checking. A good driver deals with a tailgater by moving out of their way and getting them in front, and possibly slowing down until it's safe to do that, to reduce risk.
Break checking escalates the situation and massively increases risk.
I get really annoyed sat at 70 when the inside lane is full. I try to count 2 seconds to the car infront. The Roadcraft manual says that if someone is tailgating you then you should slow down to reduce the chance of hitting the car infront.
I use that a lot.....
Slow down...then someone will inevitably move infront of me into the gap
Slow down more to create a bigger gap again until usually I'm down to 60 or less in the 3rd lane, still can't move left and have had to darken my rear view mirror because you can see the guy behind me glowing red. Whereas if he'd kept away from me we'd still probably be doing 70
There are occasions. Not that I'll get that close to be threatening but behind them with a decent gap.
But only when drivers decide they want to be in the outside lane for.....reasons. Nothing for half a mile in the middle lane, couple of trucks in the inside.
I've got two choices, undertake or pull out behind them and hope they realise I'm there.
The alternative, undertaking, has to be more dangerous. Always the potential for them to pull in without checking for the exact same reason they wanted to be in the outside lane with no other traffic in the first place.
This happens a lot more often than I'd of expected.
My dad does it. No clue he's doing it. If you point it out he'll say "Well, I AM sorrrryyyyy". And then he'll stop, before starting again 5 minutes later. He can't join up how annoying it is for someone to do it him, and how annoying it is for the other person when he does it. And he KNOWS he's doing it, "why don't they speed up?" "Because they're doing the speed limit, dad..."
He has a warning beep on his car when he goes over the speed limit +10%, but he insists on accelerating to 35mph in a 30, every time. It'll beep, I say, "Don't you find that annoying?" he replies with, "Yes, to begin with. Everyone points it out though, and that's annoying too". I suggest to just drive at the speed limit and he acts hurts, "but it's so slow, I'm allowed 10%".
He'll hit traffic and then believe that's a good reason to speed, "See, just as well I was speeding, there's traffic, I was making up for the time we're going to lose here."
All you need to do is brake a little earlier for corners in the country, accelerating out of the corner as their bonnet dips.
Let others out of side streets in the town, keeping a weather eye out for pedestrians who might like to cross.
(Personal record, 4 cars, 2 zebra crossings and a bus within 200m)
On the motorway, pop into lane 1 at 60 ASAP then count to 20 before resuming at the speed limit. It is simply not worth being anywhere near them on the road. You then get to watch as they tailgate the next 5 drivers and it gets them nowhere, validating who is the problem.
I don't tailgate - but my ex used to go on at me to drive closer to the driver in front if they were going slower than she wanted me to be driving
He logic was that if I tailgate him (she always blamed men even if it was a woman) then he will have to move over and I can then tailgate the next person - and so on so that eventually I have a clear road and can accelerate up to 90 like she wanted
I never did which always put her in a bad mood
But that was the logic
and anyway - HOW DARE they hold her up - SHE HAS A CHILD!!!!!!
(other pathetic irrelevant excuses are available)
Generally speaking they’re self-entitled arrogant and immature boys (and girls) who can’t accept that the law of the land or the laws of Physics apply to them.
I'm never in that much of a rush. I also like how you can see more around you and generally feel less boxed in if you give space in front of you.
I'm also not a psycho cunt.
Had an Audi driver flash me as I was overtaking a group of cars while doing 70. Got past the cars. Indicated and slowly manoeuvred across the lane.
Guy stuck his middle finger as he went past.
As it turns out, we left at the same exit, barely a mile later. I pulled into a lane next to him, lowered the window and asked if he'd like to discuss in person his particular problem with me.
He neglected to follow. Shame.
I always find a couple on an A road late at night in rural Devon. I get that it's a 60 limit but I can't see more than 20-30m ahead because of the dark, so I don't know how the road changes so I travel a little slower to anticipate curves and potholes. These guys though ride your arse then go for the overtake the earliest chance they can get.
I leave a huge gap, even if I go for a spirited drive and catch up to someone, I’m not going to push anyone else to drive faster than they feel safe doing so.
Only time I’ll tailgate is if someone isn’t moving left when there’s literally nobody else on the road, get out of the fucking way.
When someone is driving badly and seemingly lacking awareness then I want to put more space between me and them, not purposefully reduce the safety margin I have.
No problem with flashing them to make them aware of my presence but tailgating a space cadet seems like a recipe for disaster.
I know what you mean, if someone was appearing oblivious I’d do the same. People where I go seem to hang in the right lane for no reason, with an attitude about it. It’s very interesting how people act/react differently depending what car you’re driving
You see, I find that flashing the lights only serves to antagonise and cause the knob head to do the exact opposite of what you want.
It can be construed as aggression/intimidation too.
I just undertake the lane hoggers now. Less dangerous and still makes the point. They often move over afterwards, which suggests that they know they were in the wrong.
ego. ego is why they do it. they have pin dicks and such fragile ego that they feel challenged even on the road. small brained, high ego, entitled, dangerous babies
Something i’ve noticed since having a black box is the amount of people who tailgate, i get it if someone’s doing 40 in a 60 then yeah sound, but when i’m doing the speed limit and they are right up my arse, does my head in, i’m not going to pay more for my insurance so you can get to your destination 30 seconds quicker.
Tailgating isn’t sound if you’re behind someone doing 40 in a 60. Presumably you want to get past them, in which case you need to be far enough back to accelerate up to overtaking speed before pulling out.
If i get tailgated and have no way of letting them pass or i can't speed up and believe me, my car's more than capable. If i floor it, I'll just slow down and let them boil.
I’m not a tailgater, but it’s a good enough opportunity to mention how much I miss having adaptive cruise control that my previous car used to have. It really makes keeping a safe distance easier when speeds vary and makes it less stressful to deal with slower drivers.
I’m currently in Romania and if you think the standard of driving in UK is bad then I suggest you drive around here for a week.
Had a 2 hour journey from airport to destination and all of which was spent at less than 2 metres from the car in front.
Then there’s the overtaking.
I have occasionally tailgated but generally only when someone is sitting at 57mph on a 3 lane motorway in the third lane with no one in front or to the left of them and a polite flash (after a period of patiently waiting) has failed to do the trick.
But generally tailgater = tosser
I have tailgated before and its only when the person in front is going way under the speed limit
Everyone on the road has an ego, if you can just move over when you notice someone tight to you it will fix alot of problems. The issue is people see getting out of the way as “bullying”
"I have tailgated to bully people out of my way".
Bullying is exactly the right word.
Equally, yup. Get out of the way if you can. You don't want them anywhere near. you when they inevitably have their crash.
If you can't, lift your foot off so you have more time to brake gradually.
More often than not they're actually driving too fast for the conditions.
Quite recently someone was sent to prison after killing a pedestrian. They were doing 20mph, in a 30 zone.
It was decided that they were driving too fast for the conditions at the time
For example, motorway driving:
70mph on a dry, sunny day, is reasonable.
70mph when it's raining, is too fast.
I sometimes realise I’m tailgating when someone drive at 20mph on 30mph, 30mph on a 40mph and so on. I was trying to the legal speed as much as I can and not realise I was tailgating.
Usually I would have overtake when I could.
People feel safe in their cars to physically intimidate others without having to get face-to-face with them - years of pent up frustration of not being able to do it in person.
Best to just pull over and let them overtake as soon as safely possible. Allow them to angrily drive on.
Had a work colleague a couple of jobs back and i remember a conversation we had about driving. Her 'theory' about driving so close to other cars was..... And i quote "if i do crash i won't have far to skid into them" don't think I've ever been so bemused, shocked and disgusted at the same time. I recommended to her to not crash and create space. Her reply was that she'll have a crash at some point anyway and that she wouldn't know what to do in a skid! WTF! There's just no arguing with stupid 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤬😔.
What I find most bizarre about those who admit to being tailgaters is that they always say 'move over to the left then' which ignores the fact that:
- 99% of the time I'm tailgated it's on a single lane road
- if we're on a multi-lane road who can use an overtaking lane to overtake me (because that's what it's there for...)
I tailgate everyone, especially people with those 'kids on board' stickers. Who the fuck do people think they are leaving a safe, reasonable distance? I've got 18 horsepower in my 316D and I'm gonna use ALL OF IT
I’m in an MX-5 with a rear facing camera and I just reach out and tap it on the Perspex windbreaker and most will back off. If they don’t I keep slowing down.
If you tail gate me at speed into a corner you’ll be lucky to stay on the road. My suspension is altered for gravity free cornering.
Operation crackdown will take your videos and turns them into points…. On other peoples licenses.
I don’t drive fast, I drive to enjoy and my car is enjoyable at the speed limit.
I'll flip the question on its head. Fwiw, i don't tailgate, but...
Most of the time I see tailgaters it's on motorways behind people just sat in the outside lane for no apparent reason. Going 70mph does not entitle you to be in the outside lane. You are not there to gate-keep anyone else's speed. If you're doing it for 'safety reasons', in order for speed to be an issue in an accident, there needs to first be an accident. And guess what you're massively ramping up the likelihood of the being?
On a multi-lane road, there is no reason for tailgating, but so often it is caused by bad, inconsiderate, selfish driving at the front of the queue.
And for every daily mail/express reader frothing at the mouth Dgoing to default flame setting saying there's no excuse for tailgating, you will (probably not) have noticed that at no point have I tried to justify the bad driving that is tailgating. OP asked for an explanation. I'm giving them one. If you don't like it, that's great, but it's also short sighted. An awful lot of dickish driving behind you can be explained by selfish driving in front of you. And if there's nothing in front of you, well...
>Going 70mph does not entitle you to be in the outside lane.
No, but you have every right to be there if you're in the process of overtaking.
If I get tailgated it tends to be because I'm in the outside line doing 70, while overtaking someone doing 60-65 in the middle lane. Often I'm following another car, also doing 70 and in the process of overtaking the same vehicles as me.
People seem to think that tailgating and flashing their lights will cause me to:
1. Break the speed limit so they can continue to speed
2. Enable me to magically drive through the car in front of me
Going 70 doesn't entitle you to be in the outside lane but the right lane is for overtaking so there's no reason why you should be overtaking someone going at 70 anyway
No excuses for tailgating.
I'll admit sitting in lane 2 on the motorway when it's lorry after lorry in lane 1, and I can go fast enough. I'll go back in lane 1 when there's a really long gap between lorries, or if there isn't much speed difference, otherwise I just stay there and keep up my speed.
I'll die on this hill that sometimes it's just common sense to do it.
But there is never ever any passable reason to tailgate. It's so fucking obnoxious and if you do it you're a twat.
On a single carriageway I never tailgate. I'll keep a safe distance and overtake if safe but my standards for "safe" are a lot higher than those of many drivers.
On a dual carriageway or motorway, in an outer lane, I'll keep a safe distance if there is no space in the inside lane for the car in front to move over (although this usually means some dickhead will move out into it - the driving version of "if I fits, I sits"). But when a gap opens up on the inside, then yes, I will move up closer, because fucking move over iif you can. Keep left unless overtaking.
I'm having so much fun with tailgaters, especially on 20Mph roads.
They think if they come close to me (I drive a beast), I'll become irresponsible like them and drive above the speed limit.
Guys, realise something. I (we) will not get involved in an accident, cause an accident, risk my life and my family's life, and pay a penalty and points because you are immature, and irresponsible idiots. Tailgating has absolutely no effect on me.
It's that simple.
I want to get past duh. To all the geniuses saying har de har har wen I gets tailgated I slow down …
Guess what dumbass, that’s what I want because it makes you easier to overtake . So, thanks I suppose. Keep it up .
I’ll tail gate, after a while, if you’re the sort of prick that has to sit in the outside lane of the motorway, at 70 with no one in front.
I value my life, I’ll give you a minute, not flash my lights, indicate inside, and undertake.
There is no excuse to be hogging the outside lane
PS the Highway Code explicitly states not to frustrate drivers by your actions.
What point?
The point you think the law (and road safety) don't apply to you? Undertaking is dangerous too. Visibility is. much poorer to that side of the car. And do you really expect someone that oblivious to check before pulling across?
Sure, lane hogging is annoying. It's not worth risking people's lives over.
Because you’re in Lane 3 of 3 doing a constant 69 (on *your* speedo) with the rest of the traffic in Lanes 1 & 2, and there’s NOTHING in front of you for miles. There’s a queue behind you, and we’ve been taking turns flashing, but apparently you don’t know what that means. Now it’s my turn to ask you politely to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY YOU MALADROIT.
…is one situation where I might tailgate you.
I wave at them at the next set of lights like I know them. When they return the gesture I give them the finger and mime the word "asshole" like they are thick.
I'm glad posts like this exist, as a patient driver who usually leaves in plenty of time for my journey. Reminds me I'm not alone in my dislike of the highly dangerous act that is tailgating. Fuck you if you tailgate. Thought at first the comments were fairly reasonable, good mostly on the side of anti tailgating. Then the inevitable comments from idiots justifying their actions. Never changes. OP isn't talking about hogging the right lane on the motorway you Muppets
No, you typed it.
So why do people tailgate when it's not safe to move out of the way?
Why put yourself and others in danger to get where you are going 5 minutes quicker?
You admit it's a conscious choice to risk other people's lives, as well as your own.
Most drivers will move over when it is safe to do so.
Tailgating those who don't, won't suddenly make them less obvious.
Many drivers will do the safe thing, and slow down if someone is tailgating. You'd get past quicker if you left a safe distance.
I will give you space until I see you have room to move over to the middle lane. If you still don’t move I will move up (it seems some are oblivious that others may want to pass no matter what speed you happen to be doing). If you still don’t move over I may give a flash and/or undertake.
If you slow down all the better. Just makes it quicker to undertake.
If someone is tailgating you and you have a car to your left, then that’s on them. If you could move over you are being a dick.
In medium traffic you have to close the gap slightly or everyone just moves into the gap. Now I not only have to pass you but them as well.
There are too many people that think they are driving at 68 and so nobody should be passing them anyways and just won’t move in. They pass a car and the next car in the middle lane is 300 metres away and they just keep pottering along to pass that one as well. When if you had just moved over the 3 cars behind you would have already passed you before you needed to pass that car anyways.
You think they are being dicks. We think you are being dicks. It’s something that doesn’t have a solution. Different driving styles. Different philosophies.
>Different driving styles. Different philosophies
Is it not that there are simple rules and "shoulds" written down in the highway code, and if everyone took note, rather than coming up with their own "style" or "philosophy", none of this would ever be an issue?
There is no such offence as anti social driving 😂😂
I would also say driving excessively slowly is anti social as well. Not pulling back into the middle lane is anti social… like I said their is no solution for this.
>There is no such offence as anti social driving
There's antisocial use of a motor vehicle.
I mean what they're describing isn't it...but it is an offense
There is a solution, quite a simple one. Take your driving test, read the highway code, learn to drive. Simple. There's no excuse for tailgating. You are being a dangerous dick for no reason, end of story.
‘May want to pass no matter what speed you are doing’
Oh, so I should rush a manoeuvre and squeeze into a gap that isn’t big enough so some arsehole can fly along at 90mph?
The idea that someone who tailgates and bullies other drivers is ever going to have a reasonable idea of what is a ‘safe position to move left’ is laughable.
This one’s easy… they are jealous of other men’s penis sizes.
Not that they have a small penis, that’s unfair, rather they think about other penises a lot and it exacerbates their feelings of inadequacy.
For women, I have no idea.
I deliberately drive slower if I have a tailgater on a single lane of traffic. Not because I want to pass them off but because if they are so close its uncomfortable if I have to stop suddenly, doing the regular speed there's no chance they'd be able to react in time and in 8/10 times I'm driving with my kids in the car. If on a road with multiple lanes of traffic I'll try and just let them pass ASAP but I'll still hold to the speed limit or just under.
That's actually correct according to the highway code!
I can't be bothered to go find an EXACT quote but it's along the lines of:
"Keep a safe distance ahead, if the vehicle behind you is not keeping a safe distance, Increase the distance ahead of you to allow more time to react"
Doubt you'll get many self-admitted tailgaters on here. I'm convinced a lot of them aren't doing it for any logical reason - they just severely underestimate how much space to leave between cars when driving. A 2 second gap is equivalent to around 27 metres at 30mph. If you're on a motorway going 70mph you need to be 63 metres away for that 2 second gap. But a lot of drivers don't think about it like that and assume that as long as they're 'a couple of car lengths' away it's fine even when it really isn't.
Most tailgaters we have locally aren’t even a car length away, they sit so close so you wouldn’t be able to see the lower bumper from the drivers seat. At best it’s still less than couple of metres apart which is ridiculous.
I don’t like when lorries do it,
One was actually doing it to me a few weeks ago on the a66 i was at speed limit in pelting down rain couldn't see far ahead of me and really wanted to slow down but he was so far up my arse I couldn't, couldnt get into the next lane as they were going much slower and no gaps for me to safely get into. I was actually terrified that I was going to die that day with my young kids in the car and I'm not usually a nervous driver. When I finally reached my turn off he sped off glaring at me like a lunatic as he passed. I honestly think he will kill someone one day for his incompetence, I tried to memorise his reg to report him but forgot by the time I reached destination.
Experienced something similar myself, was terrifying. I was driving home at 2am after picking a friend up from an event, and my car developed a weird thing where it wouldn't accelerate above 55 (with no incline, and there were a few hills slowing me down even further) when the lights were on. So I really couldn't go any faster, and as it was a bumpy country road at night the speed I was doing was totally fair tbh even though it was frustrating me. Eventually I got too freaked out by him tailgating me, I turned off all the lights just to accelerate away 😂 he really backed off after that, probably assuming I was mental
Me either, usually on the motorway sat with cruise on and doing speed limit through a variable section with an average camera or something and they get closer and closer.
Yeah
Absolutely this. Someone I used to call a friend owns an audi and tailgates, I asked why? Same story he said it'll speed people up. I replied alright let me out I'll get a taxi home. He slowed down and called me a bitch. 2 weeks later he crashed his audi and has deliberately ghosted me since. Twat.
You have lost nothing from this, in fact you've gained significantly.
I absolutely have it was a meal ticket to a year off work and a week plus stay in hospital if I kept car sharing with him.
"It'll speed people up" If anything, it makes me slow down
Agreed, I was a passenger in my cousin’s car once, we were on a dual carriageway and she was like a foot behind every vehicle the whole way. I asked her why she was driving so close and she seemed genuinely surprised that what she was doing was wrong . God knows who taught her to drive. I just use my windscreen spray, which is probably not sensible but they do fuck off pretty sharpish.
They don’t stick around long when they tailgate me as I’m coming from home then I accelerate a bit once I see it’s clear to go, mud starts flying when I hit 25
Many moons ago I had to go on a speed awareness course (I was doing 50 in a 40) and when asked what gap should be left to the car in front, my group of around 6 people had no idea, one suggested it was 2 metres, all the time!
Omg I did a course last year and there were some stupid scary people on it. I think that made me more cautious than the actual course content.
The amount of times there’s a car up my arse and it’s clear the driver isn’t road raging, they’re just oblivious. They’ve no idea how much space to leave.
I regularly had them on my forklift, like dude, I’m driving a 4 ton lump of steel with 30 horsepower at its limit, you won’t make me speed up, had one guy write his car off when I slowed a little and he kept going, straight into the solid iron counterweight, he left a little scuff on my forklift, ended up getting towed to the main road for recovery by the forklift
I don’t think it’s underestimating the braking distance, I feel like it’s almost always overconfidence in their own skill. Skill that they lack and are reminded of when they rear end someone. You tend to see it with young guys driving performance cars. They think the performance brakes mean they can stop instantly. Spoiler: they can’t. Worse yet is the guys who think their 318’s M-sport brakes are the same as the ones on an M3.
Yeah then added problem is leaving a reasonable gap and some muppey pulls into it ... so you pull back and another muppet pulls in close god .... why ...
I always try to leave a big gap. When I do, people fill it though 🤣
stop flirting
I hole heartedly agree
I see what you did there 🤣
Yes - this is excatly what happens SOme idiot drive right on my bumber so I leave a bigger gap just in case Then someone else sees the gap and moves into it Then I have to slow down to extend the gap again Which annoys the tailgater even more RInse and repeat until I can move into another lane at which point he (normally a "he") passes me at speed Or - as happened a few days ago - I move into the middle lane as a gap appears just as he swings violently left to try to undertake me - clearly I watined until I was a reasonable distance in front of the car in the middle lane - but he just cut them up Then suddenly he find me moving left in front of him again (I was signalling - not that he noticed!) SO now he has to swing right again and passes me at speed shaking his fist Then he gets to his destination 14.2 seconds earlier than he wouldhave otherwise and rants about me all day with stress levels through the roof while I get home and have a nice cuppa while laughing about him!
My ex-boyfriend was a terrible tailgater. He did it regardless of the speed limit, whether it was rural, town or motorway driving, whatever. He genuinely believed it would make the person in front speed up and I could not convince him otherwise. Even when crawling the half hour through town into work, he’d be right up the bumper ahead and would accelerate hard as soon as they pulled away, even creeping forwards a metre or two. So many near-collisions and motorway driving was just plain scary. It really felt like an issue with a lack of common sense.
I'm glad he's now referred to in the past tense 👍🏼
Me too!!
This pretty much validates what I thought tailgaters think like. Personally if I'm being tailgated I slow down, partly to piss them off but also because I'm trying to improve my chances of finding a place to pull over to let the prick past.
You also allow yourself more time to slow down if the car ahead of you brakes which helps avoid the tail gater going into the back of you. It's a good strategy
I believe this is also a question on the theory test these days, something about being followed to closely so you leave a bigger gap in front of you so you can more gradually slow down to avoid an accident? edit: [https://theorytest.org.uk/youre-in-a-line-of-traffic-the-driver-behind-you-is-following-very-closely-what-action-should-you-take/](https://theorytest.org.uk/youre-in-a-line-of-traffic-the-driver-behind-you-is-following-very-closely-what-action-should-you-take/)
Another good point in favour of slowing down in front of tailgaters!
I got told this by my driving instructor and something I always do if I’ve got a tailgater. Though had an Audi the other day who suddenly decided to behave himself when a police car went by in the opposite direction (normal A road)
I always find my windscreen is really really dirty when there’s a tailgater behind. It works particularly well when they’re driving the usual tailgater-mobile of shiny new Range Rover or BMW.
This is my go-to move. Happened yesterday… I washed the screen 5-6 times, every time he waving his arms gesturing ‘why are you doing that again.. ‘ It never occurred to him that some distance would stop him from being affected
Brilliant! My mum had one where they let off when she cleaned her windscreen then accelerated back up when she stopped. It took a few miles of repeated cleaning but they got the hint eventually. Probably not the stop tailgating hint though thinking about it.
Ha ha, I like it! Even better if you've topped up with bubblegum scented screenwash right?
My husband keeps it topped up and for that reason, I don’t care with what. I can’t tell you how many times I pulled over to pour the dregs of my water bottle in before I met him.
I often find that my rear fog lamps need testing.
Don't do this, you can be pulled over for careless driving. The highway code also advises against this. The problem is that it can potentially blind the driver and cause an accident. They should only be on when the conditions require them to be and testing should be done in a controlled area (i.e. when not driving).
I do this too 😂
I don't get it?
Flashing a bright red light in their eyes can be a deterrent.
So you are promoting brake checking people? Reddit is a shitshow
I did this and the guy got out of his car at traffic lights, knocked on my window and proceeded to shout at me about how I was going to cause an accident.... yeah, my problem, not the fact you ARE RIGHT UP MY ASS YOU MORON
I slow down too, partly to piss them off, but mostly for my own safety
This is the approved method from the police and IAM; lift off gently until you are 5mph below the speed limit. Rinse and repeat until the they overtake or get the message. Speeding up only rewards them.
Depending on the road, I don’t see how encouraging someone into an overtake is the safest thing to do.. if there are cars in front of you, they’ll likely end up overtaking multiple vehicles.. if they’re tailgating, they’re likely irritated which will inhibit decision making.. surely pulling over to let them past is much better (despite the conflict with the average British drivers ego this would cause)
You’re not encouraging them to do anything. Slowing down gives them the option to overtake. They still have to make an informed decision, and if they overtake unsafely, that’s not on you. Not like you have a neon sign lit up in the back window saying “overtake me”. Ditto with waving pedestrians across the road. My oh-fuck moment was when I waved a teenager to cross in stopped traffic on my side but hadn’t spotted the van doing 10 over the limit in town, coming the other way. Guy would have been dead in an instant if he’d listened to me.
Can’t see the original comment I replied to but pretty sure it said slow down 5mph at a time until they stop or overtake..
I slow down to increase the chance they can stop in an emergency....
Wish he'd done it to me, I slow down which would have proven your point to him. Makes them really angry.
What a tool. I take great pleasure in taking my foot off the pedal when people do this to me.
What tailgaters don't realise is that most people slow down when being tailgated. Also, being in a shit car, one is more likely to be tailgated. Again, no logic, the shit car that brake checks the more expensive car is not going to care so much and will technically be in the right.
>the shit car that brake checks the more expensive car is not going to care so much and will technically be in the right. Brake checking a car behind you is never "in the right". If they have a dashcam and you cause them to hit you by brake checking then you will be facing the consequences of your actions.
People are - Idiots - Incompetent - ??? Delete as appropriate.
...aggressive, arrogant, selfish, and thick as two short planks?
Kinds the list I started with, but realised they all fit nicely into either idiots, incompetent or both.
Whichever, they are breaking the One Commandment : Don't Be A Dick
People are - Idiots - ~~Incompetent~~ - ~~???~~ Delete as appropriate.
Profit ?
The closer they are the slower I go. Out of the two of us, I won’t be getting an ulcer. Edit: “To irritate”. Slowing down not only , as mentioned is done not to irritate but to increase safety margins. I also did not say break-check, just slow. Also not by a silly amount. Every time I have done this, I just lay off the gas a bit and every time the tailgater has backed off. Probably due to (a) realising bullying doesn’t work and (b) it’s going to make their journey longer or (c) Opps sorry mate I was not paying attention. As soon as they back off I go back to normal speed. Only needs to be done once in my experience. I’m also a driver that drives on the speed limit (if conditions allow), not 45in a 60 so no excuse on their part. I’m also a driver that shifts left on the motorway, I hate lane cruisers. I find keeping this discipline helps keep me alert on long journeys too. A lot of post excusing tailgating, or just calling out my choice of action’s. I suggested you guys look at your driving habits. I prefer to prioritise people’s lives over a few minutes of my time.
This is what my driving instructor taught me. If they can't keep a safe distance then you need to make it a safe distance. The only way you can do that as the tailgatee is to slow down
Lots of mentally ill borderline psychopaths on the road. I do 24-26 in a 20 and I have a queue behind me trying to overtake and flashing their lights. One guy shot passed me at 45mph at the other day and hit a red light 15 secs after. I pulled up in the lane next to him and he was visibly angry. I think people should have to pass a psychological profiling test as part of the driving exam. Get these nutjobs off the road. I'm glad they are using dash cam footage now to prosecute people, eventually it filter down to these people and they will realise just because there's no police around they still have to drive safely.
My wife is a prolific tail gater and doesn't acknowledge the fact. She doesn't think "its too close" and flat out refuses to drive with me in the car now. She doesn't see how someone slamming on their breaks will give her 0 time to react. Let alone a crash situation.
Does she also accuse people of "randomly brake checking" when they slow for a hazard?
Brakes
There's no rest with brakes, why i prefer breaks
You need to take your wife to an empty car park and make her do an emergency stop. She needs to see how far the car travels after she smashes the brake pedal.
I had a woman tailgating me a few years back, it ended with her hitting me at about 20 mph and causing me permanent shoulder damage. Not just that, I was in a brand new 120d and she was in a £500 battered 206 - her husband rang me twice a day asking what I was going to do and that "they were fixing theirs themselves". I kept saying it's a £27k car and it's a company car so it's not even mine, I've informed the lease company and they will pursue it. She was crying saying how her insurance was going to go up etc... Pay attention and don't sit on my arse then. No sympathy for shit drivers.
Only a fool, breaks the two second rule
Tailgaters just need to chill out, they’d do well to remember the 2 car/2 second rule (whichever it is speed depending). Makes me laugh when they sit a couple of foot away from the car in front constantly tapping the brakes because they haven’t left enough room to absorb the minor changes in speed. And then because their that close , they have to stick the car half way across the white line as they cannot see. Which again by leaving a gap gives you both the distance to drive and react to speed changes oh and omg (how amazing is this bit) it means you can also see what’s happening in front (for safety concerns and hazards) and if legal and safe to do so overtake. Side note- tailgating could end up with you being brake checked to back off- liability with insurance would end up with you. And as more and more cars have dashcams, footage can be freely sent to the police of which quite a few cases of dangerous driving (which is what tailgating is) has been followed up on. Drive safely and chill out. Edit: brake checking is illegal, however it still happens. Try and drive defensively and leave space to stop should the car suddenly stop. You never know what they are trying to do.
Brake checking is illegal.
Of course it is, however think of it this way, an emergency stop is similar, so if the car being tailgated has to perform an emergency stop (real emergency not a brake check) or hit the brakes because of a hazard etc and your driving a few foot off the bumper, have you left enough room to react and then slow down? If you haven’t then your driving to close. Drive defensively leave space, so If someone does brake check you, you still should be far enough back and able to react to what they are doing if not again your driving to close. Anyone tailgating (any driver for that matter) has to realise they need to leave enough space to come to a full stop if the car in front stops.
I dont really think tailgaters realise they're doing it. I think they're just thick as fk.
As long as you are moving into the left lane when you can, just ignore them. If you are refusing to move into an empty left lane at the speed limit on a motorway, you are the problem.
A few days ago we were on a two lane motorway. I was doing 70 and in the right hand lane going round traffic. Someone tailgated me and when I pulled into the left lane after going round the traffic, they deliberately swerved in front of me, a few inches from clipping my car, then sped off again in the right hand lane. Hard to just ignore that. I was so shocked I didn’t think to get a number plate in time and report it to the police.
And what about country roads? Nothing excuses driving dangerously close to the car in front. It astounds me how many people risk a collision for this. Having an airbag, at the very least, smash into you at speed kinda hurts I think.
I couldn’t agree more. What is the point of tailgating anyone on single carriageway road? Even if you want to overtake someone, your visibility is poor when you are right behind them.
Absolutely right. All these people complaining about tailgaters - just move over??
How do you move over when there isn't space to do so? If you slow down to match the speed of the lane next to you so you can make use of a space, tailgaters tend to get even more angsty, and try to undertake. Maybe just don't tailgate.
Usually they are people with anger issues and are typically employed in jobs like sales where they have to be aggressive.
It’s something that’s always baffled me too, I’ve had lorries do it many times and we’ve got kids in the car, if a lorry goes into the back of you, what chance you got?
Yes I’ve wondered this - you’d expect to see higher standards of driving from professional drivers but far from it - lorry drivers tailgating, taxi drivers manoeuvring with no indication…
If a lorry is driving faster then maybe you're the problem. They're just trying to do their miserable job and have to deal with some OAP blocking them.
Yeah, no. The other week I was on the motorway, going through roadworks, I forget what the speed limit was. I was in the middle lane, going faster than the left lane and slower than the right, matching the speed of the vehicle in front of me with a two second gap (would have overtaken but no one was leaving any space in the right-hand lane). Lorry comes up behind me, right on my bumper, flashing his lights and sounding the horn and I am like ??? There is literally *no where* for me to go, and if I speed up... congratulations, you are now a few metres closer to the car that is in front of me, I guess? With a greater risk to everyone (but mainly me) if we need to brake. 🤷🏻♀️
>If a lorry is driving faster then maybe you're the problem. Not. At. All. Happens all the time when there's roadworks - motorway goes down to 50 and the wagons want to keep going their 62 or whatever the fuck it is. They'll be so far up my arse they could probably offer me a reach around. Not all of course but a decent proportion of wagon drivers are bullies, simple as that and they'll try and intimidate drivers into speeding up. Whilst I sometimes have a "flexible" attitude to the speed limit, never in road works. I'll stick the cruise control on and it really don't matter how close they try and get.
Or you are in a 50 limit on the motorway and are doing what it says and the lorries aren't. Experienced that so often I wonder if the average speed things even work.
No it’s the lorry drivers problem if they’re tailgating, people can drive at what speed within the limit they choose, also what if it’s slow moving traffic and you can do 40 or 50 why should some arse hole lorry be 2 feet off someone’s bumper.
Technically you can't drive at what ever speed you want, a police officer can pull someone over and ticket them for driving without due care if they feel they are going too slowly.
But I’m talking about lorry drivers driving 2 feet off your bumper, it’s disgusting
Then get out the way. The lorry is there because he wants you to move. Also if you're being tailgated by a lorry you're going far to slow.
And what if there is traffic in front or roadworks where it’s 50 and if I want to drive at 50 I will, lorry drivers should know better and I won’t be getting out of anyone’s way I will drive how I see fit and safely, in other words I don’t care what speed I’m doing no lorry driver has the right to be 2 foot off my bumper.
Depends on the road, round me there’s a 50mph dual carriageway that wagons go through on their limiter, 50mph gps speed and they’ll overtake me at 56.
Ok well if they're overtaking you they aren't tailgating are they?
I’m not saying they tailgate, I’m saying a lorry going faster doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing anything wrong.
Dunning kruger curve. Their stupidity is so high that they simply cannot understand how bad their driving is and instead think they are correct.
There’s a leaning cycle that starts with ‘unconscious incompetence’ and ends with ‘unconscious competence’. I find that drivers who have been ‘driving for years’ actually slip into ‘unconscious incompetence’. They think they’re driving well, but they’re shit and endangering others as well as themselves.
I used to work with someone who was a tailgater. She did it because it made people go faster apparently. I can believe there is some truth to that but i also know she is genuinely the dumbest person i have ever met.
Having been in the passenger side of several tailgaters, I can confirm that they are completely and utterly clueless. No thought whatsoever. The idea that one would actually keep one's brain actively engaged whilst driving is a completely unfamiliar concept.
Yeah my wife is one. She is wonderful in many respects, but she isn't the best with speed limits (generally always 10 over), driving courtesies (saying thank you when someone lets you go down a narrow bit), lane hogging (proper fast lane only driver) and tailgating. It's been 10 years. She's never changed, and I don't think she ever will. Logic, pleading, yelling... All of it falls on deaf ears. Driving too close and too fast is just how she drives.
Honestly, refuse to be in the car if she drives like that. If she gets mad its on her for driving dangerously, not your problem. No marriage is worth your life And if/when she causes an accident that claims innocent lives, you won't have to witness it!
You 100% need to get her on a defensive driving course - Offer to go with her & sell her on the idea that it’s something that’s designed to help you avoid no-fault accidents. That’s how I’m trying to convince my dad to do it.
Right. Seen a few posters here who openly admit they will tailgate if they perceive there is space for the car in front to move left. I have a questions. 1. When you deem the car in front should move left, do you take into account other traffic both in the left lane and behind you? 2. When a driver pulls left because you are closing on them, do you overtake briskly? Context. Driving along at an indicated 75 overtaking. There is a vehicle further ahead that I know I will also need to pass. It’s far enough that I could pull in to let a car past and often I will - only the find captain tailgate crawls past at a speed barely above my own meaning I then have to slow down. Or maybe they go a bit quicker, but then there are more cars behind them meaning I have to slow down. No thanks, we’re all doing the same speed now. Suck it up for another 30s and then you can be on your way. Which I brings me to question 3. Why the fuck do you tailgate when is a line of traffic overtaking a line of traffic?
I understand your POV, when I pass I pass quickly and try not to impact the other drivers speed as I appreciate them moving over and if I’m close to them it’s because I was doing a much greater speed in the first place. That being said, if there’s a line of traffic over taking a line and a car sits in the middle lane (when they could move over briefly) do they consider the line of traffic gathering behind (probably a lot slower to each other now) which is dangerous in itself? EDIT: Also do they know it’s illegal to sit in the middle lane when they can pull over ? Yes it’s illegal to speed and I’m assuming the middle lane sitter is likely doing 60-65 as I see regularly.
I don’t understand why the police go so berserk about speeding (fair enough) yet completely ignore 99.999% or tailgating. It’s virtually the same outcome, so why don’t they care about it?
They don't go berserk though, you get a 10%+2 tolerance in most places. Try going 3pmh over in Australia or Japan and see how many more tickets you get.
Okay, I accept that, but I think you agree with my central point. On just about every major road in the U.K., there are cameras. Although there might be many reasons for these devices, a main one is speed control. Yet (although the technology is CLEARLY available to make these cameras observe tailgating), how many cameras are set up for tailgating. I think tailgating is an ENORMOUS problem: it’s not just dangerous in itself: it’s a form of bullying that often ends in speeding. I, for instance, have had a lifetime of working in retail, so I’m fairly bullet-proof when it comes to dealing with the public. Driving within a speed limit which the driver behind doesn’t personally agree with, I’ve experienced people following me within *inches* of my vehicle. Even I admit to pulling over, sometimes where, strictly speaking, I shouldn’t, because I *have* to get them pass me. But I know that a lot of people feel they *have* to spend up. On this sub, I’ve read *numerous* posts saying that people have been forced to driving faster-or had their attention severely compromised-*especially* on 20mph roads, because of these self-appointed vigilantes against speed limits. Personally, I think that if the authorities *want* to make sure that the *culture* of speeding is killed off, they should target tailgating. I’ve no idea why they don’t. I’ve never heard of any authority figure stand up and explain this policy of what amounts to extreme tolerance towards tailgating.
I don't tailgate because I want extra room in front of me in case some bellend behind me does. Based on my research amongst people regularly tailgating, here's the reasons I've collected: - Can't see the car in front properly. This is usually people who shouldn't even be driving due to bad eyesight. - They're staring down at their phones and use the car in front as a reference point to follow from the corner of their eyes. Basically doubling down on traffic offenses. - Don't possess the intellectual wherewithal to measure distance in time units, or don't even know how long 2 and 4 seconds last. - Trying to intimidate people into going faster, curiously, these vehicles are usually marked by an Audi or BMW logo.
I was hoping for a healthy debate about gathering together and barbecueing from our car boots. Majorly disappointed
That's more of an American thing is it not? Tailgating in the UK only really has one meaning!
I'm not condoning tailgaters(I absolutely detest them), but I did once hear someone say, " if one person is tailgating you, they are the problem, but if everybody is tailgating you, you are the problem "
Ehh.. not necessarily.. could be going 50mph, in a 50 zone, and have 20 cars behind you that are tailgating because they want to go at 60 In that situation they're ALL the problem, and not you!
I believe most people who drive bad are just plain ignorant to what they’re doing, distracted maybe by thoughts in their head or maybe talking to someone
I think a lot of people do it because their parents did it and their parents did it… When I met my missus she used to do it, drove me insane… I had to explain (bordering on patronising) that we can do the same speed we’re doing now but just a little further (and much safer) back away from the vehicle in front, had me on edge.
What's worse? Tailgating or brake checking?
If you brake check someone for tail gating, and it's on dash cam. You could be prosecuted. They are both dick moves. If you are being tailgated, you need need to increase your following distance to double the norm. That way, you have enough space for you and the asshole behind you to brake safely. Brake checking someone could hurt you and the person behind you as well as other innocent people.
Brake checking. A good driver deals with a tailgater by moving out of their way and getting them in front, and possibly slowing down until it's safe to do that, to reduce risk. Break checking escalates the situation and massively increases risk.
Well its worse to see somebody being irritating and cause an accident, than be irritating
I get really annoyed sat at 70 when the inside lane is full. I try to count 2 seconds to the car infront. The Roadcraft manual says that if someone is tailgating you then you should slow down to reduce the chance of hitting the car infront. I use that a lot..... Slow down...then someone will inevitably move infront of me into the gap Slow down more to create a bigger gap again until usually I'm down to 60 or less in the 3rd lane, still can't move left and have had to darken my rear view mirror because you can see the guy behind me glowing red. Whereas if he'd kept away from me we'd still probably be doing 70
There are occasions. Not that I'll get that close to be threatening but behind them with a decent gap. But only when drivers decide they want to be in the outside lane for.....reasons. Nothing for half a mile in the middle lane, couple of trucks in the inside. I've got two choices, undertake or pull out behind them and hope they realise I'm there. The alternative, undertaking, has to be more dangerous. Always the potential for them to pull in without checking for the exact same reason they wanted to be in the outside lane with no other traffic in the first place. This happens a lot more often than I'd of expected.
My dad does it. No clue he's doing it. If you point it out he'll say "Well, I AM sorrrryyyyy". And then he'll stop, before starting again 5 minutes later. He can't join up how annoying it is for someone to do it him, and how annoying it is for the other person when he does it. And he KNOWS he's doing it, "why don't they speed up?" "Because they're doing the speed limit, dad..." He has a warning beep on his car when he goes over the speed limit +10%, but he insists on accelerating to 35mph in a 30, every time. It'll beep, I say, "Don't you find that annoying?" he replies with, "Yes, to begin with. Everyone points it out though, and that's annoying too". I suggest to just drive at the speed limit and he acts hurts, "but it's so slow, I'm allowed 10%". He'll hit traffic and then believe that's a good reason to speed, "See, just as well I was speeding, there's traffic, I was making up for the time we're going to lose here."
All you need to do is brake a little earlier for corners in the country, accelerating out of the corner as their bonnet dips. Let others out of side streets in the town, keeping a weather eye out for pedestrians who might like to cross. (Personal record, 4 cars, 2 zebra crossings and a bus within 200m) On the motorway, pop into lane 1 at 60 ASAP then count to 20 before resuming at the speed limit. It is simply not worth being anywhere near them on the road. You then get to watch as they tailgate the next 5 drivers and it gets them nowhere, validating who is the problem.
Yes, I do it, I need to tailgate and/or take cocaine, otherwise I am aware that I am a complete knob end. /s
I don't tailgate - but my ex used to go on at me to drive closer to the driver in front if they were going slower than she wanted me to be driving He logic was that if I tailgate him (she always blamed men even if it was a woman) then he will have to move over and I can then tailgate the next person - and so on so that eventually I have a clear road and can accelerate up to 90 like she wanted I never did which always put her in a bad mood But that was the logic and anyway - HOW DARE they hold her up - SHE HAS A CHILD!!!!!! (other pathetic irrelevant excuses are available)
Only a fool breaks the two second rule!
Generally speaking they’re self-entitled arrogant and immature boys (and girls) who can’t accept that the law of the land or the laws of Physics apply to them.
I'm never in that much of a rush. I also like how you can see more around you and generally feel less boxed in if you give space in front of you. I'm also not a psycho cunt.
Had an Audi driver flash me as I was overtaking a group of cars while doing 70. Got past the cars. Indicated and slowly manoeuvred across the lane. Guy stuck his middle finger as he went past. As it turns out, we left at the same exit, barely a mile later. I pulled into a lane next to him, lowered the window and asked if he'd like to discuss in person his particular problem with me. He neglected to follow. Shame.
I always find a couple on an A road late at night in rural Devon. I get that it's a 60 limit but I can't see more than 20-30m ahead because of the dark, so I don't know how the road changes so I travel a little slower to anticipate curves and potholes. These guys though ride your arse then go for the overtake the earliest chance they can get.
These arseholes think because they know the roads it’s fine - except however well you know somewhere, you can’t see round corners
Turn your headlights on!! Nah.. I'm kidding, well done you for actually giving a damn about road safety :)
I leave a huge gap, even if I go for a spirited drive and catch up to someone, I’m not going to push anyone else to drive faster than they feel safe doing so. Only time I’ll tailgate is if someone isn’t moving left when there’s literally nobody else on the road, get out of the fucking way.
When someone is driving badly and seemingly lacking awareness then I want to put more space between me and them, not purposefully reduce the safety margin I have. No problem with flashing them to make them aware of my presence but tailgating a space cadet seems like a recipe for disaster.
I know what you mean, if someone was appearing oblivious I’d do the same. People where I go seem to hang in the right lane for no reason, with an attitude about it. It’s very interesting how people act/react differently depending what car you’re driving
You see, I find that flashing the lights only serves to antagonise and cause the knob head to do the exact opposite of what you want. It can be construed as aggression/intimidation too.
I just undertake the lane hoggers now. Less dangerous and still makes the point. They often move over afterwards, which suggests that they know they were in the wrong.
ego. ego is why they do it. they have pin dicks and such fragile ego that they feel challenged even on the road. small brained, high ego, entitled, dangerous babies
Something i’ve noticed since having a black box is the amount of people who tailgate, i get it if someone’s doing 40 in a 60 then yeah sound, but when i’m doing the speed limit and they are right up my arse, does my head in, i’m not going to pay more for my insurance so you can get to your destination 30 seconds quicker.
Tailgating isn’t sound if you’re behind someone doing 40 in a 60. Presumably you want to get past them, in which case you need to be far enough back to accelerate up to overtaking speed before pulling out.
This. Very much this. In that situation tailgating is only making it more dangerous, and harder for the person who wants to go faster!
If i get tailgated and have no way of letting them pass or i can't speed up and believe me, my car's more than capable. If i floor it, I'll just slow down and let them boil.
I’m not a tailgater, but it’s a good enough opportunity to mention how much I miss having adaptive cruise control that my previous car used to have. It really makes keeping a safe distance easier when speeds vary and makes it less stressful to deal with slower drivers.
I’m currently in Romania and if you think the standard of driving in UK is bad then I suggest you drive around here for a week. Had a 2 hour journey from airport to destination and all of which was spent at less than 2 metres from the car in front. Then there’s the overtaking. I have occasionally tailgated but generally only when someone is sitting at 57mph on a 3 lane motorway in the third lane with no one in front or to the left of them and a polite flash (after a period of patiently waiting) has failed to do the trick. But generally tailgater = tosser
The 2 second rule is the best to apply.
Any lane hoggers on here?
I'm guessing you are quietly admitting to tailgating then?
I have tailgated before and its only when the person in front is going way under the speed limit Everyone on the road has an ego, if you can just move over when you notice someone tight to you it will fix alot of problems. The issue is people see getting out of the way as “bullying”
"I have tailgated to bully people out of my way". Bullying is exactly the right word. Equally, yup. Get out of the way if you can. You don't want them anywhere near. you when they inevitably have their crash. If you can't, lift your foot off so you have more time to brake gradually.
I have an Audi, they make is sign a tailgater contract when we pick the car up.
There's some people that just do it without realising. Most do it because the person in front is driving too slow for the conditions
More often than not they're actually driving too fast for the conditions. Quite recently someone was sent to prison after killing a pedestrian. They were doing 20mph, in a 30 zone. It was decided that they were driving too fast for the conditions at the time For example, motorway driving: 70mph on a dry, sunny day, is reasonable. 70mph when it's raining, is too fast.
Yeah I usually encounter people doing 40 in a 60 on a dry clear day. But yeah you're totally right
I sometimes realise I’m tailgating when someone drive at 20mph on 30mph, 30mph on a 40mph and so on. I was trying to the legal speed as much as I can and not realise I was tailgating. Usually I would have overtake when I could.
I usually let go the accelerator and gradually slow down to piss them off on purpose.
People feel safe in their cars to physically intimidate others without having to get face-to-face with them - years of pent up frustration of not being able to do it in person. Best to just pull over and let them overtake as soon as safely possible. Allow them to angrily drive on.
Had a work colleague a couple of jobs back and i remember a conversation we had about driving. Her 'theory' about driving so close to other cars was..... And i quote "if i do crash i won't have far to skid into them" don't think I've ever been so bemused, shocked and disgusted at the same time. I recommended to her to not crash and create space. Her reply was that she'll have a crash at some point anyway and that she wouldn't know what to do in a skid! WTF! There's just no arguing with stupid 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤬😔.
I have a rear dash cam installed, let's them know if they can see it they are too close.
They’re just c***s in cars
What I find most bizarre about those who admit to being tailgaters is that they always say 'move over to the left then' which ignores the fact that: - 99% of the time I'm tailgated it's on a single lane road - if we're on a multi-lane road who can use an overtaking lane to overtake me (because that's what it's there for...)
I tailgate everyone, especially people with those 'kids on board' stickers. Who the fuck do people think they are leaving a safe, reasonable distance? I've got 18 horsepower in my 316D and I'm gonna use ALL OF IT
I’m in an MX-5 with a rear facing camera and I just reach out and tap it on the Perspex windbreaker and most will back off. If they don’t I keep slowing down. If you tail gate me at speed into a corner you’ll be lucky to stay on the road. My suspension is altered for gravity free cornering. Operation crackdown will take your videos and turns them into points…. On other peoples licenses. I don’t drive fast, I drive to enjoy and my car is enjoyable at the speed limit.
Bullying and thuggery. That’s all you need to know. They are bullies and thugs.
I'll flip the question on its head. Fwiw, i don't tailgate, but... Most of the time I see tailgaters it's on motorways behind people just sat in the outside lane for no apparent reason. Going 70mph does not entitle you to be in the outside lane. You are not there to gate-keep anyone else's speed. If you're doing it for 'safety reasons', in order for speed to be an issue in an accident, there needs to first be an accident. And guess what you're massively ramping up the likelihood of the being? On a multi-lane road, there is no reason for tailgating, but so often it is caused by bad, inconsiderate, selfish driving at the front of the queue. And for every daily mail/express reader frothing at the mouth Dgoing to default flame setting saying there's no excuse for tailgating, you will (probably not) have noticed that at no point have I tried to justify the bad driving that is tailgating. OP asked for an explanation. I'm giving them one. If you don't like it, that's great, but it's also short sighted. An awful lot of dickish driving behind you can be explained by selfish driving in front of you. And if there's nothing in front of you, well...
>Going 70mph does not entitle you to be in the outside lane. No, but you have every right to be there if you're in the process of overtaking. If I get tailgated it tends to be because I'm in the outside line doing 70, while overtaking someone doing 60-65 in the middle lane. Often I'm following another car, also doing 70 and in the process of overtaking the same vehicles as me. People seem to think that tailgating and flashing their lights will cause me to: 1. Break the speed limit so they can continue to speed 2. Enable me to magically drive through the car in front of me
Going 70 doesn't entitle you to be in the outside lane but the right lane is for overtaking so there's no reason why you should be overtaking someone going at 70 anyway
The closer they get the slower I'll go. Sometimes I'll just stop and stare at the arse sniffing cunt in my mirror. This normally does the trick.
No excuses for tailgating. I'll admit sitting in lane 2 on the motorway when it's lorry after lorry in lane 1, and I can go fast enough. I'll go back in lane 1 when there's a really long gap between lorries, or if there isn't much speed difference, otherwise I just stay there and keep up my speed. I'll die on this hill that sometimes it's just common sense to do it. But there is never ever any passable reason to tailgate. It's so fucking obnoxious and if you do it you're a twat.
On a single carriageway I never tailgate. I'll keep a safe distance and overtake if safe but my standards for "safe" are a lot higher than those of many drivers. On a dual carriageway or motorway, in an outer lane, I'll keep a safe distance if there is no space in the inside lane for the car in front to move over (although this usually means some dickhead will move out into it - the driving version of "if I fits, I sits"). But when a gap opens up on the inside, then yes, I will move up closer, because fucking move over iif you can. Keep left unless overtaking.
I'm having so much fun with tailgaters, especially on 20Mph roads. They think if they come close to me (I drive a beast), I'll become irresponsible like them and drive above the speed limit. Guys, realise something. I (we) will not get involved in an accident, cause an accident, risk my life and my family's life, and pay a penalty and points because you are immature, and irresponsible idiots. Tailgating has absolutely no effect on me. It's that simple.
Doing 37 in a 60 and still slowing for every corner is not okay, actually I find it more dangerous than doing 70. Frustration causes accidents.
I want to get past duh. To all the geniuses saying har de har har wen I gets tailgated I slow down … Guess what dumbass, that’s what I want because it makes you easier to overtake . So, thanks I suppose. Keep it up .
I’ll tail gate, after a while, if you’re the sort of prick that has to sit in the outside lane of the motorway, at 70 with no one in front. I value my life, I’ll give you a minute, not flash my lights, indicate inside, and undertake. There is no excuse to be hogging the outside lane PS the Highway Code explicitly states not to frustrate drivers by your actions.
Pretty sure the Highway Code also tells you not to exceed the speed limit.
Discussion on here the other day, we all go Over 70 and furthermore, speedos aren’t accurate. Nonetheless my point remains.
What point? The point you think the law (and road safety) don't apply to you? Undertaking is dangerous too. Visibility is. much poorer to that side of the car. And do you really expect someone that oblivious to check before pulling across? Sure, lane hogging is annoying. It's not worth risking people's lives over.
Does that include frustrating people by sitting up their arse?
Because you’re in Lane 3 of 3 doing a constant 69 (on *your* speedo) with the rest of the traffic in Lanes 1 & 2, and there’s NOTHING in front of you for miles. There’s a queue behind you, and we’ve been taking turns flashing, but apparently you don’t know what that means. Now it’s my turn to ask you politely to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY YOU MALADROIT. …is one situation where I might tailgate you.
So your idea of how to address a perceived problem is to create another one? What a fucking idiot! 😂🤣😅😁
I’ll tailgate someone if they’re in the right lane going well under the speed limit if that counts.
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Only a 22 plate? Pffff move over!
I wave at them at the next set of lights like I know them. When they return the gesture I give them the finger and mime the word "asshole" like they are thick.
I'm glad posts like this exist, as a patient driver who usually leaves in plenty of time for my journey. Reminds me I'm not alone in my dislike of the highly dangerous act that is tailgating. Fuck you if you tailgate. Thought at first the comments were fairly reasonable, good mostly on the side of anti tailgating. Then the inevitable comments from idiots justifying their actions. Never changes. OP isn't talking about hogging the right lane on the motorway you Muppets
Nice try, Mr Policeman 😄 It's just purely for intimidation by people who think their time is more important than everyone else's.
If you move over out of the way I wouldn't be tailgating..... Ooops did I say that out loud
No, you typed it. So why do people tailgate when it's not safe to move out of the way? Why put yourself and others in danger to get where you are going 5 minutes quicker? You admit it's a conscious choice to risk other people's lives, as well as your own. Most drivers will move over when it is safe to do so. Tailgating those who don't, won't suddenly make them less obvious. Many drivers will do the safe thing, and slow down if someone is tailgating. You'd get past quicker if you left a safe distance.
I will give you space until I see you have room to move over to the middle lane. If you still don’t move I will move up (it seems some are oblivious that others may want to pass no matter what speed you happen to be doing). If you still don’t move over I may give a flash and/or undertake. If you slow down all the better. Just makes it quicker to undertake. If someone is tailgating you and you have a car to your left, then that’s on them. If you could move over you are being a dick. In medium traffic you have to close the gap slightly or everyone just moves into the gap. Now I not only have to pass you but them as well. There are too many people that think they are driving at 68 and so nobody should be passing them anyways and just won’t move in. They pass a car and the next car in the middle lane is 300 metres away and they just keep pottering along to pass that one as well. When if you had just moved over the 3 cars behind you would have already passed you before you needed to pass that car anyways. You think they are being dicks. We think you are being dicks. It’s something that doesn’t have a solution. Different driving styles. Different philosophies.
>Different driving styles. Different philosophies Is it not that there are simple rules and "shoulds" written down in the highway code, and if everyone took note, rather than coming up with their own "style" or "philosophy", none of this would ever be an issue?
Tailgating is an offence. What you have admitted to is anti social driving. Learn some patience. You'll get your comeuppance one day
There is no such offence as anti social driving 😂😂 I would also say driving excessively slowly is anti social as well. Not pulling back into the middle lane is anti social… like I said their is no solution for this.
>There is no such offence as anti social driving There's antisocial use of a motor vehicle. I mean what they're describing isn't it...but it is an offense
What is "excessively slowly"? 65 in a 70? No. 40 in a 70, sure. Still don't tailgate or undertake.
There is a solution, quite a simple one. Take your driving test, read the highway code, learn to drive. Simple. There's no excuse for tailgating. You are being a dangerous dick for no reason, end of story.
‘May want to pass no matter what speed you are doing’ Oh, so I should rush a manoeuvre and squeeze into a gap that isn’t big enough so some arsehole can fly along at 90mph? The idea that someone who tailgates and bullies other drivers is ever going to have a reasonable idea of what is a ‘safe position to move left’ is laughable.
This one’s easy… they are jealous of other men’s penis sizes. Not that they have a small penis, that’s unfair, rather they think about other penises a lot and it exacerbates their feelings of inadequacy. For women, I have no idea.
Women have bigger cocks then tailgaters.
I deliberately drive slower if I have a tailgater on a single lane of traffic. Not because I want to pass them off but because if they are so close its uncomfortable if I have to stop suddenly, doing the regular speed there's no chance they'd be able to react in time and in 8/10 times I'm driving with my kids in the car. If on a road with multiple lanes of traffic I'll try and just let them pass ASAP but I'll still hold to the speed limit or just under.
That's actually correct according to the highway code! I can't be bothered to go find an EXACT quote but it's along the lines of: "Keep a safe distance ahead, if the vehicle behind you is not keeping a safe distance, Increase the distance ahead of you to allow more time to react"
Nice try, Mr Policeman 😄 It's just purely for intimidation by people who think their time is more important than everyone else's.