Tailgaters

Fey!

Coming back to Galway from Dublin on Tuesday night in the rain. I was travelling at spot on the 100kph mark (good visibility despite the rain, nothing in front of me, 1am) in cruise when some guy decided to drive so close to me that I couldn't see his headlights. I pulled left several times to let him pass me, but he wouldn't.

A fox ran out in front of me. I would have been able to brake safely and avoid it if it hadn't been for the guy being so close behind me. Instead, I had to keep going and hit it.

Now my car is off the road with a broken fan shroud, broken radiator mount, broken fan mount, and a damaged track rod. Everything between my foglights is destroyed. The fan shroud was pushed back into the pulleys for the fan belt, but I don't think that the pulleys are damaged (at least I hope they aren't). Oddly enough, the splitter and the bumper came out unscathed, and the bumper mounts appear, until closer examination, to be OK. The splitter seems to have taken most of the impact, possibly saving me from worse damage. Also, the radiator doesn't seem to be leaking, even though my coolant level dropped a little bit.

Had the AA out to it, and the radiator and fan are now being held in place with bungee cords.

So now I'm driving the work van (at least they let me borrow it to keep me on the road, so I'm not too badly off) and waiting for the garage estimate.

Moral of the story - please don't tailgate. The only reason the guy behind me wasn't in an accident was because I was aware of my surroundings. He might not be so lucky next time.

tabatha

could u not get his number plate at any time? if you did then i would report him for dangerous driving.

Fey!

Unfortunately I didn't - it took me 1/2 a mile to find a safe spot to pull in and check the damage, and he shot straight past me. I think it was a blue '95ish Laguna, and it happened between Kilreekil and Loughrea.

Doolittle51

Fair play to you for not jamming on the brakes. I think it would be most peoples' natural reaction to do so. In that case, it would've been totally his fault if he hit you.

However now YOU have to pay for the repairs caused by the fox. I guess you did the responsible thing though.

fletch

I know you shouldn't swerve to avoid animals....but is braking included?

Töpher

So, had you jammed on the brakes the car'd still be damaged, and he'd be in the wrong and held accountable for not keeping a safe distance and running into the back of you?

fletch

Einst&#252 wrote: »

So, had you jammed on the brakes the car'd still be damaged, and he'd be in the wrong and held accountable for not keeping a safe distance and running into the back of you?

That was my thoughts exactly!

Fey!

I wouldn't have had to jam on the brakes for him to hit me - wet roads and how close he was to me would have been enough to ensure an impact.

But if I had jammed on and he had gone into the back of me, there would have been the risk of one or both of us ending up in hospital.

Would a couple of hundred euros in repairs have been worth that?

fletch

Fey! wrote:

I wouldn't have had to jam on the brakes for him to hit me - wet roads and how close he was to me would have been enough to ensure an impact.

But if I had jammed on and he had gone into the back of me, there would have been the risk of one or both of us ending up in hospital.

Would a couple of hundred euros in repairs have been worth that?

Suppose when you put it like that....but it might have thought the tailgater a lesson or two

cornbb

I've been sooo tempted to slam on the brakes when being tailgated, I know thats madness but thats how mad those guys make me. The desire to teach em a lesson almost outweighs the stupidity of risking hospitalisation. Its incredibly irresponsible to tailgate. I've found that switching on my hazard lights sometimes gets rid of em, in case that helps anyone out.

copacetic

cornbb wrote:

I've been sooo tempted to slam on the brakes when being tailgated, I know thats madness but thats how mad those guys make me. The desire to teach em a lesson almost outweighs the stupidity of risking hospitalisation. Its incredibly irresponsible to tailgate. I've found that switching on my hazard lights sometimes gets rid of em, in case that helps anyone out.

or switching on your rear fog lights, but that can be dangerous at night..

Signpost

A fox is a big animal so was gonna be damage either way. Some will praise you for your good thinking by choosing the fox over the other driver but rather than foot the bill id choose the braking option. Teach him a lesson aswell for tailgateing cause hed have your car and his! Good driving practice Fey!, sorry to hear the outcome of it on your behalf though

Murt10

In your position I would have put my rear fog lights on. Probably illegal, but so was what he was doing. The purpose of fog lights is to keep someone from crashing into the back of you.

In the rain, fog lights tear the eyes out of other drivers, especially those driving too close.

Fey!

TBH, I didn't even think of putting on the foglights! If only I had!!

stipey

I have an ingenious solution for such problems that hasn't failed yet.

1. Indicate left.
2. Pull in and stop.
3. Tailgater drives past.
4. Continue.
:: QED

If you are being tailgated and you're not particularly fond of it do something about it. Its only common sense.

Yes - tailgating is wrong.
Yes - the other driver shouldn't have been doing it.
Yes - it is dangerous - particularly in the wet.
Yes - you shouldn't have to be put in a position where you are forced to pull over.

But it only costs you 30 seconds and more importantly....
... it won't cost you for repairs to the front of your car when you hit a fox.
... it won't cost you whiplash and a lengthy wrangle with insurance companies or the courts
... it won't cost you your life.

All it takes is patience and a bit of rational thinking.

fletch

Personally I spray my window washers first and then if they don't back off after a while....I ever so gently apply the break while counteracting this with the accelerator so my break lights come on but i don't actually slow down. They soon get the message. (Not possible to do with cruise control though)

seamus

I would have jammed on when I saw the fox tbh. But it's easy to judge when you're not making the split-second decision.

There's a good chance that if you did jam on, the guy would have hit you and driven off. People who drive this dangerously are more likely to be uninsured/scumbags and vice-versa. That would have left you with even more damage, and a bigger bill to foot yourself.

BrianD3

One thing to consider is if you had braked and he hit you'd get pushed forward and may have hit the fox anyway. Being rear ended might also cause you to lose control and go into oncoming traffic but hitting a fox at speed could also cause loss of control. The former scenario would be more likely though.

But I'd say if you had braked and he hit you you probably would have gotten little or no damage to the rear of your car. Because if he was that close to you you wouldn't have slowed down very much before he hit you. Also the car behind usually takes the brunt in a rear ending collision unless the closing speed is pretty high.

Hindsight is great though. If it were me I probably would have braked for the fox. However if someone tailgates me like that I'll often drive at a slower speed to a) give myself more time and options should I encounter a hazard b) make it easier for them to pass. If they still tailgate and refuse to pass i'd probably pull over to the side of the road and stop.

Spitfire666

i tend to just stay right were i am and either slow down so he is stuck behind me or brake to get the lights on but accel so i dont slow down. id tap the brakes in the dry though. and if there is no traffic infront of me i turn the fog light on and dip my miror as the usual first responce is to turn their full beams on. i have stopped the car completely before and got out to a guy and told him to cop the **** on. he was a bit shocked but it solved the problem

Sizzler

Did you not do a little brake test and see if he got the message before the fox incident;)

Fair play for not braking for the fox...I dont mean that in a bad way towards animals:eek:

smemon

that's a tough one. my natural reaction would be to hit the brakes. about a week ago a dog ran out from a hedge and i slammed on the brakes, didn't even think about anything behind me. Thankfully nothing was behind me and i missed the dog.

i often get tailgaters at night on country roads. Usually i'd speed up to the limit and if they're still on my case, i'd just slow right down on a straight stretch and let them pass.

it's basic courtesy to leave a bit of a distance imo no matter what the conditions / circumstances.

in this case, you were too nice for your own good.

stratos

I have to hand it to this poster for his situational awareness and poise. You did the right thing. I have been driving for years and do many miles in many different types of vehicles. But I have never processed that amount of information at speed and come up trumps, Good driving. I know the price of the repairs will hurt. However you did the right thing, and in my experience karma will sort the other guy out. He probably hit the badger the fox was chasing and ended up in the ditch.

wyndham

You should not have maintained 100kph while being tailgated. If you had slowly dropped your speed, he would have overtaken you, more than likely. I know that you should not have to, you are in the right, etc, etc but it's a fact of life that there are bad, inconsiderate drivers out there and other drivers must account for this. To those who say they would have slammed on the brakes and let the other driver crash into them at 100kph and 'it's his own fault/he would be liable', this is a nonsense. I agree with the other poster who said the tailgater may be uninsured/stolen car/etc. Even if he was insured and it went to court, there is no such thing as an open and shut case and any judge would have to take into acount the fact that the driver in front admitted slamming oin the brakes to avoid a fox when deciding liability. Award/compo would probably be reduced by a percentage in this case.

Spitfire666

if you hit a car in front, its your fault. thats it. you should be far enough behind the car in front not to hit it so by hitting it your were not a safe distance behind. who is actualy gonna say they "slammed" on the brake anyway. i know of a case where a woman didnt see the lights go red and slammed onto the brakes and the car behind hit her. the guilty party was still the car behind.

.......slammed on the brakes and let the other driver crash into them at 100kph..... it wouldnt be that dramatic as both cars were traveling at speed so the impact speed would be very low. also, his car is damaged either way, only diff is the person at fault would be paying for it.

_Kaiser_

I had one of these idiots behind me on the M50 yesterday while I was doing about 110kph in fairly heavy, but moving, traffic so after waiting for a minute to see if he'd back off, I just leaned lightly on the brakes.. typically the p*ick still didn't get the message so I slowed right down (gradually but evenly) to just under 60kph while watching him in the mirror, then sped up again. He kept his distance after that. Tosser! :mad:

Have to say though that since I got the Passat a month ago, this was the first time I've had to put up with this.. I reckon cause she's big, black and shiny (hence potentially expensive to repair! ).

Anan1

Spitfire666 wrote:

.... it wouldnt be that dramatic as both cars were traveling at speed so the impact speed would be very low.

Even a light impact at 100km/h can be enough to cause one or both cars to lose control.

Fey!

I had tried slowing, and I had given him ample opportunity to pass earlier, but he chose not to. Several people have said that I should have stopped completely and, in hindsight, I agree with them.

My main fear with braking was, although both cars were close together, that if he hit me at any kind of angle (as in if he tried to swerve around me and made contact) that he would knock my car into a spin, which is not something I wanted to experience (have had that spinning experience at about 50kph as a passenger in Mondello at a better driving day, and wouldn't care to relive it!).

I guess it's chalk it up to experience and move on. 2 weeks of driving our van and then a loaner when the boss gets back (my mechanic is on holidays!).

What makes it kinda funny is that 20 minutes earlier I had pulled out of a garage (had stopped to degrease the windscreen), where a Garda had come over and was asking me questions about the car for about 15 minutes as he hadn't seen the bodykit I have on anything before. He went through the whole car asking about the various things I had done, as he was looking to buy a 525 and wanted to see what I thought about the 5 series in general!

Fey!

Just a quick update on this.

Finally got the repair quote yesterday. €1,700+. Insurance assessot coming out to look at it today.

Word of advice to ye all - get no claims protection. It's the only saving grace in this entire scenario.