Tailgating - What do you do ?

port

Leave a safe gap and arrive alive.So what if somebody leapfrogs,they are only gaining seconds or at the most minutes.More courteous driving might lead to safer roads and less accidents....sorry,didnt mean to rant

sgt.bilko

I travel on the M4 & M50 every poxy day. If someone tailgates me while i am in the overtaking lane and /or flashes me, well my reaction is to ignore the driver until i am ready to manouvre in to a safe position.:p

what pisses me off is the amount of people who just arrive in the space that I have allowed as a breaking distance, and the fact that the majority of people presume that drivers are physics when it comes to rounabouts !!!!:mad:

kaiser sauze

sgt.bilko wrote: »

I travel on the M4 & M50 every poxy day. If someone tailgates me while i am in the overtaking lane and /or flashes me, well my reaction is to ignore the driver until i am ready to manouvre in to a safe position.:p

what pisses me off is the amount of people who just arrive in the space that I have allowed as a breaking distance, and the fact that the majority of people presume that drivers are physics when it comes to rounabouts !!!!:mad:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

AngryHippie

I know the towbar approach is pretty foolish, but seriously, wtf is wrong with people that drive up your whole with lights on, Unless the lights are blue, and flashin, back the fcuk off.
I would not be crazy enough to use the towbar method on a motorway btw I stick to Greebo's method on the motorway. Too many other potential victims, But on a bendy country road, you'd be pickin towbar and bits of back axle from you're Boy racers pride and joy all the back to your insurance premium.

congo_90

Alun wrote: »

No, I haven't, I let idiots like this past rather than engaging in childish tactics that only serve to annoy them and put myself in danger.

I was referring more to this quote ...
Where you seem to think that in the event of a rear-end collision that having a towbar, and an engine as a (non-)crumple zone is somehow magically going to protect you. OK, it will make a mess of his car, but the point I was making was that won't do you any good either.

There's only one thing to do with tailgaters and that's to let them past. No brake-light touching, no misdirected washers, no oil slicks, no rocket launchers, just let them past and relax. Anything else is just silly.

I do follow this policy too of trying to allow them to pass where possbile but sometimes on small country roads or anything to the effect this is not possible. As pulling in would make things worse/ more of a danger.

MarkR

MarkN wrote: »

I merged from the M50 onto the M1 before Swords a few weeks back and despite being completely entitled to do so, this taxi driver was not letting me in.

Not sure do I understand this one. You do know that it is you who has to find space and merge with traffic? The driver on the motorway is under no obligation (except common courtesty depending on conditions) to slow down / speed up or move over. If there wasn't room in front of him you should have moved in behind him. Unless you're a barger.

Stark

MarkR wrote: »

Not sure do I understand this one. You do know that it is you who has to find space and merge with traffic? The driver on the motorway is under no obligation (except common courtesty depending on conditions) to slow down / speed up or move over. If there wasn't room in front of him you should have moved in behind him. Unless you're a barger.

He might be referring to people who see the gap you're about to merge into, then slam on the accelerator to close the gap.

MarkN

Stark wrote: »

He might be referring to people who see the gap you're about to merge into, then slam on the accelerator to close the gap.

Correct. Unfortunately for him, my car is built to move, his Vito isn't.

Cmar-Ireland

Most cars have electric mirrors these days, just adjust them so your not getting any glare and carry on as you were.

Anan1

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Most cars have electric mirrors these days, just adjust them so your not getting any glare and carry on as you were.

That might work if both cars were at a standstill.

nytraveller

Auto-dimming rear view mirrors. Best invention ever!!

hottstuff

what i found works a treat for all types of this scumbag , If its during the day and its annoying you that much , Hazards on , slow down slowly and gradually and roll down your window and proceed top wave them on like you have just had an engine fault , they will always overtake.

On the otherhand if its during the night , i ALWAYS turn on my rear foglight (just for the purposes of blinding the tailgater) and hazards if you want to.
Always works.

The braking thing is all well and good if you fancy your chances at maybe getting the offender more aggrevated and pulling over if things get heated.
And even if you are capable of looking after yourself , you can still get charged for assault even if it was in self defence.
The way the Guards look at it , there is no one offender in road rage.

D_murph

i usually wash my windscreen if someones driving up my hole, not that it happens much . theres always some spray that makes it over the roof and onto their windscreen. next thing you see their wipers going .

i keep doing this till they back off. 2 or 3 rounds usually does the trick

Dubit10

Get the reg and use a "mate" to get the address where they live.Car might need a paint job soon after that:)

Seth Brundle

Dubit10 wrote: »

Get the reg and use a "mate" to get the address where they live.Car might need a paint job soon after that:)

There are far more successful and instant methods of discouraging tailgaiting without resorting to criminal damage.

D_murph

D_murph wrote: »

i usually wash my windscreen if someones driving up my hole, not that it happens much . theres always some spray that makes it over the roof and onto their windscreen. next thing you see their wipers going .

i keep doing this till they back off. 2 or 3 rounds usually does the trick

but i should mention that i never hog the right lane and i feckin hate when i come across 2 idiots driving side by side on a dual carriageway and none passing the other. usually its lorries that cant go but then they should not have put themselves in a position to block the road to have their pathetic little competition in the first place. other times its 2 cars :rolleyes:

overtaking lane hogging should come with penalty points like speeding. might keep these slow idiots where they belong, in the slow lane. things like this can cause road rage.

Cookie_Monster

many people seem to resort in tapping the brake pedal to flash the brake lights without actually hitting the brakes.
I find that quite odd as on both the cars i have owned the brakes engage even before the brake lights come on. i could if required completely stop my almera without the brake lights lighting up (it'd take a good bit longer but can easily be done)

Rory123

In the hibernian ignition course I was told to tap the brakes so your lights come on... I have always found that this only makes the situation worse.
The best method i have found is to bring attention to the driver behind and if they are a decent person (which surprisingly they are 70 or 80% of the time), they will back off.... I just put my hazards on for about 5 seconds at the same time as lifting off the throttle to reduce speed slowly by about 20%, then build back up to original speed. In theory this shouldn't work but it really does... I reckon it makes them realise that they are being tossers without having to be insulting or resort to dangerous driving myself... 2 wrongs never make a right!

With regard to motorway driving can I please appeal to you all to stop calling the outside lane the fast lane! It is not primarily for driving fast... its for overtaking, so please try to start calling it the "overtaking lane". In which case if you aren't overtaking... GET OUT OF IT!... whether you are doing 120 kmh or not. We really need to change our attitudes on the roads in this country (including me, I'll admit).

Thanks for reading my rant... its nothing personal!