Tailgating

baaaa

ocokev wrote: »

It seams that you are more intrested in whats happening behind you instead of whats happening infront of you.
It can be annoying, but remember if you are in an accident because of this youcan never tell how devastating just a simple tip can turn into a complete distaster.

So just let them on to the next person right?

ocokev

baaaa wrote: »

So just let them on to the next person right?

Yes.

Zubeneschamali

baaaa wrote: »

So just let them on to the next person right?

Does it say "Garda Traffic Corps" on your car?

opinion guy

po0k wrote: »

Loud-hailers front and rear allowing efficient inter-vehicular communications would be a boon.

Lol yeah. Or what I would like is a LED message board on my back window with some preset messages you could select between with a button on the dash

baaaa

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Does it say "Garda Traffic Corps" on your car?

No,that's why I don't act like a garda and stop them.

Zubeneschamali

Another way to think about this: Suppose you're in an accident where a tailgater shunts you from the rear, and a Garda asks you to make a statement.

Would you be comfortable telling him/her that you slowed down on purpose to frustrate the tailgater in the hopes that he'd learn a lesson? Would you be happy writing that on a report for your insurance company? Would you like to say that in front of a judge?

Or would you rather not mention it?

ragg

I do this too OP. I think its great and great and really works. I usually stand on the breaks enough to make the breaklight stay on, but not significantly slow down.

What you get is generally a look of unbridaled fear, once or twice people have raged at me, one guy nearly went into a hedge on a country lane. In fairness, I'm in the right. If they weren't tailgaiting in the first place, it wouldn't have happened

baaaa

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Another way to think about this: Suppose you're in an accident where a tailgater shunts you from the rear, and a Garda asks you to make a statement.

Would you be comfortable telling him/her that you slowed down on purpose to frustrate the tailgater in the hopes that he'd learn a lesson? Would you be happy writing that on a report for your insurance company? Would you like to say that in front of a judge?

Or would you rather not mention it?

I'd rather not mention it,the person getting shunted is never to blame and their driving is of no relevance(in court).

baaaa

ragg wrote: »

I do this too OP. I think its great and great and really works. I usually stand on the breaks enough to make the breaklight stay on, but not significantly slow down.

What you get is generally a look of unbridaled fear, once or twice people have raged at me, one guy nearly went into a hedge on a country lane. In fairness, I'm in the right. If they weren't tailgaiting in the first place, it wouldn't have happened

Nice,do reckon it learns them at all?

ragg

baaaa wrote: »

Nice,do reckon it learns them at all?

pretty much, some agro sometimes, but i find a derisive laugh usually makes them back down...

Zubeneschamali

baaaa wrote: »

I'd rather not mention it,

Right, because you know it's not a good idea!

the person getting shunted is never to blame and their driving is of no relevance(in court).

Wrong, I personally know someone (my wife was in the car for the accident and was a witness in court) who was hit and subsequently blamed in court by a judge. It happens.

NinjaTruncs

baaaa wrote: »

I'd rather not mention it,the person getting shunted is never to blame and their driving is of no relevance(in court).

I think you'll find if you went to court and said you kept braking erratically to teach the driver behind a lesson you'd have a fair portion of blame.

BlackWizard

I can't remember the last time I was tail gated.. I guess I don't drive often enough or something. Most of my journey is on the motorway or good national roads.

If someone was up behind me I'd probably just think they wanted to overtake me.

daRobot

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Flick of the rear fog lights all the way, works every time. I'll be damned if i'm jamming on the brakes and letting them run into me.

+1

This is undoubtedly the best way, as it makes it genuinely uncomfortable on the eyes for them to be so close.

It really seems to be bad in this country though, and some people have no idea that they're doing it.

I went up North with a friend driving his landcruiser, and shockingly, he started aggressively tailing anyone who was sitting in the overtaking lane.

I was appalled at this, and said to him would he not give them a quick flash to move, instead of tailing them, and he replies "Nah, flashing them is the height of rudeness"

Unbelievable.

ToxicPaddy

I had an idiot in a Honda Accord driving up my arse last night when I was driving out the Kimmage road, I wouldnt mind if there was an opportunity to pass or me pull over, but there isnt.. So I have no idea what he expected me to do??

I couldnt even see the top of his headlights he was so close..

If any of the lights had turned red, when I got to a junction, I was getting out to have a little chat with him.. :mad:

hoodie6029

I have to agree with all the other posters who use the fog light to get rid of tailgaters. It's what I do and is the safest option, you don't change your speed suddenly or force the tailgater to stop suddenly or overtake you potentially causing an accident.

At 11.30pm one night I was driving down Seville Place at the speed limit. I was the only car driving on the street in either direction and some guy speeds up behind me and proceeds to tailgate, no intention to overtake even though the street was clear. I just flicked on the fog light and he dropped back.
I wasn't bothered by this incident, i'd just love to know the psychology behind this kind of driving.

Zubeneschamali

hoodie6029 wrote: »

I have to agree with all the other posters who use the fog light to get rid of tailgaters.

I tried this once: I flipped on the foglights, he flipped on his high beams... and left them on.

hoodie6029

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I tried this once: I flipped on the foglights, he flipped on his high beams... and left them on.

That hasn't happened me.....yet....

You must have encountered a serial tailgater/pratt!

bmw535d

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

indeed.

I just let off the gas, no need for the brakes.

are we in the states?

It BeeMee

baaaa wrote: »

The minute I get someone tailgating now I immediately slow down very aggressively,it was initially just a bit of fun but I'm finding it's actually working now.

baaaa wrote: »

Yeah no brakes obviously.

How do you slow down "very aggresively" without using the brakes?

opinion guy

bmw535d wrote: »

are we in the states?

My guess would be some of us are. Don't you have spelling mistakes somewhere to annoy people about ?

coolbeans

What a completely retarded thread. This is why I don't bother posting here anymore. The OP's behaviour increases the chances of an accident. End of!

Overature

i agree that tailgators are really annoying but if your driving slow in the right hand lane, then get the **** in to the left and let those who want to speed do so

daymobrew

Overature wrote: »

i agree that tailgators are really annoying but if your driving slow in the right hand lane, then get the **** in to the left and let those who want to speed do so

In the example that OP gave, the road is single lane all the way. The left lane is the ditch.

baaaa wrote:

I trapped a white van tailgater yesterday from blanchardstown all the way to lucan,

Caliden

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

indeed.

I just let off the gas, no need for the brakes.

Same as.
Had some scobe tailgate me before and he was met with this method. He woke up his passenger while I kept a steady 20-30mph going on a 60mph road.

I was even so kind to pull into the left a little if he wanted to overtake but he decided against it. :rolleyes:

Myself and my 2 passengers got a good laugh out of it

Thoie

opinion guy wrote: »

Lol yeah. Or what I would like is a LED message board on my back window with some preset messages you could select between with a button on the dash

I just want 3 different phrases

1 - Got lube?
2 - Then get the f*** off my a**
3 - Thank you

I mentioned this to my parents, but they think it might be a bit rude and that one and two should just read "You're making me feel uncomfortable and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't drive so close". I think my versions would fit better on a display.

slimjimmc

po0k wrote: »

That's not driving defensively, and it's costing you wear on tires and brakes, not to mention fuel to accelerate again.

And as someone said before, the tailgater is usually an inexperienced tool who will panic momentarily before braking.

If you have [selectable] rear foglights, maybe try that. Less effective during the day obviously.

I've been [1-2 car lengths] behind people who would tap the brakes continuosly for no apparent reason. Pissed me right off because I got the impression they couldn't drive to the point the divvil on my shoulder was suggesting I ram them off the road to save others from the same fate.

Loud-hailers front and rear allowing efficient inter-vehicular communications would be a boon.

And you wonder why he was tapping his brakes? 2 car lengths (say 1 car = 5m) gives you 0.36 seconds stopping time @ 100kph. In an emergency situation (even if he didn't stop hit a solid wall but slid into the car in front of him) that still only gives you a fraction of second to realise something's up, hit the brakes and somehow defy the laws of dynamics by stopping you car unscathed within a rapidly deminishing gap

The OP has the right idea but is doing it wrong, a safer approach is to ease off the throttle gently not aggressively, oh, and keep left as much as possible to make his overtaking easier and quicker. I can't count the number of times I've got stuck behind a slow-joe hugging the white line when a truck could have got by if they'd kept close to the yellow line .

I once had a driver tailgating me in a 60kph zone, she started waving and flashing her lights to get me to break the limit. I tried the throttle back thing, didn't work so I decided to show her that I had recently clipped the nail on my middle finger. For some reason she stayed back and was good as gold after that.

opinion guy

slimjimmc wrote: »

And you wonder why he was tapping his brakes? 2 car lengths (say 1 car = 5m) gives you 0.36 seconds stopping time @ 100kph. In an emergency situation (even if he didn't stop hit a solid wall but slid into the car in front of him) that still only gives you a fraction of second to realise something's up, hit the brakes and somehow defy the laws of dynamics by stopping you car unscathed within a rapidly deminishing gap

An excellent point.

GTE

The way I see it there is a fine balance between having to jam on to avoid a hazard and aggressively slowing to tell off a tailgater.

At least with the slowing down on purpose you have some control that if the tailgater doesn't notice or react you can floor it, to a degree. There is a chance of a crash that you were trying to avoid by tell him or her off I know and I doubt anyone could dispute that but the slam on, avoid obstacle manoeuvre would be much more aggressive then slowing down a lot.

Just glancing over the thread I think a point was raised that doing this causes more brake wear and fuel costs. The amount of extra money that would cost you over a year I would imagine be very small. Its a pretty weak argument in my eyes.

My approach is to gently slow down and apply light braking just so the lights come on. Sadly this was easier before I had to replace my brake switch, the new one isnt as sensitive. I have though been so aggravated by a blonde lady driving a gold Skoda Octavia with a 08 MH reg who drives on the old N4 to at least Clonard that I snapped and slammed on for a short time. She kept well back after that but probably because she thought I was a bad driver, which is arguable considering I did slam on for no reason but you get my point.

My technique now though is the fog lights since my brake lights arent as sensitive. On when too close, off when ok, on again if you creep too close.
I do love the traps you can set on two lane motorways though.
You are driving along at 120 - 130 kph. Some person comes up behind you and up yer arse as you are overtaking someone. You feel that if you went back into the left hand lane after the overtake you would just have to come out to the overtaking one again which is arguably unsafe. Annoyed at this the guy tries to undertake then I speed up and block him while slowing down to just above the speed of the car Im overtaking.

Simple pleasures.

GTE

Pkiernan wrote: »

Funnily enough, when I am being tailgated, I notice that my front and rear windscreens are suddenly very dirty, requiring considerable and protracted use of the window washers.

After about 10 seconds or so the windows appear clean, and the tailgaters have magically backed off.

I think I woke my niece up after laughing at that.

P.C.

bbk wrote: »

I do love the traps you can set on two lane motorways though.
You are driving along at 120 - 130 kph. Some person comes up behind you and up yer arse as you are overtaking someone. You feel that if you went back into the left hand lane after the overtake you would just have to come out to the overtaking one again which is arguably unsafe. Annoyed at this the guy tries to undertake then I speed up and block him while slowing down to just above the speed of the car Im overtaking.

Simple pleasures.

That ^^^^ is just plain bad driving.
And, it can (and will) lead to road rage.

Why are you intent on 'keeping' a car behind you?
Do you have some need to be the fastest car on the motorway?

Abrean

bbk wrote: »

I do love the traps you can set on two lane motorways though.
You are driving along at 120 - 130 kph. Some person comes up behind you and up yer arse as you are overtaking someone. You feel that if you went back into the left hand lane after the overtake you would just have to come out to the overtaking one again which is arguably unsafe. Annoyed at this the guy tries to undertake then I speed up and block him while slowing down to just above the speed of the car Im overtaking.

Simple pleasures.

And how exactly do you think this is any better than what the tailgater is doing? You're just as bad and as dangerous as he is. If somebody wants to get past you and you have the space to pull in then just get out of the way and let him on, unless you have a car with Garda Traffic Corp on it then you have no right to set traps and police the roads.

bugsntinas

i know where op is coming from.most of the time they're just trying to intimidate you to get out of their way.don't work wwith me either,i don't brake but i will lift off the accelerator and true eventually most get the message that i ain't just gonna move out of the way.people really do need to learn how to drive properly and with a bit of politeness just like the old days.
rant over.

GTE

Abrean wrote: »

And how exactly do you think this is any better than what the tailgater is doing? You're just as bad and as dangerous as he is. If somebody wants to get past you and you have the space to pull in then just get out of the way and let him on, unless you have a car with Garda Traffic Corp on it then you have no right to set traps and police the roads.

You fundamentally misunderstood the situation I was describing.
The amount of space I would have had to pull in would have been so small I would pull back out again almost immediately, in the grand scheme of things it would work out better for me to overtake the next car then pull in. What this person did was try to undertake and cut in front of me instead of waiting until I had passed the next car. To be honest he never gave me the chance to pull in even if I had felt it safe to do so. It was a F1 style dart into another lane. Additionally, given the space in the left hand lane the acceleration I did was quite minimal.

Why are you intent on 'keeping' a car behind you?
Do you have some need to be the fastest car on the motorway?

I am not intent on that nor have I ever had the need to be the fastest car on the motorway.

Anan1

bbk wrote: »

You fundamentally misunderstood the situation I was describing.
The amount of space I would have had to pull in would have been so small I would pull back out again almost immediately, in the grand scheme of things it would work out better for me to overtake the next car then pull in. What this person did was try to undertake and cut in front of me instead of waiting until I had passed the next car. To be honest he never gave me the chance to pull in even if I had felt it safe to do so. It was a F1 style dart into another lane. Additionally, given the space in the left hand lane the acceleration I did was quite minimal.

If he would have had enough room to undertake you had you not accelerated then does it not follow that you had enough room to pull in, let him past, and then pull back out again?

GTE

Anan1 wrote: »

If he would have had enough room to undertake you had you not accelerated then does it not follow that you had enough room to pull in, let him past, and then pull back out again?

He wouldn't have had room to pull in safely in front of me had I stayed at the speed I was doing, let alone while I accelerated. He tried to and speeding up on my part was merely a gesture that he wasn't going to get away with pushing his way past. If his attempt at an undertake was to be a success in this situation it would have meant I would have had to slow down as he cut in front of me, that's the space I'm talking about.

coolbeans

bbk wrote: »

My technique now though is the fog lights since my brake lights arent as sensitive. On when too close, off when ok, on again if you creep too close.
I do love the traps you can set on two lane motorways though.
You are driving along at 120 - 130 kph. Some person comes up behind you and up yer arse as you are overtaking someone. You feel that if you went back into the left hand lane after the overtake you would just have to come out to the overtaking one again which is arguably unsafe. Annoyed at this the guy tries to undertake then I speed up and block him while slowing down to just above the speed of the car Im overtaking.

Simple pleasures.

Sad.

Anan1

bbk wrote: »

He wouldn't have had room to pull in safely in front of me had I stayed at the speed I was doing, let alone while I accelerated. He tried to and speeding up on my part was merely a gesture that he wasn't going to get away with pushing his way past. If his attempt at an undertake was to be a success in this situation it would have meant I would have had to slow down as he cut in front of me, that's the space I'm talking about.

Could you, without changing your speed, have pulled in, let him past, and then pulled out again?

baaaa

Although I understand why most are not liking the methods used to try teach tailgaters I have yet to hear of a an alternative viable solution.
Moving aside and rewarding their behaviour is a bad idea I think.
Lets not forget that these ignorant people stepped way out of line first,they only get worse if they're let away with it I reckon.

baaaa

Totally not taking the law into my own hands,just giving those perps lessons in road etiquette

ocokev

baaaa wrote: »

Totally not taking the law into my own hands,just giving those perps lessons in road etiquette

When your finished with the tailgaters what next; roundabout school, parking in disabled spaces classes or even a blocking yellow box module.
The list is endless your crusade useless, unless you join the Guards.

baaaa

ocokev wrote: »

When your finished with the tailgaters what next; roundabout school, parking in disabled spaces classes or even a blocking yellow box module.
The list is endless your crusade useless, unless you join the Guards.

People on roundabouts,illegal parking and yellow boxes are just crap and that's ok cause they aren't being aggressively crap and putting me at risk.

GTE

Anan1 wrote: »

Could you, without changing your speed, have pulled in, let him past, and then pulled out again?

No.

cpoh1

bbk wrote: »

No.

Thats nonsense and you know it. It would have been easy for you to pull in, let the guy who obviously wants to make faster progress by and pullout again and carry on your way. Its an attitude problem on your part.

The ego of Irish drivers is something I never can understand.

Testament1

bbk wrote: »

No.

Then how did the other driver manage to pull into the lane and attempt to undertake??

GTE

Testament1 wrote: »

Then how did the other driver manage to pull into the lane and attempt to undertake??

Just because there is space to fit your car doesn't mean that its safe. The two second rule on a motorway is a few car lengths at most so obviously there is space to fit a car. Whether you think Im being an ass or not I would never knowingly cut someone's two second gap while also having a gap of less that from the car that would be then on front by moving into the lane just to let him pass. I did pull in after the car when there wasn't a car ahead of me for a long way so one would wonder why he bothered with the undertake.

Ill be fecked if I know what was going through his head trying to undertake in that situation!

With regards to cpoh1 again I will mention the two second rule. I could have fit my car in between the other cars a couple of times however that cuts the gap in front of me as well as the one behind me.

Abrean

bbk wrote: »

You fundamentally misunderstood the situation I was describing.
The amount of space I would have had to pull in would have been so small I would pull back out again almost immediately, in the grand scheme of things it would work out better for me to overtake the next car then pull in. What this person did was try to undertake and cut in front of me instead of waiting until I had passed the next car. To be honest he never gave me the chance to pull in even if I had felt it safe to do so. It was a F1 style dart into another lane. Additionally, given the space in the left hand lane the acceleration I did was quite minimal.

No I'm sorry but I don't think I misunderstood anything, someone was tailgating you as you overtook someone but felt it was unsafe to pull straight back in, which is fair enough, tailgater got annoyed and tried to undertake, so you slowed down to the speed of the car you were overtaking to trap the tailgater instead of just continuing on your journey at the speed you were driving and pulling in when safe to do so.

I'm sorry if you don't agree but to me that sounds like dangerous driving, just like tailgating is dangerous driving.
People that police the roads like this need to understand that they are just as bad as the people they think they're teaching a lesson to.

slimjimmc

Abrean wrote: »

No I'm sorry but I don't think I misunderstood anything, someone was tailgating you as you overtook someone but felt it was unsafe to pull straight back in, which is fair enough, tailgater got annoyed and tried to undertake, so you slowed down to the speed of the car you were overtaking to trap the tailgater instead of just continuing on your journey at the speed you were driving and pulling in when safe to do so.

I'm sorry if you don't agree but to me that sounds like dangerous driving, just like tailgating is dangerous driving.
People that police the roads like this need to understand that they are just as bad as the people they think they're teaching a lesson to.

I'm afraid I have to agree. It sounds like bbk was overtaking a few cars that were spaced far enough apart to move back in safely, albeit temporarily and uncomfortable. Using the excuse that moving back out to the overtaking lane is arguably unsafe is a weak argument. Switching lanes is not dangerous if you make yourself aware of the traffic behind and beside you and flick on the indicator in good time to warn others of your intentions. You might have to wait a bit longer than you'd like to have a safe gap to get by and, in the meantime, if you feel too close to the car in front you can always ease back gently.

_Kaiser_

Just to add my 2c to this one...

I can't stand tailgaters and yet I come across them almost daily on the N3. Unlike most of the drivers I come across on this particular road, I neither have a problem with driving at 100 km/h (when appropriate/safe to do so - there are a few stretches that should be 60, nevermind 100), or maintaining a consistent speed.

So, when I get one of these idiots behind me (and I usually spot them coming as I keep an eye on the rearview mirror every 20/30 seconds anyway), I will slow smoothly but effectively right down to 20/30 km/h (again watching them in the mirror as I do so) until they get the message.

99% of the time that's the end of it, however if that still doesn't work I will (and have) stopped the car dead at an appropriate point/junction and get out to ask them why they're trying so hard to get into my back seat - funnily enough they're not so brazen and ignorant then!

Rewarding this sort of behaviour by letting them past isn't the answer, nor is ignoring it. I often have passengers in the car and the last thing I need is some clown running into me because he's not far enough back if something happened.

Equally letting them in front of you doesn't work either - merely encourages and rewards it - as they will then sit on the rear bumper of the next person and you'll have to contend with them weaving in front of you, slowing and speeding up without warning and dramatically. This is a particular problem as the next person may be nervous or become intimidated by this van/BMW/jeep looming large in their rear view mirrors.

What's needed here is proper enforcement by our boys and girls in blue - in other words getting the Traffic Corps out to do more things besides sitting at the side of the nice wide stretches with their arms out the window :rolleyes:
Of course driver education and frequent retesting wouldn't hurt either. Tailgating is only one problem... there's inability to use roundabouts, lane discipline, refusal to indicate before manoeuvering etc all to contend with as well.

Until that happens I will take whatever actions I deem appropriate to protect the safety of myself, my passengers and my car (within reason - tempting though it is, I don't think my insurance would cover front/rear mounted Uzis , but I am seriously considering an onboard camera system).

GTE

slimjimmc wrote: »

I'm afraid I have to agree. It sounds like bbk was overtaking a few cars that were spaced far enough apart to move back in safely, albeit temporarily and uncomfortable. Using the excuse that moving back out to the overtaking lane is arguably unsafe is a weak argument. Switching lanes is not dangerous if you make yourself aware of the traffic behind and beside you and flick on the indicator in good time to warn others of your intentions. You might have to wait a bit longer than you'd like to have a safe gap to get by and, in the meantime, if you feel too close to the car in front you can always ease back gently.

That post is based on thinking the cars were spaced far enough apart for me to slot in safely. That was not the case. If I slotted in I would have either cut up the guy behind very badly and having iffy room ahead or having shag all room in front and iffy behind. Ill never break the two second rule in front of me or knowingly break someone elses by cutting them up. That is clear cut for anyone Im sure. Of course depending on the situation having emergency services coming up behind deems more appropriate action.

With regards to the speed changes I wasnt overtaking at a fast rate. I was at was 120-130 kph and the other cars couldnt have been doing much less, though my ability to judge another cars speed in a figure isnt great.

Obviously to the tailgater the speed at which I was going and the speed at which the cars I was overtaking were going was so small that he believed he could cut into the gap I had deemed unsafe and push his way through. He misjudged that and even if I hadnt sped up he wouldnt have had a gap to fit his car though safely, he possibly could have fit is car but I doubt anyone would be crazy enough to try. So as I said my speeding up was merely a gesture saying he cant get away with that. And indeed it was a small amount of speed.

Then once he popped out from between the two cars and tailgated me again I slowed down slightly to close the speed of the cars I was over taking.
My point is the speed differentials were very small.

If it was a severe change of speed then Id agree you would have point in criticising me.