Tailgating and Road Rage

girl in the striped socks

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

Also, and just as an FYI for some posters here - if you exceed 120KM/H you won't suddenly and dramatically veer off the road in a ball of fire, despite what the RSA wants you to think.

There's a lot more to safe driving than obeying the speed limit and I believe that a competent and aware driver travelling in excess of 120KM/H (on a motorway for example) is far safer than the nervous, distracted driver travelling at 100KM/H. I've had some experience of driving abroad and in Germany in particular, their lane discipline and road manners are on another level. There's also nothing more humbling than being overtaken whilst you're travelling at 250KM/H.

I agree. But look at their infrastructure compared to ours.
And look at what they have to do to get a licence compared to us.
It's as different as night & day.

Colmustard

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

Also, and just as an FYI for some posters here - if you exceed 120KM/H you won't suddenly and dramatically veer off the road in a ball of fire, despite what the RSA wants you to think.

There's a lot more to safe driving than obeying the speed limit and I believe that a competent and aware driver travelling in excess of 120KM/H (on a motorway for example) is far safer than the nervous, distracted driver travelling at 100KM/H. I've had some experience of driving abroad and in Germany in particular, their lane discipline and road manners are on another level. There's also nothing more humbling than being overtaken whilst you're travelling at 250KM/H.

My brother hired a sports car him and his mate went flying up the Autobahn at 200mph when his mate hit the ignition switch acidently shutting the car down.

No power steering and coasting at over 150 mph, my bro screams START THE FUKCKEN CAR AGAIN< START THE FKUCEN CAR>,,,, he did and then they drove back at 40 mph. Twats they nearly won a Darwin award.

SIR PEADO BAILOUT

marshbaboon wrote: »

My brother has the most incredible solution to tailgating. He slows down. Doesn't matter if he has somewhere important to be, he'll drive as slow as he can get away with, and feed on their tears of rage.

Fookin made a grown man cry reading that.

Still next time I`m out Spiddal way having some tout boy racer up me jacksie I`ll give dat one a go,da feckin gards paying those gob****es to drive
around all da day, and sure nothing touches them and now you know why :mad:

geneyuss

SocSocPol wrote: »

So far as I am aware the signs say 120kph , not 120kph-ish, 120kph if it suits you!
Fact is if the car ahead is doing 119kph the you shouldn't be trying to pass it, simples.
Still since in an earlier post you claimed your car does 140kpm (which equates to 8400kph) you are hardly on the road, at that speed you would be in outer space!:D

it was a typo,,get over it, big difference between being smart, and a smart ass ,
and i didnt say my car does 140 kph,i said "most modern cars do"
whats this , selective reading hour?
and why shouldnt i pass the car ahead, if i want to drive at 120 kph, i shall, if the car in front chooses to drive at 115kph, he/she belongs behind me, in a safe manner obviously

Paddy@CIRL

SocSocPol wrote: »

Obeying the speed limit is however one of the most important facets of safe driving, to claim otherwise or to engage in braking the speed limit because you think you know better is reckless imo.

I would say that driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions is more important to be honest. Plenty of roads on this island where the limit is far too high for the condition of the road. There's a lot of great information out there for people if they want to learn to be better drivers, but unfortunately most drivers here believe their education stops once they're handed the pink license.

WumBuster

When people pull out just in front of me from a side road, I drive approximately 2 inches from their bumper for the next few miles til they pull over and leave me off. That shows em

SocSocPol

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

I would say that driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions is more important to be honest. Plenty of roads on this island where the limit is far too high for the condition of the road. There's a lot of great information out there for people if they want to learn to be better drivers, but unfortunately most drivers here believe their education stops once they're handed the pink license.[/QUOTE]
On that I absolutley concur.

RaRaRasputin

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

I agree. But look at their infrastructure compared to ours.
And look at what they have to do to get a licence compared to us.
It's as different as night & day.

Yeah, guess the different licence requirements also explain the amount of bad drivers here. I wish you'd just adopt a proper driving instruction scheme here.

dr.bollocko

bobin fudge wrote: »

Surprised you did not get arrested for doing this - toy gun or not

I wasn't actually bringing out a gun, pointing it at a stranger and pulling a trigger in clear view of everyone.

Maybe it was a toy gun which was being controlled occasionally by my left hand which was in the driver door side storage compartment out of plain sight.

Maybe I merely pulled the trigger but the gun was never visible.

Maybe it was night and it was a carefully selected matte style gun which would not reflect easily.

Maybe I have those awful tinted windows because I'm one of those people.

Or even worse, ok, it wasn't a toy gun, it was actually a vibrator. You caught me.

Maybe I am a police officer and as such was merely inappropriately misusing my occupation in order that I can scare other road users.

Maybe it was a truck and my high driving position rendered me invisible to most road users and I carefully selected the right time to use it.

Maybe my court ordered therapist suggested it as a method of correctly channeling my rage.

Maybe I made the whole thing up for thanks.

RaRaRasputin

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I wasn't actually bringing out a gun, pointing it at a stranger and pulling a trigger in clear view of everyone.

Maybe it was a toy gun which was being controlled occasionally by my left hand which was in the driver door side storage compartment out of plain sight.

Maybe I merely pulled the trigger but the gun was never visible.

Maybe it was night and it was a carefully selected matte style gun which would not reflect easily.

Maybe I have those awful tinted windows because I'm one of those people.

Or even worse, ok, it wasn't a toy gun, it was actually a vibrator. You caught me.

Maybe I am a police officer and as such was merely inappropriately misusing my occupation in order that I can scare other road users.

Maybe it was a truck and my high driving position rendered me invisible to most road users and I carefully selected the right time to use it.

Maybe my court ordered therapist suggested it as a method of correctly channeling my rage.

Maybe I made the whole thing up for thanks.

Maybe this is all just a bit ridiculous?

anonymousMr

(reclines in chair, puts pipe to one side)
I believe it was the late George Carlin who said "have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac".


...indeed.

SocSocPol

geneyuss wrote: »

oh the law,,,,yes i forget about that :rolleyes:
must not pass 120 KPH !!!:P

geneyuss wrote: »

what about over-taking something doing 119kph ?

geneyuss wrote: »

it was a typo,,get over it, big difference between being smart, and a smart ass ,

whats this , selective reading hour?
and why shouldnt i pass the car ahead, if i want to drive at 120 kph, i shall, if the car in front chooses to drive at 115kph, he/she belongs behind me, in a safe manner obviously

And you are calling me a smart ass?

geneyuss

WumBuster wrote: »

When people pull out just in front of me from a side road, I drive approximately 2 inches from their bumper for the next few miles til they pull over and leave me off. That shows em

i dont condone these actions either, but it does annoy me how certain drivers are very quick to pull out of a junction in front of me and then seem to have difficulty finding the next gear and just crawl along at 20 kph, these people i just pass, no need to tailgate

fasttalkerchat

I don't tailgate because I would assume that most slow drivers are poor drivers and can't be trusted not to brake suddenly or drive erratically. Better to wait 10 seconds before flashing the lights or signalling right... but don't do it too much cos they'll slow down more to watch your bright lights!

VictorRomeo

geneyuss wrote: »

so you almost caused a crash? its people like you and him that should have their licenses taken away, the roads are not a place for silly games

No the complete dope in the Merc nearly caused the crash.... I narrowly avoided one following the actions of a dangerous, agressive loon. I was not driving or speeding dangerously, the other guy was.... As I said, I was about to move over and let him but he dangerously rode up me.... I safely slowed down to a sensible speed trying to get him to back off me, let me move over but all the dangerous actions in the lead up and aftermath were his and his alone....

geneyuss

SocSocPol wrote: »

geneyuss wrote: »

what about over-taking something doing 119kph ?



And you are calling me a smart ass?

where did i say my car does 140 ???
and this is now three times you've brought up a simple typo, is it a slow news day in your house ?
stick to the thread topic, not my typo or something i DIDNT say, thanks

SocSocPol

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I wasn't actually bringing out a gun, pointing it at a stranger and pulling a trigger in clear view of everyone.

Maybe it was a toy gun which was being controlled occasionally by my left hand which was in the driver door side storage compartment out of plain sight.

Maybe I merely pulled the trigger but the gun was never visible.

Maybe it was night and it was a carefully selected matte style gun which would not reflect easily.

Maybe I have those awful tinted windows because I'm one of those people.

Or even worse, ok, it wasn't a toy gun, it was actually a vibrator. You caught me.

Maybe I am a police officer and as such was merely inappropriately misusing my occupation in order that I can scare other road users.

Maybe it was a truck and my high driving position rendered me invisible to most road users and I carefully selected the right time to use it.

Maybe my court ordered therapist suggested it as a method of correctly channeling my rage.

Maybe I made the whole thing up for thanks.

And they made you a mod? wtf?


Maybe that posts encapsulates all that it takes to moderate AH:D

fasttalkerchat

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I don't tailgate because I would assume that most slow drivers are poor drivers and can't be trusted not to brake suddenly or drive erratically. Better to wait 10 seconds before flashing the lights or signalling right... but don't do it too much cos they'll slow down more to watch you're bright lights!

I don't tailgate because it's illegal and stupid and shows a person cannot drive properly.

bobin fudge

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I wasn't actually bringing out a gun, pointing it at a stranger and pulling a trigger in clear view of everyone.

Maybe it was a toy gun which was being controlled occasionally by my left hand which was in the driver door side storage compartment out of plain sight.

Maybe I merely pulled the trigger but the gun was never visible.

Maybe it was night and it was a carefully selected matte style gun which would not reflect easily.

Maybe I have those awful tinted windows because I'm one of those people.

Or even worse, ok, it wasn't a toy gun, it was actually a vibrator. You caught me.

Maybe I am a police officer and as such was merely inappropriately misusing my occupation in order that I can scare other road users.

Maybe it was a truck and my high driving position rendered me invisible to most road users and I carefully selected the right time to use it.

Maybe my court ordered therapist suggested it as a method of correctly channeling my rage.

Maybe I made the whole thing up for thanks.

oh in that case I just take my flute out when I drive and bang it on the passenger window when they overtake me

VictorRomeo

bobin fudge wrote: »

Another complete idiot, yeah would have been a pity to have fatalities on the road just because somone has a better car than you

Perhaps in your universe an e-class is a 'better' car than an XC90... Not mine. And how the hell did you deduce that from my post....?

geneyuss

VictorRomeo wrote: »

I find that a continuous spray of my window washer makes them back off...

Really annoying for them so it is....

The kind of tailgater I'm talking about is the kind that's right up yer jacksie on a very busy N/M4 and there's nowhere to go....

Funny story.... I was on the M4 about a year ago and this knob in an E-Class Merc tore right up to me.... I was travelling and a good speed on the motorway but was about to move over when he then went right up me flashing and honking.... He had room to get around if he really wanted to. So I 'slowly' slowed down - not braked mind you - and started my windscreen spray.... He started going nuts and weaving and bobbing behind me.... I'd say he got to about an inch of my rear.... Then, he swung out and pushed hard past me. I could see what was coming next.... His manouver was to swing right in front of me and brake hard.... but quick as a flash I whipped out left but he braked too hard.... I saw the look of panic on his face as I passed him by on the left and he realised that he braked into the path of another car...... Made my day...... I felt sorry for the car he nearly wrecked though..... If I hadn't pulled out he'd have creamed us both.... Well, I reckon my XC90 would have stood a better chance.....

VictorRomeo wrote: »

No the complete dope in the Merc nearly caused the crash.... I narrowly avoided one following the actions of a dangerous, agressive loon. I was not driving or speeding dangerously, the other guy was.... As I said, I was about to move over but he dangerously rrode up me.... I safely slowed down to a sensible speed and all the dangerous actions in the lead up and aftermath were his and his alone....

IMO there are a few things you done here that i would class as dangerous

geneyuss

rarnes1 wrote: »

I don't tailgate because it's illegal and stupid and shows a person cannot drive properly.

not to go off topic, but is it an offence?? as in, are there penalty points for it,, just wondering

Paddy@CIRL

From personal experience, if you are being impeded on the motorway by someone who is driving unnecessarily in the overtaking lane, don't tailgate. Stay back at a safe distance and use your indicator to show your intent that you want to overtake. It's simple and works for me nine times out of ten.

If you are being tailgated, don't brake suddenly or reduce speed, or even brake enough to turn your brake lights on. Move over when it's safe to do so or if you can't, use your hazard lights to indicate that you're uncomfortable with how close the car behind is travelling with you.

It's pretty surprising how quickly you can defuse a hostile driver with simple courtesies.

TheChizler

geneyuss wrote: »

rarnes1 wrote: »

I don't tailgate because it's illegal and stupid and shows a person cannot drive properly.

not to go off topic, but is it an offence?? as in, are there penalty points for it,, just wondering

Dangerous driving covers all.

VictorRomeo

geneyuss wrote: »

IMO there are a few things you done here that i would class as dangerous

Like? Well sure, like a gimp I chould have just immediatly pulled left when he rode my tail.... But no. I didn't. I don't do bullies. So, to ease from motorway speed to a sensible 90 - without braking and to move in to space - and in an effort to make him back off me, I used my washer jets to create a cloud of vapour (again, very effective but sadly not in this case). So all the aggressive manouvers were by the other guy and when he slammed hard - the guy behind him while not tailgating but was obviously close enough to give him a big fright.

I reckon a lot of lessons were learned that day.

The biggest lesson of all is don't fkn tailgate.....

fasttalkerchat

geneyuss wrote: »

not to go off topic, but is it an offence?? as in, are there penalty points for it,, just wondering

Driving too close to the car in front.

matamoros1965

I'm a Driving Miss Daisy and only use the overtaking lane for exactly that and if I'm on a B road and someone behind comes up fast, I go a bit faster so as not to hold them up if I can't let them overtake...but
the ones that wreck my head are the people who exit or enter the carriageway aggressively like the ones who are in the overtaking lane on the M50 and then veer across at the last minute sometimes in between two cars to exit. Grrr

geneyuss

geneyuss wrote: »

not to go off topic, but is it an offence?? as in, are there penalty points for it,, just wondering

Course it is. Will earn penalty points if caught too.

If you a driving licence you should know it is.

geneyuss

VictorRomeo wrote: »

Like? Well sure, like a gimp I chould have just immediatly pulled left when he rode my tail.... But no. I didn't. I don't do bullies. So, to ease from motorway speed to a sensible 90 - without braking - and in an effort to make him back off me, I used my washer jets to create a cloud of vapour (again, very effective but sadly not in this case). So all the aggressive manouvers were by the other guy and when he slammed hard - the guy behind him while not tailgating but was obviously close enough to give him a big fright.

I reckon a lot of lessons were learned that day.

The biggest lesson of all is don't fkn tailgate.....

Again, i know he was being a moron, but this was very dangerous
and while all this was happening, you were concentrating on what this other fool was doing instead of the road ahead. And all this on a motorway :rolleyes:

phasers

if someone wants to get past you that's their problem. Stay at the appropriate speed and let them get pissed off. Fcuk em.


Unless you're in the overtaking lane. Then you're a tosser who doesn't know how to drive and I will shout at you and call you every name under the sun.

rogieop

The big problem on motorways in ireland is the phrasing of words relating to the motorway.

People call the two lanes, the slow lane and fast lane.

for this reason people think it is ok to drive in, and stay in the right hand lane as long as they are doing 120kph.

They are not the fast and slow lanes, they are the driving lane(left) and the overtaking lane(right)

You stay in the left hand lane untill you need to overtake, once you have passed the vehicle in front you get the **** back into the left hand lane.

If people would stick to this then speed limits dont really matter.

Motorways are very straight roads, the only way to really crash on them is a collision(which wont happen if the above is applied) or something like drink driving/adverse weather etc etc.

Anyone coasting along in the right hand lane out for a drive deserves to get tailgated imo.

People use them motorways every day for work, and untill you are one of them people you cannot understand how frustrating it is.

geneyuss

rarnes1 wrote: »

Course it is. Will earn penalty points if caught too.

If you a driving licence you should know it is.

ah, so it is, i dont know all 48 offences covered on the points system off the top of my head, do you?
i didnt think so, although you should know, if you have a driving license

geneyuss

geneyuss wrote: »

ah, so it is, i dont know all 48 offences covered on the points system off the top of my head, do you?
i didnt think so, although you should know, if you have a driving license

It's common sense.

If you are driving a few metres from a car and doing 100kph, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what will happen if they hit the brake suddenly.

VictorRomeo

phasers wrote: »

if someone wants to get past you that's their problem. Stay at the appropriate speed and let them get pissed off. Fcuk em.


Unless you're in the overtaking lane. Then you're a tosser who doesn't know how to drive and I will shout at you and call you every name under the sun.

Problem being the tools who cruise at 70/80 in the left lane.... It can make it impossible to drive at a more reasonable motorway speed in the left lane when the road is clogged up like that....

And I too spend most of my commute on motorways. 30k km a year and I've seen it all. It is deeply frustrating. Also, I would broadly class myself as a decent driver. 20 years without a claim, points or endorsments. Nada.

geneyuss

rarnes1 wrote: »

It's common sense.

If you are driving a few metres from a car and doing 100kph, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what will happen if they hit the brake suddenly.

i understand that,,, i asked was it a specific offence covered on the points system, im well aware its dangerous driving, i have a clean license for the last 20+ years for a reason, im not a nuisance on the roads

TheChizler

VictorRomeo wrote: »

phasers wrote: »

if someone wants to get past you that's their problem. Stay at the appropriate speed and let them get pissed off. Fcuk em.


Unless you're in the overtaking lane. Then you're a tosser who doesn't know how to drive and I will shout at you and call you every name under the sun.

Problem being the tools who cruise at 70/80 in the left lane.... It can make it impossible to drive at a more reasonable motorway speed in the left lane when the road is clogged up like that....

That wouldn't matter though if lane 2 was used properly. Trucks etc shouldn't go above 80.

VictorRomeo

TheChizler wrote: »

That wouldn't matter though if lane 2 was used properly. Trucks etc shouldn't go above 80.

But it does matter as lanes are never used properly thus making it impossible to make reasonable and speed-legal progress. Even when the roads are quiet, there nearly always one idiot messing the system up...

Trucks are not an issue when in the left lane as they can be dealt with easily enough when everyone plays their part. However, almost daily, I find a truck in the right hand lane overtaking - quite legally I should add - some tool plodding at 70.... That can clog and bunch the traffic back and can take a good few kilometers to sort itself out....

Padkir

VictorRomeo wrote: »

But it does matter as lanes are never used properly thus making it impossible to make reasonable and speed-legal progress. Even when the roads are quiet, there nearly always one idiot messing the system up...

Trucks are not an issue when in the left lane as they can be dealt with easily enough when everyone plays their part. However, almost daily, I find a truck in the right hand lane overtaking - quite legally I should add - some tool plodding at 70.... That can clog and bunch the traffic back and can take a good few kilometers to sort itself out....

Through no fault of their own might I add! I've been in that position myself and hate holding up people behind me for that minute, but I'm NOT going driving along at 70kph on a motorway / dual carriageway!

TheChizler

VictorRomeo wrote: »

TheChizler wrote: »

That wouldn't matter though if lane 2 was used properly. Trucks etc shouldn't go above 80.

But it does matter as lanes are never used properly thus making it impossible to make reasonable and speed-legal progress. Even when the roads are quiet, there nearly always one idiot messing the system up...

Trucks are not an issue when in the left lane as they can be dealt with easily enough when everyone plays their part. However, almost daily, I find a truck in the right hand lane overtaking - quite legally I should add - some tool plodding at 70.... That can clog and bunch the traffic back and can take a good few kilometers to sort itself out....

I don't really see what the issue is as long as they're being slow in lane 1. It's being slow in lane 2 that causes a problem. Are you talking about single carriage ways?

Fuinseog

I was driving a country road at night which was unfamiliar to me. there were plenty of curves and dangerous bends so I was taking it handy. the speed limit was 100km and I was driving at 70km and a car was tailgating me with his full lights on which dazzled me if I looked in the rear view mirror. first time I experienced that. next time I will drive slower and turn on my hazards.

TheChizler

Fuinseog wrote: »

I was driving a country road at night which was unfamiliar to me. there were plenty of curves and dangerous bends so I was taking it handy. the speed limit was 100km and I was driving at 70km and a car was tailgating me with his full lights on which dazzled me if I looked in the rear view mirror. first time I experienced that. next time I will drive slower and turn on my hazards.

Defo you were in the right there. It's people bullying you to go faster that really gets me. I'm an advocate of letting people drive as slow as they like (within reason) as long as they're not completely blocking the road. There could be a multitude of valid reasons for them going slow, if you have a problem overtake when it's safe.

hucklebuck

Topper Harley wrote: »

Two wrongs don't make a right.

And their insurance will investigate why you were braking really hard for no reason and will hold you at least partly responsible when they find out that it was because you were trying to cause an collision.

Easy, a dog ran in to the road so I had to brake hard.

Scruffles

am not the driver of mine [a citroen nemo MS under the UKs motability scheme] but we always have tail gaters and highly impatient rageaholics localy.
s/staff dont drive slow they drive at the max allowed according to the different limits but for some people even that is to slow,they will tailgate.
there are some plain nasty drivers who will be verbaly and visualy abusive [doing w.nker or v signs,opening their windows and giving staff a mouthful of abuse] because shock horror we are going at the max limit and wont move out the way for them to over take.

perhaps they shoud attach a compulsory basic mental health test to the driving test to make sure drivers are mentaly stable and capable of safely being out in public behind a ton or so of steel.

Syllabus

had a stooopid woman about 10ft off my bumper(i follow the 2 sec rule) on the m50 today WHILE ON THE PHONE:eek::eek:

a quick tap of the brakes(im sure the god squad will berate me for it:rolleyes:) and she soon put the phone down.

had another one(women:rolleyes:) sit behind a pulled in bus for a good 45sec even though it was totally clear to go around because she was busy on the phone

dont care what anyone says but a good 80% of people i see on the phone while driving are wimins:eek:

hucklebuck

Scruffles wrote: »

because shock horror we are going at the max limit and wont move out the way for them to over take.

You aren't meant to drive in the "overtaking lane", the clue is in the name.

Fuinseog

TheChizler wrote: »

Defo you were in the right there. It's people bullying you to go faster that really gets me. I'm an advocate of letting people drive as slow as they like (within reason) as long as they're not completely blocking the road. There could be a multitude of valid reasons for them going slow, if you have a problem overtake when it's safe.

in this case it was natives who knew the road. when they did pass out i was given a few gestures.

TheChizler

Fuinseog wrote: »

in this case it was natives who knew the road. when they did pass out i was given a few gestures.

And there's a false confidence associated with these people, they know the road therefore it's safe to drive fast around corners, while people unfamiliar with the road, or just driving at an appropriate speed, are berated for being sensible.

I've been given gestures while being overtaken while driving at the limit on a straight, clear, wide road. Some people's mentalities are strange.

Muir

One night recently on a country road, some crazy person decided to try overtake a line of 6 cars on a blind bend. Of course 2 cars start coming down the other side of the road & the person in front of us managed to give him enough room to move in ahead of them. I can't understand people doing crazy things like that, and of course he didn't get any further ahead of us the whole way, so I don't even get the point.

Some Yoke

What is it with people driving around with full headlights and refusing to dim them for on coming traffic and cars in front?? Drove for 40 mins with some cnut behind me, full and foglights on, on a mild clear evening. So distracting and irritating.

Mr Keek

I dont really get tailgated much as I drive appropiate speeds, but an old trick I used to love when i had my last car was to flick on my rear fogs lamps. They Were on both sides of the car directly below my tail lights.

Just flick them on for a couple secs whiles maintaining my speed. The driver behind me would always see red and assumed i hit the brakes.

Obviously checked my rear view first to make sure there was no one behind them.

Can't do it on my new car as i've only the rear fog on one side now!

I absolutley hate it when im behind a line of cars on a road, no point overtaking because you are going nowhere and some mongjaws overtakes me and take up the little gap i had with the car in front.