How do you deal with 'Tailgaters' ?

sh1tstirrer · 11-12-2014 11:57pm

Big Black Bilbo wrote: »

Christ, if you're going to insist on correcting people's grammar, you'd be wise to make sure that yours is immaculate.

It makes you look silly.

That's free advice. You're welcome.

Don't mind him he still thinks brakes are breaks

patsfan1286 · 11-12-2014 11:59pm

If it's night time, adjust your rearview mirror so it shines their lights back in their face. Or push in the clutch and move the gears to reverse. It won't go into gear, but the clear reverse light comes on in the back. Scares the crap out of people.

greasepalm · 12-12-2014 12:01am

tailgaters easy ,put flashing blue light on roof and activate sirens and have the pop up sign in rear window

PULL OVER

SwiftJustice · 12-12-2014 12:02am

Put on your fog lights

doolox · 12-12-2014 12:05am

If you are that slow that people are up your rear end it is better to pull in and let them by I have done it often when not in the form to drive fast, full car and other reasons like rain, mist, looking for a new address, unfamiliar territory etc.....

The real culprits are those who think they can hold up everyone else when they are lost, looking for a new address, etc etc. and they dont see the 50 cars behind them trying to get to their destination TODAY.

thadg · 12-12-2014 12:08am

most of the time the car in front causing the hold up is either a yaris, corolla, avensis or landcruiser. 90% of the time its a Toyota of some sort.

will ye just pull in and leave off the cars if ye are holding some one up. its simple

FullblownRose · 12-12-2014 12:11am

doolox wrote: »

If you are that slow that people are up your rear end it is better to pull in and let them by I have done it often when not in the form to drive fast, full car and other reasons like rain, mist, looking for a new address, unfamiliar territory etc.....

The real culprits are those who think they can hold up everyone else when they are lost, looking for a new address, etc etc. and they dont see the 50 cars behind them trying to get to their destination TODAY.

Sorry, no- ive been tailgated when going at a fair clip myself. I've been stuck behing very slow and faltering drivers like that too and I keep my atience and don't tailgate them either.

If you're another one who can't tell the difference between minimum stopping distance and 'acres' of room you aren't qualified to comment.

Cantremember · 12-12-2014 12:12am

At night I turn off all my lights.

sh1tstirrer · 12-12-2014 12:13am

thadg wrote: »

most of the time the car in front causing the hold up is either a yaris, corolla, avensis or landcruiser. 90% of the time its a Toyota of some sort.

will ye just pull in and leave off the cars if ye are holding some one up. its simple

Grow up, Toyota cars what a fcuking childish comment :rolleyes:

roofer1988 · 12-12-2014 12:14am

Arjun Spoiled Invoice wrote: »

Very few 50km/h zones have a hard shoulder. Anyway driving on the hard shoulder is a motoring offence.

only on a motorway not on a national road why people dont understand this i dont know.Slow drivers are responsible for accidents too drive on or move over

roofer1988 · 12-12-2014 12:19am

Tzardine wrote: »

If I am on a motorway I will usually wait until I am alongside a truck and then I will slow down to match it's speed. Usually about 80kmh I will keep this up until I am bored of going slow. . I love the wild gesticulation that I can see in my mirror.

I feel it's our duty to fnuck with thele tailgaters.

You should be bate off the road get out of the way just cause you have nothing to do all day.go way and get a job and move out of the way

Tail Docker · 12-12-2014 12:22am

Sam Kade wrote: »

Wow, Mr. Big in his big sh1te car :rolleyes:

Evening. I'll presume you're Mr Slow, in his Micra?

I reckon most of the dawdlers can't see properly. It gets dark, or it's raining, and they're hunched over the wheel doing 50, noses pressed to the windscreen, in a little world of fug. I also said I don't tailgate, I just overtake. Tailgating is a pita.

Sam Kade · 12-12-2014 12:25am

Tail Docker wrote: »

Evening. I'll presume you're Mr Slow, in his Micra?

I reckon most of the dawdlers can't see properly. It gets dark, or it's raining, and they're hunched over the wheel doing 50, noses pressed to the windscreen, in a little world of fug. I also said I don't tailgate, I just overtake. Tailgating is a pita.

Sorry Mr. Big but your crystal ball is cloudy, you might want to polish it up

roofer1988 · 12-12-2014 12:27am

Funtrepreneur wrote: »

Generally I try to stay off the road during rush hour because of the woeful quality if Irish driving in general. There should be a test every 10 years and every 3 years if over 70. And I'm being generous at that. There are so many people on the road here whom should not be in charge of a wheelbarrow never mind a deadly weapon like a car.

Yea your dead right people driving slow and in the way, should not be on the road

candytog · 12-12-2014 12:33am

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Grow up, Toyota cars what a fcuking childish comment :rolleyes:

I have always noticed a trend with this myself. Very often when stuck behind a line of traffic travelling 80km/h on a national road the car holding up the whole show is a Toyota.

Not saying Toyota drivers are slow, but a high proportion of slow drivers I get stuck behind are toyota drivers..

Sam Kade · 12-12-2014 12:35am

roofer1988 wrote: »

Yea your dead right people driving slow and in the way, should not be on the road

Whatever way other people drive if you can't keep your cool you need to be taken off the road as well

Sam Kade · 12-12-2014 12:38am

candytog wrote: »

I have always noticed a trend with this myself. Very often when stuck behind a line of traffic travelling 80km/h on a national road the car holding up the whole show is a Toyota.

Not saying Toyota drivers are slow, but a high proportion of slow drivers I get stuck behind are toyota drivers..

Maybe you should go to bed half an hour earlier and leave half an hour earlier in the morning then.

ratracer · 12-12-2014 12:43am

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Grow up, Toyota cars what a fcuking childish comment :rolleyes:

Sure isn't it their own chief marketing slogan- 'the car in front is a Toyota'

BunkMoreland · 12-12-2014 12:43am

I usually go on or above the speed limit so when someone is tailgating me its really annoying. On back roads or roads where there's little overtaking possibilities I generally slow down to a crawl and hog the road to prevent them passing.

GG66 · 12-12-2014 12:44am

Depends ... do you want to stay calm or get stressed? Your choice and in your control.

Check your own judgement

- At night time cars in your rear view mirror can seem a lot closer and more intimidating than they actually are and in urban environment (where 50k zones are) drivers are used of driving closer to each other than rural environments.

- If you're feeling stressed yourself, then your reaction will be a stressed one and do nothing to calm either you or the other driver.

- Maybe they are genuinely in a hurry and will benefit from your polite cooperation.

Feel like pissing them off & stressing yourself out

- brake hard & then accelerate
- turn on your rear fog lights
- slow down then speed up

Feel like sending a confusing message

- flash hazards

Feeling nice

- slow down a little, keep as left as you can & allow them to pass without them having to go over the speed limit
- flicking your left indicator can give them a clue you're letting them pass

Stay in control

- Stay calm
- adjust your rear view mirror at night
- keep your speed at the speed limit
- put on some relaxing music and get on with your own journey or turn off the radio or music it is adding to the distraction,
- tap your brakes a few times lightly as a signal to back off

Can't guarantee that they'll understand any of this or interpret it the way I think they should.

Sam Kade · 12-12-2014 12:52am

roofer1988 wrote: »

You should be bate off the road get out of the way just cause you have nothing to do all day.go way and get a job and move out of the way

You didn't think he was serious did you

Andy From Sligo · 12-12-2014 12:53am

JeffKenna wrote: »

He said he was driving 'close' to the 50km. My reading of that is he was just under it. It's people like the OP who cause the most accidents on roads, thinking he has a god given right to hold people up because of the speed limit. Find a place to pull in and let people pass, I don't know one stretch of road in this country where you couldn't find some gap and leave the traffic behind you building up off.

if you want to be pedantic i was doing something like 49,9999999 Km/h the needle was as close to 50kmh - allowing for calibration of the old type needle type (not digital) speedometer, it might be good idea to drive just under the speed limit just to err on the side of caution - and lets all remember that figure is a 'SPEED LIMIT' - it dont mean you have to maintain your driving at that speed it means you are breaking the law if you go over that limit

Kevin McCloud · 12-12-2014 12:56am

roofer1988 wrote: »

only on a motorway not on a national road why people dont understand this i dont know.Slow drivers are responsible for accidents too drive on or move over

That would be collisions, saying its an accident implies no one is to blame.

Slicemeister · 12-12-2014 1:00am

Sam Kade wrote: »

Call the ambulance

Not much good if a loved one is in serious trouble.

Happened to me once where my pregnant OH was in trouble and needed to get to hospital. I turned on the hazards and in fairness every car left me by handily.

lulu1 · 12-12-2014 1:03am

veryangryman wrote: »

Pull into the nearest hard shoulder momentarily to allow them to pass. What's the issue?

Hello Mr Tailgater

evo2000 · 12-12-2014 1:11am

JC01 wrote: »

Funny I feel the same about your "sort"

My sort care not for the opinions of your "sort"

evo2000 · 12-12-2014 1:15am

JC01 wrote: »

Pay absolutly no heed of them, if they want to pass il pull in from the Center of the lane to let them. Ive never understood why people get so bothered by it.

Also in my experiance a lot of the people complaining about them are the same ones toddling along at 60 ina 80.

Your sort getting what they deserve from my sort!

Ghost Train · 12-12-2014 1:24am

either try to ignore them
or adjust your speed either up or down to feel a bit more comfortable with gap

I usually lift off and slow down a bit, I guess because it feels safer when someones too close if the speeds are reduced

if somebody wants to overtake it's odd they don't understand that
they've got more visibility and room to accelerate if they leave a reasonable gap to the car in front

if they don't want to overtake and just like following close then its hard to understand why

lulu1 · 12-12-2014 1:27am

Why is everyone in such a rush going nowhere. Slow down were a long time dead.

Andy From Sligo · 12-12-2014 1:38am

if you sped up to leave a longer gap but by doing so you broke the speed limit would an explanation to the Gard's should they pull you over that "I broke the speed limit because the person behind was tailgating me" - would that cut the mustard or would they still do you? - im presuming 'Do you for speeding' ...

MarkAnthony · 12-12-2014 3:17am

I just work out the speed for their stopping distance and drive at that speed. White van tonight managed to get me down to about 15Kph going out towards Howth.

I love that bit in Top Gear when he's going on about the feature that controls the speed relative to the car in front like cruise control 2.0.

"You can have anywhere from X to the 'Full Audi'" :pac:

It's three type of vehicles with only two drivers;

Audis - 99% are driven by complete knobs (I assume they're all rep mobiles)
Old Beamers with the below drivers in their 'night car'
Van drivers

That and anyone with a KE plate, none of the can drive in Dublin. All to busy trying to get out of the 'big smoke'.

whats_my_name · 12-12-2014 3:23am

Meet many of these assholes on the n4 (speed limit 80km/hr) & on the m50 (100 km/hr). Used to panic & try & get into the next available space with little room in the lane next to me but now I wait until its safe to do so...unfortunately for the tailgater it might mean been behind me for a considerable amount of time! People don't seem to understand speed limits nowadays!

MarkAnthony · 12-12-2014 3:31am

whats_my_name wrote: »

Meet many of these assholes on the n4 (speed limit 80km/hr) & on the m50 (100 km/hr). Used to panic & try & get into the next available space with little room in the lane next to me but now I wait until its safe to do so...unfortunately for the tailgater it might mean been behind me for a considerable amount of time! People don't seem to understand speed limits nowadays!

That's a bit different. If you're overtaking and making progress fine, otherwise it's not up to you to set the speed limit. Lane hoging is as bad as tailgating IMHO.

whats_my_name · 12-12-2014 3:40am

MarkAnthony wrote: »

That's a bit different. If you're overtaking and making progress fine, otherwise it's not up to you to set the speed limit. Lane hoging is as bad as tailgating IMHO.

Its lane hogging when there is no one in the next available lane but when there is a line of traffic that you are obviously going faster then albeit a car stuck up your ass its hardly lane hogging & no I would never determine the speed limit...there is usually little circular signs that does that for us!

candytog · 12-12-2014 4:11am

Sam Kade wrote: »

Maybe you should go to bed half an hour earlier and leave half an hour earlier in the morning then.

Sorry..what? I get stuck behind slow drivers all the time, any time, any day. I just made a comment on the type of car it often is.

Me getting up earlier doesn't change the likelyhood of this happening. They will still be there, plodding along, oblivious to the line of cars building up behind them.

SherlockWatson · 12-12-2014 4:27am

Carpentry wrote: »

Does that mean that you just simply don't give a f... about what's going on the road around you ?

Feel sorry for you....

...and by the way, it should have been "most stupid thing"

There is a big difference between "One Of The Stupidest Things" and "Most Stupid Thing".

Most Stupid Thing = No.1 Stupid thing he has seen.

One Of The Stupidest Things = Probably top 5, maybe 10 stupid things.

If you can't grasp simple differences like that, then maybe you should shut the **** up and stop correcting people.

Unless of course you are actually correcting him and clarifying that you are indeed the "Most Stupid Thing", in which case, I certainly do agree with you.

The_Captain · 12-12-2014 12:25pm

The logic in this thread is horrific

"Tailgaters are driving dangerously, so I drive dangerously to make them stop driving dangerously"

All you're going to do is cause an accident

Shenshen · 12-12-2014 12:51pm

I've learned to ignore them, for the most part.

My daily commut starts on a stretch of road with a 60kph limit, followed by a stretch of road with 80kph before I come to the dual carriageway (N25).

I avoid driving at rush hour, so will leave the house at 7am. That way, I avoid most people who would sit on my bumper for doing between 60-70kph on the 60kph stretch.
If I do end up with a tailgater, though, my options are limited. It's a narrow, very bendy and very uphill downhill bit of road, with tall hedges or walls either side. Short of pulling into someone's driveway, I can't pull over to let anyone pass, and there really are no bits where it would be safe for them to overtake.

So I do the only thing I can do. Drive exactly as I normally would and hope that nobody will come to any harm.
Occasionally, I end up rather stressed and upset if I get a particularly aggressive one. But there's nothing you can do, you can't make other people follow the rules of the road.

danrua01 · 12-12-2014 12:58pm

Shenshen wrote: »

Occasionally, I end up rather stressed and upset if I get a particularly aggressive one. But there's nothing you can do, you can't make other people follow the rules of the road.

Unfortunately, that's the truth!

It IS aggravating when people drive at 20 mph in a 40 zone at rush hour, but there's no call to be up their ar*e.

allibastor · 12-12-2014 1:00pm

Jam on the brakes as if a I saw something on the road. let them go into the back of me.

They wont do that again

MarkAnthony · 12-12-2014 1:05pm

The thing that always makes me laugh is ask anyone about tailgaters, go on ask 100 people over the next few weeks. The answers range from ignore them to 'jam on the brakes let them crash into the back of you, soak their car in petrol and laugh as they die a fiery death'.

No one ever says 'oh why I speed up as the tailgater has reminded me I was not going fast enough and perhaps I missed a speed limit change or their tailgating suddenly changed the dynamics of my car and my skill level or the conditions on a given stretch of road. Thank you Mr. (Cos lets be honest it almost always is Mr.) Tailgater.'

So why do it in the first place?

whomitconcerns · 12-12-2014 1:11pm

Because you are in the right hand lane of the m50 going 80kph with nothing to your left maybe?

to be clear I mean flashing from a safe distance. But what some would call tailgating....

FullblownRose · 12-12-2014 1:14pm

MarkAnthony wrote: »

The thing that always makes me laugh is ask anyone about tailgaters, go on ask 100 people over the next few weeks. The answers range from ignore them to 'jam on the brakes let them crash into the back of you, soak their car in petrol and laugh as they die a fiery death'.

No one ever says 'oh why I speed up as the tailgater has reminded me I was not going fast enough and perhaps I missed a speed limit change or their tailgating suddenly changed the dynamics of my car and my skill level or the conditions on a given stretch of road. Thank you Mr. (Cos lets be honest it almost always is Mr.) Tailgater.'

So why do it in the first place?

Thats because it's not the case.
No one ever says 'thank you driver in front of me for flashing your hazard lights, it made me take note of my behaviour and adjust it, minimising the chance of me causing an accident by tailgating.
They wont say it because theyre deluded about their own abilities and sadly might not even realise their own ineptitude if they did cause a crash.

MarkAnthony · 12-12-2014 1:20pm

FullblownRose wrote: »

Thats because it's not the case.
No one ever says 'thank you driver in front of me for flashing your hazard lights, it made me take note of my behaviour and adjust it, minimising the chance of me causing an accident by tailgating.
They wont say it because theyre deluded about their own abilities and sadly might not even realise their own ineptitude if they did cause a crash.

Flashing your hazards/brake lights isn't the same as being tailgated. The person going at the slow speed is doing so for a reason. Different drivers have different levels of skill. While there is a certain point that it becomes lack of progress and therefore the person shouldn't be driving that's a hell of a lot slower than people think, especially in built up areas.

People doing 55/60 in 50 zones are the ones without the requisite skill to be driving I include the ability to control one's self in that statement.

FullblownRose · 12-12-2014 1:28pm

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Flashing your hazards/brake lights isn't the same as being tailgated. The person going at the slow speed is doing so for a reason. Different drivers have different levels of skill. While there is a certain point that it becomes lack of progress and therefore the person shouldn't be driving that's a hell of a lot slower than people think, especially in built up areas.

People doing 55/60 in 50 zones are the ones without the requisite skill to be driving I include the ability to control one's self in that statement.

Misunderstanding I think
People flash hazard lights to warn tailgaters that they are too close and request that they allow more space between the cars.
It actually works sometimes and people back off a bit.
The tailgaters on this thread are a different breed altogether. They tailgate on urpose and blame other drivers for 'making' them 'have to' tailgate, theyseem to think they are highly skilled and dont realise that others choose not to tailgate, not because of lack of driving ability but because they know better.

I agree with you actually and dont have a huge problem with slow drivers. They're more of a nuisance than a danger as long as people don't get hotheaded and try to overtake them when it's not safe to.

Caliden · 12-12-2014 1:34pm

Slowing 10-15km/h sorts it and if not, I slow to a crawl so they can overtake me on the solid white if they want.

95% don't and just back off. Bit strange that they see nothing with breaking the speed limit to catch up to me and then aren't prepared to overtake a car going 40kmh in an 80 zone.

Flem31 · 12-12-2014 1:48pm

In my experience the majority of tailgaters I have the misfortune to end up in front of, are driving above the speed limit.
And they expect me to break the speed limit to suit their reckless driving.

I just slow down gradually and they get the hint........eventually.

ghogie91 · 12-12-2014 1:53pm

Definitely would get one of those signs to say 'Is the road the only place your good at chasing tail bud?'

Esterhase · 12-12-2014 1:55pm

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would tailgate. It's safest to just hang back and overtake when you can. If you can't overtake and you're 2 feet behind them you're still not getting to your destination any faster than if you're 20 feet behind. Yeah you'll be delayed for a while due to slowpoke, but how much longer would the delay be if they had to slam on the brakes and you went into the back of them?

People who potter along at 50 in an 80 zone holding up other drivers in good weather conditions because they're not in a rush, old, forgot their glasses, don't feel confident etc. aren't the type of drivers I'd like to put under pressure. Ideally they wouldn't be out on the road at all, but there's no excuse to bully them out of the way.

If someone's trying to drive into my back seat I'll slow down a little and move to the left so they have some more room to overtake. The very slight possibility that they might have someone in labour or bleeding to death in the car isn't enough to make me speed or drive in a hard shoulder to facilitate them.

Flem31 · 12-12-2014 1:58pm

ghogie91 wrote: »

Definitely would get one of those signs to say 'Is the road the only place your good at chasing tail bud?'

I used to have a sign on my back window ......"A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine"

Only problem was, it was never really big enough to see properly from distance

How do you deal with 'Tailgaters' ?

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