Tailgating?

DubLegs

I've noticed recently driving back from the country and obviously around Dublin of the amount of people tailgating and basically acting the nusiance and i'm fed up! I'm not a learner or a 10kmph granny - i keep within speed limits and been driving for 3 yrs 1 of which fully licenced but this kind of thing is intimidating!

Can this type of thing be reported?
Other than pulling in on a road and letting the car overtake you - what else can you do? (solutions likebraking suddenly, fog lights etc will only put me in danger)

ImDave

If you felt that a specific instance constitutes dangerous driving, I guess you could report it. Can't imagine you'd get very far though.

DubLegs

I presume report to gardai - though i not sure i could get very far as it would be impossible to prove unless in cities where there is cctv.
Shame!

artanevilla

You could tap the brakes so the lights come on but the car doesn't slow, that might make them back off a bit.

Orange69

DubLegs wrote: »

I've noticed recently driving back from the country and obviously around Dublin of the amount of people tailgating and basically acting the nusiance and i'm fed up! I'm not a learner or a 10kmph granny - i keep within speed limits and been driving for 3 yrs 1 of which fully licenced but this kind of thing is intimidating!

Can this type of thing be reported?
Other than pulling in on a road and letting the car overtake you - what else can you do? (solutions likebraking suddenly, fog lights etc will only put me in danger)

Obviously you are holding people up, try driving a little faster if it bothers you that much....

Einstein

Orange69 wrote: »

Obviously you are holding people up, try driving a little faster if it bothers you that much....

maybe it's my congested head not detecting the sarcasm...please tell me ur joking...

DubLegs

Orange69 wrote: »

Obviously you are holding people up, try driving a little faster if it bothers you that much....

So if i'm doing 100 on a 100 road, you think that i should break the speed limit, endanger myself and others because of some fool sitting on my bumper? Never mind being done for speed and add points to a clean licence?

As i said I don't break the speed limit so i'm not holding people up unless they want to break the speed limit.

Hope ur joking too - cos if not i presume ur one of the ones sitting on my bumper!

ImDave

Orange69 wrote: »

Obviously you are holding people up, try driving a little faster if it bothers you that much....

:eek: I think this should be nominated for the Road Safety Authority's slogan for 2008 :rolleyes:

Einstein

DubLegs wrote: »

So if i'm doing 100 on a 100 road, you think that i should break the speed limit, endanger myself and others because of some fool sitting on my bumper? Never mind being done for speed and add points to a clean licence?

As i said I don't break the speed limit so i'm not holding people up unless they want to break the speed limit.

Hope ur joking too - cos if not i presume ur one of the ones sitting on my bumper!

+1

It's something that actually really irritates me more than anything.
I was driving up the N7 one morening- bout 6.45 doing 100 in the outside lane, passing by people on my left, when all of a sudden, a tithead driving his M5 sits on my ass and flashes his lights. and giving me the finger in my rear view..
The temptation of slamming on and letting him hit me was so overwhelming...

and again as pointed out, i was doing the speed limit, passing out other drivers on my left, so there wasn't even somewhere for me to go.:mad:

DubLegs

Einstein wrote: »

+1

It's something that actually really irritates me more than anything.
I was driving up the N7 one morening- bout 6.45 doing 100 in the outside lane, passing by people on my left, when all of a sudden, a tithead driving his M5 sits on my ass and flashes his lights. and giving me the finger in my rear view..
The temptation of slamming on and letting him hit me was so overwhelming...

and again as pointed out, i was doing the speed limit, passing out other drivers on my left, so there wasn't even somewhere for me to go.:mad:

The N7 is the road i'm mainly referring to as i do that DUB-Limerick drive at least 3 weekends a month - some drivers are horrific on it.
So much so that New Years Day driving back - i was panicking about a car behind me, I couldn't pull in for the shear fact that i would not have gotten back out into the traffic it was that heavy. I mean if the road was clear ahead of me i'd gladly move over to let the car pass but it wasn't. Why some ppl insist on sitting on my backside (pretty as it is), i'll never understand.

Einstein

DubLegs wrote: »

The N7 is the road i'm mainly referring to as i do that DUB-Limerick drive at least 3 weekends a month - some drivers are horrific on it.
So much so that New Years Day driving back - i was panicking about a car behind me, I couldn't pull in for the shear fact that i would not have gotten back out into the traffic it was that heavy. I mean if the road was clear ahead of me i'd gladly move over to let the car pass but it wasn't. Why some ppl insist on sitting on my backside (pretty as it is), i'll never understand.

really is for people like this that i'd love to be undercover traffic corps...

the satisfaction would be better then sex*



*this is not necessarily true

DeepBlue

Didn't we already do the tailgating thing last month?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055194388

DubLegs

DeepBlue wrote: »

Didn't we already do the tailgating thing last month?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055194388

Sorry my mistake didn't see it!

MarkR

My recommendation still stands.

Wishbone Ash

I drive the N7 on a regular basis and never have any problem with tailgaters even though I sometimes drive below the posted speed limit.

I wonder does it depend on the car you drive?

stovelid

Are you in the overtaking lane when this happens, OP?

mickoneill30

For me, they don't bother me. If somebody drives at an unsafe distance behind me I slow down so that I'm going at a safer speed for the distance they're behind me. If that annoys them I don't really care. I'm not trying to annoy them or hold them up but if I have to jam on I don't want to be killed because some idiot has to stick to my bumper.

Of course if it's safe to pass I'll use that as the first option. It's always better to have an idiot driver ahead of you rather than behind you. They're probably going to crash somewhere and you don't want it to be into the back of you.

I don't agree with tapping the brakes. What if you tap them too hard? What if he doesn't react in time (he / she has already shown they're a crap driver)? It's great that he'll be paying for the accident. It's not so great if your car is wrecked or one or both of you gets injured.

beatman91

Just let the person over take you. If there is a left lane there then move in and if there is a hard shoulder you can move in too. They'll be gone in a few sec and you won't be all stressed out.

Ok you get the odd idiot that will tailgate you when there is a slow car in fron of you and you can't do nothing about it.

Or if its 100km and you are doing 100km the slow gently to 80km, indicate laft and let them over take you, just don't hug the center line.

Orange69

DubLegs wrote: »

So if i'm doing 100 on a 100 road, you think that i should break the speed limit, endanger myself and others because of some fool sitting on my bumper? Never mind being done for speed and add points to a clean licence?

As i said I don't break the speed limit so i'm not holding people up unless they want to break the speed limit.

Hope ur joking too - cos if not i presume ur one of the ones sitting on my bumper!

No i dont tailgate but everytime i drive anywhere i end up getting stuck behind some "driving miss daisy" type who tips along at 40kph with a clear road ahead of them.. and then don't notice when the speed limit increases to 60 etc..

So i guess i can see the point of someone who would tailgate out of pure frustration but at the same time flashing lights and giving the finger is just ridiculous.

Its easy to demonize people for tailgating, but if it is constantly happening to you then maybe your driving style is the problem. Yes you may not be breaking the rules of the road and you may be "sticking to the limit" etc but in the real world the majority of people exceed the speed limit, mostly in a safe and controlled manner..

Dont get your back up if you end up holding these people up and they sit on your ass..

testicle

You will not catch leprosy by driving in the left lane on the N7 between Newland Cross and the M7

mikemac

Tbh the first few times I've left Dublin going down the Naas Road towards the M7, I thought the left lane was for the many exits that you pass.
I thought if I stayed in the left lane then I'd be forced to leave the Naas Road.

Yes I now this is wrong but it's what the signs seem to show.
Sorry,getting offtopic

Orange69

testicle wrote: »

You will not catch leprosy by driving in the left lane on the N7 between Newland Cross and the M7

lol, thanks for the idea...

tuxy

You guys are forgetting the good side to tailgating... you are no longer being blinded by their front fogs as you can no longer see them in your rear view mirror.

BTW I find I only get tailgated while driving a car that has L plates up.

kikel

micmclo wrote: »

Tbh the first few times I've left Dublin going down the Naas Road towards the M7, I thought the left lane was for the many exits that you pass.
I thought if I stayed in the left lane then I'd be forced to leave the Naas Road.

Yes I now this is wrong but it's what the signs seem to show.
Sorry,getting offtopic

i've notice that too.

Seth Brundle

micmclo wrote: »

Tbh the first few times I've left Dublin going down the Naas Road towards the M7, I thought the left lane was for the many exits that you pass.
I thought if I stayed in the left lane then I'd be forced to leave the Naas Road.

Yes I now this is wrong but it's what the signs seem to show.
Sorry,getting offtopic

Irish local authorities have a really bad habit of ignoring the signmaking rulebook.
See Poor Road Signage Pictures

walshs3

DubLegs wrote: »

I presume report to gardai - though i not sure i could get very far as it would be impossible to prove unless in cities where there is cctv.
Shame!

Eh,dont think that would get you very far,i was tailgated by a garda traffic corps car the other night(2 o clock in the morning,coming home from work).The road on which it happened is about a five mile straight road so he would have had no problem overtaking me.The speed limit was 80kph and thats what i was doing.i ended up indicating off to a side road which was a lit up part of the road.it was here i seen it was a traffic corps car.Now i have absolutely nothing against the guards but if this continues i might just change my mind.must say it really pis*ed me off :mad::mad:

Ciaran500

Orange69 wrote: »

So i guess i can see the point of someone who would tailgate out of pure frustration but at the same time flashing lights and giving the finger is just ridiculous.

WTF is the point of tailgating either way? People rarely drive faster when people tailgate them and you're just looking to cause an accident trying it.

Orange69 wrote: »

Its easy to demonize people for tailgating, but if it is constantly happening to you then maybe your driving style is the problem. Yes you may not be breaking the rules of the road and you may be "sticking to the limit" etc but in the real world the majority of people exceed the speed limit, mostly in a safe and controlled manner..

It doesn't matter what normally happens some people don't want to go over the speed limit. Tough **** if you get stuck behind them, tailgating doesn't help at all.

Orange69 wrote: »

Dont get your back up if you end up holding these people up and they sit on your ass..

Ditto, don't get annoyed just cause someone doesn't want to drive as fast as you.

TheBazman

I agree persistent tailgating is wrong however I think there are circumstances where short bursts are necessary. Common eg on 2 lane motorway where say you are doing 120km/hr- you are fast approaching two cars in front one doing say 100 and the other 90. The one doing 100 decides to overtake just after you have indicated to do the same so now you have to brake strongly. Obviously they should have looked in the rear view mirror and see the faster approaching car behind them. But even you can live with that. The really frustrating thing is when they wont pull back in straight away because they want to leave a safe distance on their inside ahead of the 90km/hr car - their interpretation of a safe distance being 2 - 3 kms! I think in this case a short burst of tailgating is necessary/ or the odd flash of the lights.

(As an aside if you want to see what every possible example of diabolical driving standards in the country - the N7 is the place to be! The amount of times when on the inside lane I have to cross out to the outside lane just to pass someone crawling on the middle lane)

Bluetonic

artanevilla wrote: »

You could tap the brakes so the lights come on but the car doesn't slow, that might make them back off a bit.

Idiotic driving.

DubLegs

Orange69 wrote: »

No i dont tailgate but everytime i drive anywhere i end up getting stuck behind some "driving miss daisy" type who tips along at 40kph with a clear road ahead of them.. and then don't notice when the speed limit increases to 60 etc..

So i guess i can see the point of someone who would tailgate out of pure frustration but at the same time flashing lights and giving the finger is just ridiculous.

Its easy to demonize people for tailgating, but if it is constantly happening to you then maybe your driving style is the problem. Yes you may not be breaking the rules of the road and you may be "sticking to the limit" etc but in the real world the majority of people exceed the speed limit, mostly in a safe and controlled manner..

Dont get your back up if you end up holding these people up and they sit on your ass..

I never said i was constantly being tailgated, just noticed alot it recently and there isn't anything wrong with my driving style. I'm definitely not a "driving miss daisy" type or rally driver - just responsible.
I drive a renault megane coupe with a full clean licence. I'm not in the over taking lane when i'm tailgated and i do pull over for anyone where possible.
It is just those ignorant idiots that insist on sitting on my a*sre to give them a bit of a power trip or a buzz etc that bother me. I'm amazed by the your comments of real world - how is speeding done in a safe and controlled manner without a high risk of danger?

walshs3

walshs3 wrote: »

Eh,dont think that would get you very far,i was tailgated by a garda traffic corps car the other night(2 o clock in the morning,coming home from work).The road on which it happened is about a five mile straight road so he would have had no problem overtaking me.The speed limit was 80kph and thats what i was doing.i ended up indicating off to a side road which was a lit up part of the road.it was here i seen it was a traffic corps car.Now i have absolutely nothing against the guards but if this continues i might just change my mind.must say it really pis*ed me off :mad::mad:

Bit of a catch 22 here, at that time of the morning as a lot of the drivers are leaving pubs/clubs etc, some may be pushing their luck!
These are easy to spot!!!! because they tend to stick to the limit...(guilty conscience).
That's why they tailed you - waiting for the drunken slipup!!
If you just drive normally (limit +10%) the police would completely ignore you, they don't realistically expect you to "work to rule" with speed limits late at night - have an accident! well that's a different story!

I notice quite a few doing the limit when I was coming into work early @6:30AM new years day (any other morning everyone is doing the limit +10% or so - between queues!).

Halfdog

DubLegs wrote: »

The N7 is the road i'm mainly referring to as i do that DUB-Limerick drive at least 3 weekends a month - some drivers are horrific on it.
So much so that New Years Day driving back - i was panicking about a car behind me, I couldn't pull in for the shear fact that i would not have gotten back out into the traffic it was that heavy. I mean if the road was clear ahead of me i'd gladly move over to let the car pass but it wasn't. Why some ppl insist on sitting on my backside (pretty as it is), i'll never understand.

I do the N7 two to three times a month, nothing worse than a train of cars stuck behind someone who hasn't the courtesy to pull in a bit to the hard shoulder for a few seconds and let these cars overtake. I hope you are not one of these culprits, I also hope you are not the same breed that keeps your rear fog lights on at the same time. The N7 is full of hard shoulders from Mountrath to Limerick except for the botched up Nenagh bypass.

stovelid

I don't get tailgated so much. If you are being tailgated a lot, you might need to look at your own driving, in particular, your lane behavior.

stovelid

stovelid wrote: »

I don't get tailgated so much. If you are being tailgated a lot, you might need to to look at your own driving, in particular, your lane behavior.

Yes, I came up behind someone recently who after overtaking a line of slower cars on the dual carriageway stayed in the RH lane, I was two seconds behind him (before someone says "tailgator") I then wanted to overtake him but be refused to move over even after a couple of flashes.
In the end I went the wrong side of him, cars following me had to do the same!:mad:

DubLegs

Halfdog wrote: »

I do the N7 two to three times a month, nothing worse than a train of cars stuck behind someone who hasn't the courtesy to pull in a bit to the hard shoulder for a few seconds and let these cars overtake. I hope you are not one of these culprits, I also hope you are not the same breed that keeps your rear fog lights on at the same time. The N7 is full of hard shoulders from Mountrath to Limerick except for the botched up Nenagh bypass.

I agree with you about the above but i'm not one of those people - definitely not, i have no problem whatsoever to move over. As for fog lights, i definitley only use them when needs be.

Lads i was looking for a bit of advice on reporting tailgating, definitely not looking for a attack on my driving style, as i personally dont' see a problem. AS per previous posts i believe I am correct in my speed and behaviour, i move over where possible and don't sit in the wrong lanes to annoy ppl. Seems it's hard for ppl to accept that there are actually others that just prefer to intimidate other drivers.

Webmonkey

Surely this tailgating business occurs quite often if you go to trouble to post a thread on it? - I obey the speed limits and rarely come across tailgaters. I am not sure what its like in Dublin but its not so bad in Cork/Kerry if you drive at upto the correct limit or anywhere reasonable (50mph+ on 60mph limit).

But I do come across these idiots driving at 30mph, slowing down to 15/20mph on bends. Now in my opinion these drivers are just as dangerous as the tailgaters. I bet if everyone drove properly at a reasonable speed, there wouldn't be half the tail backs and the number of crashes would be reduced. It is a lot more dangerous to be driving in between a tail of cars rather than driving happily out in the open with room at a responsible speed. The gap will widen between cars and won't be so dodgy. And then you will find some impatient idiot trying to pass out about 5 cars at once with no where to pull in if they get caught and more than likely another idiot will see this idiot and then attempt the same so you will end up with more cars on the wrong side of the road with no where to pull in as everyone so close in the tail. Sorry about my ranting.

DubLegs

DubLegs wrote: »

Lads i was looking for a bit of advice on reporting tailgating, .

tbh, you got answer in the first two replies.
Report them for "Driving without reasonable consideration" 2 points.

http://www.penaltypoints.ie/driving_offences.php

skodacbradio

walshs3 wrote: »

Eh,dont think that would get you very far,i was tailgated by a garda traffic corps car the other night(2 o clock in the morning,coming home from work).The road on which it happened is about a five mile straight road so he would have had no problem overtaking me.The speed limit was 80kph and thats what i was doing.i ended up indicating off to a side road which was a lit up part of the road.it was here i seen it was a traffic corps car.Now i have absolutely nothing against the guards but if this continues i might just change my mind.must say it really pis*ed me off :mad::mad:

That has to be the worst I used to get tailgated alot when I was a Provo driver and had the L plates up but since I passed really has dropped off alot, but the gaurd's are the worst for it either day or night.I was driving all of the outer ring road in waterford the other night and not once did they overtake me and its dual carraige, had to stick to 40mph all the way, where is the sense in them been about a foot from my back door or the stupid 40' as well, I thought dual carraiges are 62' though do I do 60' just to be on the safe side, anyone will tell you could do 70' easily on it.

Orange69

DubLegs wrote: »

I'm amazed by the your comments of real world - how is speeding done in a safe and controlled manner without a high risk of danger?

Doing 60km/h in a 50km/h zone is not speeding.. You need to re-evaluate your concept of speeding ignoring the stupidly low speeding limits that are posted (but rarely enforced) in this country..

For instance i was driving home the other night and was doing about 80km/h on 60km/h stretch of road (dock road limerick after the cross over). The road was wide and clear with only a couple of other cars. I was driving behind a Garda car doing the same speed. A good driver will match their speed to their conditions... in this instance it was safer and more efficient to go at 80km/h.
If i did 60 then a trail of cars would soon build up behind me and i would be holding up the flow and putting other drivers lives at risk.

Sometimes i drive out to west Clare and some of the small narrow back roads have 100km/h speed limits on them yet i will typically stay at 60km/h because this is a more appropriate speed in the circumstance (tight corners, bad visibility etc)..

Ignore the rubbish coming from the RSA about speeding giving you aids and killing babies etc.. A good driver will rely on their own skill and common sense to adjust their speed. If everyone on the road did this we wouldn't need speed limits.

Orange69

Orange69 wrote: »

You need to re-evaluate your concept of speeding ignoring the stupidly low speeding limits that are posted (but rarely enforced) in this country...

There's some element of truth there..
I know of at least one case in the UK where a road had it's speed limit reduced from the "national speed limit" (60mph - but no signs) to 40mph, accident rate doubled!

Cause: before the limit was imposed the average speed along that road were 35mph on average, after 42mph. Most experienced drivers are able to drive at a safe speed without being prompted by signs - in this instance the signs gave a false sense of security into it being safe to go at 40+a bit mph.
Speeding on it's own is not a real issue, inappropiate speed IS, Incorrect speed limits can make roads more dangerous rather than safer.
Setting limits too low increases the risk of crashes caused by frustrated motorists.

tuxy

Orange69 wrote: »

For instance i was driving home the other night and was doing about 80km/h on 60km/h stretch of road (dock road limerick after the cross over). The road was wide and clear with only a couple of other cars. I was driving behind a Garda car doing the same speed.

A regular squad car in this situation can not do you for speeding as they have no evidence.
However many Garda will setup speed checks in these areas in order to meet quotas.

Seth Brundle

Thread locked at OPs request - original Q answered!