Tailgating, what is the best course of action?

the_syco

How to cause a car crash. Step one:

I would normally gently apply the brakes just enough that the brake lights come on but I still travel at pretty much the same speed, then obviously speed up. A few times of that normally does the trick, although for a learner driver, it might not be advisable as you could press the brakes too hard and, as you said, the driver would end up in your back seat.

jobless wrote: »

a few times ive just thrown the hazard lights on, that seemed to get the message across i wasnt happy with them.... worth trying anyway

That's actually the best suggestion I've heard yet.

=-=

As a rule, I would rather honk, than tailgate. And that would only be if I came across someone doing the same speed in the overtaking lane, or slower, than someone in the normal lane.

aero2k

One point that hasn't been mentioned yet:
If the car behind is too close, then you need to be sure to leave a larger than usual (maybe twice as large as usual) gap to any vehicle in front of you, so if that vehicle has to do an emergency stop you can do a more gradual one and lessen the risk of being rear-ended.

green123

CiniO wrote: »

Just Gardai should pay mora attention to tailgeters and give them big penalties.

unfortunately they never do

Honey-ec

I can't believe people are actually advising a learner driver to brake-test a tailgater. Jesus Christ.

Typhoon.

Fog light !

Sterling Archer

I would advise it at all.... it never happened me when i was a learner but i'd suggest lowering your speed, ignoring them and letting them pass asap,

But i have had it happen to me and i ignored him and he refused to pass so i left foot braked and lit up the brake lights, this didn't work so i fog lighted him, That worked :cool:

But whenever i had to drive quickly (goin to hospital:( ) i just flashed my lights once or twice and most people realised i was behind them and let me pass (always thanked them with the hazards:D )

**Timbuk2**

Never speed up if you are being tailgated. In general, tailgaters will always remain right behind you, even if you speed up. However, if you slow down gently, and they still remain close, they can stop much quicker if you slam on your brakes, such as in the case of an emergency.

Slow down gradually, and they should pass as soon as it becomes safe.

Don't slow down with the gears or anything - let them see your brakelight, even if you are only applying a tiny bit of pressure on the pedal. If they are tailgaiting, they will be paying very close attention to your brakelights.

dudara

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

If they are tailgaiting, they will be paying very close attention to your brakelights.

I wouldn't make this assumption. A lot of people are barely sentient while driving.

J_R

Hi,

You were of course tavelling a safe distance from the left and not hogging the center of the road. ???

Tailgating is dangerous, which is why it is a two penalty point offence. if you have to brake suddenly the car behind WILL hit you so you should immediately correct the situation.

Slow down, you can now safely move a little closer to the left, this now gives the following car a better chance to overtake. If he can not, too bad. But if you now have to brake suddenly much less danger of serious damage/injury.

I would not continue on at speed. Too dangerous.

However, if the distance he is behind is uncomfortable rather dangerously close then you could try your windscreen washer. Quite often water goes over your roof and this will then land on his windscreen. When you see his wipers stop, do it again. If it is a common occurrence you could set one of the jets a little high.

DrivingInfo

J_R wrote: »

Hi,

You were of course tavelling a safe distance from the left and not hogging the center of the road. ???

You should not be too close to the left or the line.

Tailgating is dangerous, which is why it is a two penalty point offence. if you have to brake suddenly the car behind WILL hit you so you should immediately correct the situation.

ONLY IF YOU CAN! How would you correct this on a narrow road with a lot of bends. The driver behind is at fault if you need to break for a child that comes out on to the road on a bike. I am not saying you should speed on, but pay attention to the road IN FRONT of you and Only move in where it is safe to do so.
My family were involved in the emergency services for over 30 years and the biggest problem the had were people pulling in where they should NOT and end up blocking them. WHAT IF THE TAILGATER IS A UNMARKED CAR HEADING TO YOUR HOUSE? or A FIREMAN ON HIS/HER WAY THE YOUR HOUSE?

Slow down, you can now safely move a little closer to the left, this now gives the following car a better chance to overtake. If he can not, too bad. But if you now have to brake suddenly much less danger of serious damage/injury.

Complete bull. you should break early to give early warning to the idiot behind you that you are slowing, then you should move in BUT and a BIG BUT, you ONLY MOVE IN WHEN IT IS SAFE.

I would not continue on at speed. Too dangerous.

What if it is dangerous to slow? Your thinking is so one track it beggers’ belief.

However, if the distance he is behind is uncomfortable rather dangerously close then you could try your windscreen washer. Quite often water goes over your roof and this will then land on his windscreen. When you see his wipers stop, do it again. If it is a common occurrence you could set one of the jets a little high.

If you are a Driving Instructor I would suggest you back to train because your inciting dangerous driving here.
NEVER DO THE WIPERS.

robbie_998

oh heres a good one...

"Oh no, some sort of animal on the road. i must avoid it somehow !

/slams on brakes (screeech craash pow)

"oh no i have crashed, but no worries it was the guy behind me who is at fault )

in an accident like that the guy behind will be in a world of debt

DrivingInfo

robbie_998 wrote: »

oh heres a good one...

"Oh no, some sort of animal on the road. i must avoid it somehow !

/slams on brakes (screeech craash pow)

"oh no i have crashed, but no worries it was the guy behind me who is at fault )

in an accident like that the guy behind will be in a world of debt

+1 animal run out, i'm worried about idiot behind/ he's so near / ill move in / bang / hit person walking.

Driver Behind says:
you should be looking where you going / you ran over that person / I saw the hole thing garda / he just pulled in for know reason and ran over the person walking...

End of story...
R.I.P

Cabaal

DrivingInfo wrote: »

If you are a Driving Instructor I would suggest you back to train because your inciting dangerous driving here.
NEVER DO THE WIPERS.

so ok tailgating is ok but windscreen wipers is not?
Your kidding me right

Cabaal

robbie_998 wrote: »

oh heres a good one...

"Oh no, some sort of animal on the road. i must avoid it somehow !

/slams on brakes (screeech craash pow)

"oh no i have crashed, but no worries it was the guy behind me who is at fault )

in an accident like that the guy behind will be in a world of debt

Oh here's a better one...

"Oh **** I've just been hit by the tool behind me and now I've ended up with spinal cord injury's and am in a wheel chair for life...nice one!"

or better yet...

"DEAD"

Yep, world of debt alright....

:rolleyes:

muboop1

CiniO wrote: »

Thats pretty interesting conclusion.

It means smaller cars are more likely to be tailgated, even when travelling with the same speed as bigger cars.

yeh but i think the main reason is, with big cars you cannot see around them or "through" them as you could with a micra, so people tend to stay back so they can see...

feel safer and all that...

J_R

J_R wrote: »

Hi,
You were of course travelling a safe distance from the left and not hogging the center of the road. ???.

DrivingInfo wrote: »

You should not be too close to the left or the line..

where exactly in the above statement did I imply to drive close to the left or the line. And line ? what line ???. Do you not understand what "a safe distance from the left" actually means ????

J_R wrote: »

Tailgating is dangerous, which is why it is a two penalty point offence. if you have to brake suddenly the car behind WILL hit you so you should immediately correct the situation. .

DrivingInfo wrote: »

ONLY IF YOU CAN! How would you correct this on a narrow road with a lot of bends. The driver behind is at fault if you need to break for a child that comes out on to the road on a bike. I am not saying you should speed on, but pay attention to the road IN FRONT of you and Only move in where it is safe to do so.
My family were involved in the emergency services for over 30 years and the biggest problem the had were people pulling in where they should NOT and end up blocking them. WHAT IF THE TAILGATER IS A UNMARKED CAR HEADING TO YOUR HOUSE? or A FIREMAN ON HIS/HER WAY THE YOUR HOUSE?.

ONLY IF YOU CAN Road with bends - with an idiot on your bumper, ?. All the more reason to slow down, . If I must brake hard and get shunted by said idiot behind resulting in serious injury/death to me or other human/animal, who was to blame would be of no consequence.

Only move in where it is safe to do so Did I not say that

J_R wrote: »

Slow down, you can now safely move a little closer to the left

WHAT IF THE TAILGATER IS A UNMARKED CAR HEADING TO YOUR HOUSE? or A FIREMAN ON HIS/HER WAY THE YOUR HOUSE?.

If they were on an emergency call they would be using their sirens/lights. If they were properly trained drivers they would still not tailgate. So being the good driver that I am and saw blue lights approaching from the rear I would pull in at the very first available and suitable spot. Suitable of course means leaving sufficient room to overtake. Simple.

J_R wrote: »

Slow down, you can now safely move a little closer to the left, this now gives the following car a better chance to overtake. If he can not, too bad. But if you now have to brake suddenly much less danger of serious damage/injury.

DrivingInfo wrote: »

Complete bull. you should break early to give early warning to the idiot behind you that you are slowing, then you should move in BUT and a BIG BUT, you ONLY MOVE IN WHEN IT IS SAFE.

Please advise how I can brake early for an emergency.
ONLY MOVE IN WHEN IT IS SAFE. Already said that

J_R wrote: »

I would not continue on at speed. Too dangerous.

DrivingInfo wrote: »

What if it is dangerous to slow? Your thinking is so one track it beggers’ belief.

By slowing I of course mean easing off the gas and MAGIC, the car gradually slows. Please explain in what situation it would be safer to continue on at speed. Remember this is about an illegal tailgater, not a hi-jacker, emergency vehicles or whatever.

J_R wrote: »

However, if the distance he is behind is uncomfortable rather dangerously close then you could try your windscreen washer. Quite often water goes over your roof and this will then land on his windscreen. When you see his wipers stop, do it again. If it is a common occurrence you could set one of the jets a little high.

If you are a Driving Instructor I would suggest you back to train because your inciting dangerous driving here.
NEVER DO THE WIPERS.[/QUOTE]
I am a driving instructor and a very good one, only fault, I give out too much, not enough praise.

NEVER DO THE WIPERS. So, never use the windscreen washer (?) in case some water might land on the windscreen of the following car. Have searched and searched but can not find any reference in the rules and regulations. Please supply a link

ztoical

J_R wrote: »

However, if the distance he is behind is uncomfortable rather dangerously close then you could try your windscreen washer. Quite often water goes over your roof and this will then land on his windscreen. When you see his wipers stop, do it again. If it is a common occurrence you could set one of the jets a little high.

Ok seriously should you be spending so much time looking in your mirror? Honestly doing something like that is asking someone to give too much attention to the tailgater when their focus should be on the road in front not behind. Plus in the OP's case they were driving at night.

Seriously move out of the way if you can, if not focus on driving safe, keep your eyes on the road in front and don't be bullied or distracted by the idoit behind you. Flashing hazards, taping breaks, making hand gestures - all not advisable cus you don't know how the person behind you is going to react. 99 out of 100 people might understand what your doing but you'll get the one twit who misunderstands your single as "it's ok to try and over take me" and you end up with an accident. All you can control is your own driving so that's what you should focus on.

J_R

ztoical wrote: »

Ok seriously should you be spending so much time looking in your mirror? Honestly doing something like that is asking someone to give too much attention to the tailgater when their focus should be on the road in front not behind. Plus in the OP's case they were driving at night.

Seriously move out of the way if you can, if not focus on driving safe, keep your eyes on the road in front and don't be bullied or distracted by the idoit behind you. Flashing hazards, taping breaks, making hand gestures - all not advisable cus you don't know how the person behind you is going to react. 99 out of 100 people might understand what your doing but you'll get the one twit who misunderstands your single as "it's ok to try and over take me" and you end up with an accident. All you can control is your own driving so that's what you should focus on.

Totally agree, main priority concentrate on your own driving, also trying to communicate via hazards, brake lights etc can distract you and be misconstrued by the fellow behind.

I did say when the car behind was not dangerously close you could give your windscreen washer a go.

DrivingInfo

Originally Posted by J_R View Post
However, if the distance he is behind is uncomfortable rather dangerously close then you could try your windscreen washer. Quite often water goes over your roof and this will then land on his windscreen. When you see his wipers stop, do it again. If it is a common occurrence you could set one of the jets a little high.

If you think that this is good advice! "and your an ADI", well i can only say that you are an idiot and i would not trust a word that come out of your mouth.

I also got one mark, for spending to much time with the under bonnet checks...
you see i don't give out I teach...

Regards

DrivingInfo

Cabaal wrote: »

so ok tailgating is ok but windscreen wipers is not?
Your kidding me right

I missed this.. you know the wipers were suggested to spray water on the car behind and not for the purpose they are intended.
:rolleyes:

Alanstrainor

DrivingInfo wrote: »

If you think that this is good advice! "and your an ADI", well i can only say that you are an idiot and i would not trust a word that come out of your mouth.

I also got one mark, for spending to much time with the under bonnet checks...
you see i don't give out I teach...

Regards

The next personal attack in this thread will result in a ban.

DrivingInfo

OK Alan

I would like to say sorry to J_R and to all the learners for the above comment.

If I get a ban it is only the people I help who will lose out and I don't want that to happen.

Regards

NukaCola

Tailgating really angers up the blood....:D

zynaps

ztoical wrote: »

It might be rare for some but it's very common for people in smaller cars [like Micra's] or people with L plates. When I had L plates I found I was nearly always tailgated but at the time figured I must be driving too slow or doing something wrong. When the L plates came down [after passing my test] I was still tailgated but had got use to it. Then I started driving my dads Land Rover and wow what a difference. Never tailgated when driving that. Friend had to drive his girlfriends Micra while his car was in the shop and he nearly went nuts with people tailgating him.

Heh, good observation! I went from L plates in a small Fiesta to no L plates in a small Micra and have been followed much too closely now and again. I won't say tailgated, since I can usually see their lights at least, but much closer than I would be to the next car - sometimes I mumble the silly "only a fool breaks the two second rule" mantra, for the same reason that I have to look at the speedo quite a lot - I'm just not that good at judging my speed yet.

Also, I rigorously stick by the speed limit which I think encourages a bit of bullying and tailgating (perhaps it screams "I'm a newbie"). When it happens, I don't react personally (usually not even eye contact in the mirror), just adapt to the hazard by slowing down (easing off the accelerator, not touching the brake) if need be to increase stopping distance between me and the car in front - that way if he stops, I can slow down more gently and give the fool behind me more time to react. The stuff happening on the road in front is a lot more important than giving the finger to an idiot behind.

Had a guy behind me at a junction yesterday with one bicycle in front and another car turning right. On the green, I moved off, not squeezing between the bike (going straight like me) and the car turning right. Kept it to about 20-25kph until the bicycle had cleared the junction and some parked cars and I had room to overtake... the guy behind stayed about 1 metre from my bumper, tapping his horn for some reason when it was clearly dangerous to overtake the bicycle, so I just ignored him and kept EXACTLY at 50kph after overtaking, until my turn off 1km later.

I don't think there's a whole lot you can do except drive as normal but even more carefully, just as you adapt to other adverse situations which you have little or no control over. If the tailgaters are going to learn from anything, I'd expect it's from a sensible and logical driver doing the 'right thing', rather than someone trying to make an angry point, tapping the brakes or beeping etc. Someone else made the point that any signals you try to give could easily be misinterpreted - someone who tailgates habitually is surely less respectful and understanding of other road users and more likely to respond poorly to those signals, so I wouldn't bother (unless I was REALLY angry and couldn't control myself, which does happen now and again*).


* like the guy recently who crossed the junction from my left about 3 seconds after I got a green light: I hit the brakes and beeped at him, and he responded by shouting inaudibly and throwing his arms about as he turned the corner - obviously not learning any lessons there :rolleyes:

zynaps

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I know it's not a popular thing to say but strictly speaking, you shouldn't move into the hard shoulder to allow another motorist to pass. The hard shoulder is not intended for driving on and, you would fail an advanced driving test for doing so.

That's not true; in fact the ROTR suggests that you use the hard shoulder if necessary to allow fast moving traffic to pass safely, except on the motorway in which case there will be an overtaking lane specifically for this purpose.

Cicero

OP- for the conditions you describe (country road, but with space for two cars to pass) indicating left and slowing down gradually to a near crawl is the safest way to tell the driver behind you what you are doing-- the majority of drivers will know that they should prepare to indicate right themselves and start to overtake when road ahead is clear...

If someone is tailgating me too much (stubborn ones) I find that turning on rear fog lights can cause them some discomfort