Advice when people are driving on your bumper

teR_

Driving a little over a month now and am looking for some advice on what to do when someone is driving so close they might aswell be sitting on your back seat? I panic and don't know what to do, speed up, slow down, annoy them etc. I feel pressured with that presence so close to me..

Slow down. Don't react to them.

ProudDUB

Oh tailgaters bug the ever loving shyte outa me ! :mad::mad::mad:

My first instinct is to say slow down even further just to piss them off, but that could be bad advice given the circumstances.

So take some time to examine the circumstances of how/when/where this happens. Often times leaner drivers can be so caught up in their own little bubble, that they are not aware of how their driving impacts others.

So ask your self:

1. When this happens, what is the speed limit? Are you driving excessively slow in relation to that? If you are driving excessively below the speed limit, perhaps it is time to speed things up a bit.
2. When this happens, what are the road conditions/visibility like? Do they warrant going a wee bit faster, or should you maintain your current speed to remain safe?
3. When this happens, what are other drivers doing on the road, both in your direction and in the opposite one? Are you constantly being over taken? Are you constantly being honked at? Are cars going in the opposite direction doing so at speeds that are way in excess of yours?

If the answers to these questions are all Yes, then odds are you have a bunch of drivers behind you who are frustrated at how slow you are going. They are probably justified in feeling so, even if they not justified in bullying you by crawling up your ass. Speed up and you risk driving out of your comfort zone. Keep on driving as you are, and the tailgaters are not going to go away any time soon. Their frustrations may prompt them to over take you when passing conditions are not safe. Only you can make that judgment call.

If the answer to most of the questions is No, then you are doing fine. The assholes behind you are the ones with the problems. Ignore them & keep on truckin' just as you are. :D

teR_

Dónal wrote: »

Slow down. Don't react to them.

ProudDUB wrote: »

Oh tailgaters bug the ever loving shyte outa me ! :mad::mad::mad:

My first instinct is to say slow down even further just to piss them off, but that could be bad advice given the circumstances.

So take some time to examine the circumstances of how/when/where this happens. Often times leaner drivers can be so caught up in their own little bubble, that they are not aware of how their driving impacts others.

So ask your self:

1. When this happens, what is the speed limit? Are you driving excessively slow in relation to that? If you are driving excessively below the speed limit, perhaps it is time to speed things up a bit.
2. When this happens, what are the road conditions/visibility like? Do they warrant going a wee bit faster, or should you maintain your current speed to remain safe?
3. When this happens, what are other drivers doing on the road, both in your direction and in the opposite one? Are you constantly being over taken? Are you constantly being honked at? Are cars going in the opposite direction doing so at speeds that are way in excess of yours?

If the answers to these questions are all Yes, then odds are you have a bunch of drivers behind you who are frustrated at how slow you are going. They are probably justified in feeling so, even if they not justified in bullying you by crawling up your ass. Speed up and you risk driving out of your comfort zone. Keep on driving as you are, and the tailgaters are not going to go away any time soon Their frustrations may prompt them to over take you when passing conditions are not safe. Only you can make that judgment call.

If the answer to most of the questions is No, then you are doing fine. The assholes behind you are the ones with the problems. Ignore them & keep on truckin' just as you are. :D

Nice one lads, have to remember this and not let the blood rush to my head next time

Going by your list, most, if not all of them are a no. I'm not a slow learner that holds up traffic, my instructor made me put the foot down . The tailgater's i've come across seem to think they are driving in a nascar rally or something?!

Chris_Heilong

also a tap on the breaks, not pressing them down but enough to show you break lights to the car behind sometimes helps as they slow a little and a gap is created between the two cars.

meathstevie

Chris, no matter how tempting the idea using your brakes without good reason and solely for the purpose of slowing down a vehicle behind you or to give the driver a fright is not on and can be interpreted as dangerous driving in extreme cases.

OP, just carry on driving and paying attention to the quality of your driving. As your experience build you'll no doubt be making progress a lot swifter and smoother and once those L-plates are gone people behind you might start to behave differently as well.

Chris_Heilong

I dont agree, a tap on the break without slowing can work wonders, the driver behind is putting the driver infront under pressure and when the front cars driver is inexperienced this can cause them to panic and speed up with a much higher chance of accident, like I said a tap on the breaks to illuminate the break lights for a sec will not hurt anyone and may infact let the car behind know they are driving aggressively.

Chris_Heilong

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

I dont agree, a tap on the break without slowing can work wonders, the driver behind is putting the driver infront under pressure and when the front cars driver is inexperienced this can cause them to panic and speed up with a much higher chance of accident, like I said a tap on the breaks to illuminate the break lights for a sec will not hurt anyone and may infact let the car behind know they are driving aggressively.

...or it may cause the driver behind to become pissed off, react and then overtake dangerously.

ziggy23

I got one of these to stick on the back window http://www.ebay.ie/itm/380403855188?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
You can get all different ones

superstoner90

What I do is put on my hazzards and rear wiper. The hazzards let the person know that there at risk of you claiming of their insurence and well the rear wiper adds to the effect. (Im not saying its a good idea, its just what I do.)

Janedoe10

They are just been s%%*s . If u are driving within the speed limit u are grand . Don't plan on speeding up though for no reason or tipping the breaks as a warning to them . It a bad habit to break later on .

Get the test and when the L plate is off .

Hope u are not crawling mind u ....

mathepac

OP before you take any of the bizarre and frankly irresponsible and dangerous measures advocated by the inexperienced / and obviously very poor drivers above, ask yourself :

"Am I displaying the attributes of a mature, responsible road-user, irrespective of the actions of those around me?"

Drilled into me years ago when I was taught to drive in England, these attributes are the three Cs :

Care
Courtesy
Consideration.

gubbie

I think the worst thing you could do is go around the "Take revenge" route that some people are advocating.

Check your speed. If its too slow, speed up. Otherwise ignore them. (Though I know this can be really tricky and nerve wrecking if you need to do a hill start!)

(Sorry if pictures aren't allowed)

Doug89

ProudDUB has a lot of great points.

What's important to remember is that people want to be stupid on the roads, let them, but don't feel under pressure to put yourself in danger.

What I would take into consideration in these cases is the opinion of your accompanying driver, they're there to share their experience and insight.

wellboytoo

This used to pee me off, no longer, often people do not realise they are tailgating and a little flash of the brake lights is enough to get them to back off, some people will go absolutely beserk when you do this, I normally blow them a kiss and wave at them like they were my long lost buddy.

gizmo555

Years ago, I tried the (genuinely!) gentle tap on the brakes method to try to get a tailgater to back off in heavy evening traffic on the Bray bypass. The response was an utterly reckless overtaking manouevre, followed by the tailgater slamming on his brakes in front of me. I just avoided hitting him.

Recently, being taligated in heavy fog, and remembering the above, I flashed the tailgater with my hazards to try to signal her to back off. Her response was the most insanely dangerous overtaking I've ever seen, crossing a double solid white line on a blind bend, in fog, so as to get one car ahead in a line of twenty or more slow-moving cars.

The moral so far as I'm concerned is if you're being tailgated, just get out of the idiot's way. Pull over if necessary, just get out of their way and let them go off and have their crash somewhere else, not involving you!

MascotDec85

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

I dont agree, a tap on the break without slowing can work wonders, the driver behind is putting the driver infront under pressure and when the front cars driver is inexperienced this can cause them to panic and speed up with a much higher chance of accident, like I said a tap on the breaks to illuminate the break lights for a sec will not hurt anyone and may infact let the car behind know they are driving aggressively.

Inexperienced drivers usually find braking gently quite difficult. If trying this method they could end up, whilst feeling under pressure, planting the brake and ending up with the tailgating car attached to theirs. :rolleyes:

Truly bad advice!

Thoie

gizmo555 wrote: »

The moral so far as I'm concerned is if you're being tailgated, just get out of the idiot's way. Pull over if necessary, just get out of their way and let them go off and have their crash somewhere else, not involving you!

This.

If there's no safe overtaking opportunity, just pull in when it is safe to do so, clearly signalling your intention, and let them off. It's tempting to "punish" them for their impatience/bullying, but just leave them to it. My mother put it best when she pointed out that she didn't want to be the first one on the scene of the accident when they tried something stupid

dudara

Don't take any action that distracts you from driving and the road in front. This involves tapping on the brakes, rear wipers, hazards etc. Doing any of these will potentially distract you.

Assuming that you are driving correctly, within the speed limit etc, you should just stay calm, continue to drive as you are doing and as soon as it is safe to do so, let the eejit pass you by.

rustledjimmies

wellboytoo wrote: »

This used to pee me off, no longer, often people do not realise they are tailgating and a little flash of the brake lights is enough to get them to back off, some people will go absolutely beserk when you do this, I normally blow them a kiss and wave at them like they were my long lost buddy.

I've always found it a lot safer to pop on my fog lights briefly instead of actually braking. It looks more or less the same as braking but this way I'm not slowing down at all so I'm far less likely to be rear-ended by an inattentive tailgater.

mathepac

rustledjimmies wrote: »

I've always found it a lot safer to pop on my fog lights briefly instead of actually braking. It looks more or less the same as braking but this way I'm not slowing down at all so I'm far less likely to be rear-ended by an inattentive tailgater.

Another stupid action, one idiot driver potentially blinding or distracting another one.

Fog lights are for use in fog and as most cars only have one at the rear it won't look like you are braking, just as if you are acting the tool.

rustledjimmies

mathepac wrote: »

Another stupid action, one idiot driver potentially blinding or distracting another one.

Fog lights are for use in fog and as most cars only have one at the rear it won't look like you are braking, just as if you are acting the tool.

Pro tip: Not everyone who thinks differently to you is stupid, an idiot or a tool. I didn't expect any better from boards though.

Anyways, this "tip" meant for those who would tap on their brakes in this situation (which is definitely not a good idea). I've never done the tap on brakes thing and I've only had to flash on/off the fog lights maybe 2-3 times ever. And guess what? They do back off because IT DOES LOOK LIKE BRAKING. But without the danger if braking. One light comes on brighter than the other (blinding? don't be a drama queen) but both sides do indeed come on in any car I've ever driven.

So, it does work and it's better than tapping the brakes. If you're unhappy with what I've said then this forum is here for discussion. Leave the ad hominem stuff in the playground.