Tailgating and Road Rage

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.

TheChizler

Mr Keek wrote: »

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!

Just bear in mind if you do that it's entirely possible that they will brake in turn and slam into the car behind them, or lose control and slam into a car in the other lane.

Fuinseog

Muir wrote: »

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.

you wonder about the signage as well.
I was driving down in Kerry and there was an unbroken line on the straight section of a few roads but broken for passing out at big bends where you could not see what was coming around the bend against you.

Fuinseog

Some Yoke wrote: »

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.

how do you get their attention to the problem? flick the lights?

VictorRomeo

VictorRomeo wrote: »

Also, I would broadly class myself as a decent driver.

Well I wouldn't since you think it's great craic to nearly cause a crash involving a totally innocent third party just because you don't like another driver on the road.

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

That's a really selfish attitude tbh. Let them be someone else's problem could be your problem if they hit & killed/ seriously injured a member of your family.
I have no problem with someone going faster than me, my ego isn't that precious that I have to win the battle of who's first on a road. But I draw the line at reckless & dangerous driving. It's one of the most retarded things a person can do.

With all due respect, it's not even remotely up to you to "draw a line" anywhere. You don't have advanced driver training (or so I assume), and you're not guardian of the roads. If you're that concerned about someone's driving, pull over immediately and call the guards. Do not start trying to mess around with them in some misguided attempt to "draw the line". All you may end up doing is making a bad situation worse. Like the poster above this quote who hated a tailgater so much he nearly got him to crash into a different car altogether.

geneyuss

Some Yoke wrote: »

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.

i turn on my rear fog lights for these special people.

Mr Keek wrote: »

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.

thinly veiled "i have a new car" post :P

The Idyll Race

Being tailgated on a road with a hard shoulder isn't a problem. If the person behind me is being a PITA then I simply pull over when safe and let the muppet go. The real problem is on regional roads where there are barely two lanes.

In the last few weeks I was driving between Kilmeague and Newbridge, doing around 80 km/h and the usual muppet mobile came tearing up behind me. There is nowhere to pull in and the overtaking opportunities are rare. So, what do you do? You aren't supposed to hit the brakes. In this case I concentrated on my own driving but it isn't easy. It took several minutes and in the outskirts of Newbridge before Muppet took off with a nice classy swerve manoveur near a blind bend. Perhaps I should have taken a Scottish friend's advice and slowed gradually to a crawl without braking before the message penetrated his baseball cap.

--Kaiser--

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.

+ a million

I pay little attention to speed limits (unless it's an area that with speed cameras). I drive at appropriate speed for the conditions on the road. Same with road signs, good drivers don't need a Yield or a Stop sign, you can tell by the intersection whether you need to yield or stop

Lollers

The Idyll Race wrote: »

In the last few weeks I was driving between Kilmeague and Newbridge, doing around 80 km/h and the usual muppet mobile came tearing up behind me. There is nowhere to pull in and the overtaking opportunities are rare. So, what do you do? You aren't supposed to hit the brakes. In this case I concentrated on my own driving but it isn't easy. It took several minutes and in the outskirts of Newbridge before Muppet took off with a nice classy swerve manoveur near a blind bend. .

This is the kind of tailgating I get too. It angers me so much. As it's this driving that could end up killing you, someone driving millimetres from your bumper at 80 km, a deer runs out in ront of your car, you brake suddenly and he smashes into you. The worst part is, there nothing you can do about it.

Reloc8

The MiniVan wrote: »

Brake really hard for no reason next time somebody is tailgating you!A nice big claim against their insurance policy will teach them when they slam into the back of you!

Yes ! And your injured back and/or neck will really show them !

suicide_circus

It's a funny thing.
People will admit they can't cook, they can't spell, can't run a mile, are crap at sports, are crap at maths, are crap at singing, can't swim, are crap at their job etc. But you won't hear anyone say, "God i'm a crap driver"....same way you won't hear anyone say "i'm terrible in the sack!"

VictorRomeo

bluewolf wrote: »

Well I wouldn't since you think it's great craic to nearly cause a crash involving a totally innocent third party just because you don't like another driver on the road.

I'll repeat this till I'm blue in the face. I didn't 'nearly cause a crash'. The idiot tailgating me did. I avoided one. Also, the other fellow would not have had such a fright if he was not so close to the guy behind me.

Sure, the situation was a perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended; getting the bully behind me to back away so I could safely move out of the way. He gave me no chance at all to do so until his attempt to intimidate me further by violently braking in my path. I was simply onto him.

And where, o where, did I say I thought it was great craic to nearly cause a crash? Seriously, what an effing liberty! You should know better.

rgmmg

Hmm. I have my test in a few weeks. Better stop reading this post as it's not good for confidence :pac:

VictorRomeo

VictorRomeo wrote: »

And where, o where, did I say I thought it was great craic to nearly cause a crash? Seriously, what an effing liberty! You should know better.

VictorRomeo wrote:

Funny story....

You were the one who called it funny, and described how you could have and should have moved out of the lane back into the driving lane but decided to stay put blocking the way because you didn't like his driving, and instead decided to further antagonise him. Then you call him the idiot.

VictorRomeo

bluewolf wrote: »

You were the one who called it funny, and described how you could have and should have moved out of the lane back into the driving lane but decided to stay put blocking the way because you didn't like his driving, and instead decided to further antagonise him. Then you call him the idiot.

a: Yeah the look of panic on his face when he realised his fail was frickin' funny ha ha.

b: I could not immediatly - there and then - move out of his way without slowing down.

c: I don't do bullies and won't be intimidated by them. In or out of my car.

d: I'd do it again. Tailgaters are a$$holes.

geneyuss

VictorRomeo wrote: »

a: Yeah the look of panic on his face when he realised his fail was frickin' funny ha ha.

b: I could not immediatly - there and then - move out of his way without slowing down.

c: I don't do bullies and won't be intimidated by them. In or out of my car.

d: I'd do it again. Tailgaters are a$$holes.

They are, as are the people in front prolonging them in their fit of rage, :rolleyes:

RustyNut

VictorRomeo wrote: »

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.....

There is so much wrong with this but it boils down to this.

Gob****e 1 meets Gob****e 2 almost resulting in a crash.

Fuinseog

suicide_circus wrote: »

It's a funny thing.
People will admit they can't cook, they can't spell, can't run a mile, are crap at sports, are crap at maths, are crap at singing, can't swim, are crap at their job etc. But you won't hear anyone say, "God i'm a crap driver"....same way you won't hear anyone say "i'm terrible in the sack!"

the system needs to change if we want safer roads.
you can pass the driving test knowing very little about how to drive a car. you never drive over 50km and until recently it was not even compulsory to get lessons.

eth0

XC90... Horrible yoke, almost as much as a Gobsh1temobile as the Q7

Muir

Fuinseog wrote: »

you wonder about the signage as well.
I was driving down in Kerry and there was an unbroken line on the straight section of a few roads but broken for passing out at big bends where you could not see what was coming around the bend against you.

The singage can be really bad, but this was actually on a continuous white line.

Trevor Kent

Tailgaters dont bother me too much actually. I only get tailgated when Im caught behind a slow car. I usually stay well back from the car in front of me and benifit from the clearer view, and when the coast is clear.....whoosh im gone.

What does bother me is:
Lack of moterway/Dual-carriageway know-how. Take the N7 for instance. Everyone loves the middle lane, nobody drives in the left lane. It might as well be a 2 lane road. So when im driving in the left lane doing the speed limit, and catch up on someone going slower in the middle lane, technically, to avoid "undertaking" illegaly, I have to cross two lanes of traffic to overtake and cross back over 2 lanes again to the left lane. Does my nut.

Racing line Roundabout users. You know, the ones who are, lets say going straight (taking the secont exit) on a 2 lane road/roundabout, and start off in the left lane. Your going right (taking 3rd exit) so are in the right lane. You take off at the same time when the roundabout is clear but Michael Schumacher needs to take the racing line so crosses over into your lane, cutting you off and before you can shout "Nein" the bugger cuts back over to his lane, heads off straight (probably with no indicator) and about his merry way.

That brings me onto the next one, indicator-aphobics. All I want is to knowwhere your going at a particular time so I can carry on about my buisness. If its a roundabout, show me where your going so I dont have to stop unnecessarily. If your in front of me, and want to turn left, a warning of some sort would be nice.

1 speeders.......you know the car you have been following for 5 miles on a single carriageway doing 60kph, soon as you hit a town with a 50kph limit, they carry on doing 60kph. Complete lack of awareness.

And last "for now" is the manic overtaker who will risk life and limb to get that one car length closer to the top of a line of cars. Squeezing his way into a space you left between you and the car in front. Only for you to overtake him in traffic again.

Im sure ill think of more.