Tailgating - What do you do ?

craichoe · 03-12-2007 5:37pm #1

So your on the Motorway and theres a guy right up your ass with Xenon headlights so blinding you have to dip your Rear View mirror. He won't overtake and won't back off.

What the best thing to do in this case.

Myself, if they gets too close i tap the brakes so the brake lights come on but the brakes don't engage. Everytime they do it again I tap the brakes. Thats what i've done in Ireland anyway.

I've moved to holland now and the same thing happened last night, except the guy seemed to be well pissed off/driving aggresively.

What do you do in this case ?

Owen · 03-12-2007 5:40pm

craichoe wrote: »

So your on the Motorway and theres a guy right up your ass with Xenon headlights so blinding you have to dip your Rear View mirror. He won't overtake and won't back off.

I presume when you say he won't overtake, that means you're not in the right hand lane (In an Irish situation, I see you're in Holland, but for the purpose of the thread, I'm sure you understand). If there's room on a lane to your right for him to overtake and he's not bothering, then everything you did was correct. Patience should be the tool then at that point to let him get bored and make him overtake.

By the way, if they were factory Xenons, they would self level, and you'd have no glare. They sound like aftermarket knockoffs, or Xenon bulbs in ordinary headlamps.

skibum · 03-12-2007 5:45pm

One of my windscreen washer's is aiming too high on the passenger side so squirts over the roof, when driving it gets carried onto the car behind, they soon get the message.

MarkR · 03-12-2007 5:46pm

In real life I light up my brakes as you describe. In my head I regularly pull the handbrake, swinging the car around in a shriek of brakes and cloud of smoke. Jurtling along at 100 km/h in reverse, the automatic self aiming shotguns train on the offending car and take out it's lights before I repeat the manouver and carry on my way.

Anan1 · 03-12-2007 5:47pm

craichoe wrote: »

Myself, if they gets too close i tap the brakes so the brake lights come on but the brakes don't engage. Everytime they do it again I tap the brakes. Thats what i've done in Ireland anyway.

Tapping the brakes is dangerous, and could well result in an aggressive response. I find a quick flash of the hazards almost always does the trick. If not, then enlarge the gap between yourself and the car in front - this will reduce the risk of your being rear-ended if you do have to brake for something. Above all, don't allow yourself to become fixated on the tailgater to the detriment of your general observation.

blackbox · 03-12-2007 5:48pm

The danger with someone tailgaiting you is that they are likely to hit you if you stop suddenly.
The recommended course of action is to slow down, thus increasing the gap between you and the car in front of you. This means that if something happens you will not have to brake so severely and the person behind is less likely to hit you.
Slowing down is also likely to encourage the b****x behind you to overtake and bugger off to have his accident somewhere else.

Gregor Samsa · 03-12-2007 5:58pm

I had a middle aged guy in a BMW inexplicably tailgating me on the N18 (Ennis Bypass DC section) a couple of months ago. The road was totally empty except for the two of us. I was in the left hand lane minding my own business doing 100 km/h on the button. He came up behind me and instead of keeping a safe distance or overtaking me in the right hand lane, he got so close that all I could see was his windscreen in my mirror. I tapped the brakes a couple of times and he'd back off, but soon he'd be be right behind me again. I tried speeding up a bit just to make room between us, and he just followed.

I finally decided to start slowing down very, very gradually and carefully. He kept the small gap between us until we were both traveling along the empty dual carriageway at 20 km/h, when he must have noticed his speedo and decided to overtake - glaring at me as he went. I smiled and waved and let him off.

10 minutes later as I got to the Shannon exit, I caught up with him again - doing exactly the same thing to another car that was going slowly - the overtaking lane completly empty for him to use. It's something I will never understand.

craichoe · 03-12-2007 6:03pm

ned78 wrote: »

I presume when you say he won't overtake, that means you're not in the right hand lane (In an Irish situation, I see you're in Holland, but for the purpose of the thread, I'm sure you understand). If there's room on a lane to your right for him to overtake and he's not bothering, then everything you did was correct. Patience should be the tool then at that point to let him get bored and make him overtake.

By the way, if they were factory Xenons, they would self level, and you'd have no glare. They sound like aftermarket knockoffs, or Xenon bulbs in ordinary headlamps.

Yeah, here is right hand lane, there were three lanes.
Right is Slow Lane, Middle is Fast Lane and Left is Overtaking

Unless its six lanes, where either three go to two different exits ahead, here its like two lanes of motorway without a division

OT, But its great having a "fast lane" as opposed to Ireland where people think the Overtaking lane is a fast lane.

SubjectSean · 03-12-2007 6:04pm

Pick a comfy bit of road then slam on and go for the whiplash claim IMHO

Sleepy · 03-12-2007 6:05pm

If they're behind me and it's at night, I flip the rear view mirror repeatedly so that it'll reflect back in his face.

If it's during the day, I'll turn on the hazards until he backs off or overtakes.

Quality · 03-12-2007 6:08pm

Open your sun roof and start dropping coins out of it. He'll back off after you have hit his windscreen a couple of times.

Anan1 · 03-12-2007 6:10pm

Quality wrote: »

Open your sun roof and start dropping coins out of it. He'll back off after you have hit his windscreen a couple of times.

You may be surprised to hear that things fall down, not up.

_Kaiser_ · 03-12-2007 6:10pm

Step 1: press the brake just enough to trigger the lights. Most of the time this works.

Step 2: slow RIGHT down, gradually but steadily, while watching him in the rear-view mirror.

You should never let a clown like this intimidate you into speeding up over the limit/what it's safe or appropriate to do. Besides if they hit you, they're automatically in the wrong as the Rules state you should leave enough of a gap to stop if the car in front brakes suddenly.

Also, I've noticed that tailgating isn't as big a problem since I bought the Passat last year, whereas when I had the Mirage it was an almost daily occurance - I put it down to the fact that when she's clean (hard in this weather), she looks big black and shiny - and expensive to repair if you run into her

zilog_jones · 03-12-2007 6:12pm

I ignore them if they're not too close and not blinding me (however the majority of modern cars seem to have their headlights at the exact same height as the mirrors in my Fiesta :mad:), otherwise I just gradually slow down.

I tried the light breaking thing once before but when coming to a roundabout in my frustration/anger i slammed on the brakes instead of the clutch (don't ask how) - fortunately said tailgater had backed off by then. I had only been driving a couple months by then, but it's put me off trying that again forever.

pete4130 · 03-12-2007 6:13pm

From what my dad hs told me from an advanced drivers course he took last year where you are taught to drive defensively, the correct thing according to the advanced driving instructor is to maintain a safe and steady speed and to concentrate on whats ahead of you. The theory being that the offending tailgater will get bored and back off. Reality is different to theory.

kluivert · 03-12-2007 6:16pm

Slow down gradually, if your lucky, they will do the same, pull them out of the car by the neck, shove their face against your rear bumper, and shout "here is this close enough for ya?"

Sorry got carried away there, slow down and let them overtake you. If that fails as above switch on hazard lights.

Vegeta · 03-12-2007 6:18pm

Cant understand this on a dual carriageway, why don't they just overtake. Drives me mental.

Especially as another poster says when they get so close you cant see their lights anymore just the top of the bonnet and windscreen. That's just plain dangerous

Vegeta · 03-12-2007 6:20pm

MarkR wrote: »

In real life I light up my brakes as you describe. In my head I regularly pull the handbrake, swinging the car around in a shriek of brakes and cloud of smoke. Jurtling along at 100 km/h in reverse, the automatic self aiming shotguns train on the offending car and take out it's lights before I repeat the manouver and carry on my way.

classic

Shamrogue · 03-12-2007 7:03pm

Kinda off topic but I was driving on the M4 to Dublin, basically an empty road a car or two in the distance, same behind, other then that I was on my own. Took a glance in the rear view and as soon as, I was hit full on from the rear. I was going a steady 120Km/hr, he wasnt! But because he hit me straight in the rear he didnt spin me (luckily), bumper didnt even crack, jst a few scuffs and scraps.

So my advice with I certainly am not advising, is add your right foot to the big middle pedal (they'll hit you full on) and claim for all people out there who've been tailed for no reason.

PS. Dont do this, you might suffer from a slight case of death!

eringobragh · 03-12-2007 7:24pm

Shamrogue wrote: »

Kinda off topic but I was driving on the M4 to Dublin, basically an empty road a car or two in the distance, same behind, other then that I was on my own. Took a glance in the rear view and as soon as, I was hit full on from the rear. I was going a steady 120Km/hr, he wasnt! But because he hit me straight in the rear he didnt spin me (luckily), bumper didnt even crack, jst a few scuffs and scraps.

So my advice with I certainly am not advising, is add your right foot to the big middle pedal (they'll hit you full on) and claim for all people out there who've been tailed for no reason.

PS. Dont do this, you might suffer from a slight case of death!

Are you one of these people that thinks its ok to sit and do 120k in the overtaking lane because its the limit.

Nothing pisses me off more then SLOW drivers hogging the overtaking lane, That M4 is rife with them. How hard is it to pull into the left lane for 10 seconds and let the driver behind out. Typical of this country.

Shamrogue · 03-12-2007 7:39pm

eringobragh wrote: »

Are you one of these people that thinks its ok to sit and do 120k in the overtaking lane because its the limit.

Nothing pisses me off more then SLOW drivers hogging the overtaking lane, That M4 is rife with them. How hard is it to pull into the left lane for 10 seconds and let the driver behind out. Typical of this country.

Sorry, to clarify, i was in the left lane, slow lane. And if i am over taking and a car behind me wants to go faster, i pull in in a gap, off they go, and i pop out again when all is clear.

eringobragh · 03-12-2007 7:41pm

Shamrogue wrote: »

Sorry, to clarify, i was in the left lane, slow lane. And if i am over taking and a car behind me wants to go faster, i pull in in a gap, off they go, and i pop out again when all is clear.

Fair enough

unkel · 03-12-2007 8:14pm

kluivert wrote: »

slow down and let them overtake you. If that fails as above switch on hazard lights.

Either that or indicate and pull into a gap if it is safe to do so

I can't believe the number of people here advocating to hit the brake pedal. This is dangerous and can lead to aggression...

Armin_Tamzarian · 03-12-2007 8:37pm

Press your "Oil Slick" button, failing that turn on your rear fog lights.

finkaboutit555 · 03-12-2007 8:44pm

Anan1 wrote: »

You may be surprised to hear that things fall down, not up.

If you threw it backwards.. Then it would work!!

finkaboutit555 · 03-12-2007 8:47pm

Slow Right down, To almost crawling distance, When he passes you turn on your heads, If he pulls over you pull over, if he slows down you slow down, If he gets out of the car and is holding his fists in rage, Plant your right foot down and get the hell outta there..:eek:

biko · 03-12-2007 8:51pm

Armin_Tamzarian · 03-12-2007 8:53pm

There is of course the spark plug mod you can fit to your exhaust pipe that shoots a large flame from your exhaust when activated.
Flames of up to 20ft can be achieved with some cars.

Duiske · 03-12-2007 9:07pm

unkel wrote: »

Either that or indicate and pull into a gap if it is safe to do so

I can't believe the number of people here advocating to hit the brake pedal. This is dangerous and can lead to aggression...

True. In a moment of madness a few years back, I done this to someone on the N7. This guy was really pissing me off,so I slammed on the brakes. Even though it was dark, I could still make out the plume of tyre smoke as the other guy locked up. If he had slid out into the right-hand lane there could have been a serious accident. Both of us learned something that night. I would never dream of doing it again.

Alun · 03-12-2007 9:08pm

craichoe wrote: »

I've moved to holland now and the same thing happened last night, except the guy seemed to be well pissed off/driving aggresively.

What lane were you in and how fast were you going? You may have noticed by now that on the 'snelwegen' the 'unofficial' speed limit is about 20km/h higher than the posted one. Most traffic will be doing 140 or 120 instead of 120 or 100 in my experience assuming traffic is moving properly. None of this dawdling along at 90km/h on a motorway over there

They also leave a much smaller gap than they really should, but you kind of get used to that after a while. So unless you were overtaking but going 'too slow', or not keeping to the rightmost available lane if it was free, I can't see why he would have had cause to get pissed with you.

Royale with Cheese · 03-12-2007 9:17pm

Hasn't really happened to me on a dual carriageway, probably cos I'm generally one of the faster cars on there... but on single lane roads you get the odd X5 up your arse, going through fairly slow, minor roads in Dublin. I just slow right down and watch them get mad. Then speed up and wait for them to tailgate you again. Repeat the process.

Tailgating - What do you do ?

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