Tailgating
Posted by: JohnC
28th Jan 2011 07:29am
Something I absolutely hate while driving. There is no reason for it and it is very dangerous. Vicroads teaches to leave a 2 second gap from the car in front, but who can estimate 2 seconds while driving at 100km/hr? It is much better to use a rule of thumb which is 1 car length for every 10km/hr of speed, plus 50% more if the road is wet.
You must be a member to reply to this chat topic. Click here to sign in.
Help Caféstudy members by responding to their questions, or ask your own in Café Chat, and you will get the chance of earning extra rewards. Caféstudy will match these and donate equally to our two chosen Australian charities.
Australian Marine Conservation Society are an independent charity, staffed by a committed group of scientists, educators and passionate advocates who have defended Australia’s oceans for over 50 years.
ReachOut is the most accessed online mental health service for young people and their parents in Australia. Their trusted self-help information, peer-support program and referral tools save lives by helping young people be well and stay well. The information they offer parents makes it easier for them to help their teenagers, too.
Comments 95
chequers
Estimating 2 seconds isn't hard. You just wait for the car in front to pass a certain point, then count 2 seconds. If you reach the point before 2 seconds, you're too close.
A couple of days ago, I was doing 110kmh on a freeway. A semi trailer changed lanes behind me. He was about 2 METRES from my bumper bar! The car in front slowed, so I braked. The truck flashed his lights at me. What was I supposed to do? Hit the car in front???
Vda
I think the government should implement a campaign on safe distance driving, similar to the campaign done in WA about "taking a easy ride". Most drivers here have a tendency to intimidate the drivers in front of them by driving to close--especially when they have large and more advanced vehicles.
Anonymous
tailgating is for people with no patience. always rushing to be somewhere and never kick back.
Mattman
I live in Queensland, I'm not sure about the road rules but I'm pretty sure that they teach the same thing here. I hate when people tailgate while I'm in the car because sometime you have to stop suddenly for an animal, roadworks and/or something else. I have been hit in the ass so many times because of people are driving too close to me. It should be important to stay a fair distance away from the vehicle in front of you.
Hol94
my driving instructor taught me to spot an object and could from when the car in front of you goes past it till you go past... one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand :)
gloria44
I agree with your posting, JohnC. I live in Queensland and have been driving for 52 years and I get very annoyed with tailgaters. I always keep at least one car length behind the car in front in dry weather and double that in wet weather. When stopped at traffic lights, I always make sure I can see where the rear tyre of the car in front meets the roadway so that, in the event of a car hitting me in the rear end, I have some space to apply my brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of me.
Adzzy
I totally agree. But I don't like cars who go below the speed limit in the right lanes. It makes the hooks more dangerous because they have to go around the slow cars. If u are going slower than the limit you should keep to the left
MissStrabo
I don't agree with tailgating but I get really frustrated with drivers who pull out in front of on coming traffic (including myself) and then don't drive at the speed limit. So because the imbicile in front won't do the speed limit I should ride my brakes. Maybe these people should learn to drive better.
Clint Marchant
JohnC you need to go back and remember your driving lessons when the car in front reaches an object on the side of the road start counting when you get there it should be at least two seconds SIMPLE
oscarc
why dont you slow down or pass the other car
Anonymous
I agree, i hate people that tailgate, it is such a dangerous practice, and then right when you go to slow down for your turn off, they look down to the radio and have to slam the brakes when they look up and see you even closer and braking, gees
Horatio47
I agree but, tell that, to the Truck drivers, they are the worst menace on out of town highways.
Anonymous
I am afraid its my worst nightmare on the road. I am not sure what they are up to at all. Wether they are just rude or have had a bad day.
ozziedigger
A driver I knew was frightened of tail-gaters,Fright turned to hate ,so he insured his
registered farm ute to the hilt and kept driving to town as normal .One trip ,a tailgater started playing him,so he tightened his safety belt and rammed on his brakes. The tailgaters vehicle was a mangled mess at the front driver was fine,the farmer drove to his insurance Co. and he got another farm ute and registered it.
I don`t know where he is now,but i give all vehicles enough room,especially when i`m driving in the country.
Anonymous
I just don't understand tailgating, it's dangerous and it makes no sense! Also, I wish people could get it into their heads that 100kmh is the MAXIMUM you are allowed to drive, not the minimum. Why are we all in such a hurry?
fatjack
you are probably one of the idiots who does 20ks under the speed limit in the right lane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~!!~
MikeT
Thankfully, I live in the bush, and while I don't habitually tailgate, I do come up close behind cars I'm about to overtake. Distance depends on what I'm about to overtake, usually out here it's a caravan or a B-double, in which case I have to sit back some distance to be able to see the road ahead. As for leaving a big gap between you and the car in front, my experience of city driving was that all that happened was that lane-changes saw a decent gap as a spot for them to take!
Out where I live the speed limit is 110km/hr, and frankly, I get very annoyed by grey nomads who waffle along at 90km/hr. OK for them , they're retired and have all the time in the world. I am working, and have limited time to get where I'm going, on occasions, especially given the huge distances "out west".
BO
I agree tailgating is my pet hate. There is no need for it. You should always be able to see the bottom of the tyres of the car in front of you
jock
totally agree
dave
dangerous
monkeyman
this my bone of contention, out here on the western highway the truck are our main offenders, this is also applied to traveling through rural towns.
I had a n incident very recently were i was traveling out of the horsham heading west past the seconary colledge in a 60 zone and the truck is tailgatting me sounding his big air horn to intimidate me to pull over so he could pass.
out on the highyway continued doing this until he overtook me and 5 other vehicles and soon disappeared. people like that need to be band from driving for life, as they create accidents.
Anonymous
I have to admit, I will put my brakes on if someone's sitting up my backside. If I can't move there's no need for it, They have to wait like the rest of us. Stick to the left people!!!!!!
Clint Marchant
A 2 second gap is easy look for a power pole when the car in front reaches it there should be 2 seconds before you reach it you will be surprised that YOU are tailgaiting
maccaa
i hate it too but there are alot off people that do it even trucks do, i always leave a car gap between me and the car in front
Anonymous
Its worse at night when you are being tailgated by a 4 wheel drive and their lights are reflecting from the rear vision into your eyes. In fact it is actually dangerous as it makes it difficult to see out the windscreen. I tend to just flick my mirror and slow down another 5 ks or so.
astra1977@bigpond.com
Nothing more annoying, no need for it, but it seems these days everyone is full of their own importance, driving like race car drivers has become the norm. No wonder road rage stats are on the rise,
Captain Slog
Hi Folks,
I'm not a car owner/driver, but like you I just HATE Tail Gaters. I can think of several brilliant cures, but they're probably, or obviously, illegal. Such things as a can of S-Spikes, Oil, and exploding box of SHIT. Anything that makes them back off.
The Exploding Box one sounds better. If its done right it looks like a part of the car. I think you can get LED Bars that flash messages across them, that you type into a Keypad. Have one in your back window, and flash the message; "1 Please Back Off!" and if they're persistent, flash "2. You are too close!" and if they still don't back off? "You asked for it! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. . " BANG! And the shit sprays all over their car. One thing to be careful of, though, and that is make sure that no one is behind them, or coming towards you. Just in case. You know?
Of course, it doesn't hurt to let off steam by just MENTIONING this. Its just a release of frustration. A more spectacular version would be to just drop a Thermal Detonator into their path. But the result would be a 25 Metre round "Pot Hole" in the road. No, No, No, No, No! Just kidding!
Tail Gaters? GRRRRRRR!
Kessa1959
I also get annoyed not only by tailgaiters but also those who have to dive into the space you've left between your vehicle and the one in front. When regularly towing horses it was a big problem as I would give myself plenty of room to stop only to have to slam on the brakes because some idiot decided to get in front.
paradox
Hi JohnC, I agree with you on distances, however what seems to happen here in Brisbane is that if you leave more than a car length between your car and the one in front, someone will cut into that space and insist that you let them in. I don't care much for these tactics but because I have time on my hands I dish out a smile and drop back to my save driving distance.
Lilibet
Tailgating... the bane of every driver life. My experience is usually to touch the brakes and that lets the driver behind know to drop back - as long as is is someone reasonable driving. My worst experience of tailgating involved being followed by two B-double semis who were being held up through a long stretch of 80k roadworks on the Princes highway. They rode our bumper for nearly 40k on a dark wet night where we couldn't see anywhere to pull over to let them through. there was so little room that even if we'd touched the brakes they would have been over the top of us. When they did get a chance to pass the first one blew the arihorn contin ually and then pulled in across the front of our car before he's actually finished passing. I still breakout in a cold sweat thinking about aht might have happened. Now I'm nervous about driving on some of the highways especially at night when you cant see whats beside you to pull over
Bigfoot
I used to be a courier and was on a very strict timetable, I know that I used to tailgate and I have no excuse for it. Now that I have been retired for the last 12 years a lot of my time is spent travelling the Western Ring Road and have noticed that the worst offenders are truckies. Having said that, I have some great trucky friends and they blame the car drivers. I know that they are wrong in the majority of cases.
kimc
Both my cousin and my uncle have been tailgated. Except they didn't know that they were being tailgated by an undercover police. My cousin lives in a quite street but he doesn't drive over the speed limit anyway. The undercover police was tailgating him for a few minutes. They was no way to pull over so he had to keep driving. He was driving within the speed limit and that police wouldn't stop tailgating so my cousin decided to go a little over the limit and bang, next thing, the guy revealed himself as a cop and gave my cousin a speeding ticket. The exact same thing happened with my uncle, except he lives in Melbourne and my cousin lives here in Queensland. My cousin, even though he doesn't speed, now has a sticker on his dashboard saying "DO NOT SPEED" but it wasn't his fault anyway.
Suzy
I hate tailgating also mostly because I drive a sports car and since the car is low slung, the tailgater looms large in my mirror and blocks the view of anything happening further back. I try to get out of their way asap and value my expensive bumper too much to try hassling them.
Reyna
I agree with you its dangerous, specially when wet to make sure your not get involve in an accident only do this tailgating in the parking shop when we we get robbed by parking fee while we already spend of thousands in their shopping centre...
Timbo52
It also never ceases to amaze me why people call speed cameras "revenue raising" devices. If everyone stuck to the speed limit, then there would be no fines and no "revenue" for the Govt. Why anyone would willingly want to pay the Govt more maoney is beyond my comprehesion!
davidnicholas
I think tailgating is way more dangerous that speeding. I totally agree with the 2sec rule.
That said, leaving a gap to the car in front seems to be an encouragement to twits behind to overtake, cut in front and then brake hard.
Timbo52
I believe it is law that if you hit someone in the back, it is entirely your fault, regardless of what the car in front is doing.
mummy2jj
yes it is the case. if you hit someone from behind you are at fault because there should have been enough room for you to brake or take evasive action
HollyDuder
Tailgating it a fact of life humans have discovered. People are never going to stop tailgating.It would be wonderful if they would. But you will always have some idiot who doesn't think about the driver in fronts life. They driver you are a tailgating could be driving to pick up his sick mother in hospital or to see his twin baby girls for the first time in his life. I was driving behind a car the other day that had warning stickers on it which alarmed drivers to be careful around his car the stickers read "Care ful.. Radiation inside
ahd
If there's a slow driver in the right hand lane, it could be that there is no opportunity for the driver to move to the left lane!! Most often, it is some "leadfoot" trying to display the horsepower under the bonnet or attempting to impress someone! It is not only dangerous but irresponsible as well with the potential for someone to get injured!
spog777
nothing worse than stopping behind someone and only to look in the rear mirror to see another vehicle screaming down at you-happened to us a month or so ago and our four door sedan instantly became a two door bundle of scrap
stretch
ok it is between 5 second gap between cars and bikes in nsw
you can always grab the licence plate and report them to the local police
or if like some people i know stop the car and hop out and ask would you like to park in my boot
but legally all you need is the advice given
i have done it but try and avoid the situation as was always in a hurry to get places till i rote of a torana at a 110kms an hour lucky no one was hurt this act took place at a round about and i won but lost
Bostin Blacky
I travel every two weeks up Northland and back, 740 KM in two days.
Over the years many accidents I have seen with people following to close.
When I am doing 100km the distance between my car and the one in front I keep to about 4 car lengths. One time I had to stop fairly quickly and with the oil on the road it gave enoufgh clearance to stop about half a car behind the one in front. So keep a good distance behind the car in front for you do not know the condition of the road.
Bostin Blacky
Sonny
Yes Tailgating is bad, and it does annoy me also. I have driven cars, trucks, semi trailers, ambulances and fire trucks for the last 25 years and the only thing I can add is something my defensive driving instructor told me, and that was "What ever is behind you is not nearly as important as what is infront of you". Trying to work this out "1 car length for every 10km/hr of speed, plus 50% more if the road is wet." is a whole lot more time consuming and concentration sapping than picking a spot and counting to 2 or 3 in the wet to give you a guide to how much space you should leave between you and the vehicle in front. Having said that, the truth is that some drivers be they young or old male or female really have no idea
TIGERSFAN
It is a terrible habit when in the uk I fitted a spot lamp on the rear as reverse lights not good it all so helped put people off tailgating as it had a switch that you could flick with out reversing it certainly slowed people down behind me
debs
I live in the country and i always get the people from the cities thinking that they can sit up my bum in my car.
I hit my brakes hard and watch them brake hard to and then I go about 40kms until they fet the message.
They don't think about the kids in the back seat that they might hit if they are to close.
JohnC
Debs, interesting comment. But I don't think it is just city drivers who do it. I live in Melbourne but I drive a fiar bit in the country, it happens there too, but there is no way of knowing if they are country living people or city dwellers. I have expeineced it in large towns like Geelong and Bendigo, small towns, and on the open road. I think it is a symptom of the growing level of impatience seen on our roads and in plenty of other places. And you are absolutely correct, people who do it don't think about the injuries they could cause to the occupants of the car in front if they hit it.
JohnC
This is just absolute nonsense. People tailgate because they are impatient. It doesn't matter if you are on a 2 way minor road or a 6 lane freeway. It still happens. I saw it as recently as yesterday, a 2 lane raod (1 lane in each direction) a bus about 5 metres behind a truck, both doing close to 100km/hr. It is total madness. Anyoone who defends it is probably a chronic tailgater anyway. Don't you people know anything about human reaction time? If you are driving at 100km/hr, that is approximately 28 m/sec. The measured reaction time of college age students is about 160 msec in ideal conditions. It gets longer as people get older. So if you are travelling at 100 km/hr and the vehicle in front stops suddenly for some reason, if you are less than 17m behind it you WILL hit it, simply because your brain does not realise it has stopped. 17m is about 6 or 7 car lengths.
Redskin253
If you have someone tailgating you you obviously aren't doing it right . KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING , keep to the posted speed , be aware of what is infront , behind and beside you at all times , turn your head to check when changing lanes , indicate before you brake to turn and move to the left when turning left . If more people followed the rules such as these simple ones then road rage or incidents would not occur .
mummy2jj
I agree with the keep left unless overtaking thing . i am forever getting annoyed at people who sit out in the right hand lane and are doing under the speed limit.
weerobby
only been hit on the bum once, trouble is it was a fully loaded B Double trvelling at 40kph on a wet road ..... poor old Trannie Torana didnt look too good afterwards
Cool
Tailgating is usually brought on when you travel at less than the posted limit, if you can and do stay close to the limit and some person decides to travel unreasonably close to the rear of your car, it only takes a few seconds to slow right down and make his/her distance safe. if there's room let the Pain in the B*** Pass, if not Don't worry if he/she sounds his/her horn, It hurts much less than an accident. with a little luck they will speed past into the path of a speed cam... If you are courteous on the road a lot less people get frustrated. Oh and for All you People out there who think you Own the Road : Having Traffic tickets is not investing in the Highway... Just the Highway Robbers (Speed Police...)
GJ
Tailgating is dangerous and for most of the time is not too bad on our roads today but for some if you slack of to get the required distance between you and car in front this is the time that some person will take to change lanes and then brakw to get into that little gap then u back up again u end up traverling backwards
Lastcardlouis
I hate tailgaters with a passion! But perhaps you should consider that the law in many states obliges you to travel in the left lane (assuming there are at least two) unless you're overtaking. If you camp in the right hand lane just because you're on the limit, then you're being as discourteous as the tailgaters.
For what it's worth, I once had a lady friend who was qualified in the world of psychology/psychiatry. She claimed that all male tailgaters were latent homosexuals. Not sure what she felt about the women that do it...
Anonymous
I agree with everyone who hates tailgaters. Heres another true story about my brother in law who was a serial tailgater, even when on his motorbike. He's now dead. Fortunately he was the only on killed in this incident
Clint Marchant
The law states that you are to travel in the left lane unless there is a reason not to so keep left unless overtaking
Clint Marchant
Mate same thing happened to me but if you rear end somebody you are 100% in the wrong what happens next costs BIG bucks
Anonymous
A few years back I had an x girlfriend be guilty of tail gatting my now wife. It got to a point that we had to report it to the police. The officer told us that there was very little they could do about this as it was a he said she said situation, however he did say that there were a million reasons that we could hit the breaks. It is the responsibility of the driver in the following car to ensure they have enough distance to stop in ANY situation.
JohnC
If I am travelling at the speed limit (using a calibrated digital speedometer) then why should I be tailgated in any lane?
MandMm
Assuming you are in the left lane JohnC, then tailgating would be annoying, but if you are on a freeway and in the middle or right lane and getting tailgated, then it's time to go back into the left lane.
tarns
i agre ray my partner does this and i absouletly hate being in the car with him i'm forever telling him to stop it and i always tense up and even though im in the passenger seat i find myself pushing my foot hard to the ground as if i am braking he doesn't listen and i hate it because it is unnessary and dangerous.
JohnC
Maybe a real story will help. A few years ago, around 5:30pm I was driving in heavy traffic, clearway activated, 3 lanes all moving at about 30km.hr, I looked in the mirror, there was a car about 5m behind me. Suddenly the traffic stopped for some reason, and I was forced to brake hard. I looked in the mirror again and thought "this person is going to hit me". Sure enough she did, and she then tried to deny responsibility.
Ray
I To hate tailgating and both my wife and daughter are guilty of this, and can't seem to get through to them.
Whether they can't judge distance or because I say so. any suggestions to improve the situation
regards Ray
JohnC
I agree with almost all of that. But my car has a digital speedo, calibrated, and a cruise control. If I set my speed to 102km/hr in a 100 zone, say on a freeway, then I will be travelling at the posted speed limit. So why then do I constantly get tailgated, no matter which lane I am driving in?
Although it can be funny. If it looks safe to do so I turn the cruise control off, let mycar slow down naturally, and after much gesticulation the car behind me lurches violently to one side then accelerates to overtake me at about 120km/hr, hopefully to find a speed camera around the next bend.
Anonymous
It is dangerous and I put my brakes on slightly so the car behind has to slow down! He sees my red lights. Then I dawdle through town and that slacks him off!
Road rules are for a reason.
Ambrose
Here here, Captain Slog!
Safety is the concern here and 'stooping to their level' is not necessary. If we try to get out of the way of others that want to speed, hopefully we will keep them calm and therefore make the roads safer; for them and motorists around them. Driving slower than the speed limit just makes things worse. Driving at a CONSTANT speed within the law is all we can do.
I might add a comment about trucks/heavy transport (seeing as others have commented here). Along many of the major highways, heavy transport vehicles often follow too closely. A woman was killed on the Warego Highway, QLD out the front of a family friend's house just the other week. Her car sandwiched between two trucks - the truck behind couldn't stop quickly enough at the roadworks due to tailgating. It is far too common and laws should be enforced.
jjdrer
Never thought of that idea. It wouldn't work if you have a van like some couriers use or truck behind you though.
jjdrer
The retirement village I live in has a large sign stating" speed limit 10kph (walking pace)" It also has a large sign stating it is private property. It is surprising how many decide to drive through instead of doing a U-Turn if they need to. - Day and Night, even at approx. 3.00am. One contractor doing work on site was banned at the completion of the job because he continuously sped through at normal speed for public side roads. He had already received warnings prior to being banned.
We also had a concrete truck driver who was chatted for speeding. His reply was that he wasn't speeding, he was doing 25. Many living her are old and frail, therefore cannot walk as quickly. There are some corners that you cannot see around in advance.
jjdrer
My brother was a semi driver and and now drives a smaller truck. He regularly has cars tail-gating him. It is scary. There are so close to the back of the truck all you can see is the the car roof backwards, which I discovered when I was a passenger. On a country trip I was aware that if another vehcile came out of a side road at a T-Junction and he had to brake even just slightly it was very likely the car following would have gone under the back of the truck. Even before he started driving a truck himself he said there is some "cowboys" on the road that give other truckies a bad reputation. On one occasion on a country road he tried to pass a car on a country road that was doing 50kpm.(I was a passenger and watching his speedo) He decided they were out sightseeing, but he wanted to get to his destination before dark so he decided he would sit back from them, pull out and pass them in a safe manner. As he started to overtake them the driver of the car decided to speed up on the inside lane and fluctuate his speed, preventing us ot completely overtake safely or pull back in behind the car. It was scary. My brother could have used his overhead emergency lights to force right of way, but it is illegal for a Motor Vehicle Rescue Truck to do so whilst mobile. They are only allowed to use them whilst stationary - loading or unloading a vehicle onto or behind their vehicle. They must switch them off once they have entered into traffic or they can be fined. I know another truckie who had a car tailgating him going into a country town on a downhill slope. Rather than hit the brakes to reduce speed as quickly as he should have so the car wouldn't go under him, he flicked his brakes on and off and slowed down slowly. He had already done that a few Km. back but the car didn't slow at all. He worked out afterwards the car was so close to him that his stop lights would have been top of the car level and the driver probably wouldn't have seen them anyway as it was a little low car. He copped a speeding fine which he might otherwise not have got. Fines issued for trucks are higher than for cars too.
rpby
You are ALWAYS in the wrong whenever you run into the rear of a vehicle in front.YOU,are by law,required to travel at a safe distance behind the vehicle in front of you, allowing adequate room to stop in case that vehicle has to stop or leave the carriageway.What road rules did you study??DONT tailgate and she wont be applying the brakes at all and the problem doesn't exist at all.SO you wake up mate!!!
rpby
You are ALWAYS in the wrong whenever you run into the rear of a vehicle in front.YOU,are by law,required to travel at a safe distance behind the vehicle in front of you, allowing adequate room to stop in case that vehicle has to stop or leave the carriageway.What road rules did you study??DONT tailgate and she wont be applying the brakes at all and the problem doesn't exist at all.SO you wake up mate!!!
rpby
IF YOU ARE TAILGATING,YOU ARE THE LAW BREAKER .PEOPLE LIKE YOU GIVE THE REST OF US TRUCKIES A BAD NAME.
Trushka
Thanks for that. I'll check it out. I live downhill with not much room to swing into the drive - even with the brake lights and turning signal flashing, some still don't get the message!!!
Clint Marchant
twadles2013 if you are an interstate truck driver that tailgates and now threatening other drivers and statening it on a public forum you have a lot to loose don't you
Clint Marchant
Jimbo they have a dob in number for the school zones now, just record date time and rego number they will get a nice surprise in the mail
Clint Marchant
Don't high beam as it may cause road rage plus the cops will give you a ticket for it
Clint Marchant
Trushka you can actually buy something like that try Dick Smiths
Clint Marchant
Marilyn it works on some but pisses of others I find that if you clean your windshield the waterspray landing on their car slows them down
oldsalt63
only problem with out of adjustment windscreen washers is that they hit me even when I am not tailgating,this I find really annoying
If I can I pull over and let them past ,then return the favor and high beam them
One of them came unstuck the other night,he pushed me through the red light/speed camera over the legal limit.I saw the camera get him in my rear vision mirror-sucker.I waited 4 weeks to get the fine b4 I realised it really did get him
oscarc
tailgating are idiot in which should taken out of the road the police only looks at one thing speed it not speed because the car of today are cable to do the speed it the idiot that do not have any i dear how to drive
Anonymous
Great work bender they taught u well in special forces!!!!! TELL everyone ur in special forces
Anonymous
Spot on buddy these people always looking in there rear vision spend too much time looking at whats going on behind them !!!!! JUST DRIVE
Anonymous
Too many people spend too much time looking in there rear vision mirror ! Dont worry about the person behind u !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous
I do the exact same thing! There's nothing worse than an impatient driver sitting up the back of you, especially at high speeds! I've completed a defensive driving course, and you are meant to safely sit 2 seconds no matter what speed your doing, behind the car in front! And these idiots not only put their lives at risk, but ours, and whoever our passengers are too! It has to be stopped!!
Anonymous
I do the same Marilyn but you just have to be careful that you don't get them even angrier. Had someone tailgate me the other day and did what you suggested above, he ended up following me all the way home and stopped at the end of my driveway.
I told him that I was an ex special forces and I wasn't really going to show him what I can do over a tailgate issue. Good luck but just be careful, there are a lot of hot heads on the road just looking for a reason to explode
Anonymous
once again look in your mirrors and most of the vechicles today have a sign on them reading "things in your mirrors may seem further away but could be closer than you think " once again it is important never slam your brakes on in front of another vechicle for you are by law in the wrong if that other vechicle hits you from behind by applying your brakes unnessaccary you will receive the fine if reported ou are creating a issue for road rage you alone are responsible for your actions do that and you could be sued for several damages claims not only from the vechicle behind you but other vechicles behind the first vechicle if they come into contact so wake up lady you create rage you suffer the consequenses
Anonymous
Marilyn I am an interstate truck driver "please put your foot on your brakes when I,m behind you and see what happens you silly person you
Captain Slog
Hello Everyone,
I've just been having a read about your Tailgater problems, and, geez, aren't they a pain in the "R's"? Inconsiderate bastards that they are! AND Dangerous!!
Marilyn, I see you, too get rather worried when these idiots appear behind you, and you apply your brakes to get them to back off. Here's a very uselful and effective hint that may also help, and you don't need to use your brakes and risk them smashing into you. Instead of using your Brakes, just jab your HAZARD Lights so they flash once or twice. That will similate you using your brakes and they back off. It worked when I did it one the Desert Road when I was transporting a load of groceries in a Trailer. They seemed to want to bully me because I was forced to travel at 80 Kph, the Legal Trailer Speed, but I wasn't having any of it. I pulled over to the Left, when I was able to do so safely and let them pass, but until that was possible, I just ignorede them and gave them the occasional FLASH of my "Brakes".
Try it! I hope it works for you. DON'T give in to those bastard bullies!
Apologies for the lingo, but its in contention with the subject of road bullies.
Drive SAFE and remember, YOU are in Control. NOT Them! Install an Incident Camera that records 24/7 as long as you are driving. That will be Legal Evidence should it be required. Your "Black Box."
Good Luck!
Anonymous
i agree it is very dangerous, and it is usually the people in the bigger cars and trucks that start tailgating smaller cars to intimidate them.
CSD
I love the windscreen washer solution and will use it when necessary. Thanks.
Trushka
I'll try that one. Great idea. Must make sure there's enough water in the washer. I often wish I had a sign on the back window that I could quickly activate - something like: Tailgating, back off! This is a 50/50km zone. I'm sure there would be a market for it. You might make your fortune/
Anonymous
I do the same with the braking and sometimes they do get the hint and back off if not they will just over take.
Jim 007
Often when i drive in a road work 25k zone,drivers get agro behind me! ,and It is a huge fine if you speed in these zones.They can all just chill and back off!!
Anonymous
i do the exact same, i look in the rear view mirror and 99% of the time their losing it, they just don't get how dangerous and annoying it is, especially semi drivers, they think they can intimidate people in smaller vehicles.
Clint Marchant
This may work on some but it pisses of others sometimes leading to road rage the best method I've found is to turn your windscreen washers on not only do you end up with a nice clean windscreen but all the excess water flys over your roof and onto the taligaters screen they soon move away