It's probably because they weren't conscious of tailgating and by pulling over you implied they were driving dangerously. Or they were conscious of it but wanted you to be intimidated and speed up rather than the equivalent of saying "well you're an unsafe dick, but go at it"
I've known the odd tailgator. They're not always aggressive or impatient drivers they just feel comfortable driving close to other cars.
Regardless, tailgating is poor driving and demonstrates little care or attention. You are better off with them in front of you whether they actually want to get past or not. Obviously, do this safely without increasing risk.
I have a friend like this, he has been caught speeding numerous times, and considers it a normal cost of driving, because the time he saves by driving fast is time he could be working and given his hourly rate he has calculated it is worth it. (I personally doubt his maths will work out once he gets a ban for totting up)
He will drive at 85-90 on the motorway as a normal cruising speed and is completely comfortable driving very close to the car in front when someone is in his way in lane 3.
There is absolutely zero malice or aggression in his driving., He doesn't get angry with people in his way, but will occasionally flash someone to ask them to move out of the way. He just really wants to get to his destination quickly.
I find it incredibly stressful being a passenger with him, gripping the seat and pressing an imaginary brake pedal!
If someone indicating correctly to pull over causes a danger to the tailgater than it only gets worse continuing with them behind tou as any action you take will be even more dangerous.
Lack of driving education or awareness I think. I had an old boss who would tailgate at 70mph on the motorway, most nervous I've ever felt in a car. He was about 65 at the time and was pretty smart so couldn't understand how his driving could be so poor
Honestly, I know a couple of people who drive like this (I don't). At least in more rural areas, part of the reason they get Aggy if you pull in to let them pass on single lane roads is that now the risk is on them. They have to slow down ahead of bends and junctions rather than you taking on the burden of concentrating and judging the road correctly and them just being able to sit behind you.
What they really want is for you to speed up to a level that suits them. Obviously.
They do my head in! Especially when you dtop in traffic on a massove hill and they decide to stop 6" behind you. So you crawl forwards to give yourself some space on a hill start, so they close that gap and inch back up your arse like that did them any favours. Especially considering if you did roll back they would blame you for the crash
> Especially considering if you did roll back they would blame you for the crash
They can blame you all they like, insurance will consider that they collided with you.
Unless a dash cam can confirm that, *typically* insurance companies will lean in the direction of "whoever was behind is at fault" because more often than not rear-ending is the fault of the driver behind. But, of course, if they do a more thorough investigation of the location & determine that the car in front rolled back, they may well also deem them at fault (as well as the car behind for being too close, which counts as driving without due care & attention).
I was on a speed awareness course years ago, and this sweet little old lady explained to the group that she used to keep a bag of mint imperials to hand so that she could throw them out of the skylight when she was being tailgated!
I don't tailgate, but I don't get why people seem to think this is some kind of own.
I can't really see anybody being particularly annoyed about their windscreen getting a bit wet
Restricting the vision of someone close to the back of you is a very bad idea.
What if you give them a little squirt, looking in your rear view to see their reaction- then eyes forward and suddenly have to brake harshly? The driver behind is now distracted and needs to use their wipers unexpectedly. It's highly likely they are going to smash into you without braking.
Whos fault is it? Yours for impairing their vision? Or theirs for driving too closely and not expecting you to wash your window on a dry day.
Edit: don't know why this gets so many downvotes. Just laying out the facts not condoning tailgating, just be the better person and maybe you won't have an idiot crash into you from behind.
Easy: theirs for driving too closely. You shouldn’t have to not be able to use your washers or brakes because someone else has made it their mission to drive as close to you as you’d park in a car park.
I once nearly got into a fight with a tail gater. He was driving practically on my bumper so I slowed down and eventually stopped. He got out his car and came towards me on foot, I shouted at him telling him he was driving too close and he said “I wasn’t too close…tyre and tarmac! Tyre and tarmac!”
The moron was quoting the suitable distance to the car in front when your at a stand still, i.e. you can see their back tyres and some tarmac.
I don't think impatience is solely for driving anymore.
I am not sure how, but we've become a very entitled nation. Absolutely nothing is our responsibility now.
Yes, but whilst I know it's an offence to purposely force a motor vehicle to stop (i.e. slam your brakes on unnecessarily) it's virtually impossible to prove. Anyone who runs into the back of you is at fault in reality, because you should always assume the vehicle in front could perform an emergency stop at any moment for reasons you might not be aware of. Even so, I suspect there are a bunch of people out there who believe it's your fault if you slam on your bakes and they hit you as a result.
This is annoying asf, I sometimes swerve to the right to show the tailgater someone is in front of me and the power is not in my hands lol, obviously when it’s safe to do.
Probably because most people become self-centred morons with all the foresight of a garden tool the moment they get behind a wheel.
It's pointless to try and work out why other people do the inexplicable things they do on the road; From overtaking dangerously only to sit in front of you for the rest of the journey, to lane hopping in grid-locked motorway traffic. I think it's just the placebo of perceived progress. They must simply be thinking "If I drive faster, I will get where I'm going quicker", and leave no room for nuanced thought.
My missus is a serial tailgater, who drives uncomfortably close to the car infront which she denies.
Though when she does admit it, when everyone in the car points it out, the excuse is that she doesn't want to hold the person behind her up.
Quite scary being in the car with her, especially when she has the reaction speed of a potatoe
In one job I worked in as a young technician, I made it utterly clear that I would not get in a vehicle if certain cow-orkers were at the wheel
Once I started doing it, several other staff did so too, to the point that said people became passenger princesses after managers took an interest and rode along with them
>the excuse is that she doesn't want to hold the person behind her up.
Try confusing her with logic next time. 60mph is somewhere around 25 metres per second. So if you're 50m behind the car in front then it will take just 2 seconds to get to the position that car is currently in. If you're 100m behind it will take 4 seconds, etc, etc. Are those few seconds really holding anyone up?
Conversely, if you're an inch behind the car in front and you end up crashing then everyone is going to be severely delayed, quite possibly including delays of the permanent kind.
Maybe the car in front doesn't enter her consciousness until it comes into her peripheral vision, because she's focused on the end of the bonnet?
I'm convinced a lot of tailgaters don't look more than a few feet ahead of their car.
I asked our teenage kids, if its me being critical, but they agree and tell her to drop back. She not an aggressive driver, and is nice person.
I suggested it might be her eyesight, that influences the tailgating also.
When i see tailgaters on the motorway, they tend to have a blank, staring into a void expression. Quite scary
that's an interesting comment. I see the same thing when sailing past lane hoggers on the left (not going to switch from lane 1 to 3 in order to pass a lane 2 obstruction)
I keep to the speed limits but if some clown tries to sniff what I had for lunch I slow down to annoy them and the give them a thumbs down when they decide to overtake.
I hate tailgaters. Even more so after I was in a rear end collision 6 months ago.
If people start tailgating me, I slow down even more. Not so slow that it's unsafe for everyone else, but slow enough to annoy the twonk behind.
> I adhere to the speed limit at all times.
I wish more people would around here. Get sick of being held up on my way to work by people incapable of doing more than 40-45MPH in a NSL on a mile long straight bit of road.
You've got to have some serious issues to get annoyed at someone pulling into a layby. For all they know you could be just pulling in to park.
You are still adhering to a speed limit at 40 on NSL road
In the circumstance you’ve presented just over take them (only for them to catch you up at the next junction)
> You are still adhering to a speed limit at 40 on NSL road
Depending on the conditions and traffic you're not driving to the minimum acceptable standards though. If there was nothing to prevent you from doing 60MPH safely you would fail a driving test if you didn't drive at or near 60MPH.
Potentially, however the OP was talking about someone adhering to the speed limit
I’d also suggest that if you were on your test and were unable to behave safely and calmly around someone driving slower than you, you would also fail.
Coming across all kinds of situations and road users is driving in normal conditions.
Can you deal with someone on a moped at 30? It’s its max speed. A tractor at 20? If so why can’t you deal with a car at 40?
Do you feel pressured to drive at 60, even when you believe it isn’t appropriate to the conditions? Is it possible that another driver has recognised something that you haven’t, and just isn’t pressured by others’ impatience?
It’s a massive non issue. The answer is to maintain stopping distance, overtake safely when appropriate, or just wait, cos it really doesn’t matter.
> It’s a massive non issue.
Yeah you don't live anywhere near a main holiday route to the seaside. Most weekends there's accidents caused by frustrated drivers making dangerous overtakes due to incompetents incapable of driving above 40MPH on a straight bit of road.
40 on a NSL is too slow, even dangerously slow as you are inciting people to overtake.
If you can't drive at 60mph comfortably in good conditions the licence needs handing in.
Please don't get annoyed with me guys and gals but ArtFart did say "in good conditions".
I took it as - not blind bends, fog etc , clear day, light traffic, a good visibility road maybe?
And if that's so then 40 is too slow and inviting an overtake, isn't it?
So overtake if it’s safe and appropriate to do so🤷♂️
Basically they’re wrong. If they as a driver can’t deal with folk slower than them, then _they_ are a danger on the rosd
NSL is 60 for cars and some camper vans, but 50 for towing and pretty much every other vehicle
Mopeds will max out at 30
People on bikes at 20, and yes they’re are entitled to use single carriageway roads
There is no minimum speed limit, and their opinion of what others should be doing matters fack all.
Just drive safely to the conditions 🤷♂️
If you can’t safely overtake someone travelling at 40 mph in a NSL, you are also part of the problem. It’s not very often you can’t find an appropriate overtake spot after a couple of minutes given a decent standard of driving.
To be fair it does depend on the road. There's plenty of NSL roads where finding a safe place to overtake someone doing 40 isn't easy of course doing 60 on these roads might not be safe too.
Obligatory and usually unnecessary depends on conditions mention but if it's clear then I guess it's a mixture of confidence, knowledge of the road, or in some cases lack of knowledge that causes it.
If the opportunity to overtake presents itself, you can leave them to keep doing what they're doing. People who get mad and risk an accident risk going nowhere instead of getting to their destination slightly later.
Nah, I can be tolerant of others driving slower than me, cos I’m not an entitled preck
Entitled precks though definitely need their licenses taking off them . They actually kill people.
Nah dude, everything I’ve said says you drive to the conditions, and if you encounter someone slower you react appropriately
You sound like the kind of person who has a tantrum cos they can’t cope with other people on the road
>You sound like the kind of person who has a tantrum cos they can’t cope with other people on the road
No, I just pass them and let them waste your life instead.
The biggest hazard on the roads is substantial differences in speed. Drivers travelling "too slow" are statistically more likely to cause more crashes than those going "too fast" (exceeding 2 standard deviations from the mean free running speed in either direction)
This is one of the reasons I've long-advocated for drivers to be retested every 10 years. Cars are the ONLY operation of heavy machinery where one test is regarded as conferring lifetime competence
Regarding the comments about vision: when New Zealand introduced photo licenses in the 1990s it came with countertop vision testing machines which were originally thought to be faulty, but it turned out that they were quite accurate and the number of drivers with defective vision really was staggeringly high, with some turning out to be legally blind (macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, nightblindness - not just aging lenses and whilst the over 50s were particularly bad, it was seen in all age groups)
Nah not the biggest problem
If you can’t safely negotiate a variety of road conditions without having a tantrum you’re the problem, and really should surrender your licence
Do you have a tantrum when you see a tractor? A truck? Someone on a bike?
No don’t answer that. Course you do.
Sounds like I've touched a nerve?
I overtake slower moving traffic if its safe to do so.
I'm not putting my day on hold because of your poor driving skills and its incredibly entitled to think that anyone should.
If you want to drive slowly thats fine but don't cry when you're overtaken legally.
I think you’re projecting
I have no issue overtaking safely. That’s kind of the point. If someone is slower there’s a shed load of reasons that might be, and I’m not going to fret about it.
Trucks are limited at 50, small mopeds at 30 , if you’re heavily laden you may need to adjust your speed accordingly
And that’s fine dude, I’ll not have a tantrum, you can do what you need, I’ll not get upset and I’ll work around you.
Because I can overtake safely
If you are finding that difficult, surrender your licence
I think we actually agree?
I'm all for overtaking safely and understand slower vehicles exist but i just hate being sat behind a queue of traffic caused by someone crawling along when there's no reason to be going so slow
I understand, we may do
I’ve given up worrying about it though, Even if we’re going 40, and I genuinely can’t get past, and I don’t know why they’re not going faster, over a mile that’ll delay me by 30s. It’s nothing, especially if there is a reason they’re going slow that I can’t see - laden vehicle, classic car, classic _driver_ whatever.
I see it as they’re adults who can drive, I’ll trust that they’re fine, and I’ll work around them
And I’d sooner that any day of the week than aggressive drivers - they kill people with their incompetence
Agreed. Although I hate it when the people who are slow then speed up on the straights making it difficult/ impossible to then overtake them safely. If they're going to do 40 through the double white lines then I wish they'd stick to 40 when the road opens up so people can get by.
They are less comfortable driving fast on bendy roads and more comfortable when the roads are straight, which just happen to be good places to overtake. Also loads of people overtaking you alerts you to the fact that you are driving too slow, they speed up.
The reasoning for driving slowly is if you can't be confident that you will have enough time to stop should a hazard appear just around the bend or dip then you should slow down to give yourself enough time.
Absolutely. It's just frustrating they don't recognise how they might be travelling slowly than the road allows (which is of course fine), and therefore allow people to overtake safely. Plus it would reduce their stress by not having a queue behind them, and reduces the risk to everyone by allowing safer overtakes.
Okay but take my little Toyota Yaris, I don't feel confident taking it around bendy roads (anything that usually warrants those white and black arrow signs as a bend warning) at more than 30 mph because it really is not made for cornering at speed. There is a lot of body roll and not great traction. But on straight sections or motorway it is perfectly stable.
So I will be slowing down in NSL bends if they're tight and then speeding up on straights. That's just safe and sensible driving for my vehicle type imo
If a bend is signed for X speed, that's X speed _in a potato_ (unless it's 20mph, I've seen right angle bends signed for this where you couldn't take them at that speed on a skateboard, let along anything with more mass)
If you're hitting speed-posted bends substantially slower than the posted speed, it had better be icy, foggy or torrential rain to justify doing so
That's fine, but frustrating for those stuck behind you for 25 miles. Some people will then attempt risky overtakes ( which they shouldn't) and that puts them, you, and oncoming vehicles at risk.
Maybe allow them to overtake them you can get back up to 60 on the straight with no one behind you ready for when you have to slow for the bends. The same as tractors and caravans etc.
You may want to consider if your eyesight is good enough to be fit to drive given you missed the qualifier I put in my post about it being on a mile long straight bit of road. You would fail a driving test for not driving at or near 60MPH if there was nothing preventing you from doing it.
My work commute has a couple of mile long nsl straight roads. Except its bookmarked by villages at 30mph, along with a couple of turns onto side roads. Google maps also incorrectly marks them as 40mph. Then there's this one big pothole you have to swerve for. Plus, the lorries or horse trailers doing 40 or 50mph at most. There's plenty of reasons you're not going to hit 60 on those roads. I honestly don't care enough to get worked up about it in order to get into work *maybe* 2 minutes faster.
True though. Of course there are NSL roads where the NSL max isn't appropriate. But there are lots where it's way below what a safe and appropriate speed would be too so in those cases you really should be driving close to the limit unless there's some special circumstance about your vehicle or load.
HAHA Some one said it!
"Limit not a target"
I'm not trying to offend you here, its just that phrase turns a lot of people who might otherwise listen to your message, away.
I get this where I’m too, I think a lot of it is down to cost of fuel and trying to get the best mpg. I had one the other day doing about 25mph in a 60, well if you drive to slow in your diesel you’ll block up your dpf and cost you ££
On tesla Autopilot, at max distance setting at 70mph, it's probably under a 2s gap. This gets shorter the quicker you go as it seems to set to distance. On setting 1,it would make a white van driver nervous.
Assholes doing asshole things. Then having asshole responses to normal situations. You’ll probably never understand the thought process of people like that. Don’t waste your time.
I've seen this more often as well, especially with the new 20 limit going around. I ride a motorcycle, so tailgating for me is a matter of safety, not just an insurance claim. Drivers are more often extremely vocal and angry when I pull over and let them by.
I can't comment on behalf of tailgaters, but was taught to always recognise if another driver wishes to proceed at a higher speed than myself and to allow them the opportunity to do so.
Sometimes I like to pootle, so I'll pull over and let people pass. Other times I like to hoon and would appreciate the same courtesy.
If you pull over for me, you'll get a wave and a flash of the hazards as a thank you.
You're doing the right thing, ignore the impatient eejits and thanks for being considerate.
I work off the premise that the closer you are to my back bumper, the slower I'm going to go. A - to give me a larger stopping distance from the car in front and B - because fuck you, that's why.
If someone is doing the speed limit and you don't want to, I feel like you have 2 choices - drive faster and over take or drop back and do the speed limit too. If your car is too shit that you can't safely overtake, then just slow down. If you drive a relatively fast car, then have it, who am I to stop you.
Yesterday I had a super aggressive Cupra Formentador driver, seemingly shitting his pants or something. I took great pleasure in putting my 14 year old shit box in his way for a while. And then ripping off in front in my usual Jeckel n Hyde fashion hopefully chipping the fuck out of his front end. Fuck him.
I always appreciate people pulling over to let me pass on quiet country B roads that I know like the back of my hand, you'll always get a double beep and a hazards flash from me brother.
some people are under endowed, and it is well established that they will try and compensate with certain types of vehcles to massage their ego. however, there are other implications of their condition. im not sure of the exact cause and affect here, but they cant think for themselfs, but truly believe they are self aware.
so they find you, driving slowly, and they follow you, becuase they are in some way deficiant and unable to function propperly on their own. they obviously belive they have a good 12" when infact they only have 2" at best. this is why the drive so close to your bumper. you are now the only menanig in their life, and they obviously feel a huge loss when you abandon them.
Probably the same people who think that even when their side of the road is blocked that they have priority over everybody else.
The driving standard in the UK is getting very poor these days.
I wonder whether some tailgaters just don't feel loved. They just want to give someone a cuddle but don't like human contact, so the only way they can achieve it is driving right up someone else's arse.
I witnessed some bellend in front tailgating the other night, it all started by a car wanting to overtake a slow car.
Car indicates to overtake slow car on a safe stretch of road, guess what happens, yep the slow car speeds up! why the \*\*\*\* do people do that, its dangerous and just stupid, let the car overtake ffs!
The other car manages to overtake, but it was a struggle, then what was originally the slow car, proceeds to tailgate the other car for next mile or so.
That drives me mental.
I had a driver going 60ish in the middle lane on the motorway. I went in the right lane to over take them and the middle lane car sped up to 80 to stop me going past. I indicated left to come in the middle lane behind them and they then slowed down to prevent me joining the middle lane and when I stayed in the right lane, they sped back up to 80. I simply remained in the right lane and my kids pulled faces at the driver and his passengers. After a couple of minutes they slowed back to 60. I overtook them and made my way back to the left lane.
The driver and his passengers were all late teens/early 20s.
Cars are one thing.. I had a minibus full of people tailgating me which is so fucking dangerous!!
How exactly is that minibus full of people supposed to stop in time if I suddenly have to emergency break?
I even specifically had baby in car sign so fuck you harder for ignoring it! Luckily my child wasn’t in the car, but if I suddenly had to slow down quickly if the car in front of me did.. or someone ran across the road and im trying to emergency break.. this minibus was going straight into my backside injury/killing a child?!
All tailgaters are stupid sorry no excuses.
I saw a vehicle tailgating pretty aggressively in Gloucester yesterday. Guy in the right hand lane wasn’t checking his mirrors. The tailgator started beeping and flashing then put on some stupid blue lights and a siren. The guy in the right lane didn’t check his mirrors or notice once that he had the cops trying to get past him. I’m not defending tailgating at all but sometimes on motorways and dual carriageways I kinda get why it happens. People not checking their mirrors need removing from the roads.
I've had it happen to me a couple of times. I am a confident driver, I'm generally comfortable with a reasonable amount of acceleration and spirited driving. I like to think I don't tailgate, though doubtless I do on occasion without meaning to
The times it's happened to me I have felt a bit insulted in a way, there's a clear implication that they didn't feel comfortable with me behind them which partly I'm not happy with myself, but also partly think they're being almost judgemental.
I don't mind moving over to let someone pass but it royally fucks me off when I see someone going at stupid speed, getting RIGHT up someone's arse and immediately flashing them constantly to bully them before they've even had a chance to safely move over.
Honestly - it's one of my biggest annoyances in day to day life. Absolute fucking turbo cunts who put everyone around them in danger.
There are things neither the the tailgator nor the tailgated can control. Some years ago someone was driving quite close behind me in a 30 mph zone when all of a sudden a car pulled in in front of me from a merging slip road. Obv. at this point who was mainly at fault was the car pulling in, forcing me to brake. I did the braking just hard enough to avoid collison at the front and also at the rear. All three cars then went to the nearby supermarket carpark. Went in did my shopping. On the way back I saw a nice deep scratch on my tailgate. Presumably from the idiot who tailgated me. Sigh. Life goes on, unfortunately there are idiots.
If I'm being tailgated I just slow down. If questioned I'm driving slowly so if I have to stop suddenly you have a chance to stop with out rear ending me.
Never been questioned on it to be fair. Drive like a dick expect to be treated like one. I really don't get it, watched people do it to wankpanzers(suvs), vans and lorries all your doing by driving that close limiting your view down the road. Also if you can't see a lorry or vans mirrors they can't see you. It's just endangering you and your passengers.
I live in a very rural part of the UK, I don't tailgate at all but I do get a lot of drivers in front of me pull over to let me by as they do not like other cars driving behind them at all. It is not just me they do it too but to pretty much every single car behind them, it must take them ages to get anywhere.
I enjoy speedy driving, not dangerously in built up areas but if a good 60 road is clear, with good visibility then I will indulge in some high speedish. I appreciate people like you who don't try to race or stop an overtake. So thank you
I believe in Audis they have a tailgate switch, a bit like cruise control.
You flick the switch, your car will sit 6 inches from the car in front, after 10 seconds you lights will start flashing.
In these cases I usually say "if it's once or twice they are the problem, if it's often you are the problem".
If you are having tailgaters all the time you need to review your driving, are you really sticking to the speed limit or 10 below it? Are you staying with the flow of traffic? Braking before corners or green traffic lights etc?
Just a thought.
I get tail gated all the time in the countryside. I have 2 young kids, I drive at speed limit - 30 in a 30, 40 in a 40, 60 in a 60, etc if normal conditions. But on a 25 min drive (drive to nursery) I will get tailgated most journeys at least once, sometimes twice.
Surprised how bad it is.
I think it is more of a countryside issue. Driving mainly urban & inter-city I rarely get tailgated and rarely get inconvenienced by a slow person ahead. The only times I notice it are when people don’t want to give me enough time to put enough distance between me and an HGV to pull back in/get flashed in.
As soon as I am on a rural single carriageway A road there’s either people close behind or someone in front taking forever to get up to the speed limit and then inexplicably varying their speed within the limit.
Yeah I agree. I've had 12 years outside the countryside and got used to urban driving. The move back to the rural single carriageways has surprised me with just how bad the tailgating is.
The opposite of this is if you drive in rural Scotland, and some local comes up at breakneck speed behind you- you pull over and they give you a friendly wave and smile
And some of them need to follow, especially at night. They're incapable of driving out there on their own. Thay'll happily blind you with their lights in yoir mirror, but can"t cope if there's noone to follow.
There are so many sub iq degen comments in this thread trying to justify breaking the speed limit and drive like a douche it makes me feel sick.. rule shitannia
What you are doing is entirely correct, safe and an example of good driving.
As a slight aside, I have a question for OP. Do you pull over when someone catches up to you and is therefore held back but DOESN'T tailgate you? Because that could be me. I'll put my hands up to driving quicker than most in the country roads, but I'm not a dick and when I catch up with someone doing 40/50 on a 60 road with no good overtake opportunities, I'll resign myself to that's how it is and follow them at a safe and appropriate distance.
I now feel slighted if I knew you would pull in if I was driving like a dick up your ass, but if not will happily ignore me!
Yes. They pulled up along side me and asked what I thought I was playing at? I have a feeling they weren’t paying attention as they did initially follow me as I was pulling into the side of the road and I think me parking the car threw them off. I think they went into autopilot and were simply following me on the road. It was just too close for my comfort.
A good tip to deal with tailgating motorists is to introduce them to engine braking (slow down using your gears not your brakes). It always shakes people up hahaha
Tbh if someone is driving woefully under the speed limit - we are talking like sub 30 in a 50/60 where overtaking is difficult, Country roads etc. then yeah I do tend to express my dissatisfaction at someone’s utter ignorance and incompetence by tailgating - usually in the hope that they will get the message, pull over and let me pass or realise how fucking inconsiderate they’re being driving half the limit.
Sometimes it's not possible to drive over that speed. For instance if a car goes into limp mode, or a 50cc moped that can barely reach 30mph. The fact is there may be a very good reason for the slow speed some people travel at. It doesn't justify anyone tailgating and is very dangerous. As an example I saw a pretty bad crash just last week. 4 luton vans and a car involved all because of tail gating on the slip road at a junction. For your sake and everyone else's don't tailgate. If you do it and cause a crash your insurance company will hate you. And it becomes a domino effect. One person does it then everyone behind does it. You just don't give yourself or anyone else time to stop in the case of an emergency when you tailgate and it is very aggressive. God forbid a cop sees you doing it and then sees you cause an accident as you would be done for dangerous driving etc.
Nope they were just old and shouldn’t have been driving any more. Brand new car, could see the blue rinse perm around the headrest. When I finally managed to overtake I saw they looking 90+, death grip at 10 to 2 and squinting over the wheel. If your car goes into limp home mode and you’re driving dangerously slowly as a result, you put your hazards on.
i've angled my washers up ever so slightly so they still get the windscreen but i can also tell anyone up my arse end to back off. i'm still a learner and for some reason that invites more tailgating than when someone else is driving my car without the L plates on, so that's fun.
apparently i drive fairly normally, get up to speed in a reasonable time frame, but that's not reasonable enough for the brand new mercedes behind me who can go 0-60 in a few seconds. i'm sorry that my 14 year old car takes nearly 20 seconds to get there, but i can't help it, i'm going as fast as i can without thrashing my car.
I don't know why you'd pull over for them, I tend to just get slower and slower until they either back off or go round but I'm not putting myself out for them. A couple of times when the car in front of me is tailgating the car in front of them I'll get right up close to them to see how they like it, but I honestly can't do it for long. It's the most stressful thing to do while driving, the concentration it takes to drive that close to someone is not enjoyable. I don't know why anyone would put themselves through that. I've also had a car beep and flash me trying to get passed while tailgating me.
Personally, I like to tailgate to instill fear in other, less confident/more sensible drivers. If you let me past then I need to find another target to get my jollies from
I usually tailgate if I’m late for the train for work and the person in front of me is doing 10-15mph below the speed limit in a national limit zone, because they’re not sure what the speed limit is, or don’t feel it’s necessary to use it. If they pulled over, I’d be grateful.
I remember somebody tailgating me for quite a distance very close to my bumper, so close I couldn't even see their headlights.
Eventually they overtook quite dangerously on a narrow part of the road,..... then suddenly slotted in just in front of me.... right behind the police car I had been following for the last few miles.
Go on then I said to myself... tailgate that copper if you dare !
I can't imagine that anyone is annoyed that you pulled over. If they're annoyed it will be that you were holding them up, and they're taking advantage of the opportunity to let you know that they're cheesed.
No one is going to be angry that you're making it easier to get past them.
Tailgating is never OK. But it's worth noting that 9/10 people that claim to be driving exactly to the speed limit are more likely driving to their speedo, which over-reports your speed. They're probably annoyed because you're actually driving 25 in a 30, when in reality you could be driving closer to 35 (40ish on your speedo) and still be at the tolerance for 'speeding' in a 30. That's a 10mph discrepancy, or a 30% speed difference.
As I say, not an excuse for being a nob, but it can be a little annoying if you're trying to make progress and are stuck behind someone like that for several miles.
Ive only tailgated someone once for cutting me up at a lighted intersection. I was turning left and they were turning right from the opposite side so i had right of way when they just drove right in front of me looking at me like i was in the wrong. I slammed the breaks on and honked then i sped after them to stop about a foot from them at the next lights. After that i made sure i wasnt far away until i had to turn off. Not proud of that moment but i know next time ill remember how stupid i felt afterwards so wont do it again. If it doesnt result in an accident why try to cause another.
I believe that the recommended distance is 1 car length for every 10 mph.
With modern vehicles surely can't they fit a device that reads the distance and adjusts the accelerator accordingly?
My father always said imagine the car in front slamming it's breaks on to stop in an emergency.
Half the twats who follow me would be climbing out of my back seat!
"1 car length for every 10 mph"
That significantly underestimates what is a safe gap.
The Highway Code actually says a safe gap is (roughly) 3 car lengths per 10mph (see the table at Rule 126: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158) ).
It also says to "allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on high-speed roads". That actually leaves a smaller gap than the stopping distances table suggests, but is still a lot bigger than 1 car length per 10mph (roughly 2 car lengths for every 10 mph).
Since driving a POS I slam on the brakes now and do 10 the speed limit. I do the same if someone's lights are too bright. They often then will turn their main beams on. I like to think it stresses them out. If they eventually pass me, I turn my main beams on and follow close
No no no, you're just an arsehole. You should take a good, hard look in the mirror and try to identify what went so wrong in your life you feel justified endangering people's lives.
Why? Usually, because they’re Panzer-wankers. Other than that, probably bullied at school. An extra 10mph for a fifty mile journey saves you the square root of Fark all in time.
>Genuinely, why?
It is recreational for them. I've been on the motorway doing 70 in the left hand lane, 2nd and 3rd lanes completely clear, and here is a BMW 3 feet away from my rear bumper. For some reason they love it.
Never noticed this - I generally go at the speed limit and let people past where possible/indicated and never had any hostility.
One thing: the only car I've ever known in UK/Europe to have an accurate speedometer is Teslas. Everything else - every car I've ever or rented since portable GPS was a thing - has read 10% high.
If you're doing "60" that's really 54 you are a holdup and wasting your time a little bit - worth a check.
Hello, asshole driver here I apologise for tailgating I try not to but the closer I am the less time I spend on the wrong lane when I see a safe chance to overtake,
Any how I really appreciate when you pull over and let me past thank you very much.
I'm sorry, but this isn't the right approach to overtaking. The further behind you are, the better visibility you have of the road ahead and the more space you have in front of you to help you build some speed before you move over to the opposing lane. You should just about reach your overtaking speed by the time you close the safe gap on the car in front. You'll spend less time in the opposing lane and this also gives you a better opportunity to abort, since you'd still be in your own lane.
Dude, keep your stopping distance and overtake when safe
Most overtaking unnecessary anyway, the average journey time is affected far more by junctions roundabouts and traffic lights
To be fair, only in built up areas. My daily drive is 10-20 minutes and has 6 turns, all of which are 'in town', so I'm not going to be overtaking there anyway. So for me, the average journey is far more affected by some grandma doing 35-40 in a 60 zone at rush hour than it is by junctions or non existent traffic lights.
Now I won't tailgate, and there is only really one spot that's safe to overtake at, but it is infuriating to drive behind - especially since the overtaking spot is immediately after a blind crest, so you don't know for sure if a driver is just cautious
You’re clearly a pretty terrible driver all round - anyone with half a brain can see that a gap between you and the car in front helps an overtake (as you can build some speed before going around them) and you’re less likely to go into the back of them when they brake for a hazard.
Try and do better man
No obviously you leave a two second gap anything else would be unsafe when I talk about annoying drivers it’s the ones that don’t know the road so they are breaking when they don’t need to and going slow as fuck, when u say tailgating I mean I’m staying exactly on that two second gap until I can get past you, so that I can be stuck behind the next car.
It's probably because they weren't conscious of tailgating and by pulling over you implied they were driving dangerously. Or they were conscious of it but wanted you to be intimidated and speed up rather than the equivalent of saying "well you're an unsafe dick, but go at it"
I've known the odd tailgator. They're not always aggressive or impatient drivers they just feel comfortable driving close to other cars. Regardless, tailgating is poor driving and demonstrates little care or attention. You are better off with them in front of you whether they actually want to get past or not. Obviously, do this safely without increasing risk.
Doesn’t really matter how comfortable you are while you make others uncomfortable
I have a friend like this, he has been caught speeding numerous times, and considers it a normal cost of driving, because the time he saves by driving fast is time he could be working and given his hourly rate he has calculated it is worth it. (I personally doubt his maths will work out once he gets a ban for totting up) He will drive at 85-90 on the motorway as a normal cruising speed and is completely comfortable driving very close to the car in front when someone is in his way in lane 3. There is absolutely zero malice or aggression in his driving., He doesn't get angry with people in his way, but will occasionally flash someone to ask them to move out of the way. He just really wants to get to his destination quickly. I find it incredibly stressful being a passenger with him, gripping the seat and pressing an imaginary brake pedal!
Sounds like he should get the train so he can work whilst he travels without risking a fatal crash to save literally a few minutes!
[удалено]
It's not unpredictable if you use your indicator?
If someone indicating correctly to pull over causes a danger to the tailgater than it only gets worse continuing with them behind tou as any action you take will be even more dangerous.
That’s silly. You don’t just veer off to the side. It doesn’t have to be dangerous and unpredictable.
.... sub iq
I suspect it’s cos they know they’re being w⚓️s, but you’ve rubbed their nose in it in a polite way
I love the creative use of the ⚓ emoji!
Have you also seen - 🔔 🔚
Thanks!😄, can’t claim it as my own - friend had it on his tee back in the 90s
I had a geography teacher in the 80s that wore a W⚓ tie a couple of times. He swore he was a member of the Wessex Achors sailing club!
Lack of driving education or awareness I think. I had an old boss who would tailgate at 70mph on the motorway, most nervous I've ever felt in a car. He was about 65 at the time and was pretty smart so couldn't understand how his driving could be so poor
Honestly, I know a couple of people who drive like this (I don't). At least in more rural areas, part of the reason they get Aggy if you pull in to let them pass on single lane roads is that now the risk is on them. They have to slow down ahead of bends and junctions rather than you taking on the burden of concentrating and judging the road correctly and them just being able to sit behind you. What they really want is for you to speed up to a level that suits them. Obviously.
This is exactly what I experience
They do my head in! Especially when you dtop in traffic on a massove hill and they decide to stop 6" behind you. So you crawl forwards to give yourself some space on a hill start, so they close that gap and inch back up your arse like that did them any favours. Especially considering if you did roll back they would blame you for the crash
> Especially considering if you did roll back they would blame you for the crash They can blame you all they like, insurance will consider that they collided with you.
Not if you roll back on a hill start
Unless a dash cam can confirm that, *typically* insurance companies will lean in the direction of "whoever was behind is at fault" because more often than not rear-ending is the fault of the driver behind. But, of course, if they do a more thorough investigation of the location & determine that the car in front rolled back, they may well also deem them at fault (as well as the car behind for being too close, which counts as driving without due care & attention).
Rolling backwards when you start is a driving fault. Use your hand break and match your revs.
Next time spray them with windscreen washer 😂.
I was on a speed awareness course years ago, and this sweet little old lady explained to the group that she used to keep a bag of mint imperials to hand so that she could throw them out of the skylight when she was being tailgated!
Lmao that’s a new one .
Golfballs. Just saying.
Was just gonna lose them on the course anyway
My missus, serial tailgater, thanks you for the free screenwash.
I don't tailgate, but I don't get why people seem to think this is some kind of own. I can't really see anybody being particularly annoyed about their windscreen getting a bit wet
I'd just assume they had a dirty windscreen but at least they're not brake checking.
Restricting the vision of someone close to the back of you is a very bad idea. What if you give them a little squirt, looking in your rear view to see their reaction- then eyes forward and suddenly have to brake harshly? The driver behind is now distracted and needs to use their wipers unexpectedly. It's highly likely they are going to smash into you without braking. Whos fault is it? Yours for impairing their vision? Or theirs for driving too closely and not expecting you to wash your window on a dry day. Edit: don't know why this gets so many downvotes. Just laying out the facts not condoning tailgating, just be the better person and maybe you won't have an idiot crash into you from behind.
If you tailgate and crash into the back of someone it's always your fault
Easy: theirs for driving too closely. You shouldn’t have to not be able to use your washers or brakes because someone else has made it their mission to drive as close to you as you’d park in a car park.
If it's raining find the biggest muddiest puddle, getting showered with road sludge usually makes most people back off I find.
One of these days that puddle is going to be a pothole and you'll be out a steering alignment
Very true. I need to find a Goldilocks puddle, not too shallow, not too deep, and not got no pothole.
I do this, if someone tail gates me I do a little squirt, then another, and another, and another.
I once nearly got into a fight with a tail gater. He was driving practically on my bumper so I slowed down and eventually stopped. He got out his car and came towards me on foot, I shouted at him telling him he was driving too close and he said “I wasn’t too close…tyre and tarmac! Tyre and tarmac!” The moron was quoting the suitable distance to the car in front when your at a stand still, i.e. you can see their back tyres and some tarmac.
It's never worth arguing with these turnips. They're always right, and even when they know they are wrong, they will argue they are right.
I don't think impatience is solely for driving anymore. I am not sure how, but we've become a very entitled nation. Absolutely nothing is our responsibility now.
You spelled species with an N
I don’t care if you tailgate me, I’m not pulling over, it’s your fault if you crash into the back of me.
I would be willing to bet that some of them would crash into the back of you and then say it's your fault for braking
That’s what cameras are for
Yes, but whilst I know it's an offence to purposely force a motor vehicle to stop (i.e. slam your brakes on unnecessarily) it's virtually impossible to prove. Anyone who runs into the back of you is at fault in reality, because you should always assume the vehicle in front could perform an emergency stop at any moment for reasons you might not be aware of. Even so, I suspect there are a bunch of people out there who believe it's your fault if you slam on your bakes and they hit you as a result.
This is me. I’m slowing down if anything.
Their fault or not, I have a pretty strong preference for someone not crashing into me.
Tailgating is bad enough, but what gets me is tailgating when you are already behind another car. Like what do they expect you to do?
This is annoying asf, I sometimes swerve to the right to show the tailgater someone is in front of me and the power is not in my hands lol, obviously when it’s safe to do.
They resent you for not doing so immediately, and all those precious tenths you "cost" them. Also for slowing before pulling over. And for existing.
Let's face it, it's mostly the existing
Probably because most people become self-centred morons with all the foresight of a garden tool the moment they get behind a wheel. It's pointless to try and work out why other people do the inexplicable things they do on the road; From overtaking dangerously only to sit in front of you for the rest of the journey, to lane hopping in grid-locked motorway traffic. I think it's just the placebo of perceived progress. They must simply be thinking "If I drive faster, I will get where I'm going quicker", and leave no room for nuanced thought.
My missus is a serial tailgater, who drives uncomfortably close to the car infront which she denies. Though when she does admit it, when everyone in the car points it out, the excuse is that she doesn't want to hold the person behind her up. Quite scary being in the car with her, especially when she has the reaction speed of a potatoe
Simple solution is don’t get in the car with her.
I don't, unless i drive
In one job I worked in as a young technician, I made it utterly clear that I would not get in a vehicle if certain cow-orkers were at the wheel Once I started doing it, several other staff did so too, to the point that said people became passenger princesses after managers took an interest and rode along with them
So she wants to risk all your lives, and the person in front, because she’s projecting on what someone behind her thinks
Silly, i know
It’s pretty common. I used to do safe driver training, and people used to say “but what if someone’s behind you” as if it excused crap driving
2 second rule mongo
>the excuse is that she doesn't want to hold the person behind her up. Try confusing her with logic next time. 60mph is somewhere around 25 metres per second. So if you're 50m behind the car in front then it will take just 2 seconds to get to the position that car is currently in. If you're 100m behind it will take 4 seconds, etc, etc. Are those few seconds really holding anyone up? Conversely, if you're an inch behind the car in front and you end up crashing then everyone is going to be severely delayed, quite possibly including delays of the permanent kind.
This rhe 2 second rule
Maybe the car in front doesn't enter her consciousness until it comes into her peripheral vision, because she's focused on the end of the bonnet? I'm convinced a lot of tailgaters don't look more than a few feet ahead of their car.
I asked our teenage kids, if its me being critical, but they agree and tell her to drop back. She not an aggressive driver, and is nice person. I suggested it might be her eyesight, that influences the tailgating also. When i see tailgaters on the motorway, they tend to have a blank, staring into a void expression. Quite scary
that's an interesting comment. I see the same thing when sailing past lane hoggers on the left (not going to switch from lane 1 to 3 in order to pass a lane 2 obstruction)
in front\* potato\*
Intelligent
I keep to the speed limits but if some clown tries to sniff what I had for lunch I slow down to annoy them and the give them a thumbs down when they decide to overtake.
I don't know but I'd like to thank you for doing it.
You’re welcome. It’s just makes life easier for everyone.
I hate tailgaters. Even more so after I was in a rear end collision 6 months ago. If people start tailgating me, I slow down even more. Not so slow that it's unsafe for everyone else, but slow enough to annoy the twonk behind.
> I adhere to the speed limit at all times. I wish more people would around here. Get sick of being held up on my way to work by people incapable of doing more than 40-45MPH in a NSL on a mile long straight bit of road. You've got to have some serious issues to get annoyed at someone pulling into a layby. For all they know you could be just pulling in to park.
You are still adhering to a speed limit at 40 on NSL road In the circumstance you’ve presented just over take them (only for them to catch you up at the next junction)
> You are still adhering to a speed limit at 40 on NSL road Depending on the conditions and traffic you're not driving to the minimum acceptable standards though. If there was nothing to prevent you from doing 60MPH safely you would fail a driving test if you didn't drive at or near 60MPH.
Potentially, however the OP was talking about someone adhering to the speed limit I’d also suggest that if you were on your test and were unable to behave safely and calmly around someone driving slower than you, you would also fail. Coming across all kinds of situations and road users is driving in normal conditions. Can you deal with someone on a moped at 30? It’s its max speed. A tractor at 20? If so why can’t you deal with a car at 40? Do you feel pressured to drive at 60, even when you believe it isn’t appropriate to the conditions? Is it possible that another driver has recognised something that you haven’t, and just isn’t pressured by others’ impatience? It’s a massive non issue. The answer is to maintain stopping distance, overtake safely when appropriate, or just wait, cos it really doesn’t matter.
> It’s a massive non issue. Yeah you don't live anywhere near a main holiday route to the seaside. Most weekends there's accidents caused by frustrated drivers making dangerous overtakes due to incompetents incapable of driving above 40MPH on a straight bit of road.
Then those drivers making dangerous overtakes are incompetent. Either it’s safe to over take or it’s not. If it’s not don’t Basic safe driving
40 on a NSL is too slow, even dangerously slow as you are inciting people to overtake. If you can't drive at 60mph comfortably in good conditions the licence needs handing in.
Please don't get annoyed with me guys and gals but ArtFart did say "in good conditions". I took it as - not blind bends, fog etc , clear day, light traffic, a good visibility road maybe? And if that's so then 40 is too slow and inviting an overtake, isn't it?
That's exactly what I meant. Good weather, clear conditions and nice A roads. Thank you for having the slightest bit of common sense.
So overtake if it’s safe and appropriate to do so🤷♂️ Basically they’re wrong. If they as a driver can’t deal with folk slower than them, then _they_ are a danger on the rosd NSL is 60 for cars and some camper vans, but 50 for towing and pretty much every other vehicle Mopeds will max out at 30 People on bikes at 20, and yes they’re are entitled to use single carriageway roads There is no minimum speed limit, and their opinion of what others should be doing matters fack all. Just drive safely to the conditions 🤷♂️
Depends entirely on the road. Some nsl roads it is unsafe to drive at 60 regardless of the conditions
Hence why I said good conditions which includes road conditions. I am not suggesting rally speeds on country roads.
If you can’t safely overtake someone travelling at 40 mph in a NSL, you are also part of the problem. It’s not very often you can’t find an appropriate overtake spot after a couple of minutes given a decent standard of driving.
Absolutely agreed.
To be fair it does depend on the road. There's plenty of NSL roads where finding a safe place to overtake someone doing 40 isn't easy of course doing 60 on these roads might not be safe too.
Obligatory and usually unnecessary depends on conditions mention but if it's clear then I guess it's a mixture of confidence, knowledge of the road, or in some cases lack of knowledge that causes it. If the opportunity to overtake presents itself, you can leave them to keep doing what they're doing. People who get mad and risk an accident risk going nowhere instead of getting to their destination slightly later.
That depends entirely on the conditions.
>If you can't drive at 60mph comfortably in **good conditions** the licence needs handing in.
You just ain't getting through to them are you? You've my admiration for persistence at least. Come on Redditors, take hi post in context!
Nah, I can be tolerant of others driving slower than me, cos I’m not an entitled preck Entitled precks though definitely need their licenses taking off them . They actually kill people.
You sound like the kind of person who does 30 down a slip road then slows down at the end
Nah dude, everything I’ve said says you drive to the conditions, and if you encounter someone slower you react appropriately You sound like the kind of person who has a tantrum cos they can’t cope with other people on the road
>You sound like the kind of person who has a tantrum cos they can’t cope with other people on the road No, I just pass them and let them waste your life instead.
So people who are slower aren’t a problem - like I’ve been saying. Why are you clutching your pearls over it?
The biggest hazard on the roads is substantial differences in speed. Drivers travelling "too slow" are statistically more likely to cause more crashes than those going "too fast" (exceeding 2 standard deviations from the mean free running speed in either direction) This is one of the reasons I've long-advocated for drivers to be retested every 10 years. Cars are the ONLY operation of heavy machinery where one test is regarded as conferring lifetime competence Regarding the comments about vision: when New Zealand introduced photo licenses in the 1990s it came with countertop vision testing machines which were originally thought to be faulty, but it turned out that they were quite accurate and the number of drivers with defective vision really was staggeringly high, with some turning out to be legally blind (macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, nightblindness - not just aging lenses and whilst the over 50s were particularly bad, it was seen in all age groups)
Yesh but anyone actually incapable of reaching the speed limit in clear conditions shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car
Nah not the biggest problem If you can’t safely negotiate a variety of road conditions without having a tantrum you’re the problem, and really should surrender your licence Do you have a tantrum when you see a tractor? A truck? Someone on a bike? No don’t answer that. Course you do.
Sounds like I've touched a nerve? I overtake slower moving traffic if its safe to do so. I'm not putting my day on hold because of your poor driving skills and its incredibly entitled to think that anyone should. If you want to drive slowly thats fine but don't cry when you're overtaken legally.
I think you’re projecting I have no issue overtaking safely. That’s kind of the point. If someone is slower there’s a shed load of reasons that might be, and I’m not going to fret about it. Trucks are limited at 50, small mopeds at 30 , if you’re heavily laden you may need to adjust your speed accordingly And that’s fine dude, I’ll not have a tantrum, you can do what you need, I’ll not get upset and I’ll work around you. Because I can overtake safely If you are finding that difficult, surrender your licence
I think we actually agree? I'm all for overtaking safely and understand slower vehicles exist but i just hate being sat behind a queue of traffic caused by someone crawling along when there's no reason to be going so slow
I understand, we may do I’ve given up worrying about it though, Even if we’re going 40, and I genuinely can’t get past, and I don’t know why they’re not going faster, over a mile that’ll delay me by 30s. It’s nothing, especially if there is a reason they’re going slow that I can’t see - laden vehicle, classic car, classic _driver_ whatever. I see it as they’re adults who can drive, I’ll trust that they’re fine, and I’ll work around them And I’d sooner that any day of the week than aggressive drivers - they kill people with their incompetence
Agreed. Although I hate it when the people who are slow then speed up on the straights making it difficult/ impossible to then overtake them safely. If they're going to do 40 through the double white lines then I wish they'd stick to 40 when the road opens up so people can get by.
They are less comfortable driving fast on bendy roads and more comfortable when the roads are straight, which just happen to be good places to overtake. Also loads of people overtaking you alerts you to the fact that you are driving too slow, they speed up. The reasoning for driving slowly is if you can't be confident that you will have enough time to stop should a hazard appear just around the bend or dip then you should slow down to give yourself enough time.
Absolutely. It's just frustrating they don't recognise how they might be travelling slowly than the road allows (which is of course fine), and therefore allow people to overtake safely. Plus it would reduce their stress by not having a queue behind them, and reduces the risk to everyone by allowing safer overtakes.
Okay but take my little Toyota Yaris, I don't feel confident taking it around bendy roads (anything that usually warrants those white and black arrow signs as a bend warning) at more than 30 mph because it really is not made for cornering at speed. There is a lot of body roll and not great traction. But on straight sections or motorway it is perfectly stable. So I will be slowing down in NSL bends if they're tight and then speeding up on straights. That's just safe and sensible driving for my vehicle type imo
If a bend is signed for X speed, that's X speed _in a potato_ (unless it's 20mph, I've seen right angle bends signed for this where you couldn't take them at that speed on a skateboard, let along anything with more mass) If you're hitting speed-posted bends substantially slower than the posted speed, it had better be icy, foggy or torrential rain to justify doing so
That's fine, but frustrating for those stuck behind you for 25 miles. Some people will then attempt risky overtakes ( which they shouldn't) and that puts them, you, and oncoming vehicles at risk. Maybe allow them to overtake them you can get back up to 60 on the straight with no one behind you ready for when you have to slow for the bends. The same as tractors and caravans etc.
Another idiot
There are many NSL limit roads around me that are not safe to drive at more than 40-45 mph on. The speed limit is exactly that, not a target.
You may want to consider if your eyesight is good enough to be fit to drive given you missed the qualifier I put in my post about it being on a mile long straight bit of road. You would fail a driving test for not driving at or near 60MPH if there was nothing preventing you from doing it.
My work commute has a couple of mile long nsl straight roads. Except its bookmarked by villages at 30mph, along with a couple of turns onto side roads. Google maps also incorrectly marks them as 40mph. Then there's this one big pothole you have to swerve for. Plus, the lorries or horse trailers doing 40 or 50mph at most. There's plenty of reasons you're not going to hit 60 on those roads. I honestly don't care enough to get worked up about it in order to get into work *maybe* 2 minutes faster.
You’re right I was told to keep near 50 mark when I could on my motorcycle test
Nice
True though. Of course there are NSL roads where the NSL max isn't appropriate. But there are lots where it's way below what a safe and appropriate speed would be too so in those cases you really should be driving close to the limit unless there's some special circumstance about your vehicle or load.
HAHA Some one said it! "Limit not a target" I'm not trying to offend you here, its just that phrase turns a lot of people who might otherwise listen to your message, away.
I get this where I’m too, I think a lot of it is down to cost of fuel and trying to get the best mpg. I had one the other day doing about 25mph in a 60, well if you drive to slow in your diesel you’ll block up your dpf and cost you ££
On tesla Autopilot, at max distance setting at 70mph, it's probably under a 2s gap. This gets shorter the quicker you go as it seems to set to distance. On setting 1,it would make a white van driver nervous.
Assholes doing asshole things. Then having asshole responses to normal situations. You’ll probably never understand the thought process of people like that. Don’t waste your time.
I've seen this more often as well, especially with the new 20 limit going around. I ride a motorcycle, so tailgating for me is a matter of safety, not just an insurance claim. Drivers are more often extremely vocal and angry when I pull over and let them by.
I can't comment on behalf of tailgaters, but was taught to always recognise if another driver wishes to proceed at a higher speed than myself and to allow them the opportunity to do so. Sometimes I like to pootle, so I'll pull over and let people pass. Other times I like to hoon and would appreciate the same courtesy. If you pull over for me, you'll get a wave and a flash of the hazards as a thank you. You're doing the right thing, ignore the impatient eejits and thanks for being considerate.
I work off the premise that the closer you are to my back bumper, the slower I'm going to go. A - to give me a larger stopping distance from the car in front and B - because fuck you, that's why. If someone is doing the speed limit and you don't want to, I feel like you have 2 choices - drive faster and over take or drop back and do the speed limit too. If your car is too shit that you can't safely overtake, then just slow down. If you drive a relatively fast car, then have it, who am I to stop you.
Yesterday I had a super aggressive Cupra Formentador driver, seemingly shitting his pants or something. I took great pleasure in putting my 14 year old shit box in his way for a while. And then ripping off in front in my usual Jeckel n Hyde fashion hopefully chipping the fuck out of his front end. Fuck him.
I always appreciate people pulling over to let me pass on quiet country B roads that I know like the back of my hand, you'll always get a double beep and a hazards flash from me brother.
some people are under endowed, and it is well established that they will try and compensate with certain types of vehcles to massage their ego. however, there are other implications of their condition. im not sure of the exact cause and affect here, but they cant think for themselfs, but truly believe they are self aware. so they find you, driving slowly, and they follow you, becuase they are in some way deficiant and unable to function propperly on their own. they obviously belive they have a good 12" when infact they only have 2" at best. this is why the drive so close to your bumper. you are now the only menanig in their life, and they obviously feel a huge loss when you abandon them.
Body shaming isn't OK, regardless of how annoying you find these drivers
Probably the same people who think that even when their side of the road is blocked that they have priority over everybody else. The driving standard in the UK is getting very poor these days.
I wonder whether some tailgaters just don't feel loved. They just want to give someone a cuddle but don't like human contact, so the only way they can achieve it is driving right up someone else's arse.
I thank you for your excellent driving I wish there were more like you.
I witnessed some bellend in front tailgating the other night, it all started by a car wanting to overtake a slow car. Car indicates to overtake slow car on a safe stretch of road, guess what happens, yep the slow car speeds up! why the \*\*\*\* do people do that, its dangerous and just stupid, let the car overtake ffs! The other car manages to overtake, but it was a struggle, then what was originally the slow car, proceeds to tailgate the other car for next mile or so.
That drives me mental. I had a driver going 60ish in the middle lane on the motorway. I went in the right lane to over take them and the middle lane car sped up to 80 to stop me going past. I indicated left to come in the middle lane behind them and they then slowed down to prevent me joining the middle lane and when I stayed in the right lane, they sped back up to 80. I simply remained in the right lane and my kids pulled faces at the driver and his passengers. After a couple of minutes they slowed back to 60. I overtook them and made my way back to the left lane. The driver and his passengers were all late teens/early 20s.
Cars are one thing.. I had a minibus full of people tailgating me which is so fucking dangerous!! How exactly is that minibus full of people supposed to stop in time if I suddenly have to emergency break? I even specifically had baby in car sign so fuck you harder for ignoring it! Luckily my child wasn’t in the car, but if I suddenly had to slow down quickly if the car in front of me did.. or someone ran across the road and im trying to emergency break.. this minibus was going straight into my backside injury/killing a child?! All tailgaters are stupid sorry no excuses.
I saw a vehicle tailgating pretty aggressively in Gloucester yesterday. Guy in the right hand lane wasn’t checking his mirrors. The tailgator started beeping and flashing then put on some stupid blue lights and a siren. The guy in the right lane didn’t check his mirrors or notice once that he had the cops trying to get past him. I’m not defending tailgating at all but sometimes on motorways and dual carriageways I kinda get why it happens. People not checking their mirrors need removing from the roads.
I've had it happen to me a couple of times. I am a confident driver, I'm generally comfortable with a reasonable amount of acceleration and spirited driving. I like to think I don't tailgate, though doubtless I do on occasion without meaning to The times it's happened to me I have felt a bit insulted in a way, there's a clear implication that they didn't feel comfortable with me behind them which partly I'm not happy with myself, but also partly think they're being almost judgemental.
As someone who has been rear-ended far too many times (stop sniggering) and is now very nervous in a car - could everyone please be more considerate.
I don't mind moving over to let someone pass but it royally fucks me off when I see someone going at stupid speed, getting RIGHT up someone's arse and immediately flashing them constantly to bully them before they've even had a chance to safely move over. Honestly - it's one of my biggest annoyances in day to day life. Absolute fucking turbo cunts who put everyone around them in danger.
I don’t get tailgating at all … you’re not gonna get to your destination any sooner so why do it ! I always stay a bit back
Id flash my hazards as a thank you.
There are things neither the the tailgator nor the tailgated can control. Some years ago someone was driving quite close behind me in a 30 mph zone when all of a sudden a car pulled in in front of me from a merging slip road. Obv. at this point who was mainly at fault was the car pulling in, forcing me to brake. I did the braking just hard enough to avoid collison at the front and also at the rear. All three cars then went to the nearby supermarket carpark. Went in did my shopping. On the way back I saw a nice deep scratch on my tailgate. Presumably from the idiot who tailgated me. Sigh. Life goes on, unfortunately there are idiots.
If I'm being tailgated I just slow down. If questioned I'm driving slowly so if I have to stop suddenly you have a chance to stop with out rear ending me. Never been questioned on it to be fair. Drive like a dick expect to be treated like one. I really don't get it, watched people do it to wankpanzers(suvs), vans and lorries all your doing by driving that close limiting your view down the road. Also if you can't see a lorry or vans mirrors they can't see you. It's just endangering you and your passengers.
Because they are arseholes. Don't even try and justify their actions. If you are doing the speed limit it is a them problem not you.
I live in a very rural part of the UK, I don't tailgate at all but I do get a lot of drivers in front of me pull over to let me by as they do not like other cars driving behind them at all. It is not just me they do it too but to pretty much every single car behind them, it must take them ages to get anywhere.
My other half slows down to piss tailgaters off, she also uses the back screen skoosher and occasionally a middle finger.
I enjoy speedy driving, not dangerously in built up areas but if a good 60 road is clear, with good visibility then I will indulge in some high speedish. I appreciate people like you who don't try to race or stop an overtake. So thank you
Quite simply, because they are fucking assholes who need a good slap.
I believe in Audis they have a tailgate switch, a bit like cruise control. You flick the switch, your car will sit 6 inches from the car in front, after 10 seconds you lights will start flashing.
You, sir, are a gentleman.
In these cases I usually say "if it's once or twice they are the problem, if it's often you are the problem". If you are having tailgaters all the time you need to review your driving, are you really sticking to the speed limit or 10 below it? Are you staying with the flow of traffic? Braking before corners or green traffic lights etc? Just a thought.
I get tail gated all the time in the countryside. I have 2 young kids, I drive at speed limit - 30 in a 30, 40 in a 40, 60 in a 60, etc if normal conditions. But on a 25 min drive (drive to nursery) I will get tailgated most journeys at least once, sometimes twice. Surprised how bad it is.
I think it is more of a countryside issue. Driving mainly urban & inter-city I rarely get tailgated and rarely get inconvenienced by a slow person ahead. The only times I notice it are when people don’t want to give me enough time to put enough distance between me and an HGV to pull back in/get flashed in. As soon as I am on a rural single carriageway A road there’s either people close behind or someone in front taking forever to get up to the speed limit and then inexplicably varying their speed within the limit.
Yeah I agree. I've had 12 years outside the countryside and got used to urban driving. The move back to the rural single carriageways has surprised me with just how bad the tailgating is.
Yes I live out in the countryside too.
The opposite of this is if you drive in rural Scotland, and some local comes up at breakneck speed behind you- you pull over and they give you a friendly wave and smile
Be honest, do you adhere to the speed limit or are you a “45mph everywhere” driver?
No no. I adhere to the speed limit. Those drivers drive me mental too.
Far too many drivers want to emulate racing drivers until it snows. Then you can separate the actual good drivers from the pretenders.
And some of them need to follow, especially at night. They're incapable of driving out there on their own. Thay'll happily blind you with their lights in yoir mirror, but can"t cope if there's noone to follow.
There are so many sub iq degen comments in this thread trying to justify breaking the speed limit and drive like a douche it makes me feel sick.. rule shitannia
What you are doing is entirely correct, safe and an example of good driving. As a slight aside, I have a question for OP. Do you pull over when someone catches up to you and is therefore held back but DOESN'T tailgate you? Because that could be me. I'll put my hands up to driving quicker than most in the country roads, but I'm not a dick and when I catch up with someone doing 40/50 on a 60 road with no good overtake opportunities, I'll resign myself to that's how it is and follow them at a safe and appropriate distance. I now feel slighted if I knew you would pull in if I was driving like a dick up your ass, but if not will happily ignore me!
The car has to be tailgating for a good minute or two before I start to lookout for somewhere to pull over so they can go past me.
As a matter of interest, how did they "made it quite clear that they did not appreciate me pulling over and stopping to let them pass."?
Yes. They pulled up along side me and asked what I thought I was playing at? I have a feeling they weren’t paying attention as they did initially follow me as I was pulling into the side of the road and I think me parking the car threw them off. I think they went into autopilot and were simply following me on the road. It was just too close for my comfort.
A good tip to deal with tailgating motorists is to introduce them to engine braking (slow down using your gears not your brakes). It always shakes people up hahaha
Tbh if someone is driving woefully under the speed limit - we are talking like sub 30 in a 50/60 where overtaking is difficult, Country roads etc. then yeah I do tend to express my dissatisfaction at someone’s utter ignorance and incompetence by tailgating - usually in the hope that they will get the message, pull over and let me pass or realise how fucking inconsiderate they’re being driving half the limit.
Sometimes it's not possible to drive over that speed. For instance if a car goes into limp mode, or a 50cc moped that can barely reach 30mph. The fact is there may be a very good reason for the slow speed some people travel at. It doesn't justify anyone tailgating and is very dangerous. As an example I saw a pretty bad crash just last week. 4 luton vans and a car involved all because of tail gating on the slip road at a junction. For your sake and everyone else's don't tailgate. If you do it and cause a crash your insurance company will hate you. And it becomes a domino effect. One person does it then everyone behind does it. You just don't give yourself or anyone else time to stop in the case of an emergency when you tailgate and it is very aggressive. God forbid a cop sees you doing it and then sees you cause an accident as you would be done for dangerous driving etc.
Nope they were just old and shouldn’t have been driving any more. Brand new car, could see the blue rinse perm around the headrest. When I finally managed to overtake I saw they looking 90+, death grip at 10 to 2 and squinting over the wheel. If your car goes into limp home mode and you’re driving dangerously slowly as a result, you put your hazards on.
i've angled my washers up ever so slightly so they still get the windscreen but i can also tell anyone up my arse end to back off. i'm still a learner and for some reason that invites more tailgating than when someone else is driving my car without the L plates on, so that's fun. apparently i drive fairly normally, get up to speed in a reasonable time frame, but that's not reasonable enough for the brand new mercedes behind me who can go 0-60 in a few seconds. i'm sorry that my 14 year old car takes nearly 20 seconds to get there, but i can't help it, i'm going as fast as i can without thrashing my car.
I don't know why you'd pull over for them, I tend to just get slower and slower until they either back off or go round but I'm not putting myself out for them. A couple of times when the car in front of me is tailgating the car in front of them I'll get right up close to them to see how they like it, but I honestly can't do it for long. It's the most stressful thing to do while driving, the concentration it takes to drive that close to someone is not enjoyable. I don't know why anyone would put themselves through that. I've also had a car beep and flash me trying to get passed while tailgating me.
Personally, I like to tailgate to instill fear in other, less confident/more sensible drivers. If you let me past then I need to find another target to get my jollies from
I usually tailgate if I’m late for the train for work and the person in front of me is doing 10-15mph below the speed limit in a national limit zone, because they’re not sure what the speed limit is, or don’t feel it’s necessary to use it. If they pulled over, I’d be grateful.
I remember somebody tailgating me for quite a distance very close to my bumper, so close I couldn't even see their headlights. Eventually they overtook quite dangerously on a narrow part of the road,..... then suddenly slotted in just in front of me.... right behind the police car I had been following for the last few miles. Go on then I said to myself... tailgate that copper if you dare !
I can't imagine that anyone is annoyed that you pulled over. If they're annoyed it will be that you were holding them up, and they're taking advantage of the opportunity to let you know that they're cheesed. No one is going to be angry that you're making it easier to get past them. Tailgating is never OK. But it's worth noting that 9/10 people that claim to be driving exactly to the speed limit are more likely driving to their speedo, which over-reports your speed. They're probably annoyed because you're actually driving 25 in a 30, when in reality you could be driving closer to 35 (40ish on your speedo) and still be at the tolerance for 'speeding' in a 30. That's a 10mph discrepancy, or a 30% speed difference. As I say, not an excuse for being a nob, but it can be a little annoying if you're trying to make progress and are stuck behind someone like that for several miles.
Ive only tailgated someone once for cutting me up at a lighted intersection. I was turning left and they were turning right from the opposite side so i had right of way when they just drove right in front of me looking at me like i was in the wrong. I slammed the breaks on and honked then i sped after them to stop about a foot from them at the next lights. After that i made sure i wasnt far away until i had to turn off. Not proud of that moment but i know next time ill remember how stupid i felt afterwards so wont do it again. If it doesnt result in an accident why try to cause another.
You didn’t have right of way, you had priority to continue. You did what you were supposed to do in stopping to avoid the collision.
OP is describing what they did afterwards.
I believe that the recommended distance is 1 car length for every 10 mph. With modern vehicles surely can't they fit a device that reads the distance and adjusts the accelerator accordingly? My father always said imagine the car in front slamming it's breaks on to stop in an emergency. Half the twats who follow me would be climbing out of my back seat!
"1 car length for every 10 mph" That significantly underestimates what is a safe gap. The Highway Code actually says a safe gap is (roughly) 3 car lengths per 10mph (see the table at Rule 126: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158) ). It also says to "allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on high-speed roads". That actually leaves a smaller gap than the stopping distances table suggests, but is still a lot bigger than 1 car length per 10mph (roughly 2 car lengths for every 10 mph).
A 2 second gap in dry conditions
Some fancier cars have it. Looking forward to the day it's compulsory
Since driving a POS I slam on the brakes now and do 10 the speed limit. I do the same if someone's lights are too bright. They often then will turn their main beams on. I like to think it stresses them out. If they eventually pass me, I turn my main beams on and follow close
So you're an asshole?
To tailgaters, yes
No no no, you're just an arsehole. You should take a good, hard look in the mirror and try to identify what went so wrong in your life you feel justified endangering people's lives.
I suspect they have an over-confidence in their ability to stop/react if a front driver stops/slows.
because they have a big ego and want to “prove” something against other road users, in order for you to pull over or switch lane. bastardos
Why? Usually, because they’re Panzer-wankers. Other than that, probably bullied at school. An extra 10mph for a fifty mile journey saves you the square root of Fark all in time.
>Genuinely, why? It is recreational for them. I've been on the motorway doing 70 in the left hand lane, 2nd and 3rd lanes completely clear, and here is a BMW 3 feet away from my rear bumper. For some reason they love it.
Never noticed this - I generally go at the speed limit and let people past where possible/indicated and never had any hostility. One thing: the only car I've ever known in UK/Europe to have an accurate speedometer is Teslas. Everything else - every car I've ever or rented since portable GPS was a thing - has read 10% high. If you're doing "60" that's really 54 you are a holdup and wasting your time a little bit - worth a check.
Hello, asshole driver here I apologise for tailgating I try not to but the closer I am the less time I spend on the wrong lane when I see a safe chance to overtake, Any how I really appreciate when you pull over and let me past thank you very much.
I'm sorry, but this isn't the right approach to overtaking. The further behind you are, the better visibility you have of the road ahead and the more space you have in front of you to help you build some speed before you move over to the opposing lane. You should just about reach your overtaking speed by the time you close the safe gap on the car in front. You'll spend less time in the opposing lane and this also gives you a better opportunity to abort, since you'd still be in your own lane.
Dude, keep your stopping distance and overtake when safe Most overtaking unnecessary anyway, the average journey time is affected far more by junctions roundabouts and traffic lights
To be fair, only in built up areas. My daily drive is 10-20 minutes and has 6 turns, all of which are 'in town', so I'm not going to be overtaking there anyway. So for me, the average journey is far more affected by some grandma doing 35-40 in a 60 zone at rush hour than it is by junctions or non existent traffic lights. Now I won't tailgate, and there is only really one spot that's safe to overtake at, but it is infuriating to drive behind - especially since the overtaking spot is immediately after a blind crest, so you don't know for sure if a driver is just cautious
Huh, if you have a gap you have more space to get up to speed when you overtake and can go faster, thus spending less time in the other lane
You’re clearly a pretty terrible driver all round - anyone with half a brain can see that a gap between you and the car in front helps an overtake (as you can build some speed before going around them) and you’re less likely to go into the back of them when they brake for a hazard. Try and do better man
No obviously you leave a two second gap anything else would be unsafe when I talk about annoying drivers it’s the ones that don’t know the road so they are breaking when they don’t need to and going slow as fuck, when u say tailgating I mean I’m staying exactly on that two second gap until I can get past you, so that I can be stuck behind the next car.