Revenge of the tailgated!

DirectDebacle

Fair few on here should only be driving a dual control equipped vehicle with a driving instructor sitting next to them, if they can find one brave enough. Even better if he is also qualified in 'Anger Management'.

verybigchris

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Fair few on here should only be driving a dual control equipped vehicle with a driving instructor sitting next to them, if they can find one brave enough. Even better if he is also qualified in 'Anger Management'.

Absolutely right. Anybody who's posted above and has a problem with tailgating (either as victim or perpetrator) should get in touch with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, who will teach them better driving techniques that will help keep all road users safer.

Lil306

verybigchris wrote: »

Absolutely right. Anybody who's posted above and has a problem with tailgating (either as victim or perpetrator) should get in touch with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, who will teach them better driving techniques that will help keep all road users safer.

It will help to a point because it will allow the drive to react better to the situation, but in the end it's the person driving what makes the change not the road awareness. You could have someone qualified in everything but if they're a disgruntled troll with 100% road rage they'd never change. There will always be good drivers and bad drivers. It purely depends on how they react to the situation what determines this.

I believe police officers have to take a form of advanced driving, I've encountered plenty of situations where their driving has been really dangerous. It's pointless reacting because you'd then get done for dangerous diving or some other thing wrong with your car. Pointless complaining because the force will always be on their side. Please don't say all police officers are good drivers because they are not, they have some of the worst habits I've seen out of everyone (tailgaiting, speeding, dangerous driving). They weren't on emergencies either because there was no lights flashing or any sirens, the times they did use them they were turned off soon as they got out of a congested zone (i.e traffic lights). If it was a real emergency they'd be left on all the time until they got to the destination

Slamming the brakes on is a quick fix to allow me to pay attention on what's happening again. If tailgators crash then it's one less on the road as far as I'm concerned. I am a good driver but I have some REALLY bad habits, normally I don't react to them but if someone is tailgating me non stop for around 30 mins eventually it's going to boil my nerves and I'll stamp on the brakes.

Generally I consider people to be tailgating me when their lights can no longer be seen in my rear view mirror, if I can still see their lights then it will annoy me slightly but I won't react. So generally my driving is OK, because it still gives a certain leeway for drivers. My comments above are only in extreme situations how I'd react and they mainly happened when I was younger. I'm 26 now and think the last time I reacted to a Tailgator was when I was 20 or 21

Rolandtheroadie

Lil306 wrote: »

Slamming the brakes on is a quick fix to allow me to pay attention on what's happening again. If tailgators crash then it's one less on the road as far as I'm concerned

2 less. they've just rear ended you.

Lil306

scotsman4th wrote: »

2 less. they've just rear ended you.

I've never been rear ended once.

Generally people who tailgate you have to be paying attention anyway because they're right on your bumper. I don't live in the worse areas so I don't get the really stupid tailgators who are about 1" from your rear end, they're generally still 2-5 meters away which gives them ample time to react and I could always put my foot down anyway to stop them hitting me.

Luckily I don't have much of this in my area and my attitudes towards driving has changed. The last time I was really annoyed was about 4-5 years ago, I'm a lot calmer now and react better

There's not one person anywhere who can openly admit they've never reacted badly and lost their temper to ANY kind of situation in some stage of life.

cyclonebri1

Lil306 wrote: »

I've never been rear ended once.

Generally people who tailgate you have to be paying attention anyway because they're right on your bumper. I don't live in the worse areas so I don't get the really stupid tailgators who are about 1" from your rear end, they're generally still 2-5 meters away which gives them ample time to react and I could always put my foot down anyway to stop them hitting me.

Luckily I don't have much of this in my area and my attitudes towards driving has changed. The last time I was really annoyed was about 4-5 years ago, I'm a lot calmer now and react better

There's not one person anywhere who can openly admit they've never reacted badly and lost their temper to ANY kind of situation in some stage of life.

:mad::mad::mad: Oh my God another one, do you honestly think travelling 2 mtrs behind someone gives a suitable reaction time. I'll give the answer for the 2nd time today, !!!!!! it does not:eek:. as a minimum 2 seconds not 2 mtrs:mad::mad::mad:

The only reason I'm playing mister angry today is that I'm amazed at peoples views of safe driving, and I'm sat at a desk, not driving

DaveMacD

^Depends on the speed they are doing, as 2-5 metres might be more than adequate

bosseyed

A lot of motorway traffic jams can be attributed to tailgaters/driving too close as those that drive too close have less time to react and have to brake when seeing the brake lights of the car infront which slows traffic down more than needed. You get a sort of mexican wave brake effect down the motorway, hence those mysterious traffic jams that clear with no obvious cause.

Those of use who leave enough space between us and the car in front can slightly let off the accelerator which is enough to decrease speed without having to use the brakes at all for most motorway driving.

Mind you a personal pet hate is those muppets who sit in the middle/fast lane yet seem unable to do motorway speed. They need shoving off the road, not just tailgating

Lil306

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad: Oh my God another one, do you honestly think travelling 2 mtrs behind someone gives a suitable reaction time. I'll give the answer for the 2nd time today, !!!!!! it does not:eek:. as a minimum 2 seconds not 2 mtrs:mad::mad::mad:

The only reason I'm playing mister angry today is that I'm amazed at peoples views of safe driving, and I'm sat at a desk, not driving

Sorry, I'll make this a bit clearer. Additionally by the way, from what you have posted I think you have misinterpreted my answer. I myself DO NOT tailgate people, I posted what I do when tailgaited not the other way around. I'd never drive 2-5 metres from someones rear end.

The only place I am ever tailgaited is in normal areas (30-40mph). All the other zones like single / dual / motors I never get tailgaited because I always maintain a constant speed in the slow lanes. So anyone who wants to go faster can do so whenever they want.

Whenever I am on main roads / motorways I always maintain a 2 second gap, on smaller roads I don't leave a big as a gap but I leave at least 5-6 car lengths between me and other cars. When I'm being tailgaited by people and they approach my limit, 2-5 metres is more than enough distance for an "alert" driver to react if brakes are applied harshly in a 30mph zone.

I myself am very patient and generally don't mind tailgaitors, but if their headlights aren't visible in my rear view mirror then they are WAY too close, I generally find tapping the brakes (as opposed to harshly slamming them) is enough to scare them off and they keep the distance. I only apply them harshly if it's some jerk deliberately hanging on my rear end and doesn't let off (which is very rare for me).

verybigchris

Lil306 wrote: »

2-5 metres is more than enough distance for an "alert" driver to react if brakes are applied harshly in a 30mph zone.

Rubbish. A car driving at 30mph will cover 2 metres in less than one sixth of a second.

30mph = 48,280 metres per hour = 13.4 metres per second