Tailgating should be made a criminal offence

cyclonebri1

passatrider wrote: »

I've come to the conclusion that after several incidents of tailgating over recent weeks, that it should be seen as serious as drink driving/texting at the wheel etc.

I'm not a sunday driver by any means nor a bad driver - I'm not perfect either but I do consider myself to be a safe one no the less. Yet, people still feel the need to tailgate you just because you drive to the conditions and speed of the road. I follow the tips given about not retaliating, pulling over to let them pass etc but still it continues. What is one supposed to do drive around like Lewis Hamilton everywhere?

Tailgating someone is aggressive, dangerous and down right selfish in my eyes. I know we have laws for dangerous driving but this should now be classed as an offence on it's own.:(

You have to ask yourself why you have been tailgated

Doesn't happen to me and not to many others if I read correctly

1 big issue is that satnav is now so much more accurate than the industry standard, ie, the speedo is likely -10%, some folks realise that and some don't.
Some drive within the actual speed limit and some apply the fairly uniform 10% plus a couple mph when calculating the speed that is likely to get you nabbed.
The Op and everyone else has to figure where they fit into this equation, :D:D:D.

Tailgating is also a transient offence, if it it an offence, ie, 1 moment you are driving normally and the next you are bumper to bumper, try to enforce that 1:A:A:A:A

And not read the middle bits.;)

Have to add my missus has had this a few times, no not someone up her ace, she slows and slows and has even had someone stop when she did,
I don't, and I don't condone that but I agree, how do you deal with these idiots???

Gin_and_Milk

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Have to add my missus has had this a few times, no not someone up her ace, she slows and slows and has even had someone stop when she did,
I don't, and I don't condone that but I agree, how do you deal with these idiots???

I'd hate to cause a domestic between you and your wife, but she is right to slow down if she's being tailgated. That's in the highway code, but obviously that's not neccessarily the most tempting option!
On the occasions where I've been tailgated, I've questioned everyone's driving including my own. If I were being tailgated often, I would definitely be asking myself why. I see nothing wrong with that, in fact I think it would be pretty arrogant of me not to.

Paperbird

I can only conclude from all the posts on this is that some people drive with consideration for all other road uses regardless of how much of an idiot the other driver is and the rest are the sod you type that don't care how many speeders and tailgaters they hold up because they are not breaking any laws so must be right.

interstellaflyer

Paperbird wrote: »

I can only conclude from all the posts on this is that some people drive with consideration for all other road uses regardless of how much of an idiot the other driver is and the rest are the sod you type that don't care how many speeders and tailgaters they hold up because they are not breaking any laws so must be right.

So if I'm doing 70mph on a dual carriageway overtaking a half a dozen lorries in convoy doing 56mph I'm being inconsiderate because I'm slowing down the the impatient knob end behind who wants to do a ton, may I remind you that the maximum speed you can do in this country is 70mph so as long as I am not lane hogging and I move over after overtaking then how can I be in the wrong, the bad drivers are the ones who are tailgating and driving aggressively because, they have no valid reason for doing more than 70mph, I have no real problem with people wanting to go a little faster, but if I'm doing the speed limit I ain't going to let them intimidate me and I certainly ain't going to speed up, but according to you, that makes me selfish.

martinthebandit

interstellaflyer wrote: »

So if I'm doing 70mph on a dual carriageway overtaking a half a dozen lorries in convoy doing 56mph I'm being inconsiderate because I'm slowing down the the impatient knob end behind who wants to do a ton, may I remind you that the maximum speed you can do in this country is 70mph so as long as I am not lane hogging and I move over after overtaking then how can I be in the wrong, the bad drivers are the ones who are tailgating and driving aggressively because, they have no valid reason for doing more than 70mph, I have no real problem with people wanting to go a little faster, but if I'm doing the speed limit I ain't going to let them intimidate me and I certainly ain't going to speed up, but according to you, that makes me selfish.

Selfish? No, but it does make you a bad driver, but hey as long as you are happy......

Paperbird

interstellaflyer wrote: »

So if I'm doing 70mph on a dual carriageway overtaking a half a dozen lorries in convoy doing 56mph I'm being inconsiderate because I'm slowing down the the impatient knob end behind who wants to do a ton, may I remind you that the maximum speed you can do in this country is 70mph so as long as I am not lane hogging and I move over after overtaking then how can I be in the wrong, the bad drivers are the ones who are tailgating and driving aggressively because, they have no valid reason for doing more than 70mph, I have no real problem with people wanting to go a little faster, but if I'm doing the speed limit I ain't going to let them intimidate me and I certainly ain't going to speed up, but according to you, that makes me selfish.

And if it's an unmarked police car as was one one of the programs that was trying to catch up with some bank robbers without alerting them by using his lights he would just have to wait for you to stop playing silly bu**ers before he could pass.

You don't have a problem with anyone wanting to go faster than you so why do you seem to have a problem when it comes to letting them go past you.

For all the "why should I be bullied into moving over drivers"
I don't get bullied into moving over, I don't get intimidated by other drivers, I don't get tailgated even when I'm limited to 60mph when towing.
The reason is by the time they catch up with me I've moved over to let them past or I waited for them to pass before starting my overtake.

interstellaflyer

martinthebandit wrote: »

Selfish? No, but it does make you a bad driver, but hey as long as you are happy......

Perhaps you could explain why doing 70mph or whatever the speed limit is on that section of road to overtake a convoy of wagons is bad driving, if I am doing that limit and overtaking properly ie pulling back in when tha gap is safe rather than staying out because there are other slower vehicles 200 yards away then as far as I'm concerned, I driving perfectly within the law, as for the unmarked police car thing, again in the same circumstances if they don't flash some blue lights then how is a law abiding driver supposed to know that the idiot up his chuff is an unmarked police car, it's difficult one in this situation, however just remember, that same unmarked police car would be more than happy to give you a ticket and 3 points for speeding on a slow day.

martinthebandit

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Perhaps you could explain why doing 70mph or whatever the speed limit is on that section of road to overtake a convoy of wagons is bad driving, if I am doing that limit and overtaking properly ie pulling back in when tha gap is safe rather than staying out because there are other slower vehicles 200 yards away then as far as I'm concerned, I driving perfectly within the law, as for the unmarked police car thing, again in the same circumstances if they don't flash some blue lights then how is a law abiding driver supposed to know that the idiot up his chuff is an unmarked police car, it's difficult one in this situation, however just remember, that same unmarked police car would be more than happy to give you a ticket and 3 points for speeding on a slow day.

1. It is bad driving to carry out a manouver that causes someone else to change direction, speed etc, the fact that you have caused someone else to slow down consequently means that you started your overtake without knowing that it was clear to do so.

2. If the line of lorries is that long that you cannot be sure that you can overtake without causing anyone else to slow down then a courteous, responsible driver would slow down themselves behind the lorries and wait till the lorries have finished their overtake and pulled back into lane one.

3. What a bad driver would do is just pull out with narry a concern for holding anyone up and then whinge because people get annoyed with them.

I know which category your posts seem to put you in, if I have misjudged you I will happily apologise.

Paperbird

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Perhaps you could explain why doing 70mph or whatever the speed limit is on that section of road to overtake a convoy of wagons is bad driving, if I am doing that limit and overtaking properly ie pulling back in when tha gap is safe rather than staying out because there are other slower vehicles 200 yards away then as far as I'm concerned, I driving perfectly within the law, as for the unmarked police car thing, again in the same circumstances if they don't flash some blue lights then how is a law abiding driver supposed to know that the idiot up his chuff is an unmarked police car, it's difficult one in this situation, however just remember, that same unmarked police car would be more than happy to give you a ticket and 3 points for speeding on a slow day.

With a 200yd gap you should move over.
If you ever take an advanced driving instructor for a ride and he (or she) asks "why did you pull out in front of a car going faster than you" or "why didn't you move into that 200yd gap when there was a car waiting to overtake you" then your answer of "I am doing 70mph and no one has any valid reason for going faster than that" is not going to impress him (or her).

Paperbird

For those that say the drivers speeding and trying to force their way past cars that are staying to the speed limit don't get their any quicker I agree.

A couple of years ago I had just joined the A64 from the A1 heading towards York. I saw a car coming up fast behind me so moved over ( even though it meant slowing by about 20mph and dropping in behind a lorry) I estimate his speed when he passed me as in excess of 120mph. My cruise comtrol was set to a sat-nav indicated speed of 72mph and for 14 miles I kept catching up with this car as he tried to force his way past other cars and when he got past one accelerated back to over 120mph until he caught up with the next car looking for it's 200+yd gap before it would move over.
The car was a police car complete with it's blue lights flashing headlights and sirens.
But then no one should be bullied into moving over should they and no one has any valid reason for going faster than the speed limit do they.