Tailgating should be made a criminal offence

Mr_Thrifty

Always report tailgaters to the police.

Let's keep the roads safe.

Crazy_Jamie

martinthebandit wrote: »

I believe I said that if you are being tailgated it would not hurt to examine your own driving to see if you are doing something to contribute to that behavior, again I can see nothing untoward about that suggestion.

If you are needlessly going at 10 mph below the speed limit then you are contributing to the frustration felt by drivers around you.

Some drivers react to that frustration by doing the wrong thing occasionally stupid and dangerous things and I do not in any way condone that.

While driving needlessly slowly may not be dangerous it is discourteous and annoying to other road users and I do not condone that either.

Question. I drive a lot as part of my job. I usually leave plenty of time to get to where I need to go, and spend a lot of time driving on motorways. My speed is normally around the 60mph mark, ranging between about 60mph and 65mph. The reason why I drive at such speeds is because it saves me a significant amount of money on petrol, and it is more relaxing than doing 80mph.

Now usually the speed I travel at is sufficient for me to sit in the nearside lane on motorways, moving into the middle lane to overtake HGVs and such. However, on occasion I have cause to move into the offside lane, either when the traffic is a bit slower, or larger truck is overtaking another vehicle. It is not uncommon for someone to tailgate me when I do this. To clarify, I only move into the middle and offside lanes when I am overtaking someone, and move lanes when I have completed the overtaking manoeuvre.

The question is this. As far as you are concerned, I am 'needlessly' travelling at 10mph below the speed limit, and therefore contributing to the 'frustration of drivers around me'?

1886

WHENEVER another vehicle tailgates me I simply slow down. They eventually get the message. Nobody bullies me into going faster. Just remember this, YOU are in front of them, therefore you decide what speed they will go. Not the other way round..

Try it next time

AlexisV

Why do you feel the need to slow down? Simply ignoring them is sufficient, otherwise you're stooping to their level and trying to exact revenge.

Oldfatgrumpy

Joe_Horner wrote: »

You evil, polar-bear-and-pregnant-nun-killing speeder! BURN THE WITCH!!!

I've never seen a pregnant nun....

passatrider

As the originator of this thread it astounds me to think that just because
I drive within the law at a speed near to/just under the limit and according to the road conditions. It's then suggested by some that I'm at fault somewhere and that my driving style might be contributing to the incidents of tailgating.

If I'm such a bad driver then I wouldn't have gained either my PSV/HGV/Car licences - all first time passes too. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I do try to be a good driver when behind the wheel.

muckybutt

Oldfatgrumpy wrote: »

I've never seen a pregnant nun....

An immaculate conception ?

olly300

passatrider wrote: »

As the originator of this thread it astounds me to think that just because
I drive within the law at a speed near to/just under the limit and according to the road conditions. It's then suggested by some that I'm at fault somewhere and that my driving style might be contributing to the incidents of tailgating.

One thing the OP has forgot that some cars have better brakes than others. So an expensive sports car who has a short distance between you and them isn't you isn't as dangerous in good conditions as a young man in a cr*ppy small car.

I see a few accidents every week on the motorway I drive on and 9 times out of 10 the accident involves a youngish driver, who is more likely to be male than female and a cr*ppy old small car. This cr*ppy car is smashed to pieces while the bigger vehicle it's hit at the most has a damaged bumper.

Also there are certain young men with their cr*ppy small cars on the motorway I drive on who seem to think it's funny to play of tailgating as many cars as possible in lanes 2 and 3. Once they realise people won't play, by all the cars they are tailgating in turn changing lanes and slowing down they slow down. If a vehicle slows down in front of the tailgater instead of changing lanes, which is usually a larger van, the tailgater drives closer to it.

BTW you are aware that your speedometer is inaccurate? So 70mph on your car can quite easily be 68mph on someone else's car.

pogofish

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

You said it was a criminal offence.

It is, under Section 2 of the Road Traffic Act.

And the current proposals to make it a separate offence subject to a specific fixed penalty can only serve to devalue its seriousness IMO.

patman99

Just as bad are the kn0bs who under-take (which is against the Road Traffic Act).
I drive a section of the A12 which goes from 2 - 3 lanes for 2 junctions, then back down to 2 lanes at a 3rd. I tend to stick to the 2nd lane when passing junction 2 (junction 1 adds the 3rd inner-lane) as the 2nd junction is busy with cars exiting for the A1124 and Tollgate as well as joining the A12. By doing this, I give the joining traffic a chance to safely enter the flow.

When clear, I move back to lane 1 to exit 3rd junction. I maintain 60 mph and over the last 3 weeks, have been undertaken 3 times. Luckily the first time, the driver failed to see the slow-moving lorry in his lane as he shot up the inside of me just as I had got close enough to the lorry to prevent the idiot from cutting in front of me.

I'm seriously thinking of fitting cameras to capture the antics of the undertakers and tailgaters. Wonder if I can get a bounty from the Police for helping provide incriminating evidence ?.