...to be annoyed with man tailgating my daughter

[Mitzi50]

We live in a rural area with lots of narrow windy country roads with 60mph speed limit. My daughter has just passed her test and was coming home late at night - she was doing about 40 mph. A car sat on her bumper for about 2 miles making her really nervous, when she came to a village she pulled in to let him pass. He went past and then drove at 25 mph in front of her for a mile or so until she was able to turn off. The incident has shaken her up and given me another thing to worry about when she is driving.

fedupbutfine agree 100% spot on .
I bet the prat would not have behaved like that if it was a 30ish fit bloke driving,I wonder if it is someone who lives in your local area OP ?

It's a limit not a target!!

It sounds like she handled it very well.

If she could do with a confidence boost, what about Pass Plus or IAM ? Passing the test is just the first step in learning to drive.

Get P plates! They're the new driver plates. She can keep them on as long as she likes and signals to others thatshe is a new driver.

Confused pixie that was my thread

Those saying 60 is a limit not a target... Actually it is a target. You can fail your test for driving below the speed limit if it is an appropriate limit for that road.

As confused rightly says tho, (and is possibly the one who taught me this) 60s aren't necessarily classed as safe at that speed.

If it's a dangerous road then drive at the speed you are safe at.

If it's not, stick to the limit.

Regardless of whether or not this road was safe at 60 or 20, the guy was a dick and I'd be angry if someone did this to me or DD.

I wouldn't bother with P plates to be honest. If people are going to behave like dicks they will, regardless of whether you have P plates or not.

Besides haven't there been studies that show drivers with P plates are actually treated worse?

Yes an appropriate limit in ideal conditions. Night time and unlit is not an ideal condition imo, and so should be slower if needed.

I agree with Bethany in as much as P plates are possibly a licence for twats to be more aggressive.

Reducing your speed on a twisting unlit minor road is eminently sensible and whilst you can fail your test for excessive caution, your dd wasn't being unduly cautious.

It is very rude and intimidating behaviour and I absolutely don't condone it, but on the other hand, if your daughter isn't prepared to make appropriate progress in a 60 zone then maybe she isn't ready to be driving alone at night? He was basically just doing to her what she had done to him

With respect, just because a country road has a speed limit of 60 that doesn't mean that it is safe to drive at 60. The country roads near me are awful - very bendy, narrow, visibility is poor...yet the speed limit is 60. However I've never actually met anyone who drives above 40 on these roads because it's simply not safe to drive faster than that. Driving at 60 would be suicidal.

Speaking of which, my brother was involved in a car accident on this country road about a year ago. He was driving and there was a collision with another car when they were going opposite ways around a sharp bend. My brother and the other driver were both going about 30mph however they were both still injured. Luckily they both recovered however like I said this is a 60 mile limit road but what would have happened if they'd been sticking to the speed limit and driving at 60? They would both be dead.

I just think it's very pretentious to say things like "if your daughter isn't prepared to make appropriate progress in a 60 zone then maybe she isn't ready to be driving alone at night?" when you have no idea of what the road and conditions were actually like. Some country roads are fine to drive 60 on, I'll give you that, however lots aren't. Lots of country roads are like the ones near me and are very narrow with lots of sharp bends. Add that to that fact that there may be horse riders and other animals along said road and it's safe to say that driving at 60 would just be insane.

I live in a small country town surrounded by rural winding roads. No one sensible drives at the 60mph limit on those roads at night. In fact, it's marginally safer to do it at mit because you see that there are lights of other vehicles at night, but there are other hazards to consider like badgers, deer etc.

Anyone who says you should drive at 60 on those roads at night just because you can simply has no idea.

The man was an irresponsible twat; we have heard many ambulances rushing past our house at night for people like him. And don't even ask about the motorcyclists...... (too many dead).

:)

I've always been funny about country roads and the speed limits on them. I have known many of my school peers to be involved in accidents on them over the years due to speeding. It was reaffirmed with me, as I mentioned on the other thread, when my little sister had a nasty accident on one last year. She was going 45/50 on a road I'd go that speed on, but her car couldn't handle the bend at that speed and she flipped. Went airborne, rolled over/through a fence and luckily stopped because she hit a caravan in a caravan park. Amazingly, she came out relatively unscathed, had she had a passenger, the top of the car would have crushed their head.

This bend has had many many accidents on it over the years, but it was only fairly recently (in December time) that it was changed to a 40mph limit after yet another person died on that corner. The police told my sister and parents at the time that they were powerless to do anything about the speed until a certain amount of people died, and only then would whoever it was in charge of road speed and safety actually review the speed on that piece of road.

Which is somewhat terrifying to me really. As I mentioned on the other thread also, part of my commute is Ditchling Beacon, which is a 60mph road. Yet you can't even go 30mph up the Beacon itself as it's a tiny road that's really windy and popular with cyclists.

Thanks everyone - I think I will get her some P plates but I think he was being a complete dick.

We have had so many deaths and near misses locally - my father was hit head on by a driver who came round a bend on a similar road. He was going too fast to stop. The boy's car caught fire and the only reason he wasn't incinerated was because the car following my dad was been driven by an off duty policeman who dragged him from the car. My dad spent several days in hospital.

I find it disgusting that you have to wait for enough people to die. I realise they can't change the limit as soon as someone dies because other factors could be involved but they need to do something.

I know taxes are tight but they need a team to assess these roads. Not enough people know that some 60 roads are simply unclassified.

I think myself a good driver and if the road isn't safe to go at 60 then I simply wouldn't and I'd hope most people are like this but evidence proves otherwise.

I don't know why people are so stupid in cars. I had friends, young boy racers, that I simply refused to get in the car with. Yet, they saw that as hilarious rather than a reality checker. I don't know how they didn't kill themselves, or worse others. Now I have a DD I'm terrified I'll come across people like them. I avoid country roads if she's in the car.

Sorry but I wouldn't bother with P plates. I think there have been studies which showed that drivers with P plates are treated worse than those without.

I have come across far too many dicks who see drivers with P plates as fair game. DH will not countenance dd using them (she's only 14 so a while to go yet!)

Don't get P -plates, she will be bullied worse!
I drove home at night on an A road with lots of hills and sharp corners last week when the weather was shocking, rain and then thick fog. I would have been an idiot to go at 60. I was tailgated 3 times on a 20 min journey. It was too foggy to pull over! It was terrifying. I just slowed further down at places they could overtake and then left my lights on full beam after they had gone past.

I agree do not get P plates.

I passed my test in November and I got bullied on the road a lot with P plates. I took them off and it was much better.

I agree about the p plates. I don't think I bully anyone but when I see them I think 'oh FFS' and expect the worst.

I think I'm highly unsympathetic tho, with driving. If you've passed your test, I expect you to be of a certain standard of driving. Seeing bad drivers annoys me

Not saying your daughter isn't at that standard. Just saying those that have been deemed fit to drive should be good at it

I don't think you become really good at driving until you have a lot of experience, unfortunately.

When I passed I was safe but it took a couple of months of driving without an instructor until I became really good at it.

Of course everyone should only pass when they are safe enough to drive but I think most of the learning comes after you pass your test and you have real experience driving alone.

Which is why I am not too sure the current driving test is all that good. I don't know another better way of doing it though.

I agree, you become better with experience. However, as you say, you should already be 'good' if you are able to drive.

I'll never forget my first journey alone after passing my test. I was terrified but I knew if I didn't do it, I wouldn't get over the fear and I'd just had a qualified professional tell me I was good enough. I was even more terrified the first few weeks driving with a baby in the car.

I don't know about the current test. I don't think you should be able to take it once and then that's it for life but I don't think I'd pass again.

I think you're most dangerous when you've been driving a little while and you think you're brilliant.

At least new drivers know their limits and you can give them space unless you're the kind of person who wants to intimidate them.

There are plenty of idiots driving about, she will get used to them.

Maybe Karma will get him.

A friend of mine lives in a similar area, lots of windy country roads populated with boy racers. One day she was driving along, minding her own business, when one of the more well know boy racers started tailgating and honking his horn at her. There was no place for her to get off the road so she continued along as before, while calling work on her phone (hand free kit, naturally). A few minutes later a police car pulled the boy racer over. My friend stopped further up the road to watch the fun. Boy racer was incandescent with rage claiming the fault was with the (insert multiple swear words) woman driver who didn't know how to behave on country roads. The PC points at friend sitting grinning in her car. "See that woman up there, That's Officer Slugsfriend" Friend gives a cheery wave and drives off.

Morale of the story, one day it will be a cop he's tailgating.