To wonder if it's worth reporting a tailgating?

[ClaireLumia]

I was followed today by a very aggressive driver who drove dangerously close to me for more than a mile through an area which went from 30mph, then 40mph, then 50mph. So as I increased speed he did too although I stayed at 40 in the 50 part due to how close he was behind as he would have had no chance in hell of not running into me should I have needed to stop suddenly.

In the past I've probably had a bit of a moan about it when I got home and then forgot about it. However I now have a rear window dash cam that's recorded all of this so was wondering if it's worth reporting the driver to the police.

That's horrendous. Report! How much was your camera, if you don't mind me asking?

Head - it's was £39.99. I bought it at the end of last year.

Slightly missing the point of the thread here, but I failed my first driving test for NOT driving up to the speed limit. You are deemed to be a hazard as you frustrate other drivers and could cause an accident. I was doing 20 in a 30 mph and was somewhat concerned about some helpful
Souls kicking a football towards the car but the instructor did not deem it sufficient reason to slow. Obviously this doesn't apply if conditions are wet, slippery etc but I do always remember it on local roads where
the limit goes from 30mph to national speed
limit (60mph on that stretch of road) and people drive at 40 on both.

I would report. I would also have done 40 in a 50 in these circumstances to make
It easier for the idiot behind to overtake. A drop like that is usually enough for a tailgater to get the message especially as higher speed roads are generally easier to overtake
On. I would have then sped up once he was past.

Wet and cold, possibly slippery, speed is a max not a target. And drivers who get frustrated by others should get the bus.

Let dickheads go past and hope for a single vehicle accident. But if that footage is admissible, worth a go.

There's no way I would have been doing 50 in those road conditions with someone so far up my arse. I'd much rather be rear ended at 30 then 50!!

See I don't get this, it's your fault if other drivers get frustrated by your speed and overtake as you make them do dangerous maneouver.. As others have said its a limit NOT a target, and the only vehicles who NEED to overtake will have very good drivers and noisy flashing things!

Which is the section of the highway code that suggests driving within 5mph of the speed limit? I can only find section 146 that says that you must not treat a speed limit as a target.

Whilst I agree it's not good practice to do 25mph in a 50mph zone, I'm thinking of the country roads round where I live that are a national speed limit zone, and only someone with a death wish would aim to drive at 55mph on them.

You really should have blurred out his number plate if you were going to post it online

I seem to remember from my theory test that if you're being tailgated you're supposed to drop your speed and get distance from the vehicle in front. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why you were going 40? In which case, you were right to do so.

The roads have been treacherous round here lately. Yet people still act like dicks.

The posted speed limit on a road is the maximum permissible speed limit on a road as pp said it is not a target, there is no where in the Highway Code which states you should be travelling within 5mph of the posted speed limit.

However that said you should be making reasonable progress and should not be driving in a manner which is holding other road users up.

The maximum speed limit is the maximum speed you should drive at but you must take cognisance of the road, weather, light conditions time of day and even things Luke the day of the week into account (think Schools Mon - Fri, or bin day).

Road craft (police driving manual) states that when being tailgated you should slow your vehicle and gradually reduce the distance between you and the vehicle in front (gives you more time to react if vehicle in front stops suddenly).

Same here treacle- idiots driving at stupid national speed limit on winding, hilly country road that may have farm vehicles, animals or who knows what coming out of lanes!

I hate tailgaters. If someone seems aggressively close to me I try to pull over where it's safe to get rid of them. Someone nearly wheel span into me following me out of school once. I could see the whites of his eyes, dick

I have a dash cam that records both front and rear cam. I brought it to deter tailgaters (I have a bumper sticker too) but because somebody went into me and it was her word vs mine.

Interesting to see tailgating is now against law. I find that when somebody does this still, I let them.see I am adjusting the camera and mostly they back off.

Hate it. So agressive, forcing people over speed limit. A tailgater once forced me througj a red light for which I then reveived a ticket and 3 points. So STB (shop the bastard).

I don't understand how you could be considered to be a hazard if you drive well under the speed limit BECAUSE someone is tailgating you. Surely tailgating is a hazard in itself and the only reason you would drive slower is to make the road safer?!

"video not found" ?

I've been dithering about getting a dash cam, wondering whether to bother with a rear camera as well. Thanks OP, I'll definitely be getting one now.

hate tailgaters with a passion, I just slow down they usually get pissed off and over take. Had someone do this to me on a tight dark road the other day.

Ywnbu to report them. I hate tailgaters. Some people seem to just drive like that all the time too. I was in the middle lane of the motorway the other day driving over the speed limit and passing lorries in the inside lane with some idiot practically on my bumper. Outside lane was empty if he wanted to overtake, but when I'd passed the lorries and pulled in, he caught up with the car in front and started tailgating him instead - grr.

Frankly if you were going 10mph under the speed limit im not suprised you were tailgated. Its immensely annoying for those of us who want to drive sensibly at the speed limit!

You are not going to get in trouble for going at 40mph in reaction to road conditions - i.e. the driver who'd already driven dangerously close to you through two slower speed zones. Especially on a wet and cold day.

Please do report him.

Definitely report. I do lots of motorway driving and I cannot believe the risks people take, they leave absolutely no margin of error, they are utterly selfish.

Go-pro and other Dashboard cameras are being used a lot more to capture evidence of dangerous driving. The more the general public use them, the quicker they will become mainstream in terms of reporting dangerous driving and admissible court evidence/insurance claims to prove both innocence and liability, depending.

Just a general comment .... Received wisdom from traffic police is that if someone is tailgating you, the best approach is to find a safe place to pull over and let the mad driver speed off into the distance. Don't try to "police" their mad driving or do things like brake suddenly to teach them a lesson. Stay safe, they can be buffoons if they want to!

brummie the OP said that part of the reason they slowed down was because of the tailgating in the first place.

The highway code advises drivers to slow down when being tailgated so the OP did the correct thing. It's also not always appropriate to drive at the speed limit. (There are country lanes at national speed limit near me that would be insane to tackle at more than 30 as there isn't room for cars to pass and it's constantly bending).

I would definitely report since you have the evidence.

brummie even if you encounter someone driving too slow it's ridiculous to start tailgating. It's annoying that they're not driving at an appropriate speed but intimidating a nervous driver and driving dangerously yourself is hardly a sensible reaction.