To slow down when tailgated

[HoneyIshrunktheBiscuit]

Nothing annoys me more than arseholes who tailgate. When I was a new driver I found it incredibly intimidating and now I refuse to be scared by these road bullies.

Just been tailgated, right up my bum, on the motorway in the left lane. Plenty of space to overtake but not the guy was right up there. So I slowed down to about 65 - I couldn't have gone much faster anyway as there was a car only a little in front doing just under 70. When I pulled off on tothe exit junction he was effing and jeffing and gesturing at me.

I always slow down if someone is tailgating me. I especially like to be in the outside lane when they do this so that I can match my speed to the car (or preferably lorry) on the inside of me, so that I do the worlds longest and slowest overtake. Twunt behind me just gets even more frustrated then

I think you'll find you are actually the twat in that situation.

Not true Meltor There are people who seem to think they should be the only person on the road and that YOU are in their way!

I'm pretty sure Audis and BMWs, in addition to not being fitted with indicators, have massive magnets fitted in their front grills. So they have no option to drive anywhere other than three inches behind the car in front.

I always slow down if someone is tailgating, and if its safe to do so i'll also tap my brakes gently a couple of times to give them a message to back off. Usually it works.

Easiest solution is to concentrate on whats in front. The only thing you can control is the space between you and the car in front. If someone tailgates you should increase the space between the vehicle in front of you slightly so you have additional safety margin.

The other thing about it that always confuses me is that they will sit right up a lorries arse and therefore have no vision at all of what's happening up ahead giving them absolutely no chance of passing on a single carriageway road and even worse when it's raining or the road is wet and they sit in the other vehicles spray whereas if they sat back out of the spray they'd be able to see better even though it would mean they's arrive at their destination 3 seconds later....

My theory is that half of them have poor eyesite and sit that close as they think it gives them comfort and something to follow rather than not being able to see the road.

Its been a long time since my test but I seem to recall revising for my theory and it saying you need to slow down if someone is tailgating.

I always slow down. Partly to annoy then, partly as its safer. If they were to go into the back of me I don't want to go into the back of the car in front of me.

Isn't brake checking an offence?

I think the highway code says that where possible you should allow tailgaters to pass. Not what your morals tell you you should do but it is probably safer for you and other road users.

I had a car sat almost in my boot, and when I indicated to overtake he blasted on the horn and went past first

This is sooo annoying. Why do people do this? Do they think you've been sat behind the slow moving vehicle for the good of your health? Why can't people wait their turn? Once it become safe to overtake you let the person in front go first if it's clear they're going to go - then you go.

But no.

WaxOnFeckOff Brake checking is when you hit the brakes hard which will actually slow the car. Obvioulsy very dangerous if theres someone right up your backside. That is not what I described. If you gently touch the brake the car doesnt slow but the light comes on.

90% of the time this makes the tailgater back off as they think you are braking. Same result as switching the lights on and off.

If I'm being tailgated, I'll slow down to increase the gap between me and the car in front - I don't want to end up being shunted into the car in front of me if everyone's braking and the tailgater can't stop in time.

Otherwise, I tend to maintain my speed, which is usually at or near the speed limit, and carry on pretty much as normal. Although I do sometimes do the thing with the lights to make it look like I'm braking to try and encourage them to back off. I don't see the point in deliberately driving much slower than normal just to annoy them.

Oh, and I've been tailgated on virtually empty dual carriageways before. It's super annoying to be driving at 70mph on an empty dual carriageway, and then have some idiot driving on your bumper instead of going into the empty overtaking lane to get past. No idea why some people decide that tailgating is preferable to overtaking when it would surely be easier to overtake.

Don't get me started on car drivers who don't notice that an effing enormous lorry is entering a roundabout. Oh and lorries who tailgate fgs.

Someone told me that they put on the hazard lights....for a few clicks only....always gets the person behind to back off

No you are not BU OP

If you are in the outside lane with an empty middle lane next to you then you are being unreasonable.

However from what you describe the other driver sounds like an arse! If someone is going slow in the left hand lane just over take! Surely thats common sense?

Advice on speed awareness course was to slow slightly by coming off accelerator. That way no lights to antagonise, but also tailgater is alerted not by brake lights but by the even further reduced gap and so more inclined to think about their own driving rather than yours.

Because they want YOUR space MsPassepartout!

Vast majority of motorway up here in Scotland is only two lanes.

Find it very irritating to be overtaking a queue of 55mph lorries at 70, only to have a 110mph boy race scream up behind and sit on my bumper. I slow down, but ensure i am still at an overtaking speed (because it's an overtaking lane, not a fast lane).
I have been known to accidentally hit my fog light button, as it's just underneath my radio and i was trying to change the station

I just remembered that only ONCE has a driver actually got back ,and stayed at a safe distance when I signalled I was going to pull off the little rural road for him, it amazed me! He realised that he was being a twat!

Gently pressing on the brake but not actually braking will soon make them slow down :) works every time and creates a safer distance

The highway code should be saying to NOT tailgate.

Put a sticker saying ''smile, you're on camera''-even if you havent got a dashcam.

im a disabled driver with a million stickers on the back saying so, plus, 'please keep distance' etc.

do they heck as like? no. fuckers.

so far up my arse they can see my uvlie!

i slow down. ive been spat at by a passenger when the aresehole has overtaken, even though im doing the speed limit.

dont want to generalise but where I live its more often than not white van drivers (usually on their phones as well!) and boy racers.

WTF is their hurry?

It's quite incredible Qui The way learner drivers are treated too, it's hideous. Some people really don't give a shit. They should be banned and made to wear tags so the police can watch them ALL the time.

I slow right down and squirt water at them by cleaning my windscreen lots

Twats.

The Highway Code doesn't say to not tailgate, no, but it does say to maintain a proper distance from the car in front, the length of two cars to be precise. That means, don't tailgate.

The M6 is full of tailgaters and middle lane hoggers. I'm surprised there aren't more fatal accidents considering the dangerous driving I witness on a regular basis.