AIBU to ask drivers to STOP driving so close to me.

[Vintage2020]

Why why why do some drivers drive so close to my rear? It will not make the driver get to their destination any quicker. On a quiet road it’s irritating but when on A and M roads it is so stressful looking in the rear view mirror and there is a car doing 70 MPh only one or two cars distance away.

Oh yeah meant to say since brothers accident I’m more aware of these “up my rear” drivers and wanna shout - keep ya distance - I like my neck and car as they are!!!

@TabbyMumz I know - what’s the point

they are so close (less than a meter away)

Are you sure about this? That’s insanely close and quite strange that so many drivers you encounter drive at less than a metre from your car. Are you sure you are estimating the distance properly?

It is a real pain and as said they don't get anywhere any faster! I just jab on the brakes a few times that disuades some of them sometimes.

If their acting real A grade prats then let them past to annoy some other poor sod:-(

I too sometimes pull over to just let them speed on there way @JuanSheetIsPlenty I drive in rush hour in a busy city - yes there are a lot of people racing to work/school etc

Why do people feel the need to police other people's speed for them? If you are not overtaking then you are not in an overtaking lane anyway and they can do what they like. If you find people are undertaking you then, yes they shouldn't undertake but the only reason they can is because you are in the wrong lane and you should pull in.

If you are pulling out into an overtaking lane but a car is already in that lane overtaking you it doesn't matter what speed they are going at you need to ensure you can pull out safely. S/he may be speeding but you have a responsibility not to meander out in front causing him/her to have to brake suddenly.

In the situation described by Tabby of a full dual carriageway with every lane doing roughly the same speed the advice is not to change lane. I find touching my brakes can be effective at getting people to back off my bumper.

Those who try and weave in and out of lanes to gain those extra precious 10 metres are arses, generally in white Audis, and should be avoided at all costs.

Rush hour in a busy city is very different than 70 on the motorway! Speeds in the city (when cars are actually moving as opposed to bumper to bumper gridlock) are very low!

It’s perfectly normal for cars driving in rush hour city traffic to be pretty much on top of each other! I thought you were talking about the motorway!

On the motorway, you should stick to the left lane, and not drive at a ridiculous 30mph on a normal safe day.

Why do morons still try to reach 70 and get irate when the rest of us don't, when it's pouring with rain and the visibility is nul, that's beyond me.

I agree, speed limit is a limit, not a target. Local roads (even dual carriageways) are covered in potholes. Local people, or drivers who use the right apps, drive a bit slower and slow down massively when they know they are reaching one of those bastards. The potholes have been there for weeks, reported many times, it's easy to remember them. There's always an asshole fretting and beeping because the traffic is too slow. Too bad.

I agree that lots of motorists drive much to close to the driver in front,and on any kind of roads. I don't know why they do it, except they must be numbskulls.

I was recently driving in a 40mph zone,that further on became a 30 mph area,a road leading into a village. The male driver behind me was itching to overtake,as I was sticking to the 40 mph. He was right on my bumper so to speak. He then did a swerve out,and overtook me,right near the 30 sign, he then shot off and went like the clappers down the road,doing about 60 mph on a bend in the road, almost hitting a car coming from the other direction,who had to swerve into a grass verge to miss this idiot driver.

The stopping distance depends entirely on speed. One car length for every 10 mph is the rule of thumb.

Vintage if this happens to you a lot then maybe you are driving too slowly.

Driving too slowly for traffic conditions isn't safe driving.

Quite a few people tailgate me on occasion - I am generally at the speed limit or slightly over. I think a lot of people have no idea about stopping distances and a bit like getting on and off the Tube, they just see anything ahead no matter how fast/slow as an obstacle to their progress without thinking it through.

I have made peace with it, although it although it's particularly bad I will slow down a bit.

Blimey Gatehouse, how many speeding points have you got?

@mathanxiety why do u assume I drive too slowly when I have stated I do not?

Tailgating is dangerous, that's why you can get a ticket for doing it.
I have driven a lot of different sized vehicles over the years and I noticed I was tailgated a lot more whenever I was in a small car. Even when it was a whizzy small car.

If you do have to pull over to let people drive past, it does sound like you are driving too slowly

Doesn't excuse bad drivers, they could just wait instead of risking accidents for others.

and I noticed I was tailgated a lot more whenever I was in a small car.

try driving a sport car, be female and have long hair. You seem to attract all the morons from miles around!

I haven't got a sport car, but borrow one sometimes. It's funny but people are idiots.Not just men either.

why do u assume I drive too slowly when I have stated I do not?
Because it's a valid question and, as multiple threads about speed on roads shows, people who drive slower will often consider their speed to be safe and reasonable and therefore everyone else is the issue.

For example, like most people I've been tailgated on the road, but it's not a regular occurrence.

Assuming that most middle ground drivers are neither too quick or too slow, that leaves a minority at the slow end that pootle along and hold people up, and a minority at the fast end who speed and are aggressive in their driving.

If someone is routinely annoyed that others are too slow then the likelihood is they're probably on the faster, impatient end of drivers. If someone is routinely annoyed that others are too close, going too fast etc then the likelihood is they're on the slower, overly cautious side.

Driving too slowly for the conditions is also dangerous.

Driving too slowly for the conditions is also dangerous.

only because some drivers are not as great or as safe as they believe though. If people just slowed down, there would be nothing dangerous about it. It's not the slow driver who causes crashes, it's the idiots who drive dangerously around him.

Frustrating, yes, dangerous? not really if you think about it.

Thank u for all the posts - glad I’m not the only one who feels tail gating is dangerous and in necessary - slightly reassuring !!

It does cause a danger. You can actually be prosecuted for dangerous driving by driving too slowly and causing a danger to other road users

vintage
Almost everyone has said tailgating is an issue and dangerous.

It's still reasonable to ask if someone who is apparently being tailgated regularly is either a slower than typical driver or isn't as good at judging distance given the majority of drivers don't tailgate so it would be most unfortunate to find it happening all the time.

One of my relatives always gets jumpy in the car, for example, because they're convinced parking spaces are tight, another car is too close to them and so on. In reality they just have poor spatial awareness and are over jumpy when driving.

Why would you think you were the only person to think tailgating is dangerous? Surely everyone who has learned to drive know this. However, being close to the car in front in a traffic queue which is crawling along is not tailgating.

I agree with Justincase; I am tailgated far less in my car (Volvo) than in DP's car (BMW M4). When I'm driving his car idiots seem to see it as a challenge

My auntie was pulled over by the police for driving too slowly. She was told to speed up or get off the road as she was causing an obstruction.