To feel pissed off with tailgating drivers!

[Whenisithometime]

Hi,

I’ve never been a person who goes above the speed limits when driving, obviously I’ve had a few moments were I’ve unintentionally gone over without realising but I’m not an intentional and persistent speeder.

Anyway, nearly everyday, I’m tailgated. More so in 30mph zones. I can’t stand it. I just can’t Understand why they feel I’m not going fast enough if I’m driving right at 30 in a 30. It really annoys me so much.

I try not to allow it to intimidate me but it really does. On my way home from work I was doing 55 on a 60mph road and was tailgated the whole way. When I got to the end of the road, I had to stop because it was a junction, and I looked in my mirror and I saw the driver staring at me and he flapped his arms up in the air as if I had been too slow which obviously I wasn’t. I got pissed off and pulled the fingers at him. He then flashed his lights at me (aggressively)

Just needed a rant I guess!

And with tongue firmly in cheek and devil firmly on my advocating shoulder:

"Obviously driving at 30 in a 60 is unacceptable"

Why? If it's only "a limit not a target" as you keep saying?
Where is the line between acceptable and unacceptable? Who decides it?

@BuzzShitbagBobbly sorry but I disagree with you. Speed limits are an absolute maximum. Maybe you are a tailgater yourself.

If you ask a driving instructor or any road safety expert, they’ll tell you the same thing. Just cause a road is 60 doesn’t mean I have to drive at 60 unless it was free from bends and hills. 50-55 is absolutely fine. And as for going round bends, you need to be slow. If somebody behind me gets pissed off at somebody slowing down for a bend, then they need to resit their driving test

And other people think 60 is fine. Including the people who decide on speed limits. So you can't get upset at people being frustrated with you when you're clearly being over-cautious

This is complete bollocks. On the really dodgy country roads round here the default is the NSL because there aren’t and never have been the resources to designate them appropriately. You’d only do 60 on them if you were suicidal and everyone who uses them regularly knows that.

@Hoggleludo I didn't realise you were the same poster as you posted your story across 4 posters. It sounds like you were unlucky and in a completely different situation to the OP bragging about how she's so conscientious because she enjoys winding people up then pretending she cares about a mystical cyclist

Think some of the people on this thread need to go on the speed awareness course I went on recently. Really opened my eyes and I don’t do even 1mph over speed limit now.

No excuse for tailgating no matter the speed of the car in front. If you are getting pissed off that’s on you

vodkaredbullgirl
Are you just posting any old shi* comment just to get some sort of reaction
Oh! Just saying!!

To set the record straight if someone is driving slow, i dont tailgate them.

@BuzzShitbagBobbly yes the speed limit is absolutely not a target, better to be slow than too fast, but there is unnecessarily slow. 50-55 is fine on a 60 if it isn’t Completely straight. Anything below that could be deemed too slow imo

I’m sure some people are simply driving too close without realising it. I too seem to suffer tailgating and when I look in my rear view mirror the driver in the car behind often seems relaxed and not agitated in the slightest. If you accelerate away and the car behind takes a while to catch you and then continues to tailgate, it’s more than likely that the driver does not realise they are too close.

@alsohuman there are quite a few country roads near me that have had the speed limits reduced/increased recently. Maybe it's a budgeting issue where you live. Speak to your MP.

@GiveHerHellFromUs your attitude re driving is quite concerning actually. You don’t know what is on the other side of a sharp bend. Could be anything. You have no chance of stopping if you go round a bend at full speed.

And how am I winding people up by driving at the speed limit? Good god!

@AlessandroVasectomi fair enough but it’s dangerous to not even realise you are tail gating

I don’t need to speak to my MP, everyone who regularly uses those roads drives at a speed appropriate to them. Because we’re decent drivers and not dicks.

I’m confused as to how some people think It’s my fault that I’m tailgated? I drive at the speed limit on straight roads. If it’s bendy and has hills, I go ever so slightly slower. How on Earth is that unreasonable? It’s called being safe

@Whenisithometime where did I say you should drive round a bend at full speed? I said if you're driving round bends that are really that sharp at 40 you're going too fast as hitting a cyclist at that speed will probably still kill them. You're dressing your inability to read the road up as faux concern for others.

You've very openly and clearly admitted you don't drive at, or even close to, the speed limit.

Perhaps you were being overly cautious, doing significantly less than 60mph in a 60 zone.

That said, there is no reason for someone to be tailgating you and making you feel intimidated. Aggressive drivers are often the worst drivers.

@Alsohuman I appreciate that but what about people who don't regularly use those roads?

🙄 no wonder people complain about women drivers. Why are you scared to drive at the speed limit? I don't break the speed limit but do drive at it when needed.

@GiveHerHellFromUs sorry but you have said “mystical cyclist” as if I’m just being stupid, which I’m not. There could be a cyclist on the other side of the bend. And 40 is fine for the bend I am talking about.

And I do drive at the speed limit. 55 in a 60 is fine. Do you have a driving licence? That attitude isn’t the best

You were wrong for driving slow, and he was wrong for tailgating you, so neither are right.

55 on a 60 limit road isn’t driving slow.

@12345ct eh I do drive at the speed limit If it’s safe to do so. I don’t when the road is hazardous. It’s not exactly rocket science. Bendy roads aren’t suitable for such high speeds. 55 is absolutely fine for the road I am talking about

@vodkaredbullgirl oh don’t be so silly. He was wrong. Not me. 55 is not slow. You are clearly a tailgater

@Whenisithometime how do you know 40 is fine? Have you ever come across a cyclist on the other side?

55 is fine if you want to drive under the speed limit.

I'm a pretty competent driver. I drive at the speed limit, don't tailgate, move over to the side if a tailgater wants to try and bully me off the road (because I'd rather let them past than risk mine or anyone else's safety thanks!) and can read the road so know when I can speed up or need to slow down. Have you considered a few driving lessons to get you back up to speed?

No pun intended.

Tailgating is wrong. And I wouldn't do it because a) it's dangerous and b) if someone is driving considerably below the speed limit I assume they aren't a safe driver

However I drive a single lane a road and the amount of people who go 50mph drives me insane me every evening. It is perfectly safe to go 60. You don't need to slow down particularly if it's a wide bend that you can see round. You don't need to slow down for a hill you can see over. The majority of drivers travel 60 (the queue building up gives these drivers some idea of this). And these drivers are just so bloody oblivious.

I overtake if it's safe and I can, but another wonderful quirk of these drivers is they will often speed up a little when you start to overtake.

If you've got an aggressive tailgater behind you I don't really understand why you wouldn't just pull over and let them past. It's safer for you and then you aren't holding them up.