To still be upset about this dreadful driver?

[Netcurtainnelly]

Mr net Curtain and I were driving down a country road on Friday and realised we were being tailgated.
I looked round and the driver was featuring us to go faster. We did not as we were already driving to the speed of the road

We just ignored him and carried on. Next thing he or someone behind him starts blasting the horn furiously obviously trying to get us to go faster
We did not eventually the driver turned off

It really unnerved me and made me nervous. I can't believe that people are prepared to cause a crash on a road just because they want you to hurry up.

Has this happened to anyone else? have experienced tailgaters before but never someone blasting their horn etc. So dangerous.

Country lane is the least likely road you can pull over on, there probably isn’t any space too.

hes a bully OP, sad little man

They shouldn't be tailgating, but the fact that two drivers where clearly frustrated by your speed does make me wonder if it was excessively slow. I live rurally and I know to pain of crawling along behind a nervous driver doing 25 in a 60 zone. I think that's not ideal either as you force every car to overtake.

Maybe pull over and let people past if a queue is building up behind you.

Why is everyone assuming OP was driving at a snails pace on a fast road? There are plenty of cunts out there driving who treat every road like it’s their own personal Nurburgring course regardless of the speed limit or what is actually an appropriate speed for the road.
I tune out tailgaters, their hurry is very much not my problem. If an opportunity arises to let them pass or overtake, by all means but otherwise I just ignore and let them froth at the mouth over the 2 seconds they’re losing out on. Always end up right behind them at the next lights/junction anyway!

Or a white van

Yes happened to me before, was driving in rural windy country roads in Herefordshire that I had never driven before. Was pitch black, no lights and pouring with rain so yes I was driving quite slowly as couldn't really see road markings. Person came really up close behind me and was flashing my constantly, I tried to ignore but it carried on so I slowed down and put my hazards on hoping they'd overtake, I didn't dare stop was in the middle of nowhere on my own but they didn't overtake and just kept doing it. Eventually they turned off, whilst beeping and swearing at me. Completely unnecessary and very intimidating. Needless to say they were men.

Op said that they were "already driving to the speed of the road" which I take to mean that if it was a 30 they were doing 30 and so on.

There was an inquest locally a few years back where someone had been doing the tailgating/beeping/flashing thing and then was witness doing a dangerous overtake and drove far far higher than the speed limit. They then lost control and were killed after they left the road and the car flipped (no seat belt). It was only a miracle he didnt take anyone else with him.

But of course his need to drive fast was far more important than the safety of him and others.

I bet you were driving 'slowly'. Your idea of the 'speed of the road' and theirs probably differs wildly and you are both at different ends of the spectrum.

Who cares though? If someone isn’t confident on an unfamiliar country land they’ll have to stick to the speed they feel comfortable at, doesn’t excuse flashing like a wanker

I always understood that if you are being tailgated you should slow down to minimise the chances of injury if there is an accident.

I am sure my driving instructor told me that.

If I am driving down zig zag country roads I don't know I probably am going cautiously rather than taking a corner too fast . If I see a car behind me that seems to be tailgating me, I look for the next available space to pull in to as I assume maybe they are local or know the road well . Sometimes this is even acknowledged by the driver as they go past .
The guy was just frustrated and took it too far honking , etc . He probably did think you should pull over if going too slowly . But don't let it upset you , it's just a occupational hazard of driving .

I can safely say that in the many local battles between Audi/BMW/Mercedes and John Deere the winner is always yellow and green.

The common factor is twats-in-a-hurry.

There have always been and will be idiots on the road. Pull over at a safe place and let them speed on their way. I don’t know why it unnerves you though, it’s not like you brake-tested them, just ignore them and move on with your day.

Yep, that way if they hit you, you don’t hit the person in front
I did that on a motorway and it saved me when I got rear ended by a van that didn’t slow down

YABU to still be upset about it. Roll your eyes and ignore them. Or swear at them. Or crash into them.

Agree.

But if the OP and her husband were driving very slowly, the polite thing to do is to pull over and let traffic behind you pass.

Umm, obviously it doesn't?

I’ve seen it happen a lot more now that 20mph limits have been introduced around Scotland.

Most people don’t stick to it (will sit at 24ish) but a few will (20 or even slightly below) and it seems to stir up the aggressive drivers

I followed a driver along a major road which has a 20 mph limit, they were doing between 13 and 14 mph. This is a road which was 30 until a few months ago.

I wouldn't be driven by your dh, I 'd do the driving!

The key issue here (though tailgating is absolutely not acceptable and dangerous) is when the OP says “driving at the speed of the road”.

That has multiple interpretations.

It could be appropriate to road conditions, the speed limit or the OP’s definition.

Driving unduly slowly can be a hazard in itself.

In this scenario if they were driving at 40-45 or less in at 60 in good conditions I can understand why other drivers might have been frustrated (again that’s no excuse for tailgating).

I’ve been tailgated before on an unfamiliar country road by a truck. I was terrified as they were so threatening - literally in my tail, to the point I was unable to even slow down. There was nowhere to stop or turn into for ages. I was really shaken. I’ve often wondered what I should have done seeing as I couldn’t slow down to let them
pass and did not want to speed up either

This is an important point. I was warned by my driving instructor that driving too slowly can also fail you.

You are required to be able to drive at the speed of the road. Otherwise, you are not considered a competent driver.

there was a case in the 90’s where an elderly man was charged with dangerous driving because he was going at 15 mph and causing 5 mile tailbacks.

there are often parts of country roads where 40mph is required even if the limit is 60, but if the road is straight, you should be going close to 60.( on a dry day)

the fact you haven’t mentioned speed makes me think there’s more to this story. If you were going at 40 for large parts of this road, then it’s likely to lead to frustration from other drivers.

The speed allowed by the road. It is in the OP.

I was once stuck behind a neighbour coming home from the supermarket. That day the roads were fairly busy and it was 30MPH limit. She drove at just over 20MPH all the way home which was annoying but to make it worse she applied her brakes every time a car came towards her on the other side of the perfectly normal road . I didn’t tailgate her or beep my horn, flash my lights. I didn’t tailgate curse her though . If she was that nervous driving then she should drive . She was only about 45 so can’t blame it on her being elderly.