Had the same sort of problem when overtaking an artic (so couldn't move back over to let him pass). Had a merc appear behind me and kept getting closer. He soon backed off once I braked hard for a second.

Shame I was in parents car otherwise I would of been breaking longer/harder than I did

I wonder how many people got nosebleeds while writing in this thread.

If its a road with more than one lane I just pull across and let them get past.

suprised how many people find that hard to be honest. i went to over take a saxo going slow at some traffic lights awhile back. i was in a 7.5 ton lorry and when the lights changed he decided to keep at the same speed as me and force me to drop back in behind him as road dropped back to a single lane then he slowed down again.. then gave me the finger. top driving skills.

...as said drive to the speed limit and if someone whats to be dangerous let them get on with it... lifes too short. tailgating can be annoying but i just make it as easy as possible for them to overtake and get on there way.

This one's really spiralled!

At the end of the day if someones driving up your chuff then its very much their problem, as long as youre not doing anything particularly dangerous or irritating :p and youre doing an appropriate speed in an appropriate lane.

How you deal with the "tailgator" is up to you, sometimes it takes a better driver just to sit there and trundle along at a sensible speed and leave your follower to their own frustration, just because they have a supercharged range rover or an M5 doesnt make them Ken Block/Schumacher/driving god of your choice

I think little tricks like the washer jet thing can just be a harmless reminder to get them to back off, and quite amusing for you.

i am notoriously one of these self-righteous drivers, that when I'm on the road, getting really pissed off with peoples bad driving habits, pulling out without indicating, not obeying road markings, road lanes, signs and not paying any attention or consideration to other road users.

unfortunatly i take this too far and have slammed my brakes on infront of a few cars, stopped in the middle of the road, giving my fair share of abuse, both verbal and physical, to people who dont even realise they have done anything wrong.

I'm slowly beginning to try and re-engineer the way i drive, learning the art of defensive driving.

giving cars plenty of room

allowing speeders and tailgates to get past where appropriate

holding my hand up when someone is sat up my arse, usually makes them slow down (although the smoke trail I'm currently kicking out means people give me MORE than enough room haha)

anticipating what other road users are going to do and make appropriate decisions on where to be in the road based on that

using the brake as little as possible and using the gears to slow down, this means I'm leaving more of a gap of the cars all around me which is both saving me petrol and reducing the possibility of someone bashing into me.

i tried the educating approach to people and it falls on deaf ears

i tried the agro approach and it just riled the other person up

so this is my last resort. should this fail, I'm going to become a traffic officier and really fuck peoples shit up

^^^ I like the way you think grunge!

Yeah some sensible tips there!

as if people are trying to state their side of the argument to say driving over 70mph is safe driving, 70mph speed limits are for VERY good reasons and should be stuck to!

sometimes when lorrys are going at 57mph i think it is, people doing 60/65 HAVE to go in the fast lane, if you want to be going faster, just be patient until they have a space to pull back in to.

Personally, i just get out of their way asap, i know that it would be entirely their fault in the event of a crash but is it really worth getting seriously hurt and having your pride and joy written off?

if someone is doing 56 and i'm overtaking at 70 I shouldnt have to slow and pull in behind them so mr M5 can blast past at 95. i dont think this thread is about tailgaiting road hoggers, more like the idiots that seem to switch lanes behind you as if you are towing them. either go past or back off.

Tailgating at any speed is dangerous, who wants to be hit up the arse and risk being run off the road, maybe into a tree. Let alone being spun at 70.

people who flash can get f*cked, unless theres a valid reason..... other than they are late for golf...

slow down is the safest thing, lower speed = less damage/injury if they do plough into yo' ass.

flashing a car in front is stupid as you are increasing their risk of crashing whilst you are right up their exhaust..... whats gonna happen...

Tailgate me..... i will slow until you back off.... or we both come to a stop!

d

This morning I pulled over and let a mini-van past me as it was right up my arse, inevitably, it get behind an idiot doing 40. The van got up his arse too, and good for him. Not that I would do it, but I still don't blame him. 40 on this road is just silly. So the van tries to overtake, and the car boots it. Both side by side with me hot on their tail, at a safe distance of course. I was doing just over 80 and they were still getting away from me. Lucky the van had a bit more power and eventually got past. I was at such a loss of what to do, I wanted to give him the finger, lean out and shout, blast my horn, flash my lights and keep my speed up and overtake him too but I couldn't do it all at once and ended doing nothing :(

Couldn't really pull that off if you tried since you drive a 1.0 litre :p

I was going nearly 90, so I could have. Just didn't in the end because it's not really worth it. If he pulled the same trick on me then I got no chance, all my power was exhausted just keeping to 90 lol.

lol, poor little things revving their tits off doing 90! Tbh it's got plenty of power to get round people :)

I think slowing down, by using the gears not the clutch is a good idea, dont be forced to do a speed that YOU are comfortable with,

i was behind someone tonight, nice wide road 30mph limit and down a hill, (driver fancied going at 25mph)

was fairly close behind, then just shoved it in neutral and slowed down, rolling behind him/her and kept a safe distance,

if i was in a rush i woulda overtaken them but wasnt, and so didnt...

but this whole ''slow down, let them get on the other side of the road and speed up'' theory is f***ing stupid and dangerous!!!

some dick head did this when he was driving 35-40 in a 60... i dropped down, indicated (always indicate) and then started going past,

the idiot sped up, but i managed to get past, thank god!

Grunge is chatting complete sense there!

oh and by the way old/er people can hardly claim ''experience'' means they by far exceed any younger driver, because thats not always the case!

Tailgaters are the only people that REALLY piss me off on the road. Like Saf said, most of the time people don't even realise they're doing it, which makes it even more annoying. At least if it was aggravating them you'd be able to sit there at a speed comfortable for you, happy in the knowledge that the idiot behind is getting riled up and shortening their life expectancy.

But the fact is that most people on the road are sheep. They will follow you sticking to your exact speed no matter what that may be, as long as they are a set distance away from you. You speed up, they speed up. Most people are so reliant on their brakes that they're prepared to climb up your arse until the last second when they'll slam on.

Speeding up doesn't help, slowing down doesn't help. Slamming on the brakes doesn't help, and giving abuse doesn't help. Been there done all of those. The only real way of avoiding getting pissed off on a daily basis over tailgaters is to switch off your attention from them and ignore it. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this

Edited 31 January, 201115 yr by Phataz1

^^ Dip your rear view mirror. You dont need it.

Tailgaters are the only people that REALLY piss me off on the road. Like Saf said, most of the time people don't even realise they're doing it, which makes it even more annoying. At least if it was aggravating them you'd be able to sit there at a speed comfortable for you, happy in the knowledge that the idiot behind is getting riled up and shortening their life expectancy.

But the fact is that most people on the road are sheep. They will follow you sticking to your exact speed no matter what that may be, as long as they are a set distance away from you. You speed up, they speed up. Most people are so reliant on their brakes that they're prepared to climb up your arse until the last second when they'll slam on.

Speeding up doesn't help, slowing down doesn't help. Slamming on the brakes doesn't help, and giving abuse doesn't help. Been there done all of those. The only real way of avoiding getting pissed off on a daily basis over tailgaters is to switch off your attention from them and ignore it. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this

...or do the right thing and let him past. That way, you are no longer in danger of being rear ended and having to go through all that grief when it could be avoided by this simple act.

To add to the thread, I had huge artic lorry tailgate me. Then overtake me and the car in front on a windy road and went around at least 3 blind corners before he pulled in. I couldn't even bare to think about anyone comming the other way.

Tailgaters are the only people that REALLY piss me off on the road. Like Saf said, most of the time people don't even realise they're doing it, which makes it even more annoying. At least if it was aggravating them you'd be able to sit there at a speed comfortable for you, happy in the knowledge that the idiot behind is getting riled up and shortening their life expectancy.

But the fact is that most people on the road are sheep. They will follow you sticking to your exact speed no matter what that may be, as long as they are a set distance away from you. You speed up, they speed up. Most people are so reliant on their brakes that they're prepared to climb up your arse until the last second when they'll slam on.

Speeding up doesn't help, slowing down doesn't help. Slamming on the brakes doesn't help, and giving abuse doesn't help. Been there done all of those. The only real way of avoiding getting pissed off on a daily basis over tailgaters is to switch off your attention from them and ignore it. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this

...or do the right thing and let him past. That way, you are no longer in danger of being rear ended and having to go through all that grief when it could be avoided by this simple act.

To add to the thread, I had huge artic lorry tailgate me. Then overtake me and the car in front on a windy road and went around at least 3 blind corners before he pulled in. I couldn't even bare to think about anyone comming the other way.

I guess so, but finding a safe place to pull over and let people past without blocking the whole world from turning is often just as stressful as having them up your arse lol. I tried the dipping the mirror technique Mikey suggested but it makes me uneasy. I think I'd rather know what's going on behind me as well.

I'm thinking of just fitting a MASSIVE flamer kit to my exhaust and melting the fronts of those cars that get a little too close

mate, flamer kit is definatly the way forward, only problem is id would have to drive to work with it constantly on, because everyone on the m60 drives like a bell in rush hour!

dipping your rear view mirror would be the worst, ignorance is not bliss, your driving a fecking potential merking machine

azzlaaaaaaaar will be over to see you sunday i reckon man, me and birchy trekking to pick up a g40 engine from laaaaandaaaaaaan on sat

Had the same sort of problem when overtaking an artic (so couldn't move back over to let him pass). Had a merc appear behind me and kept getting closer. He soon backed off once I braked hard for a second.

Shame I was in parents car otherwise I would of been breaking longer/harder than I did

I would be careful with this! The law has changed on getting hit from behind, if you brake hard for no reason you are liable not the person behind!

Some peoples stupidity defies belief. Especially young mum's...dropping my little bro to school in the mornings, I see some of the most disgraceful driving ever.

Women in X5's, Merc ML's, bombing it down the school road 40-50mph over the speed bumps, not giving way to oncoming cars (its a tight residential road which is choca-block come 8:40am). First of all theres NO NEED for them to have such huge machines that they cant handle/park/see out of, and second of all understand that theres f*cking children around.

Had one woman up my ass all the way up to the school gates. When I got out to drop my bro to his class, she parked up behind, pushed her little girl out of the car an came up to me effing and blinding about how shes late for work and I was holding her up. She then proceeded to pull out without indicating or checking her mirrors, not noticing the lollipop lady and 4 kids and their parents were in the road, and almost wiped them all out.

I'm sorry for this, but i have to put it...

You can say what you like about paedophiles, but at least they drive slowly past schools

Had the same sort of problem when overtaking an artic (so couldn't move back over to let him pass). Had a merc appear behind me and kept getting closer. He soon backed off once I braked hard for a second.

Shame I was in parents car otherwise I would of been breaking longer/harder than I did

I would be careful with this! The law has changed on getting hit from behind, if you brake hard for no reason you are liable not the person behind!

That's a misinterpretation.

Changes nothing anyway - one simply says they thought they saw something about to enter their path in front. Even if they didn't,any court will agree their right to take such action on that. Person driving too close behind is driving without due care if they're that close,or without due attention if they hit you in any case,nothing can change that - fault lies with them.

Had the same sort of problem when overtaking an artic (so couldn't move back over to let him pass). Had a merc appear behind me and kept getting closer. He soon backed off once I braked hard for a second.

Shame I was in parents car otherwise I would of been breaking longer/harder than I did

I would be careful with this! The law has changed on getting hit from behind, if you brake hard for no reason you are liable not the person behind!

That's a misinterpretation.

Changes nothing anyway - one simply says they thought they saw something about to enter their path in front. Even if they didn't,any court will agree their right to take such action on that. Person driving too close behind is driving without due care if they're that close,or without due attention if they hit you in any case,nothing can change that - fault lies with them.

I was told by one of the spokes people from the national speed awarness programmes. Its there to help combat 'crash for cash'. Its no longer the drivers fault all the time and people who have slammed the brakes on to do what is mentioned in some of the posts have lost court cases over it. However i know what you are saying about the person behind not driving without due car and attention.