Tailgating (was: Opinions on smart motorways)

[Glom]

None of that has anything to do with tailgating.

Your opening statement that tailgating is always a two way Street is absurd as JonH says.

[Owain]

Tailgating is only ever the fault of the driver behind. On a normal (non-smart) motorway, I drive faster than almost all of the other traffic. Do I ever tailgate? No! Not only is it extremely rude, but it's also scary at that speed.

I frequently see other drivers tailgating, and if I get caught up behind a slower car, it often happens to me too. As long as you are passing something in the lane to your left, or about to do so, you are entitled to be there, and the person behind has to wait for you to do it at your speed. There is never any excuse for tailgating.

[Big L]

None of that has anything to do with tailgating.

Your opening statement that tailgating is always a two way Street is absurd as JonH says.

Berk must be joking or trolling. No-one could be that stupid, surely? It would be like blaming murder victims for their murder (it takes two to murder; one to kill and one to be killed).

[Chris Bertram]

Tailgating is wrong. But how do you deal with it, if you are determined not to go faster?

Do you carry on as before and just "put up with it"?
Do you pull over when possible to facilitate an overtake, making the tailgater someone else's problem? Remember, you're not the police, if the tailgater wants to chance their luck with speed enforcement, that's their choice.
Do you deliberately slow down, and if so, why? To increase a gap between you and a vehicle in front, fair enough, that's a recognised tactic in defensive driving. But if you're at the front of the platoon, what does it achieve?

And if you *are* going at much less than the speed limit on an open road in good conditions, have you asked yourself why?

[Jeni]

A novel idea is to just not tailgate in the first place!

Not going to humour the victim blaming any more.

[Chris Bertram]

A novel idea is to just not tailgate in the first place!

Not going to humour the victim blaming any more.

No blaming here, tailgating is wrong, but it still happens.

Just positing a scenario. You are being tailgated. What do *YOU* do about it and why?

[Big L]

If I am driving at an appropriate speed in the appropriate lane I absolutely ignore tailgaters. They can get as annoyed or aggressive as they like. Doesn't affect me.

[Brenley Corner]

Just positing a scenario. You are being tailgated. What do *YOU* do about it and why?

I continue my overtaking until I have passed the vehicles I am overtaking and then move left as soon as it is safe to do so. I will not be bullied into giving way to them before I have finished my move.
For example, I was overtaking a line of lorries this morning at 65-70 and I was being pushed along by a Seat driver. I stayed in my lane (I may have 'accidentally' dropped my speed to 60) and then when I had passed the lorries I moved safely and very slowly back into the left lane (as this person was so close to me, I didn't want to execute any high speed or sudden moves )

Tony

[lefthandedspanner]

If I am driving at an appropriate speed in the appropriate lane I absolutely ignore tailgaters. They can get as annoyed or aggressive as they like. Doesn't affect me.

Same here. Other people's lack of patience, courtesy, or adequate planning is their problem, not mine.

In my view, anyone who causes a serious accident by tailgating should be disqualified for life.

[Owain]

Tailgating is wrong. But how do you deal with it, if you are determined not to go faster?

Do you carry on as before and just "put up with it"?
Do you pull over when possible to facilitate an overtake, making the tailgater someone else's problem? Remember, you're not the police, if the tailgater wants to chance their luck with speed enforcement, that's their choice.
Do you deliberately slow down, and if so, why? To increase a gap between you and a vehicle in front, fair enough, that's a recognised tactic in defensive driving. But if you're at the front of the platoon, what does it achieve?

A good driver will respond differently, depending on the circumstances.

Outside lane of motorway; NSL; no one in front: I complete my move at my speed, and move over

Outside lane of motorway; NSL; a slower car in front: I maintain a big gap between me and the car in front anyway, but if being tailgated on a motorway I will increase it for safety reasons. Once the slower car moves over, I then accelerate to whatever speed I would have been driving at had it not been there. This is usually faster than the tailgater wants to go, so they disappear.

Smart motorway/50 limit: I'll almost certainly be in lane 1 doing the limit, so I just stick to the limit. If they want to pass, let them pass. In the case of HGVs, I'll even ease off while they're passing, to make it easier for them. If they don't, wait until the end of the smart motorway/50 limit, then floor it and watch them disappear.

Urban 30 or 40 limit: stick to 30 or 40. If they want to pass, let them. If they don't, stick to the limit and refuse to be intimidated. Then, when the sign appears, it's usually "Goodbye". Some of the worst urban tailgaters are members of the '40mph Everywhere' brigade.

And if you *are* going at much less than the speed limit on an open road in good conditions, have you asked yourself why?

I rarely drive below the speed limit, but if other people chose to do so, it never bothers me. Sure, it can be frustrating, but I just wait until I can overtake them. Why expect them to go faster than they feel comfortable with? They might be a newly-qualified driver. They might be old. They might have food poisoning! They might be nervous. They might simply be not very good. I love driving fast, but I would never dream of intimidating anybody.

[KeithW]

Tailgating is wrong. But how do you deal with it, if you are determined not to go faster?

Do you carry on as before and just "put up with it"?
Do you pull over when possible to facilitate an overtake, making the tailgater someone else's problem? Remember, you're not the police, if the tailgater wants to chance their luck with speed enforcement, that's their choice.
Do you deliberately slow down, and if so, why? To increase a gap between you and a vehicle in front, fair enough, that's a recognised tactic in defensive driving. But if you're at the front of the platoon, what does it achieve?

And if you *are* going at much less than the speed limit on an open road in good conditions, have you asked yourself why?

The answer to that question is - why not ?

The speed limit is a maximum not a minimum. Now personally this is rarely a problem as I tend not to hang about but there have been several occasions when this has happened. One was during the fuel crisis some years ago when I found myself driving back from Warrington. I knew I could make it home with the fuel in my tank if I stuck to 50 mph another was when I had to fit an emergency spare. In both cases I found myself doing 50 mph on a motorway mostly in Lane 1. The majority of drivers were fine but there were some real idiots who thought the appropriate response was to drive 3 ft behind me flashing their lights.

[Chris Bertram]

The answer to that question is - why not ?

The speed limit is a maximum not a minimum.

Yes ... but. The "but" is that there is an expectation that drivers will try to make good progress in the absence of impediments, and at your driving test, if you don't push on when the road is clear, you will accrue a fault for it. If your habitual driving style means that out of town you never ever go faster than 45 anywhere, you will end up at the front of a platoon at some stage on your journey. We have an obligation to drive with consideration for other road users. That will mean allowing overtaking if you're not prepared (or able) to speed up. And, of course, not tailgating, since an overtaking opportunity will surely materialise at some stage.

[PeterA5145]

It doesn't excuse or condone the act to argue that people should take reasonable precautions to avoid becoming victims.

I assume nobody here routinely leaves their car unlocked because if it's stolen or broken into it's entirely the fault of the thieves.

[Helvellyn]

The answer to that question is - why not ?

The speed limit is a maximum not a minimum.

Yes ... but. The "but" is that there is an expectation that drivers will try to make good progress in the absence of impediments, and at your driving test, if you don't push on when the road is clear, you will accrue a fault for it. If your habitual driving style means that out of town you never ever go faster than 45 anywhere, you will end up at the front of a platoon at some stage on your journey. We have an obligation to drive with consideration for other road users. That will mean allowing overtaking if you're not prepared (or able) to speed up. And, of course, not tailgating, since an overtaking opportunity will surely materialise at some stage.

"Good progress" isn't the same as "drive as fast as is safely and legally possible." 45 mph is a bit annoying on an otherwise straight road but it really is desperately impatient to get worked up by it (assuming S2 here, not motorway). I wouldn't regard someone doing that speed as at all obliged to go out of their way to let anyone past.

[Chris Bertram]

45 mph is a bit annoying on an otherwise straight road but it really is desperately impatient to get worked up by it (assuming S2 here, not motorway). I wouldn't regard someone doing that speed as at all obliged to go out of their way to let anyone past.

Obliged, perhaps not. But it would be considerate to do so. Actually, driving without consideration is something you can be booked for, with points as prizes. The problem there is that it needs police on hand to pull the inconsiderate driver over, and that's not realistically going to happen more than once in a blue moon.

[Reading]

Topic slippage

Can we please get back to Smart Motorways which if anything should minimise tailgating compared to standard motorways.

does anyone know how the number of refuges etc on the planned M4 section compare with the M25 or M5/M4 Jct sections of ALR ?

[Helvellyn]

45 mph is a bit annoying on an otherwise straight road but it really is desperately impatient to get worked up by it (assuming S2 here, not motorway). I wouldn't regard someone doing that speed as at all obliged to go out of their way to let anyone past.

Obliged, perhaps not. But it would be considerate to do so. Actually, driving without consideration is something you can be booked for, with points as prizes. The problem there is that it needs police on hand to pull the inconsiderate driver over, and that's not realistically going to happen more than once in a blue moon.

I wouldn't put that down as being significantly inconsiderate enough personally, although it would probably depend upon the exact circumstances (a queue a mile long behind you for example).

[owen b]

A novel idea is to just not tailgate in the first place!

Not going to humour the victim blaming any more.

No blaming here, tailgating is wrong, but it still happens.

Just positing a scenario. You are being tailgated. What do *YOU* do about it and why?

Nothing beyond remaining aware and making sure there's plenty of space in front of me and to the side. Don't give in to the psychopathic, antisocial, bullying idiot tailgater behind.

[Chris Bertram]

Define 'giving in' for us, please. I'm hearing it a lot, but nobody ever explains it.

[Stevie D]

Define 'giving in' for us, please. I'm hearing it a lot, but nobody ever explains it.

Changing the way you are driving (either by speeding up to a speed that you didn't want to drive at, or by pulling in behind slower traffic and thereby slowing down below the speed you wanted to drive at) to placate the aggressive driver behind you and/or let him past.