How do you deal with tailgaters?

[Mr Miata]

Bainbridge said:

I slow down to annoy them more. When they finally get an opportunity to pass, I sit forward with my face as close to the windscreen as possible and do a massive overbite, while intently concentrating on the road ahead.

This often makes me laugh out loud, even if I'm alone in the car

I dint get this.

Why inconvenience yourself and every other road user behind you because of your ego? When the car behind you just ends up overtaking you, what have you achieved?

[Deep Thought]

Mr Miata said:

Bainbridge said:

I slow down to annoy them more. When they finally get an opportunity to pass, I sit forward with my face as close to the windscreen as possible and do a massive overbite, while intently concentrating on the road ahead.

This often makes me laugh out loud, even if I'm alone in the car

I dint get this.

Why inconvenience yourself and every other road user behind you because of your ego? When the car behind you just ends up overtaking you, what have you achieved?

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down then look like i'm all kinds of special as they pass, thus their rage and behaviours feel justified to them?

They're the ones with issues, not me. Why would i want to pretend differently and have them think they are in the right?

[Deep Thought]

jondude said:

Thanks all - have been trying the 'well sod you, I am not bothered' approach more, but I dunno, is not easy.

My theory is many drivers (perhaps understandably) hate the new 20 mph zones and refuse to respect them, working on the basis as there are no cameras on the 20 mph zones I refer to here, there is no need to do 20 mph.

But only a few days ago as we rounded a bend there was a mobile speed trap in place, and in a 20 zone it really does not take much to be in court action territory.

This has been my point to those who believe its fine to ignore 20 mph zones. You're just setting yourself as an easy target for an inevitable mobile speed trap.

[Solocle]

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down then look like i'm all kinds of special as they pass, thus their rage and behaviours feel justified to them?

They're the ones with issues, not me. Why would i want to pretend differently and have them think they are in the right?

Simple, slowing down gives you more time to react to hazards that might emerge and do so in a more gentle manner, thus potentially avoiding a collision.

The most extreme I had was when doing 30 in a 30 in freezing conditions (it was well sighted, so it wasn't stupidly fast even considering the conditions). But the girl who came screaming up behind and then started tailgating me within a few feet certainly was not driving to the conditions.

What followed was a twisty NSL where normally I make better progress than most drivers, but given the conditions an abundance of caution was warranted, and with her proximity it just made me drive substantially slower still. At one point I did stop on a short straight between two bends and invited her to pass me, but she didn't seem so keen

[Cotty]

defblade said:

2 types of tailgaters - passive and aggressive.

Passive, I am sure, simply drive at a gently increasing speed until they come up one car length behind the next vehicle, and sit at that exact distance so long as each is going the same way, doing whatever the car in front does, without question or thought. If the car in front turns off, start to to gradually increase speed until the next one. You can't do anything about these except manage your gap in front so as not to have to brake too hard, to give them time.

I hate these ones, I wondered if the road ahead was clear how fast they would drive.

I tied it out once, after we left the 60 section that was heavily covered by speed cameras I put my foot down, funny enough they were not still with me at 120 leptons.

[Deep Thought]

Solocle said:

Simple, slowing down gives you more time to react to hazards that might emerge and do so in a more gentle manner, thus potentially avoiding a collision.

The most extreme I had was when doing 30 in a 30 in freezing conditions (it was well sighted, so it wasn't stupidly fast even considering the conditions). But the girl who came screaming up behind and then started tailgating me within a few feet certainly was not driving to the conditions.

What followed was a twisty NSL where normally I make better progress than most drivers, but given the conditions an abundance of caution was warranted, and with her proximity it just made me drive substantially slower still. At one point I did stop on a short straight between two bends and invited her to pass me, but she didn't seem so keen

Did you read the post we were referring to?

Bainbridge said:

I slow down to annoy them more. When they finally get an opportunity to pass, I sit forward with my face as close to the windscreen as possible and do a massive overbite, while intently concentrating on the road ahead.

This often makes me laugh out loud, even if I'm alone in the car

Theres slowing down to let someone past / allow more time to react to road events, and theres slowing down to annoy someone even more and get on like a child when they're passing - which could easily antagonise the situation further....

[BertBert]

I have a slightly different approach. If I think I need to react to the tailgater, I will make a gap. I very gently slow down then speed up to the speed I was travelling to get a gap back. If the car behind then closes again and tailgates, I will likely try it a few times to see if it gets through. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. If the situation looks like it's escalating, I'll then try to find a way to get them to go past.

[matchmaker]

The type of tailgater that really pisses me off is the type that sits on your arse when you're in a line of cars in L2 of a two lane dual carriageway or motorway. I can't physically go faster than the vehicle in front. What the fk do you expect me to do?

[Bainbridge]

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down then look like i'm all kinds of special as they pass, thus their rage and behaviours feel justified to them?

They're the ones with issues, not me. Why would i want to pretend differently and have them think they are in the right?

I'm sorry that you've completely missed the point of why I do this.

Maybe get someone with a sense of humour to explain it to you?

Gotta love PH

[Deep Thought]

Bainbridge said:

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down then look like i'm all kinds of special as they pass, thus their rage and behaviours feel justified to them?

They're the ones with issues, not me. Why would i want to pretend differently and have them think they are in the right?

I'm sorry that you've completely missed the point of why I do this.

Maybe get someone with a sense of humour to explain it to you?

Gotta love PH

So explain what point you get across to the tailgater?

Edited by Deep Thought on Tuesday 2nd July 09:25

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down

If they are right on your rear bumper, slowing down increases the gap between you and the car in front of you. That means you're less likely to have to brake sharply and therefore less likely to get hit up the jacksy by said tailgater.

[Deep Thought]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down

If they are right on your rear bumper, slowing down increases the gap between you and the car in front of you. That means you're less likely to have to brake sharply and therefore less likely to get hit up the jacksy by said tailgater.

You're taking that post out of context, and you also snipped out the rest of the sentence providing context.

We were discussing this approach of "slowing down to annoy them more"-

Bainbridge said:

I slow down to annoy them more.

When they finally get an opportunity to pass, I sit forward with my face as close to the windscreen as possible and do a massive overbite, while intently concentrating on the road ahead.

This often makes me laugh out loud, even if I'm alone in the car

Edited by Deep Thought on Tuesday 2nd July 09:58

[Bainbridge]

Deep Thought said:

So explain what point you get across to the tailgater?

Edited by Deep Thought on Tuesday 2nd July 09:25

You're overthinking this.

It's like being asked to explain a joke.

You either get it or you don't.

[Deep Thought]

Bainbridge said:

Deep Thought said:

So explain what point you get across to the tailgater?

Edited by Deep Thought on Tuesday 2nd July 09:25

You're overthinking this.

It's like being asked to explain a joke.

You either get it or you don't.

You said i was missing the point.

Just tell us what "the point" is then?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Deep Thought said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down

If they are right on your rear bumper, slowing down increases the gap between you and the car in front of you. That means you're less likely to have to brake sharply and therefore less likely to get hit up the jacksy by said tailgater.

You're taking that post out of context, and you also snipped out the rest of the sentence providing context.

We were discussing this approach of "slowing down to annoy them more"-

That's just an added bonus!

[Jimjimhim]

Just drive how you do normally rather than trying to play lots of silly games.

[Deep Thought]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Deep Thought said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Deep Thought said:

Me neither

If i'm sitting at the speed limit in a 30 or 20 and someone wants to zoom past me in a rage, then thats fine.

Why would i slow down

If they are right on your rear bumper, slowing down increases the gap between you and the car in front of you. That means you're less likely to have to brake sharply and therefore less likely to get hit up the jacksy by said tailgater.

You're taking that post out of context, and you also snipped out the rest of the sentence providing context.

We were discussing this approach of "slowing down to annoy them more"-

That's just an added bonus!

Again you're snipping and removing the further context.

If annoying someone as part of ensuring you have enough space between you and the car in front is an added bonus to giving yourself some extra braking space, thats one thing, however doing so for the sole purpose of annoying them further, then sitting like you're all kinds of special as they pass is (a) likely to antagonise the situation and (b) make the tailgater feel vindicated in doing what they did and neither of those feel like a terribly smart move.

Edited by Deep Thought on Tuesday 2nd July 16:13

[Deep Thought]

Jimjimhim said:

Just drive how you do normally rather than trying to play lots of silly games.

Exactly that.

[Throttlebody]

Bainbridge said:

Deep Thought said:

So explain what point you get across to the tailgater?

Edited by Deep Thought on Tuesday 2nd July 09:25

You're overthinking this.

It's like being asked to explain a joke.

You either get it or you don't.

lol………

[M4cruiser]

matchmaker said:

The type of tailgater that really pisses me off is the type that sits on your arse when you're in a line of cars in L2 of a two lane dual carriageway or motorway. I can't physically go faster than the vehicle in front. What the fk do you expect me to do?

I agree. Your only two options are (1) take off, or (2) dig a tunnel.
Happens to me in Lane 1 as well. Can't overtake due to lane 2 being full of cars only 0.8 second apart.