What do you do when you're tailgated?

[EDXRSIX]

i speed up as much as i can to beat them....then smile to myself coz i know im awesome and totally beat them in the street race ....coz my car is faster.

im totally hardcore

[XR6_190]

Brake Hard and hope they have insurance...

Nah seriously, I used to do stupid stuff like slow down and speed up to annoy them, but now I try to stay out of the fools way.
The most wonderful thing happened on the way home from work the other night. I was going down the Calder Hwy just out of Melb' I was passing some cars whilst in the Right lane, I noticed a VS Statesman right up my rear end, He was flashing his high beam and everything, I moved back into the Left lane behind a black Territory and the white VS kept going until he got behind the car I was following, He than started to give the next car the same treatment.
The next bit was what really got the smile on my face. The Territory infront of me pulled into the Right lane and followed the VS, got right up his backside and then switched on the lights and sirens, The Territory was an unmarked cop car. He pulled the tool over and I got a good laugh.

[XA-MONT]

Originally Posted by EDXRSIX

i speed up as much as i can to beat them....then smile to myself coz i know im awesome and totally beat them in the street race ....coz my car is faster.

im totally hardcore

love it!

I tent to just give the brake lights a bit of a flash and if that doesn't work i just sit in my bubble of annoyance and wait it out :P

[FORD3V]

Depending on the situation, but I usually get the "marauding inbred killer camel cabbage" to sort them out,if that doesnt work I just slow down until they get so frustrated they go around me.

[Blast2]

I try and let them pass, because how many times have we all seen someone pull out from private property.If everbody travelled at safe distance and speed there would be less fender benders or worse fatalitys on the road.As for the rest of the offences drivers do on the road, you should try and keep your cool.

[V3RSAC3]

let them past and pull up behind them and flash these



thats sure to get their heart pumping!! ( btw, they flash, not just a solid light )

[chief]

I turn the headlights on (as it turns the taillights on, but not dangerous like brakeing)

[89 S-PACK]

i simply drive like i was. i aint gonna speed for them

or i pull over so i get rid of them.
but being manual i drop the clutch and they usally get the idea. in traffic i use the handbrake, well i dont have 3 feet

i run on the 3 strikes and ur out method.... do it more than that you either have no idea or your basically dangerous. aint fun when it happens in a 100 k zone

the bad ones lately are buses, so i write or get my sister to write down the rego no and company and i make a nice (NOT) complaint and tell them if they do it again theres a call being made to the hoon line or a formal complaint made at the police station.

but i dont tailgate at all. not even in melbourne or sydney.
i was taught to leave room in front of you. sit far enough back if you can see the tyres touch the ground on the car infront you are a safe distance back.
other than that i leave 1\2 to 3\4 car length in front of me before the car in front of me

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

man some of u ppl are the reason there are accidents, yeah tailgaters suck but just let them go (if able to).

if im in the left lane and someone is tailgating me and its a 2 lane road i dont do anything, its their job to go around me.

This topic has been run before with the same unproductive level of aggression. SgtBourne is right. It's just somebody wanting to go faster than you, what's the big deal? If they tailgate you in a single lane road they're stupid but that's all. If they tailgate you in the RH lane of a multilane road you should be over in the LH lane so move over. It's the road, not a pe..is size measuring competition (which seems to the prevailing "road rule" in Australia unfortunately).

Originally Posted by XR6_190

The most wonderful thing happened on the way home from work the other night. I was going down the Calder Hwy just out of Melb' I was passing some cars whilst in the Right lane, I noticed a VS Statesman right up my rear end, He was flashing his high beam and everything, I moved back into the Left lane behind a black Territory and the white VS kept going until he got behind the car I was following, He than started to give the next car the same treatment.
The next bit was what really got the smile on my face. The Territory infront of me pulled into the Right lane and followed the VS, got right up his backside and then switched on the lights and sirens, The Territory was an unmarked cop car. He pulled the tool over and I got a good laugh.

Now this one's a worry. From what you write, the Statesman driver was quite in his rights to flash you if you were in the RH lane and he was wanting to pass you. (That's what they do in Europe all the time.) If the Victorian policeman was doing his job properly he should have been booking you, not the Statesman, for failing to keep left unless overtaking. But I know the way they think down there - tailgating is the crime, not the contributing cause of it. (I wonder though whether the guy was in fact pulled over for speeding, not the reason you suggest.)

Get a hold on reality folks, concentrate on your own driving not on whether somebody behind you may be doing something foolish. Don't act the moral policeman, it only causes accidents or road rage - and possible death or injury in both cases.

[Squalo]

I am one of the 'slows down a bit, then accelerates back to my speed' guys, and as my speed is usually 10 over, I think I have some justification in being annoyed when I'm tailgated. If you want to pass me, fine, I'm happy to give you the room, I'll slow down once you've pulled out to pass. But please don't sit on my , it's just rude. There's an etiquette to driving, and if you don't possess it, I'm going to educate you - although I can see the point/s made by the guys here, I'm a firm believer that if you are going to take the wheel of a car, you must be fully aware of what is required of you. The 'moral police' statement is certainly relevant, but in the usual absence of 'physical police' I'm always going to stand up for my rights as a responsible road user.

Usually once I'm back up to speed the problem has been solved. If not, and I can make an educated guess that the tailgater needs a less subtle hint, there's the downshift ploy - that one is a wake-up call, and I make no apologies for that as I truly believe I'm doing the driver in question a service - hopefully they go away from the encounter a bit more alert to what might happen if they don't pull their head in.

Shoe on the other foot - if someone is slow (either in single lane, or sitting in the right lane*) I will patiently wait a reasonable distance behind, for a reasonable length of time - then I might show that I'd like to pass. Always with respect. But if I come up behind someone and they are travelling above the speed limit, they have the right of way and I'll do nothing until they voluntarily give me the right of way.

I think that's fair enough?

* This goes out the window when I cross the border into Queensland, where I slice and dice without mercy; I've never seen such terrible right-lane hogging as in Queensland - old, young, male, female, they all do it. What is wrong with those people?

people that get rattled by other driver's behaviour are just as bad.

I do have to agree with this. The older I get the more likely I am to just shrug it off and hope the driver in question doesn't come unstuck (or take out someone else).

PS - I tend to find/believe that in most cases tailgating is simply ignorant behaviour, rather than aggression - which is why the subtle hint usually works.

PPS - I can imagine how often this come up as a topic, this is the first time I've written about it - this is my first and only car forum, although I've been on internet motorcycle forums since 1995 or so. I have to say that one of the beauties of bike forums - at least the ones I'm on - is that you very rarely need topics to address the bad riding behavior of your fellow riders.

[normxb]

Originally Posted by fmc351

Depends, is the rear of my car already in need of a new bumper?
Oh its a joke people. Or is it? :Reverend:

Let em pass and not give it another thought.

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Get out of their way and let them go past..
Its safer and much less hassle to swallow your pride and move over than argue over a rear ender even though you're in the right.
.

I'm With you Guy's , anything else only causes "Road Rage" and You could end up with a split Skull .

Don't know about everyone else , but I'm Allergic to Pain "Specially when it's my own"

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by normxb

I'm With you Guy's , anything else only causes "Road Rage" and You could end up with a split Skull .

Don't know about everyone else , but I'm Allergic to Pain "Specially when it's my own"

Its just not worth worrying about. The last thing you want is to pull up at the lights and have some clown now on foot racing over to your door all hyped up over nothing. Oh and Im not small lad, and Ive had that happen before, when I get out they back off and its nothing but mouth. Its still not worth the hassle.

The trick really is to move over, be aware of them til they pass and not give them another thought after that.

[MITCHAY]

I hate it when twits tailgate you when you're already speeding :

[Ralliart]

go faster, if they tailgate me still let them past, its realy anooying when they just sit behind you for ages and finally overtake u : :

[Dazza XLT]

I just maintain my speed.
I thought my speedo was out because it seems to happen to me a crapload in the work ute.
Got a GPS and checked, it's spot on. Don't know how accurate they are, but it does me!

Cheers

[Daymoe]

Originally Posted by V3RSAC3

let them past and pull up behind them and flash these



thats sure to get their heart pumping!! ( btw, they flash, not just a solid light )

Flash them, pull them over and open up to chapter 4 in the learning to drive book, go to the page that says you must stay at least 2 seconds behind the other car infront.

[MITCHAY]

Spose you could pump Bad Boys by Inner Circule on the fully sick sub at the same time.

Would be a "Chasers" moment if you could pull that off and they take you seriously

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by V3RSAC3

let them past and pull up behind them and flash these



thats sure to get their heart pumping!! ( btw, they flash, not just a solid light )

I truely hope you do that to an unmarked police car one day....
Do you have any idea what lies ahead of you for impersonating a police vehicle?

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I truely hope you do that to an unmarked police car one day....
Do you have any idea what lies ahead of you for impersonating a police vehicle?

I'm assuming not :

[HLC]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Do you have any idea what lies ahead of you for impersonating a police vehicle?

good times?

[T3ts50]

If its a scary looking bloke, or they are driving a peice of crap, or if Im in the fast lane I get out the way.

Lot of the times I just slow down.

[Ozfords]

I just decide to give the windscreens a wash. It dirties their windscreen.

I stay put if I'm in the process of overtaking, but if theres plenty of space, I'll move over.

Some are right, no use starting road rage, you don't want to be the only witness when your jaw is broken and your pride and joy is destroyed. You'll report it to the cops go to court and mr. crapbags lawyer will grill the heck out of you and the magistrate will dismiss the charge and mr. crapbag will point and laugh.

Gotta love the justice system.

[XA-MONT]

lol, tons of good times im sure. :P... If your into that kind of thing that is (you all know what im thinking :P)

[scoupedy]

It depends: If i am doing the limit and they can't overtake then i may pull over and let them past If we are all stuck behind someone else i just ignore them. If they just sit there and don't overtake when they can i just rest my foot on the brake pedal to put the brake lights on while maintaining the speed limit with right foot, if they don't get the hint after about a minute i jaqm the brakes on real hard then accerate hard they get no warning as the brake lights have been on for last minute this really ****es them off but so i only ever do it rarely...most people back off after seeing brake lights for twenty seconds

[|||]

sometimes i pull over and sometimes i throw empty stubbies

[XA-MONT]

Originally Posted by |||

sometimes i pull over and sometimes i throw empty stubbies

that the spirit :baby bott :gren:

[nugget378]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I truely hope you do that to an unmarked police car one day....
Do you have any idea what lies ahead of you for impersonating a police vehicle?

Or worse,a character that lets say isnt the type that tends to like seeing the police,I pity poor versace when mr crim realises its just some regular guy with an LED fetish,and decides to let all that adrenaline out on his skull..

I dont seem to have a problem with tailgaters,if its multi lane I get over,and I dont take 20 minutes to overtake when in the right lane,its simple,speed up and pass then move over..
Far worse than tailgaters,are the self appointed road police that think everyone should do 10km under the limit because they do,they seem to notice someone a little too close,but dont notice the bank of 100 cars their holding up :

[McobraR]

Most of the time i change lanes or stop to the side, but once i slammed on the brakes on this clown that decided to catch up to me in a curvey residential area. nothing happened so its all good.

[SB076]

Originally Posted by nugget378

I dont seem to have a problem with tailgaters,if its multi lane I get over,and I dont take 20 minutes to overtake when in the right lane,its simple,speed up and pass then move over..
Far worse than tailgaters,are the self appointed road police that think everyone should do 10km under the limit because they do,they seem to notice someone a little too close,but dont notice the bank of 100 cars their holding up :

I agree too many times I see someone tailgating someone because someone else is sitting in the right hand lane because they think they are doing the speed limit, if people got out of the right hand lane there would be far less tailgating.

Its interesting how people say I am doing the speed limit therefore dont need to move over - cant understand how they can justify breaking a law by keeping another one

[Feathers]

I work on the basis of "the closer you get, the slower I go".
In my area they usually decide to cross the double lines and take the roundabouts on the wrong side of the road to get past. I've had about 4 do that.

Hopefully when they remove themselves from the gene pool they won't take any innocent people with them, though it's usually not the case.