What do you do when you're tailgated?

[xurbanx]

Had one on the Monash last night. Was in the far left lane, some lady in a Civic tailgates me from Warrigal right down to Jacksons. After wondering why she didn't merge into the middle or far right lanes (they were all free), I tapped the brakes, enough to not make me slow down and enough to turn the brake lights on. She stopped after that.

[Addz08]

I don,t, I set the pace.. hehe..

[ED Classic]

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.

Exactly right.. Im not that scared of anyone but whats the point in getting involved? Move over and let them go rather than trying to be a copper and thinking you are going to educate the whole entire world. I feel very sorry for that old guy who got bashed to hospital recently but the sad fact is he bought himself into the line of fire by thinking he would tell the other driver everything he was doing wrong when the driver was quite obviously hostile anyway. You could be involved in something every 5 minutes if you wanted to be, but whats the point? You never win, It will end up in a fight (atleast!!) and then you are either dead, in Hospital or on assult charges if you win regardless of who started it and the only ones who win are the Police by walking in and charging you.

On the flip side of the coin theres been some instances where Ive come up behind people who intentionaly drive way under the speed limit or in the right lane blocking miles of traffic just to think they are smart and its stuff the whole world up day. So on this one I think it also shows that you should move over and not inconvenience anyone and think to yourself have I done anything stupid myself!

[DBourne]

Originally Posted by 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.

and where exactly in syd are u haha

[fmc351]

Depends if Im drunk or not.

[nugget378]

Originally Posted by 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.

I know a guy that gets into punch ups every weekend,the funny thing is he wonders why people pick him.
Its never occured to him that he might just be the one doing something wrong...

[lukey]

Tailgating - I slow down to as slow as I can safely go, then when they overtake I speed up!

People on phones - Usually just stare at them and shake my head so they feel guilty lol.

[FlipXW]

Even worse than tailgating is;
1. People that sit in the right hand lane going at the same speed as the people in the left lane and have no plans to overtake.
2. People that go 10kms under the limit then as soon as it hits dual lanes pump it up so it makes it hard to overtake them, then as soon as it hits single lanes slow down again. God it give me the sh!ts.

As for tailgaters, just let them past when it is safe to do so. That way there is no problem.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by nugget378

I know a guy that gets into punch ups every weekend,the funny thing is he wonders why people pick him.
Its never occured to him that he might just be the one doing something wrong...

LOL, i was just on Stud road and as usual its chockers with traffic and road works merging 2 lanes into 1.. anyway a semi in front of me in the LH lane (i was in the RH lane) had his RH merge indicator on for about 50meters as we crept along... now i slowed to let him in but another car behind him cuaght me snoozing slightly and cut in front of me and tried to get past the merging semi!!!!! all at crawling pace, the truck saw him but kept merging (rightlfully) so then this guy pulls onto the centre median strip to try to get past, problem was further up there was a backhoe there, which bought him to a complete stop as there was bumper to bumper traffic in front of the semi, mind you he was right off the road by now stationary while the semi had merged and i was behind him, so we kept going in the RH Lane and this tool suddenly decides to pull hard back onto the road in front of me without indicating and got annoyed when i had to brake suddenly and toot!!!!

[Josh_XC]

Originally Posted by Feathers

I work on the basis of "the closer you get, the slower I go".

Yeh i agree, if a person is tailgating i will go as slow as possible to them off.

[Falcon Coupe]

This thread show why road rage starts, some people need to grow up.

[alecrain]

Most of you say that you simply move out of the way- this a good option if you have where to move.
Problems start when you're drviving on one lane road (doing ~84km in the 80km/h zone with no oportunity to overtake) and you have a dude so close that you don't even see his lights in the rear view mirror.
Once I had to slow down in that situation as something (I think a cat) run across the road just in front of me and this guy behind me almost crashed as he slammed on his brakes and lost control.
I'm just happy he didn't bend my rear bumper.
Another time this lady drove too close to me and I had to stop at red lights and she rear ended me - her car totalled and I had mine at panel repair for 2 weeks and taking a bus.
That's why I try to educate some of the potential rear enders!

It's about road rage- some of the tailgater don't even realize that they are too close (that's when slowing down and accelerating can teach them to stay back).

[bob^]

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

My car was hit in the rear end by a 19yr old girl who was talking on her mobile and was too close at the time. My brand new car! Her car was totalled and luckily for me, my car has a towbar so the damage was minimal but the police said if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt I would have been implanted in the windscreen! Think people...think!

The laws of physics would have protected you there. The only thing that makes you hit a windscreen is if your car comes to a sudden stop and your body wants to keep going.

I normally move over for them if they are in that much of a rush as my pride is easier fixed than the car.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

This thread show why road rage starts, some people need to grow up.

bingo. out of all the posts so far in this thread, only about 4 users make any sense. the rest think it is their duty to try to teach others some sort of lesson.

[ILLaViTaR]

As a lot of others have said, I slow down like crazy till they back off.

Then if an overtaking lane opens I speed up like crazy so when the overtaking lane ends he's still behind me.

I have no tolerance for them.

I was being tailgated on the hill up to upper Beaconsfield which I think was a 60 or 70 and the guy in a 4WD came right up behind me so I slowed down to around 25km for a while and when the overtaking lane opened I sped up but the crazy retard went up there at a good 100k's. Not wanting to risk my life I let him pass and then tailgated him for the rest of the way (Ever notice tailgaters return to normal speed once they pass you?).

[nugget378]

Originally Posted by ILLaViTaR

As a lot of others have said, I slow down like crazy till they back off.

Then if an overtaking lane opens I speed up like crazy so when the overtaking lane ends he's still behind me.

I have no tolerance for them.

I was being tailgated on the hill up to upper Beaconsfield which I think was a 60 or 70 and the guy in a 4WD came right up behind me so I slowed down to around 25km for a while and when the overtaking lane opened I sped up but the crazy retard went up there at a good 100k's. Not wanting to risk my life I let him pass and then tailgated him for the rest of the way (Ever notice tailgaters return to normal speed once they pass you?).

If your ever in a road rage incident we'll all know why.
I hope you will learn your lesson before someone teaches you..:

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

and where exactly in syd are u haha

Bankstown :togo:

Originally Posted by nugget378

I know a guy that gets into punch ups every weekend,the funny thing is he wonders why people pick him.
Its never occured to him that he might just be the one doing something wrong...

I'm usually doing ~50 (50 is the posted limit), on a single lane road, in a residential area, at 5.30am, just trying to get to work in one piece.

Once they get level with me I completely ignore them, and they just think I'm some dumb female, then take off up the street, only to have to slow down again for the next roundabout. (theres 7 in a 1km section of road).

[GTP534]

Here in Brunei the driving is totally crazy. Speed limits mean nothing and we all tend to drive as fast as we can. There are no speed cameras and no red light cameras. Tailgating is very common here; usually I can pull over and let the other driver past but when you need to make a u-turn, and u-turn bays are very common here, it is very worrying to have someone right up your Khyber Pass. In the event this happens I don't hit the brakes, I just maintain my speed and turn on the lights. This usually has the desired effect of the other car dropping speed.

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by ILLaViTaR

As a lot of others have said, I slow down like crazy till they back off.

Then if an overtaking lane opens I speed up like crazy so when the overtaking lane ends he's still behind me.

I have no tolerance for them.

I was being tailgated on the hill up to upper Beaconsfield which I think was a 60 or 70 and the guy in a 4WD came right up behind me so I slowed down to around 25km for a while and when the overtaking lane opened I sped up but the crazy retard went up there at a good 100k's. Not wanting to risk my life I let him pass and then tailgated him for the rest of the way (Ever notice tailgaters return to normal speed once they pass you?).

Hey that's a top efffort for 2 months on the road, did you learn that from your instructor this year ?

Originally Posted by ILLaViTaR

21-08-07
Got my license!!!!


3rd time lucky.

This time at dandenong.

Just got no idea where to drive lol

[Creampuff]

Tailgaters are w**kers! Anyone like that behind me and I sit exactly on the speed limit!

[paule11]

Originally Posted by PhilXR8

Even worse than tailgating is;
1. People that sit in the right hand lane going at the same speed as the people in the left lane and have no plans to overtake.
2. People that go 10kms under the limit then as soon as it hits dual lanes pump it up so it makes it hard to overtake them, then as soon as it hits single lanes slow down again. God it give me the sh!ts.

As for tailgaters, just let them past when it is safe to do so. That way there is no problem.

That is absolutely correct
I indicated to change lanes on a two lane road to pull in front of car that was about 3 cars behind me in the left lane let the blinker blink three times and start moving over she speeds up beeps her horn and flashes her high beam . Said something I couldnt hear and then looks at meas if I am an inbred molesting cattle. She then sits side by side with the bloke who is front of me on the mobile phone doing 50kmph for about 4 kms with dozens of cars banking up behind.

[nugget378]

Originally Posted by paule11

That is absolutely correct
I indicated to change lanes on a two lane road to pull in front of car that was about 3 cars behind me in the left lane let the blinker blink three times and start moving over she speeds up beeps her horn and flashes her high beam . Said something I couldnt hear and then looks at meas if I am an inbred molesting cattle. She then sits side by side with the bloke who is front of me on the mobile phone doing 50kmph for about 4 kms with dozens of cars banking up behind.

Isnt that the worst,it happens all the time,I see speeding up just to not let someone in daily I usually slow up and let them in front of me,the person who just tried to shut them out behind me acheives nothing and feels a little embarrased I'd say,lucky for me I usually drive a one tonner and they wont try it with me,showing just a hint of tray soon gets them to reconsider fighting for one car spot.

I really fail to see how slowing down/hitting the breaks/whatever makes the situation any better if your being followed too closely,I try not to make any sudden changes and keep an even greater distance to the car in front than usual,for fear of making a bad situation even worse.

[red_hotxr6]

I just pull over a little bit more to the left and wave them through, funny enough a young girl at mango hill driving a vy? commodore was tailgating me all the way i just had to pull over and let her through. A red one 635 i......

[HOON69]

The Fact I Own Fourbie,kinda means they either go around quickly or they stay back.
depending on how close they get,i usually keep at speed and give the brakes 3 quick taps(neve hard only enough to light the lights up) they get the hint,if they get close at lights and like riding my rear i usually roll back a inch or so,they soon get the point.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

This thread show why road rage starts, some people need to grow up.

Nobody seems to be listening to you Falcon Coupe (and prydey) because there are still posts going on in the same vein. Doesn't anybody get it for heavens sake!

Nobody's saying tailgating is right - for one thing it eliminates the safe stopping distance for the person behind. But it's the role of the police to deal with inappropriate driving behaviours, not citizen Feathers and other like-minded crusading civilians. You want to end up in a morgue?

Now what I'd like to see is driver education to deal with a major cause of tailgating and the appropriate road etiquette to replace that - failure to keep left unless overtaking (combined with use of rearview mirror and general attentiveness). Unfortunately in Australia in the RH lane of multilane roads, closing up to the car in front is the only reliable method of indicating an intention to pass, short of overtaking on the left. Use of lights or horn (the accepted method overseas) tends to be interpreted as a challenge in the great Australian pe..is size measuring competition and leads to the behaviours so eloquently described by the immature personal examples on this thread. Big hole in driver education and attitudes here.

[predator_230]

Originally Posted by new2ford

Nobody seems to be listening to you Falcon Coupe (and prydey) because there are still posts going on in the same vein. Doesn't anybody get it for heavens sake!

Nobody's saying tailgating is right - for one thing it eliminates the safe stopping distance for the person behind. But it's the role of the police to deal with inappropriate driving behaviours, not citizen Feathers and other like-minded crusading civilians. You want to end up in a morgue?

Now what I'd like to see is driver education to deal with a major cause of tailgating and the appropriate road etiquette to replace that - failure to keep left unless overtaking (combined with use of rearview mirror and general attentiveness). Unfortunately in Australia in the RH lane of multilane roads, closing up to the car in front is the only reliable method of indicating an intention to pass, short of overtaking on the left. Use of lights or horn (the accepted method overseas) tends to be interpreted as a challenge in the great Australian pe..is size measuring competition and leads to the behaviours so eloquently described by the immature personal examples on this thread. Big hole in driver education and attitudes here.

Spot on, couldn't have said it better.

[Smoke Pursuit]

What do i do when im tailgated, start taping the brakes so the brake lights flash, if that doesnt work then i slow right down.. I hate people who tailgate, specially when im in the middle lane overtaking already doing 10% over the speedlimit. Tailgate me and expect to get the blame when you run up my !

[onfire]

During the day, slow down a little, let them get close.. flick the lights on, so the tail lights come on, naturally.. they freak for half a second, thinking Im breaking heavily, then usually they over take you thinking you're a .

[Squalo]

I've stepped in to stop three-on-one fights, I have words with people who throw cigarette butts out the window. Some young blokes were ****ing on a wall in my street just last week - you can bet they'll think twice about doing it again. And god help anyone who I catch mistreating a child or a woman.

And yes, I teach bad drivers to wake up a bit.

The real problem? People simply have no balls, and are prepared to just turn a blind eye to all the bad behaviour that goes on around them every day. Not this little black duck.

[t2te50]

I brake sharply just to give them a scare and do everything legal/illegal to stay in front of them.