Deterring Tailgater's

I went to an airfield about a mile away to fetch a trailer load of pig muck, it was well rotted. I loaded the trailer and there was a slight haze over the load. Drove out of the airfield onto the main road. Within a minute there was a high powered sports car coming up behind, he closed to within three feet of the trailer, got a whiff of ripe pig muck and promptly dropped back about a hundred yards. He stayed back there until I turned off to home.

 

Could do with a trailer load, they have introduced a 20mph zone on our estate anyone who sticks to it gets tailgated and some blast their horns and overtake made the roads a dam site more dangerous,they couldn't control the 30mph zone never mind a 20mph zone.

 

Don't talk to me about speeders and tailgaters, I'm fed up with being flashed and piped at for doing the correct speed.
We should have a pig muck spray fitted to give a quick blast if anyone gets to close. LOL

 

Excellent story Larkshall Perhaps all cars should be fitted with some sort of synthetic pig muck scent generator

In the meantime, my way of deterring tailgaters is to apply the guidelines set down in the highway code to the letter, called 'braking for two'. I simply slow down considerable to irritate them until they realise what I'm doing and pull back a bit. If it takes them 20 miles to realise, then that's how long we go slow for. It sounds antisocial, but the highway codes says to do this. The logic being that your braking distance effectively doubles because if you have to brake and they can't react in time, your brakes have to restrain the moment of your car plus the moment of theres as they plough into the back of you.

 

A bit like Clueless my OH puts his brakes on with tailgaters and watches them as they have to slam theirs on fast, they always seem to back right off.

 

Highway Code recommends slowing down, but not braking if someone is tailgating you.

By the sounds of things, a lot of road users would benefit from re-testing every few years. Especially those who have been driving for 20 years+ but have never had to take a test since.
As a motorbiker, I am all too aware of dodgy drivers and tailgating is the least of bad road practice!

 

I would be in favour of a re-test every 5 years. Also, just to clarify, I would never slam the brakes on to scare a tailgater, just slow down steadily (braking if necessary but not hard).

The trouble is, many believe that if the tailgater failed to react, and hit the back of your car, your car would merely be shunted gently forward. This is not necessarily what would happen. As most modern cars have most weight in the front, it is quite possible that the front car would be shunted and spun slightly, which could be very, very nasty if it happened at speed.

 

I knew someone at my last workplace who got gently shunted forward, whilst almost slowed down to a standstill in a queue on the M25, by some moron behind her who most likely wasn't paying proper attention to the road. She had severe whiplash and was off work for 2 weeks.

Cars have become too easy to drive now. Anti-skid brakes, sensor parking, air bags all contribute to drivers thinking they are invincible. Unfortunately pedestrians, cyclists, motorbikers, horseriders also use the road and don't have the same "cage" surrounding them.

 

When I drive my car I don't feel invincible. I have an airbag, seat belt with pre-tensioners, ABS and power steering. None of that will help me very much if a large vehicle hits my car at speed.

You are right though. Too many drivers, especially those in huge 4x4s, think they are invincible.

I have had the curse/blessing of having witnessed more than my fair share of road accidents, either actually seeing it happen, or seeing the immediate aftermath. I say 'curse/blessing' because while it is not pleasant to see, it certainly clears up any false ideas about being invisible. When you see a car so mangled that you can't make out what make or model it might once have been, it does make you realise that that tin box and abs won't make much difference when the old manure hits the fan.

 

Anti-Lag seems to make them disappear, used it today infact !!!:lollol:

 

I agree with Webmaster about the difference in driving in the UK & Germany having done both myself over the years. I have driven in Germany so many times and always felt safe.

Re the A127, I have been following this new speed restriction item via their local paper, because I know it quite well having lived that way years ago. I also read what people say on their website and the complaints of poor driving out-number those caught speeding.

As for Tailgaters, I DO slow down every time I get one, even to putting my hazard lights on and pulling over, forcing them to pass, or drop back. IF they are in that much of a hurry to get from a to b, then why not leave that bit earlier and allow for hold-ups?

 

Webmaster said,

Don't know exactly what you mean here Nathan are you saying it's allright to speed just don't make any mistakes whilst doing it,does it mean these adverts that are on the telly saying if a child gets hit at 20mph with a car it is more likely to survive than one that is hit at 30mph.Popycock of course speed kills because we have morons driving and your never going to solve that problem.

 

We have a little red astra I dont know why every one has to tailgate or must overtake us at all costs, I can understand if we drive slow, I keep to the speed limits but when we get out of them just watch them fly past as if all hell has broke free, My astra has feelings you know :hehe:

 

Driving at speed in built up areas is just plain stupid and inconsiderate.

Driving slowly on the motorway or a NSL road is just as dangerous.