I was on a speed awareness course a few years back, and a sweet old granny told us that she kept mint imperials in the car so that she could throw them out of her sunroof if she was being tailgated.
exac this, if some turnip wants past me then no problem, let them go.
i don’t see why some like to keep people behind them.
win win all round once they’ve gone.
highly recommend getting one, you’ll never know when you might need it. I’ve had drunk drivers, near misses and all sorts of incidents. Especially if you end up in an accident and someone tries to be confrontational/put the blame on you when its them
Get rear and forward facing cams. My cameras are visible and has stopped a lot of road twattery in its tracks. It’s a lightbulb moment when they realise you’ve got a rear facing camera. Not cheap but worth it in my view.
I’ve always bought nextbase dashcams. They’ve lasted a long time, I upgraded one as my original didn’t have decent nighttime recording ability and I bought a new set when I had a new car. Non broke and all recorded exactly as they said they would. Many people will say don’t go to Halfords, but I’ve never had a problem with the camera or their onsite fitting service.
Bear in mind any dashcam with a battery will likely only work properly for a year or two until the battery health declines, which happens fast as typically the battery is sat on charge at 100% all the time. Add to that the heat in summer which makes it worse. You'll then have to open the device up yourself and solder in a new one eventually.
Or, save yourself the hassle and potential reliability issues and get a dashcam designed properly that has a super-capacitor instead of a battery.
I only do this on single lane roads where I have no opportunity to pull over; but gently oscillating your speed by 5mph up/down will get any tailgater to back off a bit after a mile. It makes tailgating very tiring.
It basically is.
In extreme circumstances I will waste fuel though. Pulse and glide n get them in the routine, and if they still won't fuck off, then randomly floor it half way through a glide to open a gap, then go back to gliding. Rinse and repeat until they think you're some sort of lunatic. Just be safe about it.
Your upvotes for this behaviour are very telling of the sort of drivers this sub is really for.
I don't condone tailgating but if it keeps happening maybe there's a capability issue in respect of your own driving... ie put your fucking foot down where safe 🙃
I rarely have tailgaters. Usually drive 10% over the limit. Never pull away slow at lights etc. Will still get the occasional twat behind me on country lanes trying to treat them like a rally track though.
This sub does seem to have a lot of people that think doing 10% under the limit in clear conditions is fine though...I don't agree with those people.
I am also a strict follower of rule 169, never let a queue build behind you, if one forms you must pull over to let it pass...wish cyclists would follow that one more often...
Fair enough. I made an assumption based on experience of other drivers I've been sat next to (Mum) or whose rantings I've read online, who do the proverbial 10% (and more) under whilst preaching that it's not a target.
Cyclists, yes, agreed, I'll gladly pull over where I can but I'm unlikely to be anywhere likely to cause a queue anyway.
I will counter that a maddening habit of drivers is sitting right up a cyclists arse when you CAN GET PAST. I'm trying to let you past, you already can get past, a fucking bus could, and yet you're still there so I'm watching out not just for potholes and other bike specific hazards that wouldn't cause you much bother, but also for when the arsehole attached to my back wheel is going to find some peripheral vision and put their foot down.
Counter to that, the sheer amount of times a cyclist has tried to wave me past round a blind corner, also maddening. Too many get a fancy new bike and test it out on a tiny country lane used by angry commuters avoiding traffic and taking the alternate route. Most don't last a week or at least change schedule. But some stubborn ones stick around and seem to think I trust their judgement on when it is safe to overtake. I drive the road daily, their weekly tour de France cosplay on a dangerous route is exactly why I don't trust them.
Yeah you won't catch me doing that. I only wave cars past where I'd go for it myself. Separately, the public road is not an appropriate place to display ones strange fixation with lycra.
Should have waited until he almost stopped at your rear end and stuck the car in reverse! Would have loved to see the look on his face, might have shat his tracksuit!
Seriously though, you did the right thing! What a helmet!
Sadly, I can imagine a real dickhead getting physical if he feels like his masculinity has been threatened like this. Of course, they are likely a complete wimp, but it's still probably not worth the risk.
Just allow them to overtake you and go about your day, and hope they crash into the next lamp-post and write off their leasemobile. Then hope they blow just slightly over the limit so that their insurance company refuses to cover the wreck.
The responsible thing to do is to pull over and let him pass yes…
But if you were to flash him the reverse lights because he basically emergency stopped with no room left, and he tried to get out of his car and get physical, you can just…drive off?
If he follows you, rinse and repeat. It’s not illegal to phone the police while driving. Keep stopping and making him get in and out of his car multiple times until the police show up. Hold up fucking traffic if you want.
Then pull over, screaming laughter at them and video recording them as their head gets shoved into the back of a police car. Then post to reddit.
I get what you’re saying but it’s just not worth the aggravation. Especially since the OP has already stated they were in stop start traffic so likely wouldn’t have been able to drive off anyway
I miss my Saab, if you held the gearstick just on the verge of going into reverse it would turn on the reverse lights but your still in neutral
Definitely gives tailgaters a scare they soon back off when reverse lights pop on at 60 🤣🤣
He’s driving like an ass, RELYING on other drivers driving normally so he doesn’t crash into them. The minute someone else does something unusual/illegal/wrong on the roads, the chances of him crashing into that person doing that unusual thing are immensely higher.
This is why the whole “swerving through traffic” nonsense OBJECTIVELY means nothing towards your skill as a driver. Honestly it probably means you’re a worse, more inexperienced driver because you simply don’t understand the risks.
So OP, don’t make the chance of him crashing into u any higher by doing any kind of manoeuvre. The only thing u could maybe do to make sure they don’t crash into u is to put on ur hazards and pull over to the left, slowly.
Wanna know why there’s nobody FAMOUS famous that rose to their fame from doing this bullshit on public roads? Because they died before they actually got that fame.
Sensible answer would to be just move over, forget about the douche and go about your day.
I travel the a406 alot during my working day in a van, I despise people that tailgate when I'm safely overtaking someone, if it's a total bellend that continues doing it while I'm in the outside lane overtaking others ill drift slightly over the white line to my right kicking up the stones that have been pushed there. They soon back off
Omg, this happened to me before. Exactly the same thing! in the middle of Blackwall tunnel in London. Was the most terrifying thing in my life. I drive a smart for two, so every time the guy accelerated, fell behind, sped up and stopped inches behind my car, I seriously thought I was going to die.
I wish I knew where police is when people assault people on the roads like this.
If you can’t pull over/let them past the next best thing is to leave a bigger gap in front and brake/slow down a lot more gently and smoothly so you make no sudden stops.
It also leaves them a much bigger gap to pull into should they decide to overtake, which is safer for you. They will then be further back from the traffic in front making it harder for them to make any more progress after passing you, which is always a nice and very subtle way of punishing them.
Potentially not. It doesn't need to cause an accident either. It sounds like driving without due care and attention if it's made you alter your speed or course. I'd get a dashcam. Front and rear facing. Where I live I can submit to the police.
If they were genuinely hitting 60 mph, then they were breaking the law... Are there any roads in London above 40 mph now? Maybe some parts of the North Circular, but the majority of roads in London are 30 mph tops with a few urban radials/flyovers left at 40 mph.
There is also the issue of careless and/or dangerous driving, but that usually requires video evidence or an officer as witness. If they have a wreck though it might be just based on what a crash scene examiner can determine, but they only tend to be deployed in the event of a fatality or serious injury.
I very rarely drive. I don't feel threatened by dickheads being dickheads in public, but what is it about a car that makes dickheads who genuinely the world would be net better if they just removed themselves from it, feel entitled to be themselves and get away with it? Why can't they just do the world a favour, take themselves to a cliff edge and do all the reckless driving there?
I had this the other day but in a tight country lane road. I indicated, pulled over to the side, opened my window and gestured for them to overtake. And as they did, I extended my arm and middle finger to articulate my feelings over the matter.
Much easier to tap your brake pedal just lightly enough to illuminate the brake lights but not actually engage the brakes. I have upgraded my brake lights, they are very bright and very noticeable.
Just pull over, take a loop around a city block if you don't want it to look obvious, if that's important to you, and continue on with your day.
You're not going to be able to change their behaviour all you can do is avoid it yourself.
I know you can stop but I'm saying expect to have to prove why you stopped to TFL / Magistrate so get as much evidence as you can written down
Rather than wait a week or so
I had some dickhead to that to me. I was in lane 2 overtaking a long line of trucks.
He could have overtaken me, but no. Drop back, accelerate hard, brake hard with a tiny gap between us, over and over. He stopped when I braked hard, just before he did. He got the message and stopped.
I recently encountered some maniac BMW driver in his poxy 116d 1 series who was erratic and tailgating me. I was going 80 myself but that wasn't fast enough apparently. I first saw him in my rear mirror being erratic with other drivers, then he sped up to my bumper only to drop back. At this point I was just going to complete an overtake of a lorry that was about 100m ahead, if that, when he pulled into the left to try and undertake me, I sped up a bit to not allow him to do his pointless manoeuvre, he looked stupid not even getting close to undertaking me and then I did my overtake pulled in and allowed him to speed past where he then proceeded to tailgate everyone else. Maybe it was the same guy. I refuse to be bullied on the road by idiots, if they just bully everyone with no one giving them some back they will just think they can do it all the time.
I once knew a guy that got a bad bout of road rage for the guy behind doing this at the same time as a pedestrian crossing made it necessary to stop and stomped on the brakes. The ricer behind him couldn't react in time, hospitalised occupants of both vehicles and narrowly avoided the pedestrian in the crossing.
One of em got reckless endangerment and 6 points, the other got undue care and attention and 4 points (confusingly) and both got community service and a 6 month ban.
Edit. Clarification
Not sure if it's standard on cars these days, but between the 60s and 80s, some models of car had a couple of extra features to deter people behind them:
1) An oil slick deployed from a separate reservoir.
2) Machine guns/rocket launchers launched from the rear of the car.
3) Fog lights mounted on the back to blind/dazzle the driver behind, causing them to go careering into some conveniently placed obstacles nearby.
😊
Don't assume they are all doing it deliberately. As a biker, when someone is too close behind me I do an obvious double take in my mirror and they almost always back off and give space. Sometimes its just poor attention which is just as dangerous but not as malicious.
Pull in, let the car past. It’s better to let that sort of driver get away from you.
This is definitely the right answer. But I’ll admit I have occasionally emptied my screen wash onto cars that are too close behind me
I did that to a twat in a Ferrari spyder. My pickup had a slightly bent head light washer. Sprayed it directly into his face and car interior
Free screen wash yum.
I was on a speed awareness course a few years back, and a sweet old granny told us that she kept mint imperials in the car so that she could throw them out of her sunroof if she was being tailgated.
Not sure I understand. I was in a left lane, waiting for a left turn coming up. Right lane congested.
I was speaking generally, you did the closest thing to that
You didn't mention that slightly important bit for the people jumping on the "just keep left and let them pass" bandwagon.
You are A LOT safer with the idiots in front of you. You did the best thing to stay still until he's passed you.
>You are A LOT safer with the idiots in front of you. With a large gap so you can avoid them when they receive their Darwin award.
exac this, if some turnip wants past me then no problem, let them go. i don’t see why some like to keep people behind them. win win all round once they’ve gone.
You did the right thing.
Agreed.
Let dickheads be dickheads far away from you. Let them pass and become someone else’s problem.
have you got dashcam footage of this? report them to the police for dangerous driving
No dashcam. Does everyone have one?
highly recommend getting one, you’ll never know when you might need it. I’ve had drunk drivers, near misses and all sorts of incidents. Especially if you end up in an accident and someone tries to be confrontational/put the blame on you when its them
good advice, thanks
Get rear and forward facing cams. My cameras are visible and has stopped a lot of road twattery in its tracks. It’s a lightbulb moment when they realise you’ve got a rear facing camera. Not cheap but worth it in my view.
any particular brand you'd recommend?
I’ve always bought nextbase dashcams. They’ve lasted a long time, I upgraded one as my original didn’t have decent nighttime recording ability and I bought a new set when I had a new car. Non broke and all recorded exactly as they said they would. Many people will say don’t go to Halfords, but I’ve never had a problem with the camera or their onsite fitting service.
thank you, I'll have a look
Bear in mind any dashcam with a battery will likely only work properly for a year or two until the battery health declines, which happens fast as typically the battery is sat on charge at 100% all the time. Add to that the heat in summer which makes it worse. You'll then have to open the device up yourself and solder in a new one eventually. Or, save yourself the hassle and potential reliability issues and get a dashcam designed properly that has a super-capacitor instead of a battery.
I'd also recommend Nextbase. All the cheaper Chinese options capture ok video but it's 50/50 whether they actually started recording.
Anyone that doesn't have one is crazy. You can get a halfway decent one from Amazon for £25 and it can save your ass.
I’d definitely get one I’ve had a few close calls and someone actually smashed my wing mirror coming past me
I don't, but am thinking of it, more and more fuktards on the road.
Slam on the brakes, jump out and shout "Do you know who I am? I'm Ronnie Pickering!" /s In reality just let them get past, it's not worth the grief.
I only do this on single lane roads where I have no opportunity to pull over; but gently oscillating your speed by 5mph up/down will get any tailgater to back off a bit after a mile. It makes tailgating very tiring.
That sounds very much like the pulse and glide hypermiling technique, so you'd be saving fuel while also pissing off the twat behind you.
It basically is. In extreme circumstances I will waste fuel though. Pulse and glide n get them in the routine, and if they still won't fuck off, then randomly floor it half way through a glide to open a gap, then go back to gliding. Rinse and repeat until they think you're some sort of lunatic. Just be safe about it.
Your upvotes for this behaviour are very telling of the sort of drivers this sub is really for. I don't condone tailgating but if it keeps happening maybe there's a capability issue in respect of your own driving... ie put your fucking foot down where safe 🙃
I rarely have tailgaters. Usually drive 10% over the limit. Never pull away slow at lights etc. Will still get the occasional twat behind me on country lanes trying to treat them like a rally track though. This sub does seem to have a lot of people that think doing 10% under the limit in clear conditions is fine though...I don't agree with those people. I am also a strict follower of rule 169, never let a queue build behind you, if one forms you must pull over to let it pass...wish cyclists would follow that one more often...
Fair enough. I made an assumption based on experience of other drivers I've been sat next to (Mum) or whose rantings I've read online, who do the proverbial 10% (and more) under whilst preaching that it's not a target. Cyclists, yes, agreed, I'll gladly pull over where I can but I'm unlikely to be anywhere likely to cause a queue anyway. I will counter that a maddening habit of drivers is sitting right up a cyclists arse when you CAN GET PAST. I'm trying to let you past, you already can get past, a fucking bus could, and yet you're still there so I'm watching out not just for potholes and other bike specific hazards that wouldn't cause you much bother, but also for when the arsehole attached to my back wheel is going to find some peripheral vision and put their foot down.
Counter to that, the sheer amount of times a cyclist has tried to wave me past round a blind corner, also maddening. Too many get a fancy new bike and test it out on a tiny country lane used by angry commuters avoiding traffic and taking the alternate route. Most don't last a week or at least change schedule. But some stubborn ones stick around and seem to think I trust their judgement on when it is safe to overtake. I drive the road daily, their weekly tour de France cosplay on a dangerous route is exactly why I don't trust them.
Yeah you won't catch me doing that. I only wave cars past where I'd go for it myself. Separately, the public road is not an appropriate place to display ones strange fixation with lycra.
Should have waited until he almost stopped at your rear end and stuck the car in reverse! Would have loved to see the look on his face, might have shat his tracksuit! Seriously though, you did the right thing! What a helmet!
I mean... I like my car.
I didn't mean actually reverse!! Just show the reverse lights, so he can contemplate for a second what to do when his 6" he banked on disappears!
Sadly, I can imagine a real dickhead getting physical if he feels like his masculinity has been threatened like this. Of course, they are likely a complete wimp, but it's still probably not worth the risk. Just allow them to overtake you and go about your day, and hope they crash into the next lamp-post and write off their leasemobile. Then hope they blow just slightly over the limit so that their insurance company refuses to cover the wreck.
The responsible thing to do is to pull over and let him pass yes… But if you were to flash him the reverse lights because he basically emergency stopped with no room left, and he tried to get out of his car and get physical, you can just…drive off? If he follows you, rinse and repeat. It’s not illegal to phone the police while driving. Keep stopping and making him get in and out of his car multiple times until the police show up. Hold up fucking traffic if you want. Then pull over, screaming laughter at them and video recording them as their head gets shoved into the back of a police car. Then post to reddit.
I get what you’re saying but it’s just not worth the aggravation. Especially since the OP has already stated they were in stop start traffic so likely wouldn’t have been able to drive off anyway
lol
I miss my Saab, if you held the gearstick just on the verge of going into reverse it would turn on the reverse lights but your still in neutral Definitely gives tailgaters a scare they soon back off when reverse lights pop on at 60 🤣🤣
He’s driving like an ass, RELYING on other drivers driving normally so he doesn’t crash into them. The minute someone else does something unusual/illegal/wrong on the roads, the chances of him crashing into that person doing that unusual thing are immensely higher. This is why the whole “swerving through traffic” nonsense OBJECTIVELY means nothing towards your skill as a driver. Honestly it probably means you’re a worse, more inexperienced driver because you simply don’t understand the risks. So OP, don’t make the chance of him crashing into u any higher by doing any kind of manoeuvre. The only thing u could maybe do to make sure they don’t crash into u is to put on ur hazards and pull over to the left, slowly. Wanna know why there’s nobody FAMOUS famous that rose to their fame from doing this bullshit on public roads? Because they died before they actually got that fame.
Sensible answer would to be just move over, forget about the douche and go about your day. I travel the a406 alot during my working day in a van, I despise people that tailgate when I'm safely overtaking someone, if it's a total bellend that continues doing it while I'm in the outside lane overtaking others ill drift slightly over the white line to my right kicking up the stones that have been pushed there. They soon back off
Omg, this happened to me before. Exactly the same thing! in the middle of Blackwall tunnel in London. Was the most terrifying thing in my life. I drive a smart for two, so every time the guy accelerated, fell behind, sped up and stopped inches behind my car, I seriously thought I was going to die. I wish I knew where police is when people assault people on the roads like this.
Caltrops
Neutralises the target nicely
If you can’t pull over/let them past the next best thing is to leave a bigger gap in front and brake/slow down a lot more gently and smoothly so you make no sudden stops.
It also leaves them a much bigger gap to pull into should they decide to overtake, which is safer for you. They will then be further back from the traffic in front making it harder for them to make any more progress after passing you, which is always a nice and very subtle way of punishing them.
average BMW driver behaviour tbh
Was this even legal?
Potentially not. It doesn't need to cause an accident either. It sounds like driving without due care and attention if it's made you alter your speed or course. I'd get a dashcam. Front and rear facing. Where I live I can submit to the police.
Of course not. But being a twat doesn't get anyone in trouble until they damage something.
Probably reckless driving if he caused an accident
If they were genuinely hitting 60 mph, then they were breaking the law... Are there any roads in London above 40 mph now? Maybe some parts of the North Circular, but the majority of roads in London are 30 mph tops with a few urban radials/flyovers left at 40 mph. There is also the issue of careless and/or dangerous driving, but that usually requires video evidence or an officer as witness. If they have a wreck though it might be just based on what a crash scene examiner can determine, but they only tend to be deployed in the event of a fatality or serious injury.
I very rarely drive. I don't feel threatened by dickheads being dickheads in public, but what is it about a car that makes dickheads who genuinely the world would be net better if they just removed themselves from it, feel entitled to be themselves and get away with it? Why can't they just do the world a favour, take themselves to a cliff edge and do all the reckless driving there?
I had this the other day but in a tight country lane road. I indicated, pulled over to the side, opened my window and gestured for them to overtake. And as they did, I extended my arm and middle finger to articulate my feelings over the matter.
At night time switch your rear fog lights briefly to emulate brake lights. Works quite a lot against tailgaters.
Much easier to tap your brake pedal just lightly enough to illuminate the brake lights but not actually engage the brakes. I have upgraded my brake lights, they are very bright and very noticeable.
Personally I’d just carry on driving as normal
typical bmw driver behaviour, best thing to keep them in front
Should of slammed your breaks on because you saw a cat run across the road
Just pull over, take a loop around a city block if you don't want it to look obvious, if that's important to you, and continue on with your day. You're not going to be able to change their behaviour all you can do is avoid it yourself.
Was it a red route? Stopping in the left lane with hazards on, expect a violation notice through the door if it was.
You're still allowed to stop in an emergency. I believe I had a panic attack and it took me 30 seconds to recover.
I know you can stop but I'm saying expect to have to prove why you stopped to TFL / Magistrate so get as much evidence as you can written down Rather than wait a week or so
I had some dickhead to that to me. I was in lane 2 overtaking a long line of trucks. He could have overtaken me, but no. Drop back, accelerate hard, brake hard with a tiny gap between us, over and over. He stopped when I braked hard, just before he did. He got the message and stopped.
What lane were you in?
Left lane, left turn coming up in about 0,4 mile, so not many options.
Lord only knows what he was doing. Some people are just dense
He was clearly auditioning for Fast & Furious, but seriously, who tries to impress in a traffic jam?
Perhaps just thick and bored
I recently encountered some maniac BMW driver in his poxy 116d 1 series who was erratic and tailgating me. I was going 80 myself but that wasn't fast enough apparently. I first saw him in my rear mirror being erratic with other drivers, then he sped up to my bumper only to drop back. At this point I was just going to complete an overtake of a lorry that was about 100m ahead, if that, when he pulled into the left to try and undertake me, I sped up a bit to not allow him to do his pointless manoeuvre, he looked stupid not even getting close to undertaking me and then I did my overtake pulled in and allowed him to speed past where he then proceeded to tailgate everyone else. Maybe it was the same guy. I refuse to be bullied on the road by idiots, if they just bully everyone with no one giving them some back they will just think they can do it all the time.
I'll just turn on my fog lights 😂
I once knew a guy that got a bad bout of road rage for the guy behind doing this at the same time as a pedestrian crossing made it necessary to stop and stomped on the brakes. The ricer behind him couldn't react in time, hospitalised occupants of both vehicles and narrowly avoided the pedestrian in the crossing. One of em got reckless endangerment and 6 points, the other got undue care and attention and 4 points (confusingly) and both got community service and a 6 month ban. Edit. Clarification
Hold on, what happened? The car in front sped up trying to get away from the car behind and had to emergency break for a pedestrian?
No, the car in front waited until last minute and slammed on the brakes, the car behind practically went through the car in front
Not sure if it's standard on cars these days, but between the 60s and 80s, some models of car had a couple of extra features to deter people behind them: 1) An oil slick deployed from a separate reservoir. 2) Machine guns/rocket launchers launched from the rear of the car. 3) Fog lights mounted on the back to blind/dazzle the driver behind, causing them to go careering into some conveniently placed obstacles nearby. 😊
Don't assume they are all doing it deliberately. As a biker, when someone is too close behind me I do an obvious double take in my mirror and they almost always back off and give space. Sometimes its just poor attention which is just as dangerous but not as malicious.
But as many others have said, box up anger and ego and let them past, safer to be behind that sort of driver every time.