Speed limit and tail-gating

[BRN9121]

An idiot tail-gated me while I was trying to overtake a few cars. I had to get out of the way just so he wouldn't bump me in case of slowing down.
Funny thing was, as soon as I got out of the way, he didn't overtake me as he was trying to stay within the speed limit.

Why tail-gate when you can't go any faster?? So annoying!

I don't understand why some drivers just have no common sense of driving intelligence. Why couldn't he just leave a safe gap while I overtook the cars in the middle lane?

 

[KennyN]

Some people just don`t give a toss anymore , on my brief motorway trip today most vehicles left a braking distance of zero once their thinking distance had been used up , when you pull back to give yourself a sensible distance other drivers see is as a new gap they can inhabit , which in todays case was a Pug 107 - should anything have occurred they would have got 2 1/4 tons of Porsche in their back seat as the rear glass window and minimal boot area would not have provided much protection , god help anyone in the rear seats should that have happened.

First set of lights once off the motorway the lights changed to red around 50m before i got there , Mr A3 was not for getting his day delayed by something as trivial as a red light and went straight through the busy junction.

Just shook my head and continued with my journey.

Saturday rant over.

K

 

[oldguy57]

I'm amazed at the number of drivers I see tailgating marked Police cars on the local motorway, in the inside lane. No accounting for stupid.

 

[zipdip]

Well on one my normal runs I use a varied speed road,it is two way,and so you would need to be mad to try and overtake,and so when it is 40mph cars do this and where it is 30mph most keep around this number,but I have followed cars that are running on the bumper of the car in front and their brakes are going on every few seconds,there is absolutely nothing to gain by doing this,it does make you wonder what the drivers are using for a brain.

 

[markjay]

Tailgating is difficult to enforce. It's one of those offences where you're only likely to get convicted (or fined) if you end-up involved in a crash.

In the nineties I was working with a company that developed a roadside tailgating safety camera system, but in spite of successful trials they failed to sell it to police forces due to lack of interest.

You can still be caught and fined, but it isn't common, especially when there's a difficulty in establishing impartial metrics without a system that can measure and record them.

 

[Continental]

Some people just don`t give a toss anymore , on my brief motorway trip today most vehicles left a braking distance of zero once their thinking distance had been used up , when you pull back to give yourself a sensible distance other drivers see is as a new gap they can inhabit , which in todays case was a Pug 107 - should anything have occurred they would have got 2 1/4 tons of Porsche in their back seat as the rear glass window and minimal boot area would not have provided much protection , god help anyone in the rear seats should that have happened.

First set of lights once off the motorway the lights changed to red around 50m before i got there , Mr A3 was not for getting his day delayed by something as trivial as a red light and went straight through the busy junction.

Just shook my head and continued with my journey.

Saturday rant over.

K

I hear you. Also find it quite annoying when on the motorway when I’ve built/maintained a sensible gap between myself and the car in front only for someone else to slot themselves in it sometimes without any indication of their motives. Also don’t like it when in congested traffic on the motorway, you know, where there have been about 3 notification signs saying something along the lines of ‘congestion stay in lane’, and there is, more often than not, that one certified muppet trying to dart into whichever lane happens to be moving forward slightly. Nevertheless, 8 times out of 10 in those situations you get to pass by them 15 mins later at 9mph having simply stayed in whatever lane you’re in.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Tailgating is difficult to enforce. It's one of those offences where you're only likely to get convicted (or fined) if you end-up involved in a crash.

In the nineties I was working with a company that developed a roadside tailgating safety camera system, but in spite of successful trials they failed to sell it to police forces due to lack of interest.

You can still be caught and fined, but it isn't common, especially when there's a difficulty in establishing impartial metrics without a system that can measure and record them.

They use them in the Netherlands (have been since I lived there back in the 90s)

 

[Deleted member 126251]

It is annoying - I let them go, I’d rather that he is ahead of me. Same as gaps - just drop back if someone cuts in.

I like space all around (learned on multiple defensive driving courses) which gives me a hole to move into if I need to.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

It is annoying - I let them go, I’d rather that he is ahead of me. Same as gaps - just drop back if someone cuts in.

I like space all around (learned on multiple defensive driving courses) which gives me a hole to move into if I need to.

Absolutely. I used to get frustrated when the gap was filled by someone who only wanted to drive at 10mph below the limit, then stayed in the outside lane after the road had cleared. Dropping back even further is good for the heart, and probably saves a bit of fuel.

 

[T5R+]

Driving standards in general have fallen. We now see this increasingly on motorways also. Simply 10 off my head........

1. slip road joinee - darting to L2 (sometimes 3) even if in an underpowered vehicle with roadusers in L2/3.
2. indicators when moving offside sometimes optional
3. yo-yo speed (one of my pet hates)
4. matrix motorway - leave it to the roundel and then stand on the anchors (for the bonus prize, speed up between cameras then brake again)
5. incapable of reading the basic flow of traffic (yes that HGV half a mile ahead is gaining on the vehicle in L1, what do you think s/he is going to do)
6. it has started to rain and so I need to brake rather than modulate
7. slip road exitee - last minute from lane 2 (sometimes 3) even if it means braking and scaring/panicking others
8. I will stay in L2 (or even 3 on a 4-laner) as it is "safer"
9. Drive a German car and so entitled to the outside lane (settle down - )
10. I will sit on his/her bumper (tailgate) as had the audacity to move in front of me for 15-30seconds.

 

[BTB 500]

They use them in the Netherlands (have been since I lived there back in the 90s)

And in Germany - typically mobile kit deployed on autobahn bridges. My F-I-L got ticketed by one

Obviously you need an objective law ... IIRC in Germany the minimum gap in metres is half your speed in kph (so 60 metres at 120 kph). That works out at 1.8 seconds, which is close to the "2 second rule" (guideline) often mentioned here in the UK.

 

[fredfoxuk2]

Driving standards in general have fallen. We now see this increasingly on motorways also. Simply 10 off my head........

1. slip road joinee - darting to L2 (sometimes 3) even if in an underpowered vehicle with roadusers in L2/3.
2. indicators when moving offside sometimes optional
3. yo-yo speed (one of my pet hates)
4. matrix motorway - leave it to the roundel and then stand on the anchors (for the bonus prize, speed up between cameras then brake again)
5. incapable of reading the basic flow of traffic (yes that HGV half a mile ahead is gaining on the vehicle in L1, what do you think s/he is going to do)
6. it has started to rain and so I need to brake rather than modulate
7. slip road exitee - last minute from lane 2 (sometimes 3) even if it means braking and scaring/panicking others
8. I will stay in L2 (or even 3 on a 4-laner) as it is "safer"
9. Drive a German car and so entitled to the outside lane (settle down - )
10. I will sit on his/her bumper (tailgate) as had the audacity to move in front of me for 15-30seconds.

Really hate the yo-yo speed as well. If they want to do 50 on 50 road, that's fine, I'll have to put up with it, the speed limit is just that, not a target. But WHY drop down to 45, then up to 55 the 50 for a bit then almost 60. Up and down, up and down!

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Really hate the yo-yo speed as well. If they want to do 50 on 50 road, that's fine, I'll have to put up with it, the speed limit is just that, not a target. But WHY drop down to 45, then up to 55 the 50 for a bit then almost 60. Up and down, up and down!

Then when they get to a village/town with a 30 limit, they still drive at more like 45. ( I’ve no idea what speed, just that they pull away from me through the village, only to hold me up again soon after returning to the higher limit.)

 

[Bellow]

Really hate the yo-yo speed as well. If they want to do 50 on 50 road, that's fine, I'll have to put up with it, the speed limit is just that, not a target. But WHY drop down to 45, then up to 55 the 50 for a bit then almost 60. Up and down, up and down!

Talking (and listening) on the phone accounts for some of it.

 

[baxlin]

Talking (and listening) on the phone accounts for some of it.

And adaptive cruise control might also contribute?

 

[markjay]

And adaptive cruise control might also contribute?

True, but on the plus side, adaptive cruise control will stop them from tailgating other cars....

 

[slade1]

The safer cars become the lower standard of driving.

 

[flying haggis]

you have driven in Norfolk as well then! see it all the time, yesterday 60 mph limit oh no lets just do 40 !!!!! then you get the "look" when you gun it past them....

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Really hate the yo-yo speed as well. If they want to do 50 on 50 road, that's fine, I'll have to put up with it, the speed limit is just that, not a target. But WHY drop down to 45, then up to 55 the 50 for a bit then almost 60. Up and down, up and down!

Women nattering, people in zombie mode or on the phone.

 

[Meldrew2]

I used to drive a Renault van which was fitted with an anti-tailgater device.

Simply dropping to 3rd gear and flooring the accelerator started the "smoke screen" device...