Dealing with Tailgaters

[Bubbles]

This morning, on my way to school, I had a douchebag tailgate me for blocks. I was going at like 70 or 80 miles/hour, so its not like I was driving like an old lady or anything. He was like a quarter of an inch away from my bumper. Even when I got a red light, he'd brake right on top of me. I have a stickshift, so my car tends to roll backwards sometimes. So, anyways I decided I was gonna piss him off, even if meant going to class late I started braking infront of him on purpose and whenever he'd try to cut me off, I'd speed up. I did that for blocks and blocks until he made a right turn into a dead end street. I know it sounds childish (as if, I'd still do it), but seriously, how else do you deal with assholes like that? Does anyone else here resort to such tactics?

 

[AnitaKnapp]

It used to bother me a lot, and I used to do the same thing.

But here in the last year or so I've realized that I don't really know what they were going through that day, and maybe I should cut them some slack. It could be the worst day of their lives...you never know. They may be on the way to see a relative on their death bed. Or they could just be assholes. They're not really hurting me unless they drive into the back of me...so I just ignore it now. It's really not worth the aggravation.

 

[Puck]

A friend and I were driving home from Kingston on Sunday, with the shitty rainy weather and we had people like this basically the whole way. It's worse when it's raining and pretty difficult to see.

We basically did the same thing though, just pissed people off until they got off our tail, we tried everything else and nothing worked for most of these people, especially the guy that was so close behind us that we couldn't see him flashing his lights at us to move over, just his flailing arms.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Admittedly I can be a tailgater especially on the highway in the far left lane which is supposed to be a passing lane only. If you're going to drive slowly on the highway at least have the courtesy to stay on the far right.

When people tailgate me I actually have the same thought process as Anita. I give them the benefit of the doubt that they REALLY need to get somewhere for a good reason and move so they can pass.

 

[Bananas]

You should never brake it just antagonises them and can be dangerous, plus is kind of pointless as it makes the distance between you and them smaller, it also makes you the "bad driver" as you are unable to keep consistent speeds, you might as well just move out of their way. But if you cant.....

Easiest way to stop someone from tailgating you is learn how to left foot brake, if you rest your left foot on your brake pedal you can activate the tail lights without actually braking, whilst you do this gently accelerate with your rightfoot and hey presto the gap between the two cars widens. Not only do you widen the gap you are also removing one of the primary indicators that determines your driving and thus hopefully removing the tail-gater's confidence to tailgate you.

 

[Doc]

I live in an at-fault insurance state. That basically means that if anyone hits you from behind it's their fault.

I strap on my seat belt and jam the brakes when I get a tailgater. Teaches them a lesson real quick.

 

[MiloIsYum]

I think deliberately braking in front of somebody is ridiculous and if anybody ever did that to me I would take them through the courts. The good thing is these days, even though its the person behind at fault, people are aware that people do deliberately brake. It is just so dangerous, and can cause a lot of heartache to somebody else, so I dont see why somebody would do that.

To the original question, I just drive the limit and they can just deal. I will never speed up for a tailgater, or move aside to let them pass. I wont give them the benefit of the doubt either because where I live, its just widely known that people cannot drive to save their lives, so I know its usually just some hoon being a d*ckhead on the road. And God help them if I see one of those red Ps on their car if they are bumming my car. Ill go 10ks under the limit if I have to.

 

[Bubbles]

I think deliberately braking in front of somebody is ridiculous and if anybody ever did that to me I would take them through the courts.

I'm not sure how it works in Australia, since I've never been there, but in the province I live in (British Columbia), it's mandatory to keep a "one car gap" between you and the person in front of you. So, if someone were to brake infront of you, you'd be able to stop in time without doing any damage. If someone was tailgating me, they're automatically at fault. So even if the person infront of you braked you're still at fault for tailgating because there is no way to prove that the person infront "delibrately braked." Its almost impossible to take anyone to "court" here if you're the one that rear-ended them. You're the one who broke the rules by "avoiding the gap." But I understand where you're coming from and you're right, but I also feel that people shouldn't be tailgating and harasssing people on the roads, just because they were unable to get up on time :-/

 

[CaptainObvious]

Just for clarification, here in the US in states that are not no-fault, while you may be issued a ticket and fined it does not automatically render you to be at fault or liable for damages. The likelihood is pretty high that you would be found liable, but if you can prove the person stopped short you can be found to be not liable.

 

[Daemonic]

If you don't want the car and they do it just slam on the breaks when nobody is around and say an animal jumped in front of you.