I'm sure I'm not the only one to experience this, but I am absolutely SICK of winkers who insist on driving two inches from my rear bumper when I always try so hard to keep a safe distance myself.
As much as I love my Omega's - I'm giving some strong consideration to packing in my car and travelling around on trains instead, for this reason.
I cannot remember the last time I did the eleven mile drive to work or back, without at least one person driving dangerously close for a prolonged period of time.
Last night, I was on the A436 – Keeping a good distance from the traffic ahead. Watching them at a safe distance, they literally looked like a chain of cars joined together. They can’t have been able to see anything ahead, apart from the boot of whatever was in front.
It seems to me that the law does bugger all to prevent a practice which is hugely unsafe.
There is absolutely no reason for it; nobody gets there any faster by tailgating. Yet so many people do it.
Sheer selfishness. Putting the lives of families at risk to get to work 2 minutes faster.
I’m a safe, (reasonably law abiding!) and confident driver, but I’m slowly starting to loose my confidence and have very little enjoyment in driving anymore.
I can’t work out whether many tailgaters are aware of what they’re actually doing, or not. They act as if they’re not, however it takes loads more concentration to drive close to something, than it does to keep at a comfortable distance. To me – it’s natural to keep further back because it’s easier!
I have tried all tactics to remove tailgaters easily, and literally nothing works. If you slow down – they get closer. If you speed up – they stay on your arse. If you dab the brakes – they usually start being aggressive which can be very dangerous. I mildly dabbed the brakes on a very bad tailgater the other day. He followed me for miles, lights flashing, in a very dangerous manner. I only finally lost him when I pulled onto the M5 and gave the V6 some welly. (Left his rover 200 standing!)
Later that evening I had a visit from the police – he reported ME for dangerous driving. Even though he followed me aggressively for so long. Utter crap – I was keeping to speed limits and abiding by the road rules. Thankfully it didn’t go anywhere legally due to no evidence, but it was a horrible experience and just goes to show. However because he was in his mid 30’s, and I’m 22 with a v6.. Guess who the police took sides with? Not me, needless to say. They gave me a very hard time over things I’d not even done. And when I told them about his antics – they told me not to “push it” by lying and said if I continued to accuse him of such things I’d be arrested for “public disorder offences”..
Anyone else feel the same or want to share any experiences? How do you deal with tailgaiters?