Advice: How do you stop people from tailgating you?

[RobM77]

Flat in Fifth said:

..or make a 360 round an island...

Blimey - that's a bit extreme.

"Hmm, I'm being tailgated, I think I'll do a lap of the Isle of Wight!"

[RobM77]

Flat in Fifth said:

RobM77 said: Flat in Fifth said: ..or make a 360 round an island... Blimey - that's a bit extreme. "Hmm, I'm being tailgated, I think I'll do a lap of the Isle of Wight!" Mind you it would be a good excuse to make a lap of the derestricted parts of the Isle of Man! Keep up with that!!

Well, that's a good way to lose a tailgater. Lead them like a lost sheep to the Isle of man and then welly it

[RobM77]

havoc said:

OK, here's another type of tailgater for you all, came across him this morning (van unsurprisingly):- You're in the inside/middle lane, awaiting a gap in the next lane out. You're indicating, and the gap/end-of-traffic has just reached you. And as you're starting move, in your mirror you suddenly spot some tw@t haring up behind you in your lane and indicating to move into the spot you're moving into, only they're moving across at the same time as you (albeit 15-20mph quicker), so it's not like they've got right-of-way. Often this will be after undertaking a car behind you. Should you:- a) Abort your manoeuvre, swing back into the middle lane, and brake as needed; b) Continue the manoeuvre, hold hand up to say thankyou regardless of them planting themselves firmly in your rear-bumper with lights blazing and horn going; c) Continue the manoeuvre, wait until they've slowed to your speed, then completely fail to accelerate, making the aggressive, impatient *%&£ realise their bullying attitude won't work. I have to confess I plumped for (c) - I was already moving, to abort would've meant braking and swerving, and the level of aggression was breathtaking and I wasn't in the mood. But I also know (c) wasn't the right answer. Thoughts?

That happens to me a lot. I have my right hand indicator on, about to pull into a large gap in the lane to my right to overtake the car in front of me, when the guy behind me (who's often been following me for a while) boots it and swerves around my right hand side, blocking me. You need to keep your wits about you, especially in a mid engined car with not much rear three quarter visibility! (or indeed a transit van, which doesn't have any rear three quarter - you'd think these idiots would realise the danger seeing as they drive such a vehicle!).

Another common one was also mentioned above - when you're joining a motorway and the guy behind you accelerates and blocks your move into lane 1, or even lane 2 if the case may be.

My theory is that people who drive boring tin boxes and/or don't have any interesting CDs to listen to play games with other people just to pass the time.