Aggressive police driving
Discussion
busta said:
All well and good in day to day tailgating situations where one driver wishes to travel faster than another, I have the same attitude as you.
The majority of the instances in this thread are where the tailgater (plod) has every opportunity to pass but chooses not to. In my instance it was an empty dual carriageway. I also believe most contributors, including myself, made a concious effort to allow the tailgater to pass or reduced their speed for safety reasons. When someone is intent on tailgating you for the sake of it there is very little you can do, and pulling over doesn't seem like a sensible option if you haven't identified it as a police car and don't know their motive for targeting you.
On a dual carriageway, if someone is tailgating, then you simply maintain your speed and course and let them get on with it, if they have had ample opportunity to pass.The majority of the instances in this thread are where the tailgater (plod) has every opportunity to pass but chooses not to. In my instance it was an empty dual carriageway. I also believe most contributors, including myself, made a concious effort to allow the tailgater to pass or reduced their speed for safety reasons. When someone is intent on tailgating you for the sake of it there is very little you can do, and pulling over doesn't seem like a sensible option if you haven't identified it as a police car and don't know their motive for targeting you.
There's also nothing stopping you taking an exit into a populated area or services, if it is causing the tailgatee that much consternation.
The situation I highlighted was in direct response to a deliberate action to provoke or cause the tailgating driver to become annoyed.
I been told by three different serving plod that they have targets to meet and if they fail to meet those targets then it's stand up without biscuits time.
To quote Ian Fleming. Once is happenstance, Twice is coincidence, Three times is enemy action...
Hertfordshire trafpol will give a warning for all sorts of misbehaviour through the Hatfield Tunnel but if you show I.D from the Met then you're in front of the local beak for 71mph. I once hit 1.15 leptons in the Hatfield tunnel with a Herts trafpol in the passenger seat, his comment?
'Shame your mum was still awake in the back, I wanted to see at least 1.4 leptons...'
Hypocrisy from the Police? Nope, never happens
To quote Ian Fleming. Once is happenstance, Twice is coincidence, Three times is enemy action...
Hertfordshire trafpol will give a warning for all sorts of misbehaviour through the Hatfield Tunnel but if you show I.D from the Met then you're in front of the local beak for 71mph. I once hit 1.15 leptons in the Hatfield tunnel with a Herts trafpol in the passenger seat, his comment?
'Shame your mum was still awake in the back, I wanted to see at least 1.4 leptons...'
Hypocrisy from the Police? Nope, never happens
I am sorry but I cannot agree with what a few of the posters have been saying in relation to tailgating. It is very uncomfortable having someone driving so close to you that you cannot see their headlights, and it causes me to spend more time looking in my rear view mirror than the road ahead of me...
I have no idea how I could just ignore it...If the person stayed behind me without even trying to overtake I would be really concerned and more than likely speed up hoping to put space between me and the driver.
Having been the victim of a few hijacking attempts, I frankly would be very nervous and also a little irrational. In S.A. the police recommended that in this situation to speed up and get to a well lit area or a police station as soon as possible. If it was the police tailgating me I would be really tempted to give them a klap (smack)
I have no idea how I could just ignore it...If the person stayed behind me without even trying to overtake I would be really concerned and more than likely speed up hoping to put space between me and the driver.
Having been the victim of a few hijacking attempts, I frankly would be very nervous and also a little irrational. In S.A. the police recommended that in this situation to speed up and get to a well lit area or a police station as soon as possible. If it was the police tailgating me I would be really tempted to give them a klap (smack)
Mr Happy said:
On a dual carriageway, if someone is tailgating, then you simply maintain your speed and course and let them get on with it, if they have had ample opportunity to pass.
Do nothing? Some of us aren't comfortable with someone following dangerously close for mile after mile. Usually a gentle change in speed can wake them up so they then pass. Obviously this doesn't work with police intent on getting the opposite reaction.mph1977 said:
1. Jaf with reference to the 'fog ' comment - during daylight hours and unless it's an absolute pea souper the use of dipped or main beam headlights in mist / fog is counter productive as the light from the head light beams is reflected back from the millions of small water droplets that make up the fog ... so side lights to high light your presence may be an appropriate option , as might sides and fogs, also remember what the law says about the minimum lights required in an area with street lighting ...
In thick fog on an unlit road whether you have front fogs or not sometimes putting even dipped beams on means you are faced nothing but the millions , if not billions of tiny reflectors shining your lights back at you.
1a. short version : Do you need the lights to see or do you need the lights to help others see you ?
Sorry but I completely disagree with all you have said, if it's daylight why would the lights dazzle you? And I agree with the other poster, if the visibility is reduced the minimum of dipped headlights is required and in fact what is taught by our organisation...5watt bulbs are about as use as a torch on the dash!! See and be seen!!In thick fog on an unlit road whether you have front fogs or not sometimes putting even dipped beams on means you are faced nothing but the millions , if not billions of tiny reflectors shining your lights back at you.
1a. short version : Do you need the lights to see or do you need the lights to help others see you ?
mph1977 said:
2. Interesting illogical conclusion that you draw re tailgating as well , the point I have repeatedly and consistently made is that people with better situational awareness and using their observational skills are not surprised by tailgaters - having noticed them sooner and noticed their behaviour sooner - because they are not surprised they won;t do the unconscious of and back on the throttle when they realise - hence reducing or not experiencing the whole ' can kept coming up and dropping back ' thing - because their speed remains constant rather than varying ...
Again you are on about situational awareness, all posters have said they have seen the tailgater coming, the advice was what to do after they are limpeted onto their back bumper and not shifting, it matters not if you see them coming up behind you it is the tailgaters action that is dangerous and illegal!! not the one being followed, the car behind is delegating their own safety into the hands of someone they don't know (and you maintain are not situationally aware anyway) and as such have no idea what the car in front is going to do and that is a position nobody (particularly a "trained driver") should ever put themselves in!! mph1977 said:
3. the whole ' boot it to put some space between us' idea I'm struggling to think of a situation where this is safe without using exemptions ( acknowledging that some roads have artificially lowered speed limits either for political reasons (thanks to curtain twitching hand wringers and the idiot faction among the likes of Brake) or to reduce risks further - such as when a once trunk route through a settlement is bypassed and they want to encourage the through traffic onto the bypass and provide a nicer 'urban environment') and also that some NSL roads ( and motorways in particular) have visibility and design factors that allow design speeds in excess of the NSL without creating too much additional risk.
Again the "boot it to put some space" doesn't always mean hit Vmax, just a bit of an "acceleration sense" squirt to increase the gap to one which is safe, 5 to 10mph could be sufficent... no exemptions required 
mph1977 said:
4. I'm unsure as to whether it's utter ignorance of deliberate cantankerousness on behalf of some people but their refusal to accept that their dogmatic attitudes towards ritualised practice can and should be challenged and that their knowledge might not be all it could - e.g. from this thread the poster who suggested that a police driver must be poor because he didn't ritually use his indicators.
Hmmm on the subject, still no confirmation of where all your "knowledge" has been gained despite numerous requests?Gary
busta said:
Mr Happy said:
On a dual carriageway, if someone is tailgating, then you simply maintain your speed and course and let them get on with it, if they have had ample opportunity to pass.
Do nothing? Some of us aren't comfortable with someone following dangerously close for mile after mile. Usually a gentle change in speed can wake them up so they then pass. Obviously this doesn't work with police intent on getting the opposite reaction.Slowing down will antagonise them, speeding up will goad them. Doing nothing is the only other option (that or, as I said - if it is causing you so much consternation, you still have the option to turn off the road into a populated area or a roadside services).
Of course, if you think that speeding up will somehow fix the situation, then that is your call - you're the driver after all. Personally, I'd drive defensively and avoid the possibility of being goaded into a ticket by Police, or goaded into a race by a nutter.
this happened to my dad a few years ago - he sped up and was clocked and booked, and it went to court. The magistrate didn't really seem to care that the police were tailgating him for no reason, and he didn't have a brief. It's absolute bulls
t. They basically are just forcing you into doing something under stress, whether it is slowing down, speeding up, pulling off, they have something for everyone!
t. They basically are just forcing you into doing something under stress, whether it is slowing down, speeding up, pulling off, they have something for everyone! You can't win arguing with that MPH and the copper. When trying to respond to them remember that famous old quote:
"Don't argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience"
Just make sure you buy a Go Pro, record these incidents and report them to the appropriate authority. They can then try to justify their actions to the magistrate and their disciplinary panel rather than to PHers.
"Don't argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience"
Just make sure you buy a Go Pro, record these incidents and report them to the appropriate authority. They can then try to justify their actions to the magistrate and their disciplinary panel rather than to PHers.
original guvnor said:
Just make sure you buy a Go Pro, record these incidents and report them to the appropriate authority. They can then try to justify their actions to the magistrate and their disciplinary panel rather than to PHers.
Please do, because it would also prove when somebody is talking bks (I assume you'd volunteer it if you were lying)mph1977 said:
glad to see that other readers of the thread have picked up on the dangerous behaviour of some of the 'victims' of tailgating ...
When I'm being tailgated I slow down to a speed at which if I have to stop suddenly, the smack from behind won't be anywhere near as dangerous. It's a safety issue. Cough. But if fewer people acquiesced and more stood up to the tailgater, this behaviour would soon be eradicated as people would know it wouldn't get them past any quicker, thus making the roads safer for everyone.
I've had this twice, although for nothing longer than a minute of actual driving.
Unmarked car on the A11, about 10pm and driving back home from town, just turning off at Wymondham and a car comes flying up my arse and sits there up the slip road. When you take a left here there's a lovely 50mph road that can be taken at double that speed and be nice and fun. Put it in second and just as I was about to hit the loud pedal the lights came on. Just told me to get a bulb replaced!
Second time was on the A47, stuck behind a tt driving at 35-40mph for miles with solid white lines, as soon as the dashed line started I overtook accelerating to 60, about 500 yards from a roundabout and just a I'm alongside this dude I see a police car pulled up. Cruised through and on the other side of the roundabout a pair of headlights fly up my arse. I sit there at the speed limit for about a mile when they turn around.
2 second gap seemed to be forgotten unfortunately... I can understand why some people might just boot it.
Unmarked car on the A11, about 10pm and driving back home from town, just turning off at Wymondham and a car comes flying up my arse and sits there up the slip road. When you take a left here there's a lovely 50mph road that can be taken at double that speed and be nice and fun. Put it in second and just as I was about to hit the loud pedal the lights came on. Just told me to get a bulb replaced!
Second time was on the A47, stuck behind a t
t driving at 35-40mph for miles with solid white lines, as soon as the dashed line started I overtook accelerating to 60, about 500 yards from a roundabout and just a I'm alongside this dude I see a police car pulled up. Cruised through and on the other side of the roundabout a pair of headlights fly up my arse. I sit there at the speed limit for about a mile when they turn around. 2 second gap seemed to be forgotten unfortunately... I can understand why some people might just boot it.
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