I hate people tailgating me at any time, but in mist and fog I hate it all the more.
I had another example last week while on the road between Whaley Bridge and Macclesfield at 06:30 a.m. If there is any mist about it will be near to the Pott Shrigley turnoff. It was a thick mist such as I have not met for many years. I was doing the maximum that I dared (about 45) down a straight stretch with a minor change in direction, perhaps 5 degrees at most. The tailgater was so close that I had to bend my rear view mirror right down because dipping it wasn?t enough. I was watching for the direction change but out of deference to the long queue behind me I was really going too fast and had to take quick action to avoid the grassy bank. The effect on the tailgater was quite marked From being a few metres behind he suddenly was about 50 metres and remained that way.
The last time that happened was when I met up with a dozen or so Mallard ducks crossing the road, walking as they do, in single file. I imagine that they would be nice to eat, but I could imagine chewing raw flesh, feathers and bits of windscreen at 40 mph. I braked quite sharply to avoid them and then left the following two cars, tailgaters both, had to sort out the affair with their insurance companies by themselves.
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"Whaley Bridge"
I lived there for a year. It was still snowing in May.
It's one of my favourite driving roads, the A6, around Lyme Park and those environs.
Edited by Big Bad Dave on 26/11/2007 at 00:16
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I knew someone who braked hard to avoid a cat. Consequence was a young woman on her way to work, died at the scene.
Edited by oilrag on 26/11/2007 at 08:11
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I once swerved to avoid a fox, lost control, rolled it through the hedge writing off a 6-month old Carlton - I'll slow down but never brake or swerve for small animals or birds.
Queues of drivers forget that the car in front can't see very far as there are few reference points in fog - all the other cars can see tail lights in front so think that a faster speed is safe - don't EVER let other road users "force" you into driving any faster than you think is safe.
I've been tailgated in fog by a "faster" driver, pulled over to let them through and then found they're going even slower than I was as they realised just how poor the visibility was.
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Tailgaters; what a pain they are. I was on my way to a nearby town this morning and had one so ridiculously close to my bumper, I had little option but to pull over and let him pass.
Does anyone ever get booked for this annoying activity ?
Clk Sec
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Might have mis-heard this but seem to think that tailgating is illegal in Germany ? If this is true it probably helps prevent many accidents.
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On a road you know, you can frighten tailgaters by going through the twisties more quickly than they expect. But they are often so thick that they will catch up again afterwards and carry on tailgating.
I agree with others, it is very annoying.
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I expect I am not alone in having on occasion daydreamed about havng some 007 style revenge mechanism at the back of the car when being tailgated ? My fantasy would include depositable nails or an oil-slick or a rocket launcher or machine guns or..................!!!!! However , when the red mist subsides I guess what I would really like is a sort of electronic voice controlled message board in the back window to allow me to "comment, or give.... ahem....constructive advice" ! :-)
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A small child is a good substitute. Get one to put its head out and pretend to be sick.
Or stare hard at the driver and pick its nose.
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Or stare hard at the driver and pick its nose.
Yuck!
They'd have to be really close for you to do that, unless your children have very long arms :-)
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Or a badly aligned rear washer that happens to squirt backwards.
A little colouring in the fluid might add to the effect. :-)
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I bet some of these tailgaters are positively welcomed by the folk that purposely instigate the rear - end bump type of ?accident?.
Clk Sec
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Or a badly aligned rear washer that happens to squirt backwards. A little colouring in the fluid might add to the effect. :-)
I'm sure i've mentioned this before but my mate used to have rear 'window washers' in his bumper. Squirted brake fluid!!
MD
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havng some 007 style revenge mechanism at the back of the car
Rumour has it that when Road Rallying was popular in this country, some competitors bypassed the brake light switch and controlled them manually to confuse the competition - turning them on when accelarating down a straight, leaving them off when slowing for bends - Im sure that would confuse the average tailgater
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I am often tailgated by irritated mothers who are in a hurry... in 4x4xs .. at school time.
Rigorous sticking to speed limits and slow down signs tends to put them off...
madf
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Rumour has it that when Road Rallying was popular in this country some competitors bypassed the brake light switch and controlled them manually to confuse the competition - turning them on when accelarating down a straight leaving them off when slowing for bends - Im sure that would confuse the average tailgater
Not just rumour, we did it on a Fiat 124 and a subsequent Ford Escort - no idea if we ever gained anything!
To some extent you can do this with tailgaters - touch the brake pedal just enough to put the lights on.
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I find you have to have a very light touch on the brake pedal - with modern engine management systems, anything else causes the revs to drop, irrespective of what you do with the loud pedal
(or so i've been told ;-) )
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On, mist, fog, tailgaters.
I still remember all those horrific crashes in the early days of the motorways in the fog that was very evident then.
trouble is, I`m not convinced anythings changed in the awareness of many drivers and now I have a choice, I wont go on our motorways in fog.
I mean, you would think lessons would be learnt in a sort of collective folk-law sort of way and the `wheel` would not constantly need re-inventing.
Unfortunately I think it does at around a time period of 15 yrs.
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Sadly, I think that lesson needs to be learned annually. Any day now we'll get a bad motorway pile-up in fog and everyone will act surprised.
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a rocket launcher or machine guns or..................!!!!!
Yes, I do indeed find such accessories very useful.
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"007"
Thought you'd have them already on the Aston.
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Blimey - note to self......... " never attempt to tailgate an Aston" (Chance'd be a fine thing in my car ! )
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two options come to mind here: the "automatic" option and the "manual" option.
Either method requires installation of some particularly powerful brakelights, foglights (someone I knew had a pair of Cibie Oscars, about 150 W bulbs IIRR - they were white rather than red; oh well, in for a penny...), or those new dot matrix sign jobbies.
When chummie comes too close, either by means of an automatic sensor (parking sensor appropriately wired up) or by a manual switch the lights in question come on. They then stay on, strobe, flash left right left,... whatever.
Perhaps the dot matrix sign is the best as it can be didactic rather than vindictive ("FOG - BACK OFF" or some approximate anagram. For further emphasis, it could be set to read "POLICE - BACK OFF IN FOG")
Highly illegal and highly amusing. In real life I would probably go for Paul Ripley's "control position" and slow right down to a speed I can safely brake in and maybe give chummie the idea to go ahead and overtake and get out of my life.
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Might have mis-heard this but seem to think that tailgating is illegal in Germany ? If this is true it probably helps prevent many accidents.
Might be but in practice it doesn't happen - doing 100mph over there this year and they were still right on my tail despite the fact that I'm overtaking stuff and cannot get back in.....
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Ditto in New Zealand. Last year, traffic law was amended to state minimum following distances for various speeds. It is honoured much more in the breach than in the observance. The numbers are quite oddball, which doesn't help. Who, for example, can accurately judge 32 metres? Personally, as I am reaching the age when reactions begin to slow, I drive at traffic stream speed but keep to the 2-second rule for following. For a lot of following drivers, that causes real steam-out-the-ears-horns-on-the-forehead rage as they think that I am going more slowly than traffic stream speed.
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When I win the lottery I am going to buy two dozen Hyundai Accents or similar. I will then, on every occassion that some moron is driving three feet behind me looking menacing, simply slam my brakes on.
As they tearfully inspect the wreckage for which they are undisputedly responsible for, I will tell them I have another 12 cars at home (twelve in repair on any given day I estimate) and wander off, smiling.
In the meantime, if they are really close I have learnt to simply pull over and let them go and annoy someone else.
I was done for 37 in a 30 last year and the sole reason was that a tailgater had intimidated me into speeding up. Not any more.
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Mmm , now when I come to power ;-) A new law will be passed ( among many others ! )
making tailgating illegal. The punishment for offenders will not be a fine or points but more of an "incentive" to mend their ways. They will have a compulsory non-removable spike fitted to the centre of their steering wheel ( facing the driver ) for a period of time assessed to be commensurate with the distance from vehicle in front / speed at which they were caught tailgating. Now what else should we do.......? ;-)
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Part of the problem is that the lead car tends to 'clear' a path through the fog, so following drivers don't appreciate how thick it actually is.
I still remember driving down the A1 many years ago when the fog was so thick I couldn't even see the white lane markings immediately in front. A car that had been following for some time decided to overtake, but immediately slowed down when the driver realised the true lack of visibility!
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