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Thanks for the comments so far.
Yes I agree it is the following vehicles problem.
I certainly dont dawdle, and i have to be careful how i say the next bit so as not to get into trouble, lets say my cars speedo is indicating more than set speed limit but i am probably not breaking the limit due to inaccuracy, haha, but still the limit is the limit (or thereabouts) and lets not forget it is set as a Maximum!
I respect other road users in wanting to travel at the speed limit and wouldnt dream of "pushing" them but we all have experienced this sort of thing at sometime and it can be quite annoying.
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If you have a tailgater first check it's not your driving which may be causing a problem- if you are at the limit it's their problem. If not allow them to pass when safe to do so.
If you are in a queue of traffic increase the distance between you and the car in front - this gives you time to slow gently and also alerts the tailgater that traffic is slowing. It also gives the tailgater room should they decide to overtake - some tailgaters will overtake at crazy times, if they don't have room to complete the manouver they could take you out - better to avoid them than end up in a ditch or hitting a tree.
Let them overtake, you can then keep an eye on them and they won't be running into you!
I wouldn't tap your brakes if it's not needed - that just winds the following driver up.
One day the tailgater will get just deserts - I had one rcently - 8am Easter Saturday morning near Helmsley. Tailgater overtook, exceeding the 40 limit, then 60 limit, only to come up against a traffic car which was tucked away in a side road! Traffic car pulled out behind me, followed for a while, overtook me then pulled the offender - result!
Edited by daveyjp on 20/05/2011 at 16:09
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Thanks for that DaveGP
I am pretty sure its not my driving at fault here as i am travelling slightly over so as not to frustrate following driver. I consider I am pretty cerebral in planning all eventualities and leave plenty of space for drivers to fly by and tuck in front with plenty of space to spare. Some just dont come past and use all their concentration? in getting as close to my bumper instead of going for the overtake.
As I thought, tapping the brakes is just a wind-up and could end in much worse than leaving the status quo.
Good to hear that the traffic car had a bit of business that day. Must have felt good.
As we all know the speed limits are there for a reason. They may not be correct for each section of road even for the given speed limit, but there has to be a limit. Yes we all see the speed limit being broken day in day out and I would suggest that most drivers do indeed exceed this slightly but is not necessarily dangerous.
Would be very interesting for a traffic officer to give us all some insight as to the difference they observe in peoples driving behaviours when they are in a marked car.
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I agree Farm Hand,tailgating is getting worse and so are the amount of drivers exceeding the limit,not by a small amount either to some 40mph is 50-60 but they moan if they get a ticket
dangerous driving as a whole is a lot worse than it was a few years ago the main problem is mobile phone against the ear, elbows steering
We need more traffic cops,very rare sight around my area,but doubt it`ll get any better
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Had a situation a week back where driver was intent on getting into my boot then 1/4 mile down the road dropped right back, you know why? Yup the guy was on his mobile, and as soon as he was finished, right back there in my boot. Senseless.
Dont see that many traffic cars around here but plenty of mobile "safety" vans set up in locations which have good visibility and good road layouts, junction approaches etc. quite obviously intent on revenue raising and not road safety issues.
I do not know why the authorities consider all speeding as the most heinous of crimes, irrespective of a few mph over the limit, where the camera makes no discretion for conditions, circumstances, location etc, yet the really dangerous idiot is safe in the knowledge it is unlikely there will be a traffic car anywhere to witness.
Such is life!
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If tailgated I slow gradually to build an even bigger gap in front of me - in effect I build in his braking distance in addition to mine. Also, if I slow down, it is clearly easier for the tailgater to overtake, (which I find they do at the first opportunity and then go tailgate the next car ahead).
N.B. If all I can see in the mirror is "SCANIA" or similar 3 feet behind at 56mph, I have been known to pull into a layby or take an exit slip if there is no other way of getting free due to traffic.
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If the lorries are getting frustrated you must be going pretty slowly! Isn't the speed limit for lorries on single carriageways 40mph? On motorways I adjust my speed to fit in with the the majority of lorries if I'm trying to save fuel. I see little point in doggedly sticking to 50mph forcing lorries that want to do 56mph to start a slow overtaking manourvre that reduces the motorway to one lane. The difference in fuel economy is negligible.
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Agree to some extent with you galileo and unthrottled, but I find driving on the motrorway not too much of a problem where there are other lanes for people to pass. Yes there is always the tailgating lunatic but you can pull over and let them go on a motorway.
What I was referring to at the beginning of the post was generally single lane carriageways approaching urban speed limits where one needs to reduce the speed to something that is acceptable - and this might still be above the posted limit - but still you get the driver up your chuff because they cant/dont/wont anticipate the limit change, which quite honestly doesn't say much for their skills as a driver.
I dont want to single out any particular class of vehicle because clearly there are good and bad for all types of vehicle - including motorbike riders.
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I tell you what gets me, theres bits of road in some places where obviously many years ago it was all one speed limit, then over the years people put crossings in certain places, cycle lanes, things were built there forcing residential speed limits etc, and you can end up doing a 5 mile drive in which you go from 30-50-40-30-50-60-30.
I mean seriously, what is going on?!?!?!
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Some local authorities seem to have an agenda driven by certain road safety charities, bus companies, climate change agitators and a residual left wing belief that all car drivers are wicked capitalists and must be made to suffer (and pay for the privilege)
To this end they install scores of unnecessary traffic lights, pelican crossings, humps, pinch-points, cycle lanes and bus lanes as well as ratcheting speed limits ever downwards.
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Eventually, tailgating will probably become a thing of the past. Cars will all be fitted with accident avoidance systems that will apply the brakes if you get too close to the vehicle in front for the speed you are travelling at. Yes, you will probably be able to switch these systems off initially but eventually it would become illegal to do so, the same as not wearing a seatbelt etc. Yes, I know these systems exist, but they are only fitted to a few cars and as an option at the moment.
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I'm fairly convinced that completely automoted driving will (hopefully) stay in tomorrw's world forever. The liability concerns wouldf be horrendous-no OEM would be interested in taking on the burden.
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Many of the rural roads I commute on, have had their speed limits reduced. Some of the reductions are IMHO are wise, whilst others foolhardy. One long stretch near my house has been reduced to fifty. If a driver who is now doing fifty is then stuck behind an HGV restricted to forty, then they are more likely to risk an overtake, This in my mind increases the risk more than if the limit had been left at sixty. Also most cars now are so insulated from the effects of speed that to drivers,forty or fifty feels quite slow.
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Also most cars now are so insulated from the effects of speed that to drivers,forty or fifty feels quite slow.
Very good point. It feels even slower when you use the correct gear which would put a 2 litre sized engine at @~1500-2000RPM. Arguably it would be better to buy a smaller capacity engine and drop a gear so it feels like you're going faster!
Edited by unthrottled on 22/05/2011 at 17:34
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Agree with the comments above. I drive fairly briskly but still get people right in my boot. They're welcome to overtake if they wish. As the old expression puts it, it's the second person that makes the queue, not the leader.
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Being tailgated is disconcerting, and there is the temptation to speed up because one feels one's being pushed. But why should we feel guilty about slowing the driver behind, if we're simply obeying a speed limit or driving as fast as we think is safe?
If they're annoyed, let them be, they're the ones in the wrong. As a by-product of keeping to, say, a 30 mph limit, one is also keeping following traffic within the limit, which is a safety plus unless some idiot decides to overtake.
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As a by-product of keeping to, say, a 30 mph limit, one is also keeping following traffic within the limit,
30 limits are to be respected but I'm not sure that anyone should see themselves as custodians of the speed limit.
Actually it's just occurred to me that I break my own rule. I'm one of those puritans who believe that in the event of a lane closure, traffic should merge early-and I will straddle the lanes to prevent queue hoppers from zapping down to the end of the closed lane and trying to merge in at the end.
There's a lot of nonsense spouted about 'using motorway space more efficiently'. This is carp. At a vena contracta, the rate of traffic flow is governed by the restriction-and the nature of the flow approaching the restriction. If traffic merges in a timely fashion then the flow into the restriction is smooth and traffic volume is maximised. However, with last minute mergers, there is inevitably braking involved whgich causes pulsed flow which reduces the rate of traffic flow into the restriction.
Slightly off-topic but relevant in that it pertains to using one's own driving style to dictate the driving style of other motorists.
Edited by unthrottled on 23/05/2011 at 01:17
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Unthrottled - you sir are spot on! I am a physicist and I have looked into the behaviour of flows when there is a restriction. There have been papers published showing that any objects, be they blood cells, walking humans or vehicles can get through a constriction in their path much better if they are forced around another object or required to make use of an ever decreasing space i.e. merge in turn smoothly. I too will attempt to stop the last second 'pushers', as I will of course assume that they are too dim to have read the signs telling them they only have 400 yds to make a sensble decision.
Sorry that has nothing to do with speed limits!
My biggest speed limit bugbear is the 'mono-speeder'. Usually a venerable gentleman, this driver will tootle along at about 43mph regardless of whether you have to do 30mph through a village and then 60mph after the village. It makes a huge queue in the fast bits and I really hate it when people speed through places when there are children walking to school etc.
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I meet many people meandering along at a constant , way below the limit, speed on my commute into the Peak District. Unfortunately not that many opportunities to overtake in cars safely.
When on my BMW there are no problems at all overtaking in a short distance and time. And not exceeding the limit for long.
Some of those drivers swerve like they've been struck by lightning when I pass them.
I'm a fair weather rider so the chance only arises occasionally.
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-and I will straddle the lanes to prevent queue hoppers from zapping down to the end of the closed lane and trying to merge in at the end.
Depends how long the queue is and the layout of the road. If there's a very small queue, i'd agree it's ignorant to try to jump it, be more patient. However, if it's a long queue, then both lanes should be used, because that's where the road planners have planned for the queue to be.
On the A38 in Devon, near Ashburton a few years back, there were some nasty accidents because the holier than thou brigade took it upon themsleves to do just as you've said...which pushed the queue backwards to a part of the road where vision was restricted and 70mph traffic suddenly encountered stationary traffic. Even when they put 'Use both lanes' signs, it still went on.
If Highways planners want us to use both lanes...we should do so. The merge in turn works very well...at the point where the restriction is. If everyone did that without the perceived slight of someone gaining an advantage, we'd all get through it quicker.
I will admit though that I don't always stick to my principle, if i've merged, usually near the restriction, from the o/s lane and made sure i've done it courteously and sensibly..then someone tries to do a high speed last minute cone skim manoeuvre to gain two or three cars..do I let them in? No.... No one's perfect.
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Westpig-No!
There's nothing to stop them using the lane-they simply have to go at the same speed as the lanes with queueing traffic. No wasted road space. Emergency vehicles and t**sers jump queues. The former, I accomadate-the latter I don't.
Don't like queueing? No, neither does anyone else.
Edited by unthrottled on 24/05/2011 at 20:51
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There's nothing to stop them using the lane-they simply have to go at the same speed as the lanes with queueing traffic.
Are you saying that if lane 1 is at a standstill...and lane 2 is empty...that you shouldn't drive in lane 2?......even if there are great big yellow signs that state 'use both lanes'?
I've been taught you use the emptiest lane.
I'm not suggesting say 30 yards of merging traffic ahead and everyone else is grabbing lane 1 early and common sense say be patient and do the same and keep it flowing nicely...i'm talking about a damned great queue, with everything stopped... and one lane (usaully lane 2) is emptier than the other, i'll have the empty one every time. More often than not, that's what the road planners intend..and sometimes why the signs are there saying use both lanes.
Preventing people from using both lanes, just causes congestion fiurther back in the road...sometimes at a point it is dangerous.
When they put the signs out saying 'merge in turn', they intend it to be there, where the constriction is, not a mile back where someone is doing their own roadblock.
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And why is lane 1 at a standstill? Because of last minute mergers being foolishly let in by misguidedly sympathetic drivers in lane 1. If traffic flow in the constriction is limited to say 50 cars/minute, then no matter how you arrange it only 50 cars/minute can flow through the open lanes previous to the restriction.
I quite agree that a long, thin queue is sometimes undesirable, but this usually only occurs with poorly signposted lane closures (ie the lad given the job of posting 400 yard sign doesn't have a clue what 400 yards actually is!)
You must agree that unnecessary lane hopping is a problem on congested moorways as everyone vies for the lane that seems to be moving fastest! It's human nature-no one likes queueing!
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