How Do You Deal With Tailgaters?

[LHF2019]

Ignore them. I'm usually 3-5 mph under speed limit middle of the night because well it is dark and who knows. I keep hoping for the day when there is a deer in my lane so I can just slide over and watch my tailgater take it out. Hasn't happened yet. Have a very new truck that likes to go 55+ on a 45 in the dark. LED lights and all. Just move my mirrors and ignore him. After a while he roars past. Have a co worker that tailgates bad. I have had him pass me and when we were side by side there was a deer beside him. Another morning had a long line of cars behind me. I wasn't holding up traffic, just a straight stretch and lots of distance. Next thing I know 4 cars back cop lit up. At work asked co worker what was going on with all the lights knowing he came in after me. Said he got pulled over for tailgating. But how can the cop tell how close he was. Cop told him he kept braking lol

 

[LHF2019]

I usually follow the two second rule. When someone is way too close behind, like about one parking space while on the highway, I increase the distance from the car ahead to three or four seconds. That gives me more space to slow down more slowly if necessary.

How does that work? If it is true tailgater then they also speed up. So you slow down speed up slow down speed up over and over

 

[not2old]

How does that work? If it is true tailgater then they also speed up. So you slow down speed up slow down speed up over and over

I'm not speeding up to increase the distance from the tailgater, I increase the distance between me and the car ahead of me.

 

[fidowanttobe]

Geography thing I guess. It's not very far on my roads here before a pass is easy. Fortunately for me as I'm the one that usually passes.
I used to rage about it, now I just pass as soon as i can instead because I never know the real reason of their slow speed.
BUT!!! You will pizz me off if my passing you, "wakes you up" and now you want to race or tailgate me.

 

[MossRoad]

There's always a logical one to ruin the fun.

I will say that sometimes at night, if someone is following me on the highway very close with bright lights, I'll turn the side mirror so it shines back at them. Almost always, they'll either back off or pass. But otherwise, I ignore them.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I can think of lots of ways to pi$$ off a tailgater but these days, I don't want to turn a tailgate incident into a road rage incident.

 

[MossRoad]

Geography thing I guess. It's not very far on my roads here before a pass is easy. Fortunately for me as I'm the one that usually passes.
I used to rage about it, now I just pass as soon as i can instead because I never know the real reason of their slow speed.
BUT!!! You will pizz me off if my passing you, "wakes you up" and now you want to race or tailgate me.

Yeah, we get that a lot. I think all of us do from time to time...

you come up on a car, so obviously you were going faster than them, you pass and get next to them and they speed up, or, as soon as you get past them and move back into the right lane, they pass you, pull in, then slow down again. Gets a bit aggravating. But, just let it go.

I try to drive at a speed where no one is passing me and I'm not passing anyone and we all move along at a nice clip. Rare, but pleasant when it happens.

 

[MossRoad]

I can think of lots of ways to pi$$ off a tailgater but these days, I don't want to turn a tailgate incident into a road rage incident.

Sure. In the old days, just downshift or pull the parking brake. No brake lights. Good way to get whiplash, though.

 

[hube2]

I slow down and I pull pull to the right as soon as I can to let them pass, most of the time I can pull over far enough that I don't need to stop.

I will admit that I was a tailgater in my youth, I was always in a hurry for no particular reason.

Let's just say that I never had to worry about tailgaters back then.

Today I am much different, I still like to drive fast, but I am never in a hurry. If I come up behind someone that is going slower I leave plenty of room, at minimum a 3 second gap.

It also annoys the piss outa me when people get on my A at a stop light. I have a manual shift, when they do this I generally let my car roll back just to scare the piss out of them.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Generally being the faster vehicle on roads with very little traffic it's almost hard to be tailgated.

The exception is when ending up behind someone and while waiting for a chance to pass, another vehicle catches up with us. If they follow too closely I ignore them. My trailers are stouter than what they are driving.