I've done a similar thing on the bike. Some ****ty woman, trying desperately to overtake in stupid places, revving her engine at me, eventually does so on a blind corner and has to swing back in right on me to avoid a car.
About a minute later we both reach the back of a queue up to some temporary traffic lights, I filter past her right to the front of the queue. Normally I wouldn't bother, but it was so worth it seeing her gorming out in her car. She was waving her arms about like she was doing the secret signal from team america 😆
.He ended up trying to pass while he was too close and tapping the rear corner of the car very hard which forced me in to a spin. The road was very wet with lots of standing water which didn't help matters
Nasty. Explains why you may be more concerned than average about tailgaters.
That must have left a sour taste, MartinHutch, defending someone who drives a pickup. 😉
even entertaining non-drivers like yourself.
If that is at me I drive/ am a car owner.
As i said it is about sharing space. Rejoicing in annoying other road users, no matter how justified you think you are [ some are to be fair], is not helping make that space safer.
Yes, even though I know that eventually I'll get pancaked by one on the B6265, I can't hold a grudge.
EDIT: Sorry Junkyard - you said earlier there was no point debating with drivers, so I assumed you were out of that subset!
Drop me your address and I'll send you a bigger spade.
I guess sending it is your only option when you have a Smart
Well done OP
You did nothing wrong other than annoy and idiot.
It happened to me once in Mull of all places.
Heading to the south of the island from Tobermory, there is a long section of single track road before you get nearer the ferry terminal where the road becomes a full two lane road again.
It was busy in both directions (well busy for a singletrack road) but busier heading south so I was quite happy to let cars heading north just filter past me by waiting in the passing places - I couldn't go any faster in my direction anyway.
So white van woman (it was actually a transit minibus) takes exception to my largesse and starts beeping at me. I don't know why, even if I hadn't let any cars through she would have still been behind me but maybe 100 metres further up the road and there was no way for her to overtake as there were cars coming in the other direction.
We get to the two lane road as we reach the next village - its still a 30 at this point - and as predicted she sits right up my arse. 100m before the NSL sign she pulls out for an overtake - the road ahead is completely clear now so no one is in any danger. I was already in 3rd waiting for it I floored it and the transit became a slowly vanishing spot in my rear view mirror.
How I laughed
Having studied physics I'm pretty convinced that a decent big car is safer than a decent small car.
Such a shame to go to all that effort. I figured this out with just GCSE physics.
yes why? If you think I meant speed up I didn't. Limits, I presume, are set for driving in a safe manner so a 30 road is deemed to be safe to drive at upto 30 if everyone has left decent braking distances. If someone is tailgating you then 30 in a 30 zone isn't safe anymore. So if you're being tailgated while already at the limit speeding up isn't a safe option and neither is continuing at or close to the limit, ergo slow down.but I don't think driving at the limit with someone tailgating you is a very good idea.Did you really mean to say this?
if you hit something small and piddly like one of those pesky pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists that occasionally get in the way then yeah your greater momentum may help you out a treat (while not helping the other person at all) if you hit a pretty much immovable object all those extra forces still have to go somewhere.Having studied physics I'm pretty convinced that a decent big car is safer than a decent small car
if you hit something small and piddly like one of those pesky pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists that occasionally get in the way then yeah your greater momentum may help you out a treat (while not helping the other person at all) if you hit a pretty much immovable object all those extra forces still have to go somewhere.
What if you hit something in-between, say like another car?
Even if you hit something immovable surely crumple zones will help?
Brilliant.
Had a little sleep after my night shift and woke up to this.
I knew it would happen, but only on STW could actually driving at the speed limit put you in the wrong.
It had to be Junkyard too, didn't it, amongst others (epicsteve)?
I carried on driving normally - the only difference being, I took extra care to make sure I was bang on the limit. Speeding up at the end was just my little two fingers to the dick for the previous 15 mins - but still wasn't dangerous/outside the limit.
I didn't feel even slightly intimidated and there wasn't a chance I was going to pull over - why the hell should I? If there had been an accident, it would have been entirely his fault, either clipping my rear end by driving too close, or hitting something/a pedestrian head on if he's tried to overtake and break the speed limit.
Incidentally, should he have tried to overtake and something came head on, of course I'd have slowed to let the fool in.
I suppose to the sanctimonious ones, the world would have been a much safer place if I'd pulled over and let him carry on his journey at 50mph through residential areas past lines of parked cars, in the dark. Give over - he deserved to wait and any annoyance I caused was purely brought about by his own poor driving.
I knew it would happen, but only on STW could actually driving at the speed limit put you in the wrong.
I think it's mainly the gleefull boasting about it that put you in the wrong IMHO.
[i]I think it's mainly the gleefull boasting about it that put you in the wrong IMHO.[/i]
That's weird - cos that isn't what you said earlier.
That's weird - cos that isn't what you said earlier.
It makes it clear that he got involved in the situation - which is what the Highway Code says you shouldn't do.
I carried on driving normally - the only difference being, I took extra care to make sure I was bang on the limit. Speeding up at the end was just my little two fingers to the dick for the previous 15 mins - but still wasn't dangerous/outside the limit.
as others note just read the title of the thread you enjoyed winding him up and so much you had to tell us all about it- what does that say about you as person? That reply shows you have not stooped at just them in enjoying annoying folk/trying to get a reaction
I suppose to the sanctimonious ones
PS you may want to look up what that word means - it seems more applicable to your justification of your driving
Its a shared use space and we all need to use it responsibly;deliberately annoying folk and then being pleased about it is not helpful nor responsible.
which is what the Highway Code says you shouldn't do.
One of the{edit] [b]very[/b] few times the highway code is talking lloblocks. Just by being tailgated you are involved.
Just by being tailgated you are involved.
Indeed you are, but it's point is that even though you're not the one driving dangerously it's still sensible to avoid conflict and the hightened risk of an accident.
BTW don't be thinking I'm all for sticking to the traffic laws, 'cause I'm not saying that. I'm just suggesting that there are loonies out there and it's not worth pushing it. If you really want to make a point then let them by (just indicating left and slowing slightly will usually do the trick) then phone them into the police as driving erratically/dangerously and suggest that perhaps they'd been drinking.
My daughter got her car bumped by a white van man in a similar situation, and without witnesses it was her word against theirs when it came to apportioning blame. In that case she could have easily avoided the accident if she wasn't stubborn.
OP - I'd have done exactly the same as you*.
* apart from driving a white pickup with a diesel engine and a whopping 190bhp.
OP - I'd have done exactly the same as you*.
*Except I would have done 27mph instead of the speed limit
apart from driving a white pickup with a diesel engine and a whopping 190bhp.
haha - I was in the throes of telling a story. Tried to make the whole thing a little entertaining. Seems I disappointed the odd person though 😉
This is why we need more coppers on the roads and less cameras.
Cameras do not deter or catch idiots like this.
It is tempting to use engine braking to cause idiots like this to run into the back of you just as you get somewhere with witnesses but whiplash and trying to find a new car is a pain in the neck (literally).
my particular favourite is on a windy road when someone sits on my tail, is to gradually accelerate and deaccelerate without braking to completely ruin their overtaking opportunities. you can do it subtly so they are not exactly sure if its bad driving or a wind up but its quite enjoyable. You have to know the road so you can catch them unawares and accelerate halfway round the bend to catch them unawares, so you are too far ahead when the short straight appears. 🙂
You sound like a right bundle of fun!
But do not be intimidated into speeding up just because somebody is right on your back bumper. Instead, create an additional stopping distance between you and the vehicle in front so that you when you do brake, you can do so smoothly.
Erm. How?
[i]You sound like a right bundle of fun![/i] 😀
To be fair its only when some bellend sits on my bumper....i'm not a slow driver.
Erm. How?
He means from any car in front of you.
I believe the correct approach in the highway code when someone is driving too close behind is to increase the gap between you and the car in front of you so you don't have to brake as hard should something happen up front and have more time to stop so can give the ****t behind more time to stop.
Or what the highway code is actually telling you to do is exactly what the OP has done and slow down to piss off the idiot behind even more 😀
But the highway code gives a legitimate reason as an excuse.
On the subject of this does anyone else take aaaaggggeess to pull over on the motorway when some prat comes screaming up behind you and expects you to magically pull in when you are mid overtaking?
I make sure I do a really careful mirror, signal, mirror manoeuvre in cases like that as it's best not to be pressurised into pulling over too close to the car you have just passed. 😀
sort of off topic, I was followed by a considerate audi driver the other day. I was on the bike and he / she pulled onto the road behind me and sat, patiently behind me without trying to squeeze past or touch my back wheel. All the way up to the traffic lights where he / she failed to squeeze me into the gutter, again sitting patiently behind me.
what is the world coming to?
I have plenty of bad experiences with other drivers as i drive a lot for work but at the end of the day posting about it on the internet is pointless. I try and avoid even thinking about it longer than a day after it's happened because it just increases my stress. There are plenty of good drivers on the road but nobody writes about them - plenty of good Audi drivers, plenty of good BMW drivers, plenty of good white van drivers. Threads like this only help stigmatise and stereotype people based on what car they drive. I never used to get any hassle when i had my Fiesta but since i got an Audi killing machine i get all sort of n*bheads ruining my journey. Just the other day i had a white Scirocco up my backside trying to sneak past at every (un)available opportunity and when i let him past i looked in and it was some scrawny spotty little geek! And plenty of times i've expected the perp to be some double hard b*stard that i would't want to mess with, looked in and it's been a female.
Point is, you can't know who's in the driving seat based on the car they drive. I always try to remember that people have different reasons for getting from A to B and if they want to overtake and it's safe to do so - i let them. It's not worth the stress to me, i've done enough miles now to know that one mistake could ruin my life and i am just waiting for the moment when someone draws me into a battle and i end up being worse off. Likewise if i am in a rush and i want to overtake i'd hope people wouldn't look in the mirror and go "Oh no, not another f***ing Audi c*nt, i'll tech him a lesson", as the OP clearly did with the WVM in this case.
What if his wife was just about to give birth? But you were so hell bent on not letting him past that you put them in a dangerous situation which caused them to crash. How bad would you feel if she miscarried or her husband died at the wheel? Would it be wort it for the extra car place?
I'm not saying i'm a perfect driver, i know that i'm not. Sometimes i can be a d*ck especially if i'm having a bad day. Tailgating is something that annoys me immensely. But ranting about it online or boasting about how you left him for dust only makes you look bad. Yay you won!! What does that make you good? Are you proud of yourself?
There are always gonna be cheeses on the road. Best to keep as far away as possible and not get involved i say, you never know when someone might just snap and decide to teach you a lesson….
Having said all this, just today i got beeped at for turning left [url= https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Asda+Supermarket&ll=53.81005,-1.586993&spn=0.003665,0.008996&safe=off&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=asda&hnear=0x48795ec869d7eba5:0x6a3c7d0741df7dea,Kirkstall+Rd,+Leeds&cid=1285540734672235596&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.809938,-1.58705&panoid=XWkykmXe3ZCfrKyiQ8KsYA&cbp=12,10.08,,0,9.28 ]HERE[/url] by someone turning right who couldn't get in, cutting corner, and having to reverse after realising that parked cars were stopping them going around me. They completed their manoeuvre which still didn't allow me to turn right, so i go left instead to avoid confusion and just as i pass they give me a sharp toot on the horn.
Then coming into sheffield at a merge-in-turn [url= https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=sheffield+meadow+hall+road&hl=en&ll=53.416726,-1.41155&spn=0.007398,0.017992&sll=53.395717,-1.499456&sspn=0.473718,1.151505&t=m&hnear=Meadowhall+Rd,+Sheffield,+United+Kingdom&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.416925,-1.411505&panoid=qOdm4TCibWo7m9UMIHsPKw&cbp=12,226.12,,0,14.06 ]HERE[/url] i am in the right hand lane, guy to my left decides he'd rather run me into the oncoming traffic than let me in.
This is what i have to deal with day in, day out.
In my experience, people do normally drop back a bit if you ease off. If they don't, then at least you will be going slower when they hit you. I think a lot of it isn't actually aggressive, it simply does not occur to people to brake until they are 2cm from your bumper. I just assume they are born optimists, expecting that eventually the car in front will match their speed rather than the other way around.
If they don't, then at least you will be going slower when they hit you
When they do hit you from behind, it'll be their fault but that still won't save you any hassle of f*cking around with insurance claims and potentially not being able to get home or to work. Last thing anyone wants is to be stuck in the rain having a face-off.
What if his wife was just about to give birth?
He should've called for an ambulance.
What if his wife was just about to give birth?
He should've called for an ambulance.
Unless there are complications, they wouldn't send an ambulance out for a pregnant woman.
But you were so hell bent on not letting him past that you put them in a dangerous situation which caused them to crash. How bad would you feel if she miscarried or her husband died at the wheel? Would it be wort it for the extra car place?
Eh? I wasn't hell bent on not letting him past - he could have passed at any safe point, but there weren't any. Travelling at the speed limit, when someone behind is intent on going much faster isn't irresponsible. And I wouldn't have lost any car places, had he got past, he'd have been long gone at 5am. I'm not going to be intimidated into pulling over by some nobber though.
No stereotypes to re-inforce - he was driving a 7.5t truck like a complete bellend. I was driving safely FACT!
"What if his wife was just about to give birth?
He should've called for an ambulance."
"Unless there are complications, they wouldn't send an ambulance out for a pregnant woman."
which is why there is no need to drive quickly in that scenario.
I came down the A1 last night from Harrogate and it was full, bumper to bumper, with X5/ML450's all hacking tail/nose/tail and a blur of red brake lights.
Like Xmas it was all over again.. 🙄
which is why there is no need to drive quickly in that scenario.
Perhaps, but that wasn't the point.
I'm not a fan of speeding (mainly because it's expensive and speed awareness courses are the dullest 5 hours you will ever pass) but I am also not a fan of the uber-careful driver that goes 25 in a 30 and brakes every time they see a speed camera sign. Or people that deliberately like to hold other people up on the road. They incite road rage, and therefore accidents. Nothing wrong with driving according to the speed limits, but deliberately driving in such a way as to p somebody off is just as dangerous as speeding or being an idiot in other ways, IMO, because it is aggressive driving, and generally aggressive drivers are poor drivers, because they are not motivated by safety, they are motivated by irritating or getting back at other road users.
Take a chill pill, let the tailgating idiot pass if you're not in a hurry and leave speed enforcement to the cops.