Driving in excess of a 1000 miles a week I see a lot of unmarked police cars one advantage of my previous job is I happen to know the regs of quite a lot of them I will admit though it depends on where u live as to the number of police around here in manchester there alot of the buggers
Yeah, itâs really the difference between being in a metropolitan area - you, and a back-of-beyond rural area - me. Â Phoned to report a break-in at a neighbours, was asked if I could go over to see what was going on and report back! Â My reply was short and succinct! Â Luckily the villains were scared off by a manic bull-mastiff!
THEY must read our posts! A police traffic car has just gone by, the first in ???
Or maybe thereâs a âcopperâs narkâ among the OC members!!
You tempted fate by saying you have never been pulled lol
Had this happen to me at night, on a dual carriageway reduced to one lane with temporary speed restriction and Live speed camera.
Foreign registerd Lorry inches off me and flahing his lights, scary and the good lady scared witless next to me.
Unbeknown to me an unmarked traffic car going the other way saw this and spun round then followed and filmed him.
Arrested, put in court the next day and banned and 3 months of her majestys Bed and Breakfast, plus a hefty fine.
Nothing representive of the Trucker community, just a random idiot in a hurry.
My strategy is as recommended, let them go. Just one point, do check your speedo against a sat nav, our X Trail was wildly out, reading 30when in fact true speed was only 25 - no wonder people were getting annoyed when the wife thought she was sticking to a 30 limit!!!
Pretty much every time I go out for a drive someone tailgates me, problem is most people are lazy drivers and canât be bothered leaving an appropriate distance it seems. I even got tailgated by a police van all the way home from work one night⌠Usually I just slow down a bit below the speed limit, or gently tap the brake so the brake lights come on and hope they crap themselves and back off. Sometimes works⌠ people are just too damn ignorant.Â
Tailgating - one of my pet hates and I have theory is that itâs partly down to the tailgater stereotyping the driver in front. When I drive the MX5, Iâm sometimes tailgated, when I drive my BMW X1, Iâm rarely tailgated and when I drive my daughterâs Polo, Iâm often tailgated. Same goes for recent cars Iâve owned; BMW 3 Series - rarely, Alfa 159 - rarely, Subaru Forester - often (even though it was the 2.5 turbo), BMW 1 Series convertible - often. I could go on but I think you get my point.
Interesting responses
If youâre getting ready to overtake need to be fairly close, if itâs not likely I back off a bit. Canât say Iâve ever been tailgaited, not really bothered about the car behind unless he tries to overtake just as I do! My problem is with people who 40 in a 60, 40 in a 50, 40 in a 30 and 30 in a 20 with kids playing. Tootaling along playing with their sat nav, on the phone, texting, waving at Mx5s and worrying what the car behind is doing instead of looking where they are going. ### incoming!,⌠Oh and sitting behind cyclists for ever because pressing the go pedal might spoil their 55mph consumption .
I do get what the post above is meant to mean about the crew that stick to 40 just about everywhere. Either way though if the road unknown, conditions unsuitable or for example a small road then clearly doing the âspeed limitâ is unlikely or more to the point stupid then you might as just to let them be and as you say if you get a safe clear opportunity then overtake.
Over cyclists the same is true, around here far to many squeeze cyclists to get past rather than doing it a more courteous and safe manner.
The flipside is recently I have had to report a guy for tailgating the BMW whilst doing the indicated speed limit, tailgated the car behind that then turned off, sped up behind and started flashing his lights. I pulled over and because he was such a numpty he pulled too close to go past, got out of his van and started having a goâŚlucky for me the dashcam got the whole incident and I reported to the company in question. Best bit of all is denied flashing his lights! But could not deny driving too close because of the video.
As for what looks like tailgating and not then yes sometimes in both my cars the vehicle behind looks closer than reality, the sad fact of the matter is many would not be seen as too close if they were the minimum recommended two seconds behind in good conditions and furthermore many do not follow tyres and tarmac.
Over using sat navâs to get a more âaccurateâ speed then I would be careful as the accuracy depending on terrain and signal strength (and either way it is a max of 10% out for cars).
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Good idea
The only thing worse than tailgaters is people who drive too slowly ten feet in front of your front bumper.
How did they get there? Driving backwards towards you?
Surely you got yourself there, which makes you a tailgater!
Drop back and overtake when itâs safe to do so.
Later, upon reflection:-
Silly me! Of course you meant it as joke!
Very subtle!
Best post so far.
Thanks Nick!
I like your sense of humour , priceless
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It was actually a comment made by a brilliant instructor at a speed awareness course I had the pleasure to attend last year. If you ever get the chance of attending one of these rather than getting points on your license they are very worthwhile. Got caught doing 36 in a 30 limit, it was just into the limited area and I was slowing down. I was driving a white van at the time so didnât realise that it applied to me. Before anybody comments, that last bit is a joke too.
Before opening myself up to criticism, let me say loud and clear that I do not endorse the response to tailgating by âFastâ Eddy in David Lynchâs Lost Highway. But, unless you are of a nervous disposition, it is worth watching the clip to the end:Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_QtI1-YKNI
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Unlike films, which is the only place it works, ramming people will only ever burst your radiator, but even more impressive, he gets in the car and there is a queue of stationary traffic outside the garage, 3 seconds later he reverses onto an empty road.Â
Can I live in film world please?Â