How to Handle Tailgaters on the Road

From Wikihow : You may have learned the value of driving your car at speeds you can handle but how do you deal with a driver who offensively drives too close behind you? This article will give you some ways to practice simple, safe, and effective measures to get out of a potentially dangerous tailgating situation.

Remain calm! Losing your cool means losing control, and losing control of your vehicle is the last thing you want to do. Deep breaths are a big help. Focus on your situation, and not on the radio or passengers or cell phones, (which you might want to avoid using while driving, especially in a tense situation).

Consider your own judgement of what is too close. Drivers who are accustomed to driving in urban areas tend to be more comfortable driving closer to other cars that drivers from rural areas where traffic is generally less dense. It could be your judgement of the situation that is causing you stress rather than the reality of distance between cars and the other driver may not agree that they are tailgating. The important goal is to relief stress for both drivers since either driver is subject to "road rage" behavior based on their individual perception of the situation.

Always know your local driving laws. Tailgating is generally against the law, as is causing an accident by driving into someone's back bumper. While you don't want to be in an accident, the aggressive driver behind you will most likely be at fault if he or she drives into you. Chances are they know the outcome if they hit you, and will want to avoid doing so.

Pull over and allow the vehicle behind you to pass, if it is safe to do so. This is always the most rapid way of getting rid of a tailgater. If the car behind you is catching up, there's a good chance the driver wants to go faster. If it's safe to do so, let him/her.

• On narrower roads, use turnouts to allow others to pass when it is safe to do so. In many places, it is required that slower traffic use turnouts. Elsewhere, it is simply polite.
• On a winding road, do not speed up so drastically at passing lanes that others cannot pass. Many drivers go slowly and cautiously around curves and then get on a straightaway and feel that they have the space or visibility to dart ahead. Have the patience to let others past.

 If at all possible, slow slightly and move away from the center of the road; allowing the tailgater to pass safely. Normally a tailgater just wants to drive faster, so they will pass and leave you alone. If you know people want to pass you, try to stay out of the high speed (passing) lane(s).

 Maintain a constant speed. This allows the tailgating driver to predict when he can pass you. Avoid speeding up and slowing down to send him a message - this only increases his frustration level.

• When in doubt, use your cruise control. This can help ensure that you remain at a constant speed of your choosing, and helps prevent accelerating when an agitating driver is trying to "push" you into speeding up. Plus, you are likely in a tense situation already. Using cruise control means you don't have to concentrate on your speed as much, so you can concentrate more on removing yourself from this situation.

 Above all else, do not be a source of the problem. If you cannot switch lanes for any reason, various laws of physics are going to prevent the tailgater from driving through you. However, if you're matching speed with a vehicle beside you, perhaps you should consider slowing down and switching lanes. Defusing the dangerous situation is far more advantageous than bickering over the speed limit.


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The reason for this entry is.. I was tailgated today, and I wanted to keep thinking it was my imagination.. The guy kept coming close then fading and did this over a fifteen mile span of the road.. Finally we got to our hometown and the guy pulls off just three streets before ours.. Did he know us??  I don;t know, what was he trying to pull??  Was he trying to freak me out.. I should mention something important here, but first.. My idea was to turn him in,  he was also hugging the white line and crossing it several times.. He would fade to about a hundred yards back and then crowd close to my rear bumper.. Then fade again and did this several times.. I could only think this idiot was testing my patience and trying to see what I might do.. I kept thinking what is with this dip shit... He can't be a legal driver, CAN HE??  By the way we have a celebration going on right now called Oktoberfest and so you might think he was an idiot early day drinker, and maybe he was but I have my doubts.. He lives in our town and I'm pretty sure I know where he lives..  By the way, when he turned he confirmed my suspicion, he was driving a state patrol car...

Badge Henry


(P.S. By the way this was no joke piece, the same thing happened a year ago, only last year it was  late at night around one in the morning.. Last year this car pulled up behind me at about the same exact point on the road home and he very nearly was tailgating me again.. But in this case it took him about three miles before he decided to pull me over.. I bet he thought, I got a drunk.. Guess again asshole.. I'm slowly changing my mind about law enforcement...He last year was riding my bumper fairly close, then backed off as if he was about to pass then clicked on his cherries...  I came so close yesterday to pulling over to turn or just pulling over to talk to the officer and telling him tailgating is illegal in all fifty states, learn to drive.. What he was doing was illegal, either pass or back off and enjoy the ride.. I'm not in a big hurry, if you're trying to incite me to speed up and break the law you've got a long wait... I set the speed to 57mph, if you want to go faster PASS ME... And he could have there were plenty of open spaces large enough for a police car on a donut run to pass me.. )