How Do You Punish Tailgators?
 

Well, we all know how annoying it is. You're jetting around in your freshly waxed little sports car looking all cool and that. Then, some jack*ss in some monstrosity pulls in behind you and sticks himself about 5ft away from your rear end... At 50mph... In a no passing zone, or where there is too much traffic.

Most of us have our rituals for that. Some of us slow down a bit. Some of us slow down a lot. Some of us outright stop. Some of us floor it. Some of us give a few choice hand signals.

So - what is your ritual?

I wait till the next stop, hold at the light till they honk, and floor it, leaving him in a big grey cloud of smoke (I love rear wheel drive), and a clear message in their head.

Dangerous? Maybe. Illegal? Slightly. They initiated the road rage by following that closely at near highway speeds.

So, whats your ritual?

EDIT: I understand a little tailgating - but - more and more now I have people doing it dangerously close at 50+mph.

Punish tail-gaters?

I used to when i was young and immature go real slow or tap the break lights repeatedly, or both.
Nowadays i don't give a rat's, i'm older and wiser.
No point in getting agitated over something that you can't change.
Much better for the health.

Wow. My father is in his late 60's and he's getting worse, not better, lol

All i can say is:
I have seen the errors of my ways.
Stuff like Hoons and young punks who think that the world revolves around them don't phase me one bit.
And why should it. Like i said, not good for the health, getting annoyed and getting all aggro doesn't change their mentality, or their behaviour.

I do it to avoid them catching up to me - give them a what the hell moment so I have time to get them off my back

I know someone else who tail-gates.
The Cops.
What they do is come up real close to the back of you, then they drop back to a distance, then right up close again.
Attempting to entice you to speed (up) and ie break the law.
So be careful who you leave in a cloud of smoke.
Here in Australia the Cops drive P-Plate cars, (p plates are restricted licenses before you get your open license).
They also drive around in V8 Muscle cars, to catch the ignorant and unawares.

In America it takes a trained eye. You have to look for the thin line on their headliner indicating a lightbar. And they all have v8s in the metro area. I can still out run, but that would be dumb.

In the middle of nowhere some of them drive Toyotas, which I find to be so comical since I have almost 500 rear wheel horses that I don't know of I could stop laughing long enough to stop.

Where I am, tho, tailgating is illegal and even cops don't do it at over 35mph. They're okay with speeding a bit so long as you try other options first

If someone tailgates me in traffic I just ignore them, as there's nothing you can really do that isn't illegal or just plain stupid. If someone follows me too closely in town but no traffic I'll speed up just a tiny bit. If they continue to stay on my tail I signal and pull over to the curb, allowing them to pass. On the open road I just wave them on by.

Most tailgaters aren't doing it on purpose, they just aren't paying attention to their driving and following closely is easier than trying to actually think about maintaining a constant distance. "Punishing" them will sooner or later get you in trouble, and you'll end up in jail, in civil court, or in the hospital.

I just turn on the rear fog-lights. I bothers them enough that they start keeping distance.
Or if I have a passenger, I tell them to climb on the back seat and starts making faces to anyone that's behind us :DL

I'm a bikerider...so don't get tailgated a lot :O: but I do tailgate cars that refuse to move aside to a lane to their right! :shifty: God I hate them left driving idiots that go around 70 - 80km/h on the left lanes of a freeway that allows up to 110km/h.

HunterICX

I do that too. And then I start flashing them and honking.
Funny thing is sometimes, people with AUDI's or BMW refuse to move and you see me in a 50hp Clio trying to get a 300hp car to move out of the way :haha:

I normally ignore them and if possible move over and let them through. If they get insistent and start flashing their lights etc. I switch on my rear fog lamps which light up my tail lights as if I've jumped on the brakes.

Thats usually enough to get them to back off a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHqJVGaYArk
:DL

Best to ignore them, no good ever came of road rage.

Mind you I remember the days with joy when I'd change the complexion on their faces as I slapped them with a fixed penalty notice.

"Next time don't forget, only those in uniform can drive like they are a wing commander....enjoy the rest of your day. Oh and don't forget you have twenty eight days to pay or a magistrate will be inviting you to his place of work to ask you why the delay".

500hp at the rear wheel is nice but you will never beat the cop radio. :03:

For tailgaters: if I'm doing the speed limit then tough beans. They can hang on my arse all day. Makes no difference to me. It is awfully hard to defend oneself after rear-ending a car.