Do drivers who tailgate not realize how dangerous and stupid this is?

Answer 1

Obviously not! Tailgating is a commonplace dangerous practice on our roads. In my experience the police do little or nothing to prosecute tailgaters. If tailgating were reduced by a combination of education and enforcement our roads would clearly become safer.
Tailgating is the dangerous practice of following very close to the vehicle in front. In most circumstances a proper gap is 2 seconds long or one yard for every mph (these are two different ways of expressing the same distance). Close following or the advanced driver's "overtaking position" are about 1 second behind the vehicle in front. Anything closer than about 1 second can reasonably be described as tailgating, although some people only use the term when the following distance is very small, perhaps under one car's length.
Advice to all drivers?
Do not be a tailgater! Leave a proper 2 second "time to react" gap under all normal circumstances, and more in bad weather.!!!

Answer 2

Answering honestly and from someone who has tailgated before, I have to say sometimes no you dont think about it as much as you should. There are the times when say your on the motorway and you have been driving so long u dont realise that your just that bit close to the car infront or you pull back in and end up right behind someone.

But you also get the otherside of the coin where, dont people who drive slower than the flow of traffic realise they are being just as dangerous? O.K having someone floowing them right on their tail doesnt make it any safer, but who do these people think they are really helping by doing 20 in a 30 with junctions on it or 50 in the middle lane on the motorway

so hands up i've done it but if your prosectuing us then the opposites must get the same treatment!!!

Answer 3

Couldn't agree more, there are alot of sleepy, dozy or just plain selfish and dangerous tossers out there. Tailgating when there is clearly a massive cue in all three lanes is stupid. However I would agree with the one of the other guy's comments about not hogging a lane and driving slowly (or slower than those behind me want to go). I just wish people would look in their mirrors as a habit not once a year to check whats behind them. And move into the middle or slow lane if there someone is behind them (of course tailgating in the slower lanes makes this hard too). Also lorries should be confined to the slow lane only. Its flaming ridiculous when they span all three lanes. Also they should, along with freight trains, be confined to night freighting. Maybe we should all write our MPs (mmm, In wonder how likely is that?)

Answer 4

I don't tailgate as a rule but if the vehicle in fron't is going slow, i get in a position to pass which is easier when closer than far back.

Answer 5

Drivers who tailgate really need to see an optometrist.

Answer 6

Do YOU not realize how dangerous and stupid it is to drive too slow, holding up everybody else, or to refuse to get out of the fast lane when a car needs to pass???

Answer 7

I saw someone tailgating one of those big artic.lorries on the motorway. He was leaning forward peering over his steering wheel. I couldn't decide if he was so short sighted he couldn't see where he was or if he was trying to read some small print on the lorry.

Answer 8

I know it's infuriating when drivers do this. I do find it annoying when people drive well below the speed limit in front of me but I simply overtake when it's safe to do so - I don't drive right up their you know what.

Answer 9

Oh yes I think they know exactly what they are doing, they are little worms who dig in deep to annoy the life out the rest of us, best thing to do is to keep breaking, so annoying for them too.

Answer 10

they need reporting, its because of tailgaters that accidents in the fast lane happen....if someone does it to you jot down their plate and call it in to your local police station, they will then put it on file for the traffic police.