As I moved out of the reach of the idiot that tried to punch me....

AMGeed

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I'm in Rory's camp when it comes to tailgating and speedsters. Just pull over if possible and let them go. It's not worth the hassle of a burn up and the possibilities it brings. I know my car has the beating of most on the road anyway when it comes to top speed or acceleration in the right place and time.;)

Case in point, going to the local swimming pool last evening in the outside lane of a two lane dual carriageway with a 40mph limit, I had an Audi A4 diseasle practically in my boot such was his insistence on being in front of me. I pulled across to the inside lane and he gave me the benefit of his prowess by speeding up to 60+mph and pulling in front of me again in the inside lane.
Oh did I laugh when an unmarked BMW traffic car behind me pulled out with his blue light flashing. Cue A4 stopped and probably ticketed with a fine and 3points. Just not worth rising to the bait anymore.
 

A.J.

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AJ - deflecting a bit from the gist of the point I was making.

Your role on the road is not to monitor / police / control the behaviour of other motorists and it could lead to unintended consequences.
Point taken but these people should not be encouraged :rolleyes:
 
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sausage

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Morning all,
imagine the scene: A short road trip to PING HQ to get my golf clubs fitted (for free) to my height and swing, followed by two days of golf, food, whisky and wine with good mates at a nice country house spa/golf hotel. A 6am departure from home (I like those early mornings when no one is around). Roof was down, music on, sun shining.

I was in a great mood, and yes I did indicate left and pull over to let the idiot past - because once someone like that overtakes, they are gone and no longer harassing me. That seemed the best thing. However, he screamed in front of me accused me of brake checking him and went mental. Three things I do not do: 1) tailgate, 2) brake check 3) hog the wrong lane - because I think they are all very inconsiderate to others, as well as dangerous.

He must have been attending an emergency, one called "late for work" I think. 10 minutes earlier he and I had both been in the same shop and I had over heard his conversation with a shop keeper, as I left the shop I saw he had parked his Land Rover parked in the main carriage way alongside an empty parking spot and facing into the on coming traffic, with his driver's door wide open. He bought anti-histamine for his son who he was taking to work and was the reason for running late.

After I bumped the back of his car, I then did have to get out of my car, and asked for his details. His aggression suddenly changed to picking up the broken bits of my grill and trying to refit them! Possibly because I was several inches taller than him and in much better shape. I asked for his insurance details he just pushed the button to open the tailgate, and confessed to it being his "missus' car" and not having any insurance. He then went back to his drivers door I assumed to get a pen or paper, and got in and sped off at speeds I was not comfortable doing, and with his boot open all the way. I then realised he had opened the tailgate to stop me seeing his reg plate.
 
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sausage

sausage

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A bit more:
I phoned the police (now 5 days ago) and the shop. The shop has saved the CCTV footage and you can see him, me and his shocking parking across the various cameras. Alas the shop do not know him and the reg plate is not visible in the footage. The shop were very helpful. Not heard from the police yet.

I am going to need a body shop for the bonnet. Any thoughts on how my insurer might view this in terms of "whose fault"? (I'm with NFU Mutual - who are not as good as they claim to be) :)
 
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sausage

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Agree. My instinct is also to try and prevent them but ................

.......but there are too many of them these days :) We are fighting a losing battle.

I was filling up, watching a calamity on the forecourt between a little city car and a motorhome with the motorhome driver getting more and more frustrated by the bad driver in the city car. The motorhome driver could not see me watching. He filled up, went to pay. As he returned to his vehicle he called to his passenger "There is one born every minute".

I called out "It is a lot more than one a minute!"

Even Hollywood twigged on to the issue many years ago :

Alarming !!!
 

M80

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A.J. / Rory I'm not sure you're on different pages.

I'm happy to cruise all day in the inside lane at 58(ish). But now and again I want to pass some one slower.
Often I'll see little spaces between cars passing in the middle / outside lane (if dual carriageway). In truth if these drivers kept a 'safe' distance i could find a space to pull out into, although that admittedly would reduces their safe distance. So more often I've to indicate as a car is alongside my front wheel and slot in as he passes. If I indicate earlier it could unnerve the car passing and the impatient driver following (too close) may take that opportunity to close up more.
I don't like having to do it that way but I think it's unacceptable that I should be kept to the inside lane.

If the traffic in whatever outer lane is moving faster I accelerate to reduce any frustration, but any over impatient, more important, driver than I can bl**dy wait there. I do pull back in when it's safe for the vehicle I've passed, and if there I'm not coming up on more in front that would cause the same slot in manoeuvre soon.

It's amazing how many will snort my exhaust gasses when after I've pulled over they can only take up a few yards to do the same to the next, who of course is behind a continual stream of vehicles.

They get frustrated because they, w/o much thought process, feel I am in their way.
I get frustrated because it takes little for the prats to plough the back of me.

No I won't brake check, but I have been known to decelerate and use my emergency flashers.
 

rorywquin

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A.J. / Rory I'm not sure you're on different pages......



...........No I won't brake check, but I have been known to decelerate and use my emergency flashers.
Not sure what you mean on the first line so, no comment.:)

I don’t brake check either and I never get close enough to be brake checked. I have found, that often when someone is tailgating, it just that they are zoned out. A few seconds of hazard lights does seem to snap them out of it and they usually drop back.

Any defensive driver training will teach you to manage the space around your vehicle and always have "somewhere to go” - don’t get yourself boxed in. e.g. Pulling from the left lane into a tiny gap in the middle lane with traffic speeding down the fast lane is not a good idea. This seems to be pretty common practise on the motorway.
 

M80

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Any defensive driver training will teach you to manage the space around your vehicle and always have "somewhere to go”
As an advanced motorbicyclist you learn that one. It's more relevant as there aren't many second chances on those.
 
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sausage

sausage

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On the roads around me I often reflect that I can see an almost empty road, but several cars all bunched up together, if I did want to overtake I need to do all cars in one go or squeeze into a small gap between the cars. Surely for those people driving like this, often in a a little yaris or similar they would have a safer and more enjoyable drive if they backed off for a minute, then they could proceed at the same speed without having a car 3 metres in front of them, but am empty stress free road with more time to react to road events up ahead.
I understand the idiots that have just enough horse power to overtake are often tailgating to maximise overtaking ability, regardless I still think tailgating and driving too close together is really stupid, especially when they have no intent to overtake. Keep the space around the car, but don't hog the middle lane on a motorway to do so;I read it reduces the roads capacity by 30% on a 3 lane motorway, 50% on a dual carriage way - unbelievably selfish to affect so many other motorists this way.

I believe tailgating is harassment and bullying.

My repair bill is approaching £1300, and my insurance company have just given the boilerplate, no offer to help or investigate the implications of a claim. NCD protected, but a dozen other metrics they can use to increase my premium. Looks like I am going to self fund the repair. Hopefully the new grill arrives today.
 

rorywquin

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On the roads around me I often reflect that I can see an almost empty road, but several cars all bunched up together, if I did want to overtake I need to do all cars in one go or squeeze into a small gap between the cars. ......................etc
I call them zombie clusters. Stay well away.

I find it incredibly annoying when driving behind a couple of cars that are all behind a slow moving vehicle. None of them is trying to overtake and there is no gap between them to allow someone (me) that does want to overtake to frog leap them and get past the slow vehicle.

I don’t know why drivers feel that need to not allow someone into "their” gap. I leave a very safe distance (minimum 2 sec rule) and if a person goes into the gap, I just drop back. The time it will add to my journey is probably immeasurable.

Only thing worse, is everyone lining up in the left lane when approaching a merge and the right lane is empty. There is a merge on the A64 after the A1237 roundabout near York (Scarborough Road) where all the idiots get into the left lane and get backed up several 100 meters through the roundabout causing traffic chaos.

Where did they all learn to drive?
 
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sausage

sausage

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Lesson learned: SHOP AROUND!!!

Collected the car earlier this week, it is now fully repaired with a new grill (ebay and fitted that myself) and re-painted front and paint blown into wings.

When I bought the car, there were stone chips (low bonnets on sports cars do tend to get more chips), I ordered a touch up stick from Mercedes. The colour match was appalling and I persevered with it thinking that the lacquer or drying process might help with the difference in colour. It didn't and it looked like it had tar spots where I had touched up the paint.

The good news, new grill (modern look) fitted, all paint now looking nice with no "tar spots" from my touch up stick. - In short, she is looking better than when I bought her.

Quotes for the paint ranged from £450 + vat for someone to come and do it on my drive - risky approach for a bonnet. To £1400 + vat for chipsaway!

I thought chipsaway were a "£50 a scratch" type place!

Main dealer - £1180 inc vat with zero guarantees - on a "Best endeavors basis" - they wanted to change the bonnet for sake of a tiny tiny tiny tiny dent!

I took it to a friend of the family who has run a motor engineering shop for decades, he quoted £380 +vat if they need to do the whole bonnet, less if they didn't.
 


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