Tapping brakes on Tailgaters? Ethics?

Wallyt99 on 02/12/2018 - 19:07

Just wondering people's thoughts on tapping brakes on Tailgaters.

Had some young hoons come up speeding behind me. Started tailgating and waving their arms. I was in the FAR LEFT lane. Going slightly below speed limit due to heavy traffic (maintaining stopping distance / matching speed of traffic). There was a truck in the centre lane so they couldn't easily overtake.

When this occured I slowed down further.

They got more and more agressive and so I tapped the brakes. No collision - but they shit themselves and backed off.

They eventually passed - winding down their window and trying to have a go at me…. But when they saw me they decided that would be a bad idea.

I was driveing a large SUV and they were driving a small Japanese car - so I wasn't worried for my safety if they did impact me. I was more concerned that their appalling driving could cost lives…and as a motorcyclist on other days - that includes mine. Basically I hate pricks like this and wanted to teach them a lesson.

What are your thoughts on this?

Automotive

Comments

          • The Gent on 11/12/2018 - 22:09

            @CMH: I don't drive aggresively though?

            I'll say again: if the other driver is in the other lane, why would that affect them unless they are breaking the law?

            Act like a prick, get treated like one…No issue with people overtaking, issue with people driving dangerously with no real stopping distance - what issue do you have with that?

  • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2018 - 21:31

    I'm surviving on a bike , how am I so terrible.
    I overtake you and get out onto a bit of space.
    What an awful person I am?

    Pull that farcing head in.!

  • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2018 - 21:34

    The stupidity is overwhelming

  • Murpha on 04/12/2018 - 21:50
    +1

    Don't brake test. Don't flash hazards. Don't dramatically slow your speed. Don't speed up if they're attempting to overtake. Just continue driving sensibly - agitation can increase the danger. If they still don't get the hint, be the bigger person and move/pull over (if safe/possible to do so) and let them pass. You never know, a cop may clock them just up the road and they'll get just deserts.

    While it is absolutely no excuse for tailgating - try to remember that your car may appear to read at the limit, but may not be accurate. Tyre pressure, tyre size differing from factory specification, aftermarket wheels, factory speedometer calibration, vehicle age, etc, can lead to people doing different speeds. Don't try to dictate other people's speed (regardless of who's in the right) - it only further endangers lives. I've seen so many near hits from tailgaters growing agitated and overtaking in very, very dangerous circumstances. We should all try to minimize risk, even if the other driver isn't, by being patient, tolerant, and courteous.

  • funnysht on 04/12/2018 - 23:55

    It's not worth it…rem if you fight with pigs, you both get dirty but they like it.

  • onlyletters on 05/12/2018 - 05:56

    Easier solution. Get out of the way and let them through.

  • tommo0468 on 05/12/2018 - 08:51

    I tend to turn my rear Fog lights on when someone tailgates me. They are much brighter than my brake lights. Tricks them into thinking you are slowing down when you aren't.

  • blackfrancis75 on 05/12/2018 - 10:26

    The official advice is: Don't slow down, Don't speed up. Just make sure you have extra safe stopping distance in front of you before the next car.

    Side-note: We know Australia has a tailgating epidemic, as international experts have confirmed. Damns fools just too ignorant and don't care that they're jeopardizing your life for whatever petty reason.

  • slipperypete on 05/12/2018 - 10:46

    when I had an older car I would pull on the handbrake….no lights come on that way. They stop doing it soon enough and I was wasn't too concerned about my car being damaged, especially as it had a towbar.

  • Shwayne on 05/12/2018 - 11:39

    Why do you half arse it? Just reverse into them.

    If you can answer that then you know the answer to the initial question.

  • ensanguined on 05/12/2018 - 12:43

    My Dad taught me an awesome move where you keep your pedal on the accelerator as normal but ever so slightly tap the breaks. The idea is that there is a sweet spot where your car won't actually break but the break lights still illuminate, causing the tards behind you to stop heavily in a panic…yet you're still doing the same speed! HAHA!

    To be honest I haven't ever done this, because I'm usually driving with the kids, but I try to find a way to get away from these tards and reassure myself that sooner or later they will encounter each other and only seriously injury or a police intervention will result. HAHA AGAIN!

  • Traveller107 on 05/12/2018 - 13:41
    +1

    I do a lot of highway driving and cruise at the precise allowed speed in the left lane. I drive a lifted Patrol and many people with smaller vehicles start to tailgate dangerously close after 4pm I suppose to avoid Roos at dusk feeling safer behind a 4wd. Most refuse to over take despite of the right lane being available and don't back off to a safe distance if I slow down gently. I often have to pull over to get rid of them.

    Tailgating accident in Brissy suburbia- Few years ago I was driving at the max allowed speed of 50 in suburbia with a moron tailgating me in her newish sedan. Anyways lo and behold I saw a little boy appear on the road in front of me shooting downhill from his driveway(driveway hidden by parked cars) and I slammed the breaks at his first sight stopping a meter or two away from him. The moron behind me drove straight into my rear steel bar.
    End result- The boy was safe and shaken; the mother was running after him and was very thankful, overwhelmed and apologetic; I ended up with tiny scratch marks on my rear steel bar and tow ball; the tailgating moron had her face in an airbag and the front of her car crushed under my rear bar and bash plate. Her car was written off and she didn't have insurance (surprise surprise)and my insurer told her to bugger off.
    Most tailgaters are too silly to realise they are risking a lot of lives and have no right to put others in danger.

    Funny brake check incident- On our way to the games in WA my mate brake checked a tailgating lady behind us. She ended up being a cop in an unmarked vehicle! Flashed lights, overtook us and pulled us over :P Started threatening with a reckless driving fine. When we pointed to the dash cam and her reckless driving she left :P That day we realised how important rear dash cams can be.

  • Baysew on 05/12/2018 - 15:10
    +1

    Tap out a message in morse code.

  • greencomet on 05/12/2018 - 15:28
    +2

    Just continue to drive normally, or get out of their way (when you can legally and safely) if it's really upsetting you. By brake checking or slowing down you run the risk of starting a road rage situation with the moron behind you, also if you sit in front purposely going slow and using your brakes you run the risk of them doing something stupid in order to get around you, putting yourself, them and other road users at risk. There's a lot of idiots on the road, just read the situation, be safe and be the bigger person.

  • TRANCE on 05/12/2018 - 21:29

    I drive like a nut but the one rule I don't break is keeping a safe distance from the car in front. Because I don't trust them.

  • luffyex2010 on 06/12/2018 - 03:09

    with great powers comes great responsibilities

  • Davo723 on 06/12/2018 - 10:06

    But when they saw me they decided that would be a bad idea.

    Humble brag

  • Speckled Jim on 06/12/2018 - 10:57

    One of the much-touted advantages of level 5 autonomous transportation will be the ability to follow one another at very close proximity. It's supposed to be advantageous in several practical ways.
    I do wonder how (un)comfortable we'd feel being boxed-in, but there'd likely be switchable opaque LCD glass. So one could…use their time productively?
    ;)

  • StickMan on 06/12/2018 - 13:34
    +1

    1. Your speedo can over-read by up to 10%. You might think "WOW WHAT A BAD SPEEDSTER" but you're doing 90kmph in a 100 zone and you don't know it.

    2. Actively harassing road users via means such as brake checking or blocking off lanes because you THINK they are speeding and thus bad, is insanity. There is a myriad of reasons why someone would speed (cop taking command of vehicle to respond to emergency? One easy example) and it's not your business to 'police' road users. Let people pass, they are gone in a couple seconds, why do you care so much.

    3. I feel like people in Australia don't realise how relatively safe we are. Brake checking is an act of aggression. In Russia or some US states, you might get a gun pulled on you.

    tl;dr let people do their thing if it doesn't impact you. If you think it might impact you (tailgating), don't worry about it until it well and truly does impact you (crash).

  • AliG on 06/12/2018 - 16:29

    Lets teach someone else a lesson by putting your own life in danger
    Very smart

  • ziggy1312 on 06/12/2018 - 16:59

    Why I love pre dpf diesels. Drop it down a gear and batmobilie

  • baskinghobo on 06/12/2018 - 20:56

    One time I had to slow down because the car in front of me decided to join the lane and cut me off a bit. A hoon behind me thought it was a good idea to overtake me and flip me off but not the clearly visible car in front of me. Best to get over these things as some of these hoons literally lack any brain cells and cannot be reasoned with.

  • nakahanap on 06/12/2018 - 21:57

    I don’t like tailgating either.

    Like everyone else, I have had lights flashed at me, been sworn at and…possibly less commonly but certainly memorably …had someone try to run me off the road for ignoring the light flashing (I was doing 40kms in a zone that would ordinarily be 70 as there were roadworks and.signage pertaining to this).

    I can’t say I haven’t done the brake tapping but I tend to slow down a little, then if they continue I slow a little more. It keeps safe stopping distances and the tailgating person usually drives off. I say usually because there are always crazy people. Sometimes I change lanes to get away from the crazy.

    • CMH on 07/12/2018 - 11:30

      Another good way to get rid of crazy is to pull over and let them pass. Crazy in front is safer than crazy behind you.

      • nakahanap on 08/12/2018 - 13:32

        Depending on road conditions, sure.

  • Croshema on 10/12/2018 - 11:35

    TLDR.

    But honestly, your driving along, as a conscientious driver, aware of your surroundings, aware of the risks of tailgating, and you decide that brake check might be a good idea?

    And as to proving who did what in the event of a collision, that's some peoples major concern, I would be more worried about the other vehicles driver being a nutcase or the collision escalating to where bodily harm takes place.

  • sd4f on 13/12/2018 - 10:47

    NSW handbook suggests to slow down. Generally that's what's best, they'll get the message eventually, otherwise, they'll overtake and you'll probably see them at the lights anyway.

  • woody007 on 13/12/2018 - 23:30

    don't check brake, or someone is gonna sock a jab to the teef.

  • Ughhh on 13/12/2018 - 23:38

    I've seen people driving in small /ordinary sedans/low cars tailgating trucks, tall utes etc. The stupidity preventing them from calculating who has a higher chance of becoming a vegetable vs a tiny scratch.

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