[Closed] Don't be a Space Invader - thoughts?

Rear dash cams should be  fitted with a proximity sensor and a flashing light  that goes off if the vehicle behind is too close  whilst travelling at speed.

That'll discourage them.

Well the 'Don't be a lane-hogger' campaign didn't work that causes the tail-gating, so this will just be ignored too!

Waste of time, I agree. Whilst the message is good, no campaign will change the likelihood of getting caught, so plenty of people will continue to be entitled pricks.

People see driving as a right, instead of an earned privilege, and so will continue to give it as little overall care and attention as they can get away with, whether that be using their phone, tailgating or "punishing" other road users who have the audacity to get in their way...

Sadly I too expect the knickle-draggers, "what's the problem" AND "I'm in a hurry" types won't GAS

Well the ‘Don’t be a lane-hogger’ campaign didn’t work that causes the tail-gating

That's a bit victim blame-ey. You have to go the same speed as the lane hogger whether you try and intimidated them 6" off their bumper or two seconds back. And being two seconds back you've got space to accelerate into to overtake rather than pulling out into the 3rd lane at 56mph and wondering why there's now an Audi 6" from your bumper when in your mind it's all someone else's fault and your a perfect driver .

I can’t see it having much success as I regularly see 5-10 people every morning on their phones whilst driving. People have cottoned on that there just aren’t enough police around to actually enforce this stuff

There's a national police clamp-down on mobile phone use this week. Cheshire police have been putting loads of updates on their social media about catching people, so let's be careful out there entitled A-holes.

You can't just say 'I saw people on their phones therefore the campaign did not work'. That's just illogical. How do you know what the prevalence would have been without the campaign? A small number of people still drink drive but the vast majority of people don't and to do so makes you a social pariah. The attitude to drink driving when I learnt to drive in the 80's was very different and some of that has come about from campaigns.

😜👏👍

Guess what?

I’m all for the campaign 🤠

I assumed it may have been created for you, or even by you, bikebouy! 😅

These things might be difficult to police but since when has that been an excuse not to do it...or should be an acceptable excuse not to police it. Murder is quite a difficult crime to police, but we don't just give up and leave people to it. You're never going to catch 100% of offenders, but you're going to catch some, maybe most.

About time too in my view. While policing peoples speed is good it's the root cause of accidents on motorways and dual carriageways is driving too close to the car in front....Technology can help here and at least when people are caught we have a good framework to punish them sufficiently for them to consider changing their ways.

IAM have a campaign out about the very same topic too..

I doubt either campaign will be very effective though.. sadly.

I do remember seeing on the Autobahns of Germany similar campaigns with signs and flashing gantry signs when ever there were infringements, didn’t seem that effective back then and I wonder if the campaign is still running over there (1998-2007 era)

I regularly see drivers, usually in those tiny little pretend cars, tailgating camper vans. It's utter madness how close they get!

A blitz on mobile phone usage? Great!

It might be my life it saves -

or yours...

Look, the sooner you all realize I'm more important than you, and get out the way, the sooner tailgating will stop.

I've always thought that taking the mickey is better than trying to appeal to selfish people's better nature.

An advert - sharply dressed bloke, gets ready, adjusts his tie, picks up his Audi keyring - all looking very aspirational and smart..

Then he kneels down and thrusts his nose between the cheeks of a strager's bare arse and inhales deeply.

Then the message "keep your nose out of other people's business  - don't tailgate".

For the first time in my life (and I put my hands up its not clever) i brake checked someone yesterday. A14 dual carriageway outside lane, I reckon he could tell what brakes were on my bike which was lay flat in the boot as he was that close. Tiny dab to light up the rear and a full on rant in the rear view mirror which I'm sure he got the full gist off as his missus immediately turned to him and bollocked him. He dropped right back after that. As I say it's not something I'd ever do normally but I was stranded as the inside lane was busy and he was so close.

Get your stickers here!

http://www.highwaysengland.co.uk/staysafestayback

THERE ARE NO POLICE TO ENFORCE IT! Just sayin'.....

I'm just disappointed that the Insignia is the tailgatee and not the tailgater as per normal.. fastest cars on the road in my experience. If I'm not getting pushed along by an Audi it's an Insignia.

@kayak23

you may laugh but we all know that for every 20 miles you do on the motorway, you'll see at least 1 middle aged man in a sensible car working on his hypermiling about 0.548915 microns behind a massive artic.... (which must be taking up his entire field of vision)

Good idea to do public info stuff like this, we need more of it!  For all those saying it's a waste of time as there aren't any police on the roads, you're missing the child aspect here.  If a kid picks up on it and starts telling their parent off then it'll quickly have an effect.  It's probably one of the reasons they are using a computer character to promote it.

Surely tailgating is one of the easiest transgressions to monitor via a camera?  All it would take is a camera on a gantry or bridge that can measure a vehicle's speed.  If another vehicle is registered after within a pre-determined time (which is automatically adjusted to take into account the speed of the first vehicle) then a FPM is generated.  They could even be programmed to not register anything below 30 so as to account for heavy traffic too.  They could even be used as speed cameras and traffic density sensors for smart motorways!

you’ll see at least 1 middle aged man in a sensible car working on his hypermiling about 0.548915 microns behind a massive artic

My spidey sense tells me this particular edge case may not be the central thrust of the forthcoming campaign.

No idea why, it's just a tingle in the receptors at this point.

Unfortunately it is impossible to drive at the recommended stopping distance without constantly being on the brakes as someone nips into the "gap".

For the record, if you're following the 2 Second Rule then 2 seconds at 70 mph is 205 feet (69.5 metres)

Unfortunately it is impossible to drive at the recommended stopping distance without constantly being on the brakes as someone nips into the “gap”.

Wrong! You just ease off the gas until you've a 2 second gap again. The "2 second rule" doesn't mean you have to react within a nano-second of the space being taken up, that's just bad driving.

Lorries and coaches in the middle lane on the M6 in the road works are the worst offenders, I've been flashed to move out the way when comfortably doing 51 / 52 mph indicated on cruise control with a solid stream of traffic in front, i.e. nowhere for the lorry to go. Yes I could move into the often clear outside lane but I'm keeping pace with rest of the traffic and not putting a target on my back when someone who doesn't think the average speed cameras apply to them.

Better (but still very childish) is to slow down to 35 ish gently on a hill in the roadworks, takes the lorries a while to get back up to speed and really annoys them.

Ohh is this thread going to end up the way last weeks thread went when I got slammed for complaining about tailgating ?

Hmm I wonder??

THERE ARE NO POLICE TO ENFORCE IT! Just sayin’…..

Was basically my point. A majority of people on the roads seem to belong to the “If no one catches me I haven’t done anything wrong” club.

Kids shaming adults about their driving? Yeah, right-o. Maybe one in a hundred, and then only if the kid is in the car at the time.

Enforced with cameras? Unicorn territory again.

And who stripped away the Police resources?

Hmmm 🤔

I thought this was going to be about manspreading, and I was about to go on a rant. Gutted.
I have zero issue with tailgating, I don't do it and if anyone does it to me I just take my foot off the throttle and lightly touch the brakes so that my lights come on but no sharp dangerous retardation, and pull over asap, they soon **** off.

Unfortunately it is impossible to drive at the recommended stopping distance without constantly being on the brakes as someone nips into the “gap”.

Nonsense.  It perfectly possible.  I will not allow either tailgaters or less than a 2 second gap.  all you have to do if someone moves into that gap ( which altho I don't drive a lot I find very rare) is to lift your foot of the pedal for a second.

If someone tailgates me I simply take my foot off the gas and slow down until I have a 4 second gap infront.  If they continue to tailgate they get the brake light flash ( but not a brake check)  If they still continue to tailgate then I simply slow down further.  Been down to 10 mph with a raging driver behind before now.

I wonder if at 6:30am on the m25 if everyone was at 2secibds whether a) there wouldn’t be enough road or b) it would reduce congestion?  Almost everyone at that time of day is inside 2 secs.

1400  motorists caught by WMP  since the 6 points and £200 fine was introduced for moblie usage. Alot being 'new' drivers who were subsequently banned for getting 6 points in the first 2 years of passing their test.

Road rage by a biker today . My fault , gave him the finger as he blew through a zebra with a woman and pushchair waiting and me clearly stopped. He was in such a rush he turned round and came after me .

usual bollocks about not speeding ( he was ) cant stop as quick as car ( true , but adjust your road speed accordingly then son ) swore alot , then pulled away with lots of noise from his aftermarket can , whilst pulling a wheelie . With his g/f as pillion .

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</p><p>Ohh is this thread going to end up the way last weeks thread went when I got slammed for complaining about tailgating ?</p><p>Hmm I wonder??

If they continue to tailgate they get the brake light flash ( but not a brake check)

Nonsense.  It perfectly possible.  I will not allow either tailgaters or less than a 2 second gap.  all you have to do if someone moves into that gap ( which altho I don’t drive a lot I find very rare) is to lift your foot of the pedal for a second.

singletrackmind - A motorbike ridden properly can stop as quick as a car.  What you met was a numpty who couldn't ride properly

Squirrelking - I don't drive a lot but m8. m9,. a9 are the usual roads I drive.  I drive to the conditions and speed limit.  I don't drive slowly.  I don't however drive impatiently. I insist on at least a 2 second gap and so what if the occasional person pulls into it.  Just slow for a moment and get the gap back.  I actually count to getthe two second gap watching road markings to make sure.

Nonsense.  It perfectly possible.  I will not allow either tailgaters or less than a 2 second gap.  all you have to do if someone moves into that gap ( which altho I don’t drive a lot I find very rare) is to lift your foot of the pedal for a second.

Its not rare

In Scotland

In Edinburgh

Basically in the place you live it happens a lot. My perspective on this might be influenced by driving a work van frequently on the bypass.

Your memory must be playing up, you were getting slammed for driving well below the limit for no good reason.

Its a limit, not a target.

HTHs

Tailgating has been getting a lot worse recently so I welcome anything that might make people realise they don't need follow so closely.

I think the worst one I've had was on Saturday, I swear the **** was that close he could see what radio station I had on.

In the place I live and the way I drive it hardly ever happens IME

I got slammed for complaining about tailgating ?

In their press release on the radio, Highways were keen to point out that sometimes ones behaviour can inadvertently encourage tailgating, by driving under the speed limit for instance...

But yeah, you were mostly being slammed for sticking to your own arbitrary rules that aren't clear to other drivers

Wrong! You just ease off the gas until you’ve a 2 second gap again. The “2 second rule” doesn’t mean you have to react within a nano-second of the space being taken up, that’s just bad driving.

Spot on.

I've had the luxury of adaptive cruise control for a while now. It leaves a sensible '1 second, 2 second' gap between me & the car in front. This incenses some drivers who tailgate me in the outside lane. Sure, I could get much closer to the car in front. But after accelerating up to it I'll then return to my previous speed. And I'll still be overtaking the traffic in the inside lane.

I have had a couple of incidents where I've opted to stay in the outside lane anticipating overtaking another car only to find the tailgater accelerate and undertake in the short gap. They nip in in front and my car just increases the gap. no problem. I stay calm, they remain peculiar.

If I get tailgated, I just double the gap between me and the car in front. Because I'm having to do the thinking and braking for both of us. It's actually quite calming to cruise at the speed limit while the person behind works themselves towards apoplexy.

I don't hold folk up on DCs and MWs, I'd rather have the idiots past me and away bothering other people.

Wrong! You just ease off the gas until you’ve a 2 second gap again.

Absolutely - I didn't mean slam on in a full emergency stop. Ease off is fine. Though I will sometimes touch the brakes just so that the other gammon sitting 2 inches from my boot gets a visual warning that I am slowing down. (If he was at a reasonable stopping distance this wouldn't be a concern).

if someone moves into that gap ( which altho I don’t drive a lot I find very rare)

*blink blink*... "rare"????

Very very common in my experience.

If you leave a 2 second gap on the motorway (i.e. 205ft / 62.5m at 70mph) then someone will overtake and pull back into it.

If you leave a 2 second gap in town (88ft / 26.8m  at 30mph) then someone will make a dirty dive out a side road into the gap.

I regularly see drivers, usually in those tiny little pretend cars, tailgating camper vans. It’s utter madness how close they get!

I once saw a car which I honestly thought was being towed in that manner. It turned out that no, he was just driving really very close to the lorry in front. I kid you not - as I passed him I noticed he was also shaving.

I drove across France a couple of weeks ago.  Almost everyone in the right hand lane (other side of the road so equivalent to our left hand lane) unless actually overtaking.  Overtaking and there's another car a couple of hundreds ahead that'll be overtaking shortly?   Pull in, catch up, indicate and pull out.  Someone traveling at 80 overtaking a car doing 79.5?  No problem, slow down, wait and overtake when they pull in.  Apart from 2 cases of in the "fast lane" and staying there and one of flashing headlights because "I'm going soooooo fast" - all 3 with UK plates

Overtaking and there’s another car a couple of hundreds ahead that’ll be overtaking shortly?   Pull in, catch up, indicate and pull out.

See here's a thing: if we are all diligently observing the 2 second rule then (at 70mph) you should be 62.5 meters ahead of the car you are overtaking before you pull in (so you don't pull into their safe gap) and you should pull out 62.5 meters before you start to overtake the next car.

So that means if you need a 125 meter gap or more to pull in.

So I just stay in the middle lane 😉

I drove across France a couple of weeks ago.  Almost everyone in the right hand lane (other side of the road so equivalent to our left hand lane) unless actually overtaking.  Overtaking and there’s another car a couple of hundreds ahead that’ll be overtaking shortly?   Pull in, catch up, indicate and pull out.  Someone traveling at 80 overtaking a car doing 79.5?  No problem, slow down, wait and overtake when they pull in.

It amazes me that the two are not connected in many people's heads and that people are quite willing to follow one rule and completely disregard another.  Motorway's are spectacularly bad for this in the UK.

French motorway's are infinitely better in most aspects ... yet the same people driving through a major town/city (you must presume) often drive much worse?

The UK's disconnect seems to be motorway lane discipline and minimum gaps... whereas the French seems to be that they don't/won't apply the same to semi-urban and urban driving as autoroutes?

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</p><p>Its a limit, not a target.</p><p>HTHs

No it wouldn’t. However tailgating would.

HTHs

Not driving at the limit will fail  a driving test ? Urban Myth .

My  friend is a driving instructer and he reckons as long as you are driving at 3/4 of the posted  speed limit thats more than enough to not get a fail for failure to make  progress, or some other non truth speeders preach.

The speed LIMIT also does not take into account the weather ( I wasnt speeding when I hit the black ice and skiided into the lolliplop lady and 4 schoolkids your honor , i was doing 30mph)

The speed LIMIT does not take into account traffic conditions. - parked cars,  horses, bicycles, school kids , mums with push chairs , Time  of day etc . You smash on if you want , I'll just knock a few mph off and give myself a second more too react to the road hazards .

Where did I say don't drive to the conditions?

If the conditions are good can you give me one decent reason why you wouldn't drive to within a few mph of the limit?

Not driving at the limit will fail  a driving test ? Urban Myth .

My  friend is a driving instructer and he reckons as long as you are driving at 3/4 of the posted  speed limit thats more than enough to not get a fail for failure to make  progress, or some other non truth speeders preach.

I failed my first driving test for this. I argued my point and he said that 25 was inappropriate in a 30 limit with no reason not to drive at 30.

(Fail notes said hesitancy and not driving at an appropriate speed for the road conditions)

Thats not not an urban myth, or second hand information. I was there. It happened on Fifth Avenue in York on the way back to where the old Test Centre used to be. After a totally clean driving test with no other issues.

And it’s not a “non truth that speeders preach” in any way.

mainly because it’s totally true, and secondly because I’m not a speeder, or an advocate of it  (I drive at 60 on motorways generally, in lane 1 with the lorries !)

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Thing is there's a difference between staying in the middle/outside lane to overtake sensibly, and just being a lazy/ignorant/self righteous bastard and sitting there in the middle (or outside) lane and causing slower drivers to have to overtake and so causing more traffic to go over to the outside lane and then ... tailgating happens (of course some people just drive like bumholes anyway).

Just like on the trails, let the faster riders through and everyone is happy... right?

I also failed my first driving test for doing 30 in a 40 and "Not maintaining the flow of traffic".

I failed my first driving test for this. I argued my point and he said that 25 was inappropriate in a 30 limit with no reason not to drive at 30.

I recently got stuck behind someone who drove for several miles doing an indicated 30-35 mph on a road with a 60 limit, which in reality means they were doing roughly 27-30 mph; the weather was fine and dry, there is absolutely no reason a driver can’t maintain a steady speed around the actual limit, ie 55+ mph, to drive slower is just being wilfully obstructive. It was impossible to overtake due to visibility and steady oncoming traffic, and it was incredibly frustrating.

my driving instructor used to make me boot it down two particular stretches of NSL road because he'd had pupils fail their tests for not going fast enough on them. I didn't feel comfortable at all.  One of them has since been regraded to 40, the other I have never driven down as fast since my test as I did on my lessons!

countzero - what if it had been a tractor or a chaingang of cyclists?

They can automate it. There are bridge cameras that can detect license plates and distance between cars at speed.

Once they have cameras for detecting phone use when driving and automatic bans I will be happier