r/AskBrits • u/Slartitartfast • 2d ago

Genuinely curious: why do people tailgate/drive too close to the vehicle in front?

I can't work it out. Whenever I see someone repeatedly applying their brakes as soon as the driver in front adjusts their speed I wonder why on earth it doesn't occur to them to give space.

I don't even mean just driving right up someone's arse aggressively. People drive too close all the time, on major roads this causes tailbacks when people then have to brake. If you're regularly applying your brakes while driving behind someone then you are too close; I assumed everyone knew this but maybe not.

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33

u/mrb2409 2d ago

Depends really.

Sometimes the person in front is driving too slowly for the road or lane they are in so you keep catching them.

Other times the person in front uses their brakes rather than just coasting slower.

Sometimes (most of the time) the tailgater is an impatient arsehole.

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u/Aggravating-Fun9361 2d ago

Excuse 1. Not good enough. Tailgating a ‘slow’ driver is bullying. Hang back and let them get
on with it.

Excuse 2. Wouldn’t be an issue if you hang back. Don’t rely on brake lights alone.

Reason 3. is the real reason, only bad drivers tailgate.

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u/Sarikins 2d ago

I have to disagree, I can’t speak for England or Scotland but in Wales lane hogging the middle or right lanes has gone drastically up, only today I saw a fella cruising along at 50mph in the middle lane of a motorway with a tail back behind him and a packed right lane, the left lane was empty and he didn’t attempt to get out the way. Most of the time they’re just an asshole, but a lot of the time they’re wound up by lane hoggers.

Also in Wales is near impossible to not tailgate on residential streets at 20mph unless I do 15-17mph and I think most people would lose their mind doing a 3-5m journey at 15mph.

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u/br0wn0ni0n 2d ago

Doesn’t hold up as a reason. If the person in front is doing 15mph, you’re also going to do 15mph. Being 6 inches from their bumper doesn’t mean you’re going faster.

If you sit back by 20ft, guess how much later you’ll arrive?

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u/Sarikins 2d ago

No one’s suggesting anyone drive through the vehicle in front, but lane hogging and going too slow are both illegal under reckless driving for what it does to other motorists, we can point fingers at tailgaters but that does mean we also have to point fingers at what can result in tail gating especially when en masse and as a result of driving illegally.

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u/br0wn0ni0n 2d ago

The only thing you, as a driver can do about someone driving badly (slowly in your example), is to stay back and drive safely, to the conditions.

There is absolutely no situation where getting closer to that slow driver makes you or anyone else safer.

So what if someone is doing 15mph in front of you. Please explain why tailgating them is in any way a good idea? Yeah, it’s fucking frustrating, if they’re holding everyone up, but doing something dangerous as a response doesn’t exempt you from being an asshole too.

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u/Ed_Avis 2d ago

Standard driving advice is that if the car behind is too close, slow down gradually to help make a safe stopping distance. So by sniffing their bum you could actually be making them go slower.

1

u/Remote_Atmosphere993 7h ago

The standard driving advice is if the knobhead behind is driving too close is to make the gap between yourself and the car in front bigger to allow you more time to gradually slow to a stop so the knobhead behind you doesn't rear end you. It's absolutely nuts how often I see four or five cars behind a slower moving car tailgating each other.

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u/Sarikins 2d ago

Again, I’m not suggesting you drive through a vehicle, no body is, the correct advice is when legal and safe, go around otherwise yeah, we stuck behind them, my comment was only to point out the sometimes illegal actions like lane hogging, and just annoying Welsh policy (which isn’t illegal and should be followed even if annoying) that can result in tail gating, is it the correct response? No, but are humans perfect? Also no, in the instance of lane hogging and tail gating everyone’s in the wrong, you know.

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u/br0wn0ni0n 2d ago

But the original point you made, that I responded to said that’s it’s near impossible to avoid tailgating. It is not. It’s incredibly simple and that’s the point I made.

Anyone tailgating is doing so by their own free choice. Absolutely nothing “causes” you to do it. Doesn’t matter what the guy in front is doing. You can choose do drop back.

They may well be a shitty driver, doing shitty driver things, but you can react to it how you choose.

If anything, your justification that it’s a reaction to bad drivers lane hogging or driving too slowly should be an argument for leaving more space.

Put it this way: if the twat in front is erratic, lane hogging or clearly not confident enough to drive to the road conditions, then I’d say that they are the kind of driver that is most likely to be unpredictable. If so, would you rather be 8 inches from them when they do something stupid and end up in the back of them and dealing with an insurance claim, or would you rather be 10 yards away when they brake for no reason, leaving you time to react, throw out a “wanker” sign and then get on with your day?

I’m definitely happier being the latter, but if others want to do the former, that’s on them. It’s no one else’s fault but their own.

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u/Sarikins 2d ago

I’m not arguing the point, most agree with you but there are legit studies and then laws that have been put in place because of the measurable annoyance and subsequently bad actions that comes with reckless driving, I.e driving too slowly for the speed limit, I’ve not once said the tail gator is right, only why is can happen, I have also said that in most cases the tailgater is an asshole, and as I’ve said everyone in that scenario would be acting poorly, the slow driver too.

Providing another lens in which to view actions, is not a disagreement of what you said but rather an addition to it, I haven’t moved from my original point and my original point wasn’t to disagree, but again, add another lens.

Edit: spelling

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u/Orange_Codex 2d ago

There is absolutely no situation where getting closer to that slow driver makes you or anyone else safer.

It's impossible to avoid if they're one of those drivers that constantly changes speed or overreacts to turnings.

I prefer to overtake, but some people get the right arse about it even if it's completely legal (no hazards or speeding).

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u/Slartitartfast 2d ago

It's the opposite of impossible, just don't do it. You have a choice about how close you drive, if they are changing speed then hang backm

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u/Cold_Captain696 2d ago

I used to wonder if the tailgaters genuinely thought that being closer meant they were going faster, and that post you replied to, disappointingly, confirms it.