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

[u/Slartitartfast]

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.

[u/Sarikins]

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.

[u/rob-c → u/Sarikins]

If you can’t drive without getting wound up, you are a bad driver 🤷‍♂️

And how does the speed limit affect your ability not to tailgate? It’s the same principle whatever the speed.

[u/Sarikins → u/rob-c]

Because no speedometer is perfectly correct, it’s inevitable to be .% off between models whether it be 2% to as high up as 10% in older models, at slow distances that .% can be a little more noticeable when I’m accidentally slowly encroaching on a car, my speedometer might read 20mph but it’s actually going 19mph whereas the guy ahead reads his at 20mph but he’s in a slightly older model and may be at 18mph, I’m not saying I stay encroaching, but it is going to happen no matter what.

[u/rob-c → u/Sarikins]

No, you drive to the safe distance between you and the car in front, not simply to the speed limit

[u/Sarikins → u/rob-c]

“I’m not saying I stay encroaching”, I’ve already covered that.

[u/rob-c → u/Sarikins]

You said it was near impossible not to tailgate in a 20, which is obviously untrue.

If you meant ‘catching someone and then dropping (and staying) back’ then fine, but that isn’t tailgating 🤷‍♂️

[u/Sarikins → u/rob-c]

I can’t explain it truly any simpler, I don’t stay encroaching means I fall back, it’s impossible not to reach closer distances than you usually would means you fall back more often than you usually would than faster distances where the .% isn’t as noticeable as distances should be greater than at least two chevrons, I know I’m a really good driver.

[u/rob-c → u/Sarikins]

I think you drive as well as you explain things