Those are the people that drive me nuts, more than cellphone drivers. Instead of coasting or following at a reasonable distance, they tailgate and flash red every two or three seconds. When I am behind them, the flashes mess with my speed control. I have read about accidents that happen because people behind brake tappers learn to ignore the brake lights and stop too late.
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 631
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:59 am
I hear you. If possible, just get around them and leave them behind. If you are irritated a lot and there is no way to pass such a person, consider stopping for a minute or two to let them drive away from you. You likely come to your destination a couple of minutes later, yet in much better mood.
I agree. If you can't ignore tailgaters, either speed up (within speed limits of course!) and get as far away as possible from them OR just slow down and let them pass by. And tempting as it may be, do avoid showing them the finger!
I wouldn't suggest speeding up to avoid tailgaters, since they are a greedy folk, and will quickly move in to the space you opened by increasing your speed, now leaving you only with a smaller forward gap. This solution is valid only if we are driving too slow from the beginning, which should never be the case.
I also dislike the brake testing idea, because it leads to various problems like brake wear, nervousness, "shockwaves" through the traffic that can create small, mysterious traffic jams or even collisions way behind the driver, increase gas consumption and mainly, as mentioned, because they are a "boy that cries brake" and this eventually leads to the following driver getting used to your brake lights and therefore not reacting when you brake for real.
The solution to get away from tailgaters is to change lanes and be free of them, if possible. If not possible, you should gently increase your forward gap by one second. By doing this, you achieve a series of advantages:
1. For whatever happens in front of you, you could now brake a bit more lightly and allow the driver behind you to react, too.
2. You encourage the following driver to overtake you
3. You open up a space into which he could merge safely
4. With all that, your actions are still not percieved as aggressive and will not induce any unexpected response by the other driver.
If the tailgater remains behind you, I would use signals like the hazard signals or a quick flash of the rear fog lights to alert them and, if this is inefficienct, increase your forward gap by another second. Now you maintain enough of a following distance for you AND the driver behind you.
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If possible, just get around them and leave them behind. If you are irritated a lot and there is no way to pass such a person, consider stopping for a minute or two to let them drive away from you. You likely come to your destination a couple of minutes later, yet in much better mood. 
