Being Tail Gated - Ever Growing Problem

goodday tony
we have just come out of qld and it seems to be the favorite pass time of a lot of drivers up there

steve

Turn your windscreen washer on and send him some water over the back, nice polite way to let him know he is getting too close. Yes it's a problem as it's an attempt at intimidating you to either move out the way or speed up.

Jumping on CH 40 UHF (26 up north NSW) and either a) reading out their number plate, or b) making a fake blue light call, opposite direction, nearby location, usually makes them back off. For a while anyway.

But if you do feel strongly enough about behaviour such as this one phone the complaint through to the police as soon as possible. 131 444 will get you the Police Assist Line in NSW. Other states have similar. Say that you want to make a driving complaint. Give them the time, road, nearest town, direction of travel, number plate, basic description of the vehicle and your complaint and they WILL act on it, usually asking a highway car to have a look straight away if they are in the area, or following up with a call / visit to the registered owner. You can make an anonymous complaint, or you can ask to be contacted with the outcome of your complaint.

Or you can call the trucking company with similar.

Pat (no - I don't work for the Police)

when someone sits so close --- its time to clean your windscreen ---- as often as it take to get them to back off ......

Boc

Im from a trucking family and that view out the back window would scare me too. Dob him in he gives the good drivers a bad name.

Would I be right in saying that was an unloaded timber carrier speeding back to get another load in ?

I wonder what that truckies reaction would be to his Mrs and kids out for a drive in their ......for arguments sake ....a Hyundia Excel ,being monstered by a 200 series cruiser at highway speeds.
Shame you didn't get his number plate in shot to ID this idiot!

Tony
Have you got a photo without the hat covering the plate??? if so, visit YOUR LOCAL cop shop no matter where in Qld, and present them with a copy and insist on an action. This guy needs a wake up call for sure.

Yes there are certainly some fools on the road who should not be.
Following a 4 WD on main highway south of Adelaide just on dark last week.
This idiot was swerving at 100 K plus from one side of road to the other & off in to the gravel.

Very nearly cleaned up on coming traffic & how he missed a parked semi in Tailem Bend I do not know.

I rang the police line from my mobile.

When they finally got him he blew .167
Licence suspended, vehicle impounded & locked up.
Now this is where he really got stupid. After being released from the cooler he was rearrested for breaking in to the police compound attempting to steal back his own car,

Back to the cooler & faced the magistrate.

The sort of citizen we need behind the wheel when you & I are on the road

Daz

I was driving to Clermont from Blackwater sitting on 97kph by the GPS, in a 100kph zone.

A very large semi came up behind me and sat about 1 car lenght behind me.

This went on for about 20 minutes before I pulled over at Comet to let him pass. The wife and I were a little ticked off to say the least.

I know have the camera in the front of the troopy, not behind the cargo barrier. That phone number mentioned will also be near the phone.

On the way home I had to sit behind a fully loded truck sitting on 85kph.

This didn't upset me as I realise that he could't go any faster. Its a pity that a few truckies are giving the lot a bad name.

I would like to point out to all - this is not just about truckies and I in no way want to attack them as a group. They do a difficult job. Its all drivers who now have no patience.

Please note there are just as many cars doing this now and what I have also noted is the amount of cars now doing suicide passes past trucks. I bet a truckie can tell you that this is ever increasing. I witnessed so many bad overtaking attempts on my last trip to Brisbane.

So lets all be fair and though a truck sitting that close is bad, the same is bad with a car as well. Cheers Tony

I thought that all heavy vehicles were limited to 100 km/ph and were supposed to have functioning speed governors installed.

My daughter drives a bright red Citroen C3 with stick on ‘P’ plates. Very obviously a young girl’s car!

A couple of months ago we had to attend a family function on the other side of Melbourne, and due to the logistics involved in picking up various family members, we took 2 cars. My daughter asked me to drive her car (she didn’t want the old man telling her how to drive?). As the stick on ‘P’s are difficult to replace, I didn’t take them off.

It was interesting experience to drive a small (relatively underpowered) car emblazoned with ‘P’ plates in traffic (at posted limits), when compared to the 4WD’s I have driven for the last 15 years.

Strangely, it was not the trucks or the ‘P’ platers that caused the issues.

Truckies left a gap, or attempted to get past me ASAP. Male ‘P’ platers accelerated, then slowed down until they saw the grey haired old man and then zoomed off; female ‘P’ platers just zoomed.

The worst was men who were old enough to know better, driving 4WD’s with bull bars. I had forgotten how these vehicles appear are when you are driving a small car. A decidedly average driver driving a Commodore is something to be aware and careful of; a decidedly average driver in a lifted 4WD is truly frightening.

I was followed about 10km down the Monash by a Jackaroo who was closer than the truck above. I was in the left lane travelling at the posted speed limit and the Jack stuck to like a limpet, maintaining the same distance and the same speed, even changing lanes when I did. He finally overtook when I stayed behind a truck doing 70 kph for a kilometre or so.

When he finally overtook, he glanced across with a big superior smirk on his face. He was in his late 50’s with “the good lady wife” in the passenger seat. By any definition, the driver was a bully using his bulk and size to terrorise what he would have believed to be a young girl. His wife was complicit in allowing him to be a bully.

While sympathetic to your post in general, I cant agree that your pic is what
I would call tailgating. If you could only see the radiator I do agree. You will
have vehicles behind you at that distance anywhere there is a reasonable
amount of traffic. As I rarely do more than 100 kph everything passes me so I
must apply plenty of attention to the rear as well as in front. At your stated
speed ,I agree that truck would make me uncomfortable, but I find I am much more wary of car drivers than truckies, but there are exceptions to both. On the Hume freeway from Sydney to Melbourne that pic is what you will see
very often if you do under 120k......oldbaz

Perhaps the best approach is to slow down to 90 or even 80km/h - he'll soon get sick of it and overtake (hopefully when it's safe).

"This is not directed at truckers as cars are just as bad"....

Yes maybe, but the truckies are supposedly "professionals" and be far more likely to cause a prang when somebody inevitably comes the other way, and then do far more damage when they do.
And yes I've seen it so many times I've lost count.

Bloody suicidal maniacs!
What the truckies will usually do when somebody DOES come the other way, is just pull back in to the left lane and "wipe you off the road". So get on the brakes (and hard) when this happens to you- it's called self preservation.

on the subject of tailgating and overtaking.
I am always amazed when following a tardy vehicle,we come to the dedicated overtaking lanes and most times the tardy one speeds up so as not to be overtaken............ go figure?
Also on my pet hate list , is the vehicle who recklessly passes me or gates me around the city , only to pull into a driveway a short distance later??
danger,fuel consumption,wear and tear , dont even want to understand what is or not going on in their head()

I'm guessing Oldbaz is either an ex driver or knows them. No way could they take evasive action in time if needed.

The BH is getting very bad. I do a lot of k's between Mackay and Rocky/Gladstone and it's getting pretty bad. Generally travel at the limit or just over by the speedo. Trucks being speed limited, yea right. Only a couple of weeks ago had a truck over take when there was no way he would make it. Over took three cars one with camper and on slight up hill rise. On coming traffic had to head off road as did I.

Yes some vans really get to you travelling at under 80kph however as stated truck drivers are supposed to be professionals. Fact is more than usual are just pushing their way through. I'd also like to slap a few van drivers that drive at 70-80 k's on the high way but until our slack assed Qld cops get their act together then it's not going to happen. So therefore the truck driver just run rough shot. Don't agree, then do a few k's along the BH especially between the above towns. Don't agree about the cops, funny that even Fitzy and a number of other groups know things are getting a bit suss. Spoke to a truck driver the other day at a stop who couldn't even focus on me and gave me the usual. Ohhhh we have to make a living, bloody caravans, bloody scalies, rego to high, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Make sure you have eyes in the back of your head when driving up the coast!!

I don't like being tailgated.

But if I am to be tailgated I prefer it to be a truck, because I know the truckie can see over and past my vehicle because of his high position in the cab, whereas a car driver cannot see past me.

I repeat, I don't like being tailgated and if I am seriously concerned (and am travelling at or near the limit) I merely slow down gently until the offender gets the message or overtakes.

However, if I am travelling below the speed limit I endeavour to allow following vehicles to overtake - particularly trucks. It's much safer and less stressfull to pull over (when safe) and let an impatient driver go ahead.

I think everyone needs to realise that trucks cannot accelerate quickly so when there is a passing opportunity they need to be relatively close to the vehicle ahead which they desire to overtake. That, however, does not excuse irresponsible behaviour.

Peter