Many years ago my brother-in-law lost his driver's licence for 6 months for one incident of tailgating. I'm not defending him at all, but he was a rally driver and a better than average driver. The fine for tail gating should be several hundred dollars. I see many multi-car accidents outside my house.
I reckon the police should equip some granny car with a video camera at the rear, and automatic measuring equipment, and drive around all day at exactly 50k/h. They could post the fine demand to the registered owner, together with a photo of the driver. They could collect a huge amount of fines and make the roads safer for the rest of us.
tigger8,
Jul 11, 9:38pm
Instead of tying a police person I could do that : )
trade4us2,
Jul 11, 9:46pm
The tailgating detection gear could be fitted to the rear of any vehicle. I see millions of dollars being earned with this!
bill-robinson,
Jul 11, 10:41pm
I thought that was one of the jobs that collision avoidance radar did
rohoman,
Jul 12, 2:44am
The difficulty with tailgating, like most other forms of bad driving, is the lack of Police patrols on the roads to detect it and deal with it as it's happening. Even if you have dashcam footage of the offending vehicle, it seems it's not enough for the cops to act on - citing that they have to positively identify the driver or something along those lines.
tamarillo,
Jul 12, 2:45am
Unless you're speeding they don't care. Sad but current reality.
cjohnw,
Jul 12, 3:17am
Why is it always some tradie looking bloke in a monster ute right up your date?
casualobserver,
Jul 12, 3:24am
Only one incident of tailgating? So he didn’t hit anything? And lost his licence for 6 months?
And you believe this? Ha ha ha.
msigg,
Jul 12, 3:25am
cjohnw you are correct , or they are in front holding you up while chatting on the phone. Plonkers.
mojo49,
Jul 12, 3:48am
It is considered dangerous if you do it to me and I let "tailgaters" know I am not amused.
ambo11,
Jul 12, 3:53am
Love it when tailgaters get close to me, too close and I gently touch the brake pedal. fun watching them back off then. tossers
trade4us2,
Jul 12, 4:13am
I don't know how bad it was. But I had to drive him around for 6 months in his BMW. I didn't mind a bit.
gsimpson,
Jul 12, 4:14am
Flicking the rear fog lights on can give them a start without the risk of being hit
reb53,
Jul 12, 4:25am
I seem to remember seeing an overseas programme where they used automatic systems on motorways to catch tailgaters. Essentially a camera system that measured cars as they went by, calculated whether or not there was a tailgater and if so, photographed the tailgater, and sent them a bill. Someone should suggest it, sounds like a real money spinner, which, unfortunately, seems to be the way the police measure their effectiveness these days. "Caught lots of people", so we're doing our job, or, "not catching many people", so "the message is getting through".
nice_lady,
Jul 12, 4:38am
Hmm that's a difficult one. How many times have I been driving on the motorway and have a lovely gap between me and the car in front, (gap of at least 2 seconds !), and some fool passes me from behind and slots into that gap quite close to me ! Grrrr. What do you do ? Back off a bit of course which means braking and then you have someone too close behind you. Oh and if the person slotted in right in front of you just as you happened to pass a 'tailgate' camera. NO fair.
Hard to win.
mojo49,
Jul 12, 4:49am
I do the same while keeping right foot on the throttle so I do not actually slow down. Usually 3 quick dabs gets the message across.
casualobserver,
Jul 12, 4:55am
I can guarantee you that it wasn’t just one incident of tailgating that caused a loss of licence.
peja,
Jul 12, 7:26pm
If you are in the right lane of a multilane road/motorway, yes, this is definitely true.
However if it is a single lane per direction road or someone is in the left or middle lane so there is a clear lane to the right, then there is absolutely no excuse for tailgating. And especially on a single lane per direction road and there is traffic in front of the person being tailgated, that is where tailgating detection cameras should be set up.
I've had both happen to me - someone tailgating me while I'm sitting in the left lane on the motorway, and more commonly when I am in a line of traffic with no way to speed up. Neither makes sense, but especially the first
peja,
Jul 12, 7:29pm
It wouldnt be hard to do. Easiest (and fairest) on a single lane per direction road though so that nobody gets caught out by someone slotting into the safe gap in front of you as happens on the motorway
goose16,
Jul 12, 7:45pm
I would absolutely agree with this statement. There is no way that anybody would have lost their licence for an isolated incidence of tailgating. It's probably also worth pointing out to the OP that being a rally driver doesn't make somebody an "better than average" driver.
trade4us2,
Jul 12, 7:53pm
I said "I'm not defending him at all". The fact is that he lost his licence for 6 months. Maybe he was speeding as well as tailgating. He was allowed to drive to and from his business. I used to drive for him otherwise, since I worked for him.
buzzy110,
Jul 12, 7:54pm
And what fun if you judge it incorrectly and get rear ended. Your whiplash will provide you with years and years of fun.
If someone is tailgating, just let them pass.
_peas,
Jul 13, 5:12am
Would be great if they also had a camera at the end of onramps to ticket clowns trying to join the motorway doing 60kph! I admit to doing it. but if someone is doing the speed limit or the RH lane is clear to overtake then there really is no issue. People dawdling (and I mean dawdling) through intersections causing others behind them to miss the phase of lights needs a look at too. Call me impatient. I know I am, but I also have better things to do than sit in a car because someone isn't paying attention.
kevymtnz,
Jul 13, 5:32am
i put another dashcam on my back window lol as soon as the see it they back off rather quickly
friendly_prawn,
Jul 14, 2:17am
I got tailgated by an idiot the other day. Too close to slam on my anchors and give them a fright. They would have come through my boot. Travelling on a highway at aprox 100kph.
So I slowed, let them pass and filmed him via dash cam tailgating other cars. Right up their jacksy. First car had enough, and floored it and used a dangerous take over manoeuvre to get away from the clown. Nek minut, he's up the jacksy of the next car in front.
I probably should drop it on to a usb key and drop it off at a police station to teach the clown a lesson but it doesn't bug me. So many idiots on the road these days. If they bug you, buy a dash cam. You can get them that work for front and rear.
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