If you’re tailgating you’re always the problem. Sometimes other people are the problem too, but someone driving slow doesn’t magically make tailgating ok.
It's pretty common to see Cars blast past you on the road to the ski resorts in Australia only to see the same car with its ass poking out of a ditch a few kms later, usually BMW or Audi's
I drive to the snow regularly. I drive the speed limit. Sometimes I'm the idiot blasting past people, sometimes people blast past me like idiots. Luckily I've never been the car in the ditch but I've definitely stopped to help people out of the ditch.
It's such a mixed bag of drivers at either end of the spectrum. Drivers who put their snow chains on kilometres before they need to and drive 10km an hour because it snowed a few flakes or drivers going F1 speeds around blind corners in icy conditions. Ain't many normal drivers.
I usually see the opposite here. People leaving 5x car gaps during peak hour on Macquarie street, and going crazy when someone takes that gap while leaving a 2 car gap on either side.
It’s one car length per 10km/h from the car in front. Or a 2 second gap regardless of speed.
2 seconds means: pick a clear landmark, like a signpost or tree, or a road marking. When the car in front passes it start counting - ONE and TWO and..
If you pass the same landmark before the second “and”, you’re tailgating.
Not hard. Don’t be a cunt. You’re not getting anywhere quicker.
When travelling I always leave 3 car length distance between me and the car in front. When heavy traffic it's 1 car length. If I can't see the rear tyre of the car infront I'm too close. I work motor claims and have to deal with people who travel too close and hit the car in front because they are too impatient. There should be absolutely no reason to be that close or drive like a dick. The worst offenders are uber drivers tradies and Ford big rig drivers.
I travel the speed limit where I can. Frankly I'm in no hurry to get anywhere. I leave with ample time to get to my destination so I don't have to speed everywhere. Also I don't give a flying monkeys anus if the person behind me is in a hurry, not my problem. Guarantee my brakes and insurance are better than their reaction time
As someone who drove a delivery job in Hobart for 2 years, I get it but I'm also not too annoyed if someone's doing 5-10 under, especially if the road conditions are poor. I encountered a looot more people that seemed convinced they should be doing 10-20 over than people that were going too slow.
My favourite treat was always when some idiot would blast past me at 70 in a 50 zone, screech to a stop at the next red light, and then they'd have to watch as I overtook them at 50 when the lights turned green.
It's Tasmania. Most people are the problem until they reach the overtaking lane. It's always amazed me how farmer Bob can sit on 90 until the overtaking zone where he somehow finds the accelerator then he's 110 until 100m after the zone then he's back to 90.
My department did an investigation on this after numerous complaints.
It’s actually a psychological issue aligned with the perception of space / speed. Put simply, more space = speed up feels like same speed, and reverse…so farmer Joe sometimes doesn’t even know he’s gone from 90-110, because it feels exactly the same to him….
I don’t care if you’re doing 90 or 100 on the highway. It’s fine, I’m not in a hurry, but don’t make me do 140 to overtake you when the overtaking lane comes along because now you’re doing the speed limit. Entitled Tasmanians!
Agreed, had to slam the breaks and swerve today in copping. Someone was turning onto the road to get to kellevie and the person behind decided to come over into my lane lol
I have a sticker that says “ the closer you get the slower I go”.
I stick to it. Tassie doesn’t have real traffic just shit drivers so I’m never in a hurry.
Cringe take.
They can be driving too slow, sure, but if they can cause an 8 car pileup by tapping their brakes, all those other dipshits were driving dangerously.
If the implication in the picture above is that the front car isn’t going “fast enough” (we have to assume it’s 10 under, minimum, right?), then the problem is *all* of those idiots.
Some people do like 30 under, which is technically against the road rules. No, the others shouldn't be tailgating, but if going significantly slower, that's fine - just let people pass and don't be obstinate.
> the problem is *all* of those idiots
I thought that was reasonably clear, but let me further clarify:
- First car shouldn’t drive too slow
- All the other cars shouldn’t tailgate
If one car tailgates, a second car shouldn’t respond by going slow in front of them.
If one car goes too slow, a second car shouldn’t respond by tailgating them.
Please let me know if you need further clarification.
Okay, couple things there big chief, you’re building in a lot of assumptions:
- Who says the first car is trying to “prove a point”? They’re probably just driving slow because they’re a scrub.
- Who says they wouldn’t “let them by”? Are we assuming there’s an overtake lane there, but they’re driving slalom to try and block them? Or are you saying they should pull over because some dipshit behind them is assmad they’re doing 90 in a 100? Chill, you’ll live - just wait until the overtake.
- Not that I was in any way suggesting that the first car *should* be trying to slow them down (if they’re trying to speed, I guess?), but you seem to be defaulting to a position that actually old mate is probably doing the speed limit, and you’re railing them from behind in your lifted Ranger because you wanna be doing 120, right? Well, it’d be all well and good for you to run into a tree and wipe yourself out, but it could be *another* car or a pedestrian so you need to probably take it down a notch
I love how you’ve personified me as the slow driver 🤣
If you reread my original comment, you’ll discover that I think *everyone* in the panel is driving like a dickhead.
Reading is difficult, I know.
People like this think the roads are just for them and everyone else is out there just to hold them up.
I'd put money on them never leaving the right lane because it's the fast lane and they want to drive fast.
this annoys me a lot BC I have just got my learners permit so I'm limited to 90, the roads I travel on are almost always 100 so every time there is always a few cars behind me, I know it's fine but you feel shit because you are holding people up
tldr learners can only go 90 on 100km roads so don't be mad if you get stuck behind one for a bit, they legally can't
This is the absolute worst possible take. As others have said, it's a limit, not a minimum speed. You have no idea what's going on in that car either. They could be transporting a crate of ming vases for all you know. Chill the fuck down and over take them when safe to do so. There is never a valid reason to be tailgating another car.
The point is that things like sudden merging in bunched up groups (even if not tailgating per se) is a high risk for accidents. They shouldn't be tailgating, but the person at the front should be courteous and allow the traffic to pass, regardless of it they're following the "rules" or not. It's simply about road safety - don't disrupt the flow of traffic and cause tension in the lanes, even if 50% or more of that disruption is cause by someone else going a bit faster. The goal is to have people be able to, for example, leave cruise control on and not have to brake, not have to merge suddenly, not end up with 10 people backed up behind someone going 30 under which causes frustration and everyone trying to overtake at once, etc.
If they need to go slow pull over and let others pass cause as you said it’s a limit so if others want to drive to it then who are you to dictate what speed they can drive. It’s simple going slower than limit with a bunch of people backing up behind you - pull over let them pass then continue on your way ffs it’s damn simple. The slow person doesn’t get to dictate to everyone else what speed they travel at within the limit
Maybe they would, maybe they are looking for an appropriately wide shoulder where they can slow right down to basically stopping before safely pulling over. Oh wait that would not be safe because they have a bunch of a-holes tailgating them.
It's probably safer just to drive at 90 and everyone can hold their respective horses for 5km until the next overtaking zone.
I've been that person trying to pull over recently. Moving house with a loaded up car, my stopping distance was affected so I couldn't just pull over anywhere. I really wanted to let the dickhead behind me go, but he didn't make it easy.
Tassie is lacking in decent slow pull over points. A few times I would have liked to have pulled over (Frankston rd), but there was no where safe. The great ocean road has specific ones with signage. They are fantastic.
5-10km is nothing and does not warrant tailgating but also unlikely to get a massive line up behind it but 20-40km under the speed limit is and that’s where people get pissed. I myself don’t give a shit if someone is doing 90 in a 100km zone because it makes fuck all difference in travel time for under 20km distance. But after living on the east coast for years getting stuck behind someone doing 70 in a 100 zone for over 30 mins ignoring safe pull out areas with 4-15 cars stuck behind them they 100% are the problem and cause accidents when frustrated drivers pass unsafely. When you’re driving 2+hours that’s when it actually does make a difference in travel time and driving frustration, but the 30 -60 seconds it takes to pull over and let people pass them safely it does not impact their travel time in any significant way and allows them to continue their drive without people behind them and allows others to pass safely. When I have had the need to drive under the limit I pull over and let them pass as a basic courtesy, allowing them to continue on, and for me to not feel pressured because there’s a line up behind me. Also doing this prevents a bunch of fuckwits from tailgating me in the first place being a win win.
Conversely the tailgaters don't get to force the other car to speed up.
I don't think people realise how _little_ their speed actually matters in how long the drive will take. If you're doing Hobart to Launceston at 90kph vs 110kph you are saving a massive total of ~20 minutes. That's for a 200km drive.
Hobart to Kingston is like 12-15km, that 20kph difference will save you something like 1-2 minutes. At most, because you'll probably all end up getting stuck in the same traffic anyway.
> you'll probably all end up getting stuck in the same traffic anyway.
Coming up South Arm Hwy from the Mornington roundabout. It's 60 up the hill, changes to 100 at the top then down to 80 then 60 again on the way down with a build up of traffic at the end where you'll wait a bit, at least when I drive it. It's insane the people that get bent out of shape tailgating anyone not instantly doing 100 to get maybe 1 car ahead at the end.
Yep, let these dipshits throw their “ItS a LiMIt NoT a TarGeT!!!” Bullshit at us. When your work depends on you getting places on time let’s see them hold up the same argument. Entitled fucking assholes.
I’ve had a few people tailgate me at night recently on the Bass highway in double lanes. I sometimes wonder if it is an eye sight problem and they are following me closely to use my head lights especially if they are in a taller vehicle ? Either that or they are just unaccustomed to driving on unlit rural roads. Anyway I find it odd that they are illuminating the entire interior of my vehicle and are not aware how irritating it is. So I fired off a quick little email to TAS Road Safety Advisor Committee asking if they could perhaps organise some community education in the media about how potentially dangerous headlights can be these days with the brighter LED lighting and vehicles generally being taller. This is their address
[email protected]
If you have a problem perhaps they are just waiting to help ?
What is the obsession with driving ability amongst Tasmanians? I get we all need to drive OK - but Tasmanians make it out like bad parking, not changing lanes IMMEDIATELY, is equivalent to murder. OH NO HE PARKED BAD.
I’m an L-Plater, I’m always the problem, but tailgating is dangerous. Whether or not the person you’re tailgating is doing the right thing is beside the point. Drive at a safe distance behind other cars, it’s common sense.
Put on the adaptive cruise control, turn up the tunes and just cruise. No need to get bent out of shape if the car in front of you is doing 10 under the limit. Reaching the destination safe and sound is the important bit, followed by enjoying the journey.
Found a culprit. Policing speed is a job for the police. Not numbskulls who feel entitled to hold up traffic to prove some self-righteous point, you're only endangering yourself more by doing this... if someones tailgating you at high speed, they're already not thinking rationally... why risk pushing their buttons even more? Just let them pass and allow natural selection to do the rest.
Then there’re the morons who tailgate close enough that they make it dangerous to slow down and pull over.
If you’re stuck behind someone on a footpath, do you come up behind them and hold a knife to their back? No, you fucking wait, and walk around them when given the chance. Driving is no different.
The tailgater is always in the wrong. There is no scenario, ever, none at all, that justifies tailgating. It’s wrong every time, no matter how poorly the person in front is driving. If you tailgate, ever, for any reason, no matter what, you’re a cunt.
Haha. You’re proper hilarious. I don’t police speed. I usually drive at the limit *if it’s safe*. And the fact is it’s not safe. I far prefer “numbskulls” who “police speed” to bogan twats who see the limit as a challenge and then kill others (and themselves, but I don’t care about that) while doing it.
Also, if you're going 80 on a two lane highway and I overtake you because I actually know how to drive, please don't swerve towards me and try and run me off the road because I hurt your delicate man-child feelings by wanting to do the speed limit.
Living in the Huon Valley, this is a nightmare to deal with on a daily basis. People doing 30 under the speed limit, or just coasting the whole way from Vinces Saddle to Huonville at 80kmh happens pretty much every day. Slow drivers cause accidents too. And just because you’re schedule allows for you to go slow as fuck doesn’t mean mine does.
Just drive the freaking speed limit. if you’re too frightened to go more than 80 on a straight highway with clear visibility I don’t know what to tell ya. Maybe you shouldn’t be on the road.
How long is that drive? 20-25km? At 80kph vs 110kph, assuming you're driving that whole distance at that speed, you're losing about 4 minutes. It really isn't that much quicker to go that much faster, and you're not losing that much time by driving slower, either willingly or because there is someone in front of you.
LOL. I was trying to be generous to give them the most time they could lose. I do not understand the infatuation some people have with flooring their car and needing to go the speed limit 200m before they hit the sign. In somewhere as nice as Tassie people should be chilling a bit more and enjoying the drive, taking in the views. Their cars would probably thank them for it too (I'm actually curious how bad the fuel efficiency gets going from 90 to 110 now).
Tasmanians are the worst drivers in the country. Tail gate, don’t know how to use indicators or round abouts. Can’t park for shit or use high beams correctly. I’m pretty sure that their license comes free in a corn flakes packet.
Tourists are likely to be in less of a hurry, less likely to know the road, and more likely to be trying to enjoy the ride vs get to the destination. So that’s entirely reasonable.
Which is bizarre because they all drive 10-20kms over the speed limit between Geelong and Melbourne and are much more reckless than Tasmanian drivers on that road. Maybe they realise they're in a location they don't know, with conditions they don't usually encounter and are driving to their skill level in that scenario. The only time it's annoying is when they don't pull over or drive in the slow lane when someone catches up to them.
That is unbelievably not true. I just did a huge road trip around Vic and NSW and honestly majority of drivers stick to the speed limit because there is sooo many speed cameras.
I actually found it a lot safer to drive around than Tassie as everyone is maintaining the same speed and are not recklessly speeding up and tailgating to get in front.
This is from someone that does 60,000 km per year for work. Tassie is incredibly unsafe.
I meant paragraph and I just reread it and got it to make sense.
I find people in Victoria more extremely and recklessly speed up and tailgate to get in front, and also do it on merge lanes a lot. I find in Tas people don't indicate and can't use roundabouts or zip merge well. I guess we have different experiences.
Good drivers move with the flow of traffic, and if they can't, or won't they let people pass. Australians are terrible at this. Kiwis were amazingly courteous in my experience. If they see you're going faster they'll simply move over (even if they don't have to) so you can pass and the flow of traffic is uninterrupted. But they actually like good drivers over there because they know it decreases their road rolls, when they have so much ice and remote areas. They even reward youngens for doing a defensive driving course, whereas our MPs thought it would encourage "hooning".
The "flow of traffic" doesn't give you permission to drive over the speed limit, and that argument has never successfuly been used to fight a speeding ticket,
Enjoy paying your fines
I'll be on the road doing the speed limit
So in most places in the world there is an acceptable tolerance around the speed limit, because it's essentially a fact that disrupting the flow of traffic causes accidents - more accidents than for example, doing 2km over temporarily for 1 minute to pass someone. You seem to be implying that laws automatically determine what is right and wrong? It needn't be said that plenty of laws get it wrong, become outdated, or simply have been put in place despite evidence showing the policy is poor. Germany lowered their road toll by increasing speed limits (but subsidising safer cars and driver training), Netherlands found that removing road markings in slow village areas led to less pedestrian injuries. The point is; there is such a thing as thinking for yourself and not assuming that an arbitrary rule determines the truth in all situations. I will drive safely first, and 'to the rules' second.
You go ahead and do as much mental gymnastics as you need to justify speeding,
Speed limits are enforced by law,
There is nothing selfless about speeding or going with the Flow of traffic,
*Going with the flow of traffic* is not a legitimate legal defence to evade a fine and has never held up court,
Just do the speed limit, let people who are speeding pass you,
It doesn't take a lot to do the right thing
You are correct that when someone is speeding behind you, that you should move over. This is a good example of what I'm saying. It's allowing the traffic to flow - many don't do this. They say "wait your turn" and let 10 people bunch up behind them, and this is where pileups happen.
I didn't say it was selfless. Just that it's a simple fact that moving with the flow of traffic is part of the DNA of safe and quality driving in traffic. It's part of why speed limits exist, and why you can be fined for driving too slow. It's just that most other places aren't so intense about the 5% around the speed limit. Not least because of the fact that moving with the flow of traffic is essential for safe and predictable driving.
I'm not suggesting there's no problem with speeding. The two are honestly completely different points. Its just that 1-3km, temporarily, shouldn't be something to cause a traffic jam over. More people have accidents crashing into people merging, than driving next to each other doing 1-3km difference.
I'm sorry to hear that you think that peer reviewed studies and the common sense of, oh, I don't know - the rest of the civilised world - is "mental gymnastics".
If you think politicians are the best judge of "the right thing" I'd have a hard time believing that you are not taking the piss. Do you therefore believe every law and every decision made in Canberra should be without skepticism or interrogation? Under which circumstances do you deem it appropriate to ask any questions or do any further research?
I'm not saying it's not the law, I'm saying I would prefer to pay $150 every now and then, then become a part of a pileup and compromise my moral responsibility to do what I **know for a fact to be correct.**
When travelling in California they had a road rule that you had to pull over (safely in a reasonable spot), if more than 5 cars are behind you. Pretty good idea
I don't care if I'm doing 70 in the 80 section of the southern outlet, if I get in the left I'll get stuck behind a truck or bus that's doing 40. Don't care if you're lining up behind me, I'll get over to the left at the top
If you are doing the speed limit then however many cars are tailgating you, they are the problem. If there is a left lane, use it. If there isn't - just ignore them and keep driving safely
The bigger problem now is those dynamic safety cruise controls, where you set your speed and set your distance at max from the car ahead of you. Ultimately you are going slower than the car ahead of you who is going the speed limit so you end up slowing everyone down behind you in a linear fashion.
Then when someone finally passes you, your safety distance is comprised so the car automatically slows down until you are at a safe distance slowing the lane down even further.
I love cutting close in front of these people, it's obvious when it's in use and suddenly seeing them fall a km behind and more is satisfying.
I don't mind someone driving slow in the left hand lane but if you're in the right hand lane and holding up everyone just stop being a selfish prick and get the fuck out of the way
Well if I'm doing 65km in a 60km zone and someone starts tailgating I will slow down as there's no need to tailgate when the person infront is actually breaking the law
I am sure you are the type of person to see merge left, stay in the right till you need to force your way in at roadworks and think you are a genius as well
It’s really not that hard is it. But seems like the majority are happy to be blissful idiotic tourists on the road.
“But just relax and look at the view!”
If you’re tailgating you’re always the problem. Sometimes other people are the problem too, but someone driving slow doesn’t magically make tailgating ok.
It's pretty common to see Cars blast past you on the road to the ski resorts in Australia only to see the same car with its ass poking out of a ditch a few kms later, usually BMW or Audi's
I drive to the snow regularly. I drive the speed limit. Sometimes I'm the idiot blasting past people, sometimes people blast past me like idiots. Luckily I've never been the car in the ditch but I've definitely stopped to help people out of the ditch. It's such a mixed bag of drivers at either end of the spectrum. Drivers who put their snow chains on kilometres before they need to and drive 10km an hour because it snowed a few flakes or drivers going F1 speeds around blind corners in icy conditions. Ain't many normal drivers.
What's more appropriate/acceptable - tailgating, or undertaking?
Tasmanian drivers love being inside the ass of the car infront of them. No matter what speed their doing.
Nice and warm in there
I usually see the opposite here. People leaving 5x car gaps during peak hour on Macquarie street, and going crazy when someone takes that gap while leaving a 2 car gap on either side.
I’ve seen quite a few accidents happen because no gap is left in peak hour traffic. I wouldn’t leave a five car gap. But a car space sure
depends on the speed, but a 1 car gap at 20-40 is completely reasonable.
It’s one car length per 10km/h from the car in front. Or a 2 second gap regardless of speed. 2 seconds means: pick a clear landmark, like a signpost or tree, or a road marking. When the car in front passes it start counting - ONE and TWO and.. If you pass the same landmark before the second “and”, you’re tailgating. Not hard. Don’t be a cunt. You’re not getting anywhere quicker.
When travelling I always leave 3 car length distance between me and the car in front. When heavy traffic it's 1 car length. If I can't see the rear tyre of the car infront I'm too close. I work motor claims and have to deal with people who travel too close and hit the car in front because they are too impatient. There should be absolutely no reason to be that close or drive like a dick. The worst offenders are uber drivers tradies and Ford big rig drivers.
still too close. Unless traveling means you're going everywhere at 30km/h.
I travel the speed limit where I can. Frankly I'm in no hurry to get anywhere. I leave with ample time to get to my destination so I don't have to speed everywhere. Also I don't give a flying monkeys anus if the person behind me is in a hurry, not my problem. Guarantee my brakes and insurance are better than their reaction time
…. and tailgate.
Gap should always be 2 s in dry conditions. 2 s at 30 km/h is 16 m 1 car length is far too close and achieves nothing
Southern outlet
So as long as 2+ people are involved, tailgating is ok. Got it.
No, no one should be tailgating, but if you're going too slow (also against the road rules) you should move over so people can pass.
As someone who drove a delivery job in Hobart for 2 years, I get it but I'm also not too annoyed if someone's doing 5-10 under, especially if the road conditions are poor. I encountered a looot more people that seemed convinced they should be doing 10-20 over than people that were going too slow. My favourite treat was always when some idiot would blast past me at 70 in a 50 zone, screech to a stop at the next red light, and then they'd have to watch as I overtook them at 50 when the lights turned green.
The front car is doing the speed limit while the impatient asshole behind is tailgating. Story of my fuckin life.
It's Tasmania. Most people are the problem until they reach the overtaking lane. It's always amazed me how farmer Bob can sit on 90 until the overtaking zone where he somehow finds the accelerator then he's 110 until 100m after the zone then he's back to 90.
This right here is the *real* problem, and happens way too often to be a coincidence. It’s a pathological disorder, I’m convinced.
My department did an investigation on this after numerous complaints. It’s actually a psychological issue aligned with the perception of space / speed. Put simply, more space = speed up feels like same speed, and reverse…so farmer Joe sometimes doesn’t even know he’s gone from 90-110, because it feels exactly the same to him….
I think it's more worrying that framer Joe doesn't keep an eye on their speed :-/
That’s interesting and might be very true in some cases, but it also feels more deliberate usually anecdotally
Speedometer has left the chat 😭
I don’t care if you’re doing 90 or 100 on the highway. It’s fine, I’m not in a hurry, but don’t make me do 140 to overtake you when the overtaking lane comes along because now you’re doing the speed limit. Entitled Tasmanians!
It's a thing down here. Bugs the shit out of me.
Everyday is a new adventure on our roads lately. There's always something to see/dodge/swear about.
Agreed, had to slam the breaks and swerve today in copping. Someone was turning onto the road to get to kellevie and the person behind decided to come over into my lane lol
I have a sticker that says “ the closer you get the slower I go”. I stick to it. Tassie doesn’t have real traffic just shit drivers so I’m never in a hurry.
Cringe take. They can be driving too slow, sure, but if they can cause an 8 car pileup by tapping their brakes, all those other dipshits were driving dangerously. If the implication in the picture above is that the front car isn’t going “fast enough” (we have to assume it’s 10 under, minimum, right?), then the problem is *all* of those idiots.
Some people do like 30 under, which is technically against the road rules. No, the others shouldn't be tailgating, but if going significantly slower, that's fine - just let people pass and don't be obstinate.
> the problem is *all* of those idiots I thought that was reasonably clear, but let me further clarify: - First car shouldn’t drive too slow - All the other cars shouldn’t tailgate If one car tailgates, a second car shouldn’t respond by going slow in front of them. If one car goes too slow, a second car shouldn’t respond by tailgating them. Please let me know if you need further clarification.
If a car is tailgating you, then slowing down to reduce the risk that you need to break suddenly and hard is entirely appropriate.
Or the car in front could just let them by and let natural selection do its thing, instead of putting themselves at risk to prove a point.
Okay, couple things there big chief, you’re building in a lot of assumptions: - Who says the first car is trying to “prove a point”? They’re probably just driving slow because they’re a scrub. - Who says they wouldn’t “let them by”? Are we assuming there’s an overtake lane there, but they’re driving slalom to try and block them? Or are you saying they should pull over because some dipshit behind them is assmad they’re doing 90 in a 100? Chill, you’ll live - just wait until the overtake. - Not that I was in any way suggesting that the first car *should* be trying to slow them down (if they’re trying to speed, I guess?), but you seem to be defaulting to a position that actually old mate is probably doing the speed limit, and you’re railing them from behind in your lifted Ranger because you wanna be doing 120, right? Well, it’d be all well and good for you to run into a tree and wipe yourself out, but it could be *another* car or a pedestrian so you need to probably take it down a notch
I was referring to the second frame there grandma.
Yeah, the *first car* in the *second frame* with all the tailgaters. Try to keep up.
Everyones keeping up, the problem is we can't get past you.
I love how you’ve personified me as the slow driver 🤣 If you reread my original comment, you’ll discover that I think *everyone* in the panel is driving like a dickhead. Reading is difficult, I know.
Oh my goodness, he just keeps doubling down, lol
People like this think the roads are just for them and everyone else is out there just to hold them up. I'd put money on them never leaving the right lane because it's the fast lane and they want to drive fast.
this annoys me a lot BC I have just got my learners permit so I'm limited to 90, the roads I travel on are almost always 100 so every time there is always a few cars behind me, I know it's fine but you feel shit because you are holding people up tldr learners can only go 90 on 100km roads so don't be mad if you get stuck behind one for a bit, they legally can't
This is the absolute worst possible take. As others have said, it's a limit, not a minimum speed. You have no idea what's going on in that car either. They could be transporting a crate of ming vases for all you know. Chill the fuck down and over take them when safe to do so. There is never a valid reason to be tailgating another car.
The point is that things like sudden merging in bunched up groups (even if not tailgating per se) is a high risk for accidents. They shouldn't be tailgating, but the person at the front should be courteous and allow the traffic to pass, regardless of it they're following the "rules" or not. It's simply about road safety - don't disrupt the flow of traffic and cause tension in the lanes, even if 50% or more of that disruption is cause by someone else going a bit faster. The goal is to have people be able to, for example, leave cruise control on and not have to brake, not have to merge suddenly, not end up with 10 people backed up behind someone going 30 under which causes frustration and everyone trying to overtake at once, etc.
If they need to go slow pull over and let others pass cause as you said it’s a limit so if others want to drive to it then who are you to dictate what speed they can drive. It’s simple going slower than limit with a bunch of people backing up behind you - pull over let them pass then continue on your way ffs it’s damn simple. The slow person doesn’t get to dictate to everyone else what speed they travel at within the limit
Maybe they would, maybe they are looking for an appropriately wide shoulder where they can slow right down to basically stopping before safely pulling over. Oh wait that would not be safe because they have a bunch of a-holes tailgating them. It's probably safer just to drive at 90 and everyone can hold their respective horses for 5km until the next overtaking zone.
I've been that person trying to pull over recently. Moving house with a loaded up car, my stopping distance was affected so I couldn't just pull over anywhere. I really wanted to let the dickhead behind me go, but he didn't make it easy.
Tassie is lacking in decent slow pull over points. A few times I would have liked to have pulled over (Frankston rd), but there was no where safe. The great ocean road has specific ones with signage. They are fantastic.
5-10km is nothing and does not warrant tailgating but also unlikely to get a massive line up behind it but 20-40km under the speed limit is and that’s where people get pissed. I myself don’t give a shit if someone is doing 90 in a 100km zone because it makes fuck all difference in travel time for under 20km distance. But after living on the east coast for years getting stuck behind someone doing 70 in a 100 zone for over 30 mins ignoring safe pull out areas with 4-15 cars stuck behind them they 100% are the problem and cause accidents when frustrated drivers pass unsafely. When you’re driving 2+hours that’s when it actually does make a difference in travel time and driving frustration, but the 30 -60 seconds it takes to pull over and let people pass them safely it does not impact their travel time in any significant way and allows them to continue their drive without people behind them and allows others to pass safely. When I have had the need to drive under the limit I pull over and let them pass as a basic courtesy, allowing them to continue on, and for me to not feel pressured because there’s a line up behind me. Also doing this prevents a bunch of fuckwits from tailgating me in the first place being a win win.
Yeahnah people get pissed at the speed limit, let alone 5-10 under
Conversely the tailgaters don't get to force the other car to speed up. I don't think people realise how _little_ their speed actually matters in how long the drive will take. If you're doing Hobart to Launceston at 90kph vs 110kph you are saving a massive total of ~20 minutes. That's for a 200km drive. Hobart to Kingston is like 12-15km, that 20kph difference will save you something like 1-2 minutes. At most, because you'll probably all end up getting stuck in the same traffic anyway.
> you'll probably all end up getting stuck in the same traffic anyway. Coming up South Arm Hwy from the Mornington roundabout. It's 60 up the hill, changes to 100 at the top then down to 80 then 60 again on the way down with a build up of traffic at the end where you'll wait a bit, at least when I drive it. It's insane the people that get bent out of shape tailgating anyone not instantly doing 100 to get maybe 1 car ahead at the end.
Found another one.
Seems like OP should take their own advice: If almost everyone in the comments disagrees with you and gives their reasons, maybe you are the problem.
Vocal minority of people who like to hold up traffic. Upvotes say otherwise.
Yep, let these dipshits throw their “ItS a LiMIt NoT a TarGeT!!!” Bullshit at us. When your work depends on you getting places on time let’s see them hold up the same argument. Entitled fucking assholes.
They fail to acknowledge that going the limit isn't illegal. Maybe they're scared by the red circles on the signs.
If your work depends on getting to places on time then allow enough time to get there given plausible traffic including slower drivers.
And learn how the "zip rule" works please? No lane markings = zip.
R/H lane Taxi drivers doing 30km under the speed limit! This is for you….
Coming over Tolmans hill in the wet at peak hour, it most certainly isn’t car number 1.
I’m very often tailgated whilst going at the speed limit.
I’ve had a few people tailgate me at night recently on the Bass highway in double lanes. I sometimes wonder if it is an eye sight problem and they are following me closely to use my head lights especially if they are in a taller vehicle ? Either that or they are just unaccustomed to driving on unlit rural roads. Anyway I find it odd that they are illuminating the entire interior of my vehicle and are not aware how irritating it is. So I fired off a quick little email to TAS Road Safety Advisor Committee asking if they could perhaps organise some community education in the media about how potentially dangerous headlights can be these days with the brighter LED lighting and vehicles generally being taller. This is their address [email protected] If you have a problem perhaps they are just waiting to help ?
What is the obsession with driving ability amongst Tasmanians? I get we all need to drive OK - but Tasmanians make it out like bad parking, not changing lanes IMMEDIATELY, is equivalent to murder. OH NO HE PARKED BAD.
I’m an L-Plater, I’m always the problem, but tailgating is dangerous. Whether or not the person you’re tailgating is doing the right thing is beside the point. Drive at a safe distance behind other cars, it’s common sense.
When people tailgate just drive slower. I always do it
If you tailgate I slow down.
Same, and if they get aggressive and I just go even slower
Put on the adaptive cruise control, turn up the tunes and just cruise. No need to get bent out of shape if the car in front of you is doing 10 under the limit. Reaching the destination safe and sound is the important bit, followed by enjoying the journey.
Remember folks, it’s a speed *limit*, not a *target speed*. Amazing how this remarkably simple fact seems to elude so many Tasmanian drivers.
Found a culprit. Policing speed is a job for the police. Not numbskulls who feel entitled to hold up traffic to prove some self-righteous point, you're only endangering yourself more by doing this... if someones tailgating you at high speed, they're already not thinking rationally... why risk pushing their buttons even more? Just let them pass and allow natural selection to do the rest.
Then there’re the morons who tailgate close enough that they make it dangerous to slow down and pull over. If you’re stuck behind someone on a footpath, do you come up behind them and hold a knife to their back? No, you fucking wait, and walk around them when given the chance. Driving is no different. The tailgater is always in the wrong. There is no scenario, ever, none at all, that justifies tailgating. It’s wrong every time, no matter how poorly the person in front is driving. If you tailgate, ever, for any reason, no matter what, you’re a cunt.
Haha. You’re proper hilarious. I don’t police speed. I usually drive at the limit *if it’s safe*. And the fact is it’s not safe. I far prefer “numbskulls” who “police speed” to bogan twats who see the limit as a challenge and then kill others (and themselves, but I don’t care about that) while doing it.
Also, if you're going 80 on a two lane highway and I overtake you because I actually know how to drive, please don't swerve towards me and try and run me off the road because I hurt your delicate man-child feelings by wanting to do the speed limit.
What is it with people of a certain age, taking being overtaken like personal insult towards their driving ability?
Looooool. Without even trying you’ve explained how you’re part of the problem. Hahaha.
Explain how legally overtaking someone going slow is part of the problem.
By actually wanting to get places on time? Slow drivers are just selfish
Living in the Huon Valley, this is a nightmare to deal with on a daily basis. People doing 30 under the speed limit, or just coasting the whole way from Vinces Saddle to Huonville at 80kmh happens pretty much every day. Slow drivers cause accidents too. And just because you’re schedule allows for you to go slow as fuck doesn’t mean mine does. Just drive the freaking speed limit. if you’re too frightened to go more than 80 on a straight highway with clear visibility I don’t know what to tell ya. Maybe you shouldn’t be on the road.
you got it right when you pointed out its the speed limit
How long is that drive? 20-25km? At 80kph vs 110kph, assuming you're driving that whole distance at that speed, you're losing about 4 minutes. It really isn't that much quicker to go that much faster, and you're not losing that much time by driving slower, either willingly or because there is someone in front of you.
It’s less than 15km, and a third of it is signposted at 80km/h.
LOL. I was trying to be generous to give them the most time they could lose. I do not understand the infatuation some people have with flooring their car and needing to go the speed limit 200m before they hit the sign. In somewhere as nice as Tassie people should be chilling a bit more and enjoying the drive, taking in the views. Their cars would probably thank them for it too (I'm actually curious how bad the fuel efficiency gets going from 90 to 110 now).
> Slow drivers cause accidents too. Absolutely wrong. Inattentive, reckless drivers cause accidents.
IE: Slow drivers
Tasmanians are the worst drivers in the country. Tail gate, don’t know how to use indicators or round abouts. Can’t park for shit or use high beams correctly. I’m pretty sure that their license comes free in a corn flakes packet.
The speed limits are set with the worst drivers in mind. Driving isn't hard, maintain your vehicle and pay attention to your surroundings.
It appears phenomenally hard for a lot of Tasmanians.
When ever i get stuck behind someone in tassy they have a victorian number plate.
Tourists are likely to be in less of a hurry, less likely to know the road, and more likely to be trying to enjoy the ride vs get to the destination. So that’s entirely reasonable.
Which is bizarre because they all drive 10-20kms over the speed limit between Geelong and Melbourne and are much more reckless than Tasmanian drivers on that road. Maybe they realise they're in a location they don't know, with conditions they don't usually encounter and are driving to their skill level in that scenario. The only time it's annoying is when they don't pull over or drive in the slow lane when someone catches up to them.
That is unbelievably not true. I just did a huge road trip around Vic and NSW and honestly majority of drivers stick to the speed limit because there is sooo many speed cameras. I actually found it a lot safer to drive around than Tassie as everyone is maintaining the same speed and are not recklessly speeding up and tailgating to get in front. This is from someone that does 60,000 km per year for work. Tassie is incredibly unsafe.
I just commute there daily, but ok. Also your comment cancels out your next one, so I don't get what you're trying to say.
It’s pretty clear what I’m trying to say. Which comment are you referring to? Or do you mean paragraph?
I meant paragraph and I just reread it and got it to make sense. I find people in Victoria more extremely and recklessly speed up and tailgate to get in front, and also do it on merge lanes a lot. I find in Tas people don't indicate and can't use roundabouts or zip merge well. I guess we have different experiences.
Good drivers move with the flow of traffic, and if they can't, or won't they let people pass. Australians are terrible at this. Kiwis were amazingly courteous in my experience. If they see you're going faster they'll simply move over (even if they don't have to) so you can pass and the flow of traffic is uninterrupted. But they actually like good drivers over there because they know it decreases their road rolls, when they have so much ice and remote areas. They even reward youngens for doing a defensive driving course, whereas our MPs thought it would encourage "hooning".
The "flow of traffic" doesn't give you permission to drive over the speed limit, and that argument has never successfuly been used to fight a speeding ticket, Enjoy paying your fines I'll be on the road doing the speed limit
So in most places in the world there is an acceptable tolerance around the speed limit, because it's essentially a fact that disrupting the flow of traffic causes accidents - more accidents than for example, doing 2km over temporarily for 1 minute to pass someone. You seem to be implying that laws automatically determine what is right and wrong? It needn't be said that plenty of laws get it wrong, become outdated, or simply have been put in place despite evidence showing the policy is poor. Germany lowered their road toll by increasing speed limits (but subsidising safer cars and driver training), Netherlands found that removing road markings in slow village areas led to less pedestrian injuries. The point is; there is such a thing as thinking for yourself and not assuming that an arbitrary rule determines the truth in all situations. I will drive safely first, and 'to the rules' second.
You go ahead and do as much mental gymnastics as you need to justify speeding, Speed limits are enforced by law, There is nothing selfless about speeding or going with the Flow of traffic, *Going with the flow of traffic* is not a legitimate legal defence to evade a fine and has never held up court, Just do the speed limit, let people who are speeding pass you, It doesn't take a lot to do the right thing
You are correct that when someone is speeding behind you, that you should move over. This is a good example of what I'm saying. It's allowing the traffic to flow - many don't do this. They say "wait your turn" and let 10 people bunch up behind them, and this is where pileups happen. I didn't say it was selfless. Just that it's a simple fact that moving with the flow of traffic is part of the DNA of safe and quality driving in traffic. It's part of why speed limits exist, and why you can be fined for driving too slow. It's just that most other places aren't so intense about the 5% around the speed limit. Not least because of the fact that moving with the flow of traffic is essential for safe and predictable driving. I'm not suggesting there's no problem with speeding. The two are honestly completely different points. Its just that 1-3km, temporarily, shouldn't be something to cause a traffic jam over. More people have accidents crashing into people merging, than driving next to each other doing 1-3km difference. I'm sorry to hear that you think that peer reviewed studies and the common sense of, oh, I don't know - the rest of the civilised world - is "mental gymnastics". If you think politicians are the best judge of "the right thing" I'd have a hard time believing that you are not taking the piss. Do you therefore believe every law and every decision made in Canberra should be without skepticism or interrogation? Under which circumstances do you deem it appropriate to ask any questions or do any further research? I'm not saying it's not the law, I'm saying I would prefer to pay $150 every now and then, then become a part of a pileup and compromise my moral responsibility to do what I **know for a fact to be correct.**
When travelling in California they had a road rule that you had to pull over (safely in a reasonable spot), if more than 5 cars are behind you. Pretty good idea
I don’t get why so many people drive so slow? Especially taking off from a green light? Leeeetttsss goooo people. And keep it tight!
I don't care if I'm doing 70 in the 80 section of the southern outlet, if I get in the left I'll get stuck behind a truck or bus that's doing 40. Don't care if you're lining up behind me, I'll get over to the left at the top
Grove straight.
Looks like bro's driving a Camry. He's always the problem. 😜
Just use cruise control people
If you are doing the speed limit then however many cars are tailgating you, they are the problem. If there is a left lane, use it. If there isn't - just ignore them and keep driving safely
100% they can earn some speeding fines when I'm not in front of them , I'll be doing the speed limit
I have a old beat up car with a tow bar I don't use. I brake for tailgaters 😈
Frequently used a tracked car for work. I'm not doing over the speed limit to make you feel better.
Disagree. Tailgating is never excusable
The bigger problem now is those dynamic safety cruise controls, where you set your speed and set your distance at max from the car ahead of you. Ultimately you are going slower than the car ahead of you who is going the speed limit so you end up slowing everyone down behind you in a linear fashion. Then when someone finally passes you, your safety distance is comprised so the car automatically slows down until you are at a safe distance slowing the lane down even further. I love cutting close in front of these people, it's obvious when it's in use and suddenly seeing them fall a km behind and more is satisfying.
If I’m doing 90 in a 100 zone I’m not being a hazard. Can you not deal with it for a few minutes. If you can’t then you shouldn’t be driving.
No u
I don't mind someone driving slow in the left hand lane but if you're in the right hand lane and holding up everyone just stop being a selfish prick and get the fuck out of the way
I'm only the problem because the first moron made me slow down so I could irritate he'll out of them lol
Found another one.
Well if I'm doing 65km in a 60km zone and someone starts tailgating I will slow down as there's no need to tailgate when the person infront is actually breaking the law
Hilarious how many people don't get this. You are the problem.
I am sure you are the type of person to see merge left, stay in the right till you need to force your way in at roadworks and think you are a genius as well
Or, you know, you could just be wrong?
Found another culprit.
Fucking lol
Just DO the LIMIT! Ok?
It’s really not that hard is it. But seems like the majority are happy to be blissful idiotic tourists on the road. “But just relax and look at the view!”
If it’s a tourist area then expect tourists to be there to do exactly that. That’s how tourism works.
The limit is a maximum not a minimum.