The Daily Unsafe Driving Behavior We All Are Involved: Tailgating

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 03:17:39 +0500 #1

As the subject line reflects; this is one of the very common unsafe driving behavior, everyone of us is involved and we see it every other day. I am sure the first thing we all learnt while getting driving lessons from our elders was "KEEP DISTANCE" " FASLA RAKHO ". The problem is we all know the importance of this safe distance. For some reason we don't realize sometimes while on the roads behind the wheel that we are too close to the vehicle ahead. Some people do it intentionally and they are habitual. These careless drivers not only risk their own lives but also a hazard for everyone else on the roads as well. These stupid drivers think by doing so they look COOL. But well actually they look retard.

According to a study rear ended accidents are almost 40% of all accidents across North America. Rear ended accidents results in injuries ( mostly serious injuries to the occupants in the vehicle at the front) as well as injuries to the occupants of the vehicles initiating the collision. Some fatal injuries are also reported. When the occupants in the front get a hit from rear they can get shoulder, neck and back injuries. If they are not in seat belts.. head injuries are also possible. The injuries are serious as the occupants in the front vehicle actually don't have a reaction time. ( Not knowing at all what happened when they are hit). Their body take an impact and release the force resulting in serious injuries.

I was at defensive driving class and came to know the importance of passenger in rear seats in seat belts. Almost all new cars and mostly JDM imports have rear seat belts. Please tell your passengers to use it. They will never get strangulated. Rear- ending is a very serious situation if we have kids in the car and like in our society we damn care about restraining our kids in the seats. Please always keep your kids in back seats with seat belts ON and use appropriate child seats. If you can spend 30/40/50 thousands on buying a cell phone, on car stereo systems or useless HID'S. Please invest in the safety of your kids too who are our future. Lets understand this danger we come across in our daily routine and remain safe on the roads and keep everyone else safe as well. I scanned through various resources in compiling below information for our learning.

What is Tailgating? :Tailgating is when a driver follows the car in front too closely, literally riding up on its tail. Doing so decreases the amount of time that a driver has to react. When you cannot avoid hitting another automobile, tailgating can cause a car accident.Tailgating drastically increases the probability of both rear-end collisions and chain-reaction accidents on highways, which often lead to serious skull injuries, whiplash injuries, backbone injuries, back injuries, and even the loss of your life.
Causes of tailgating:

Some drivers almost ask to be tailgated. The unnecessarily slow car holding up a queue on an a road. The outside lane hog on a motorway who fails to move over despite faster traffic behind and clear lanes to his left. These behavior do not excuse the tailgater. They are poor driving and tend to impede others, tensions rise and tailgating results. If you frequently suffer from tailgaters it might be wise to carefully consider if any of your own practices are tending to create frustration and delay for other drivers. The advanced driver always keeps out of the way of other vehicles whenever practical.
The ignorant tailgater is unaware of the danger he is causing and fails to properly understand the need for safe gaps between vehicles. He/she might be driving on "auto pilot" and follow you through lane changes and speed variations. He is sometimes difficult to dislodge because he/she isn't thinking about what's going on around him/her.
The aggressive tailgater is using his/her vehicle to intimidate. He/she is always dangerous but if he/she is specifically directing his/her aggression at you personally he/she might be a very serious danger indeed. You might even become a "road rage" statistic.
The impatient tailgater simply wants to get ahead of you. If you move out of the way he'll be gone. It is possible that he has a genuine emergency need. If you fail to allow the impatient tailgater to make progress he/she may become aggressive. This is obviously best avoided.

How you can avoid becoming a tailgater and subsequently an accident?

Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop safely in behind the car in front of you. Driving the speed limit is the absolute fastest you are legally allowed to drive, but you should travel at a lower speed during poor roadway conditions in order to give yourself more time to react.
Leave enough space between the automobile in front of you in case it suddenly slows down or stops. A good rule of thumb is to allow 15 feet of distance for every increment of 10 Kmph you are driving. For example, 90 feet of distance between cars is ideal for a driver who is traveling at 60 Kmph.
Remember that large automobiles and motorcycles require a greater distance to stop. Its recommended that you leave an even larger distance between your car and those types of automobiles.
In bad weather (rain, snow, fog, etc.), it is best to double the distance between you and the car in front of you. Bad weather decreases tire traction and causes the slips and skids that can lead to losing control of your car. You can prevent a car accident by maintaining a greater distance from other cars in front of you.
If you are on a dry and clear road, it is recommend that you count two seconds to safely gauge the distance between you and the car in front of you. When the car in front of you drives past a sign, you should reach the count of two before you pass the sign.
4 second rule is when the roadways are wet and rainy. In these conditions, you should employ a four second safety gap between yourself and the car in front of you.
Ten second rule applies to icy and snowy conditions when the roadways are at their worst. This may seem like too much time needed in order to determine distance, but every winter car accident statistics go up because motorists feel they can bypass this rule.
Realize that tailgating won't get you there faster. Tailgating doesn't have ANY inherent rewards - at most, it might get you to your destination a few second faster. Not to mention that following too closely is dangerous and can result in an expensive accident or can cause for sure injuries or result in loss of a precious life.

What if you're the victim of a tailgater?

Do not try to teach him a lesson. Remain cool & calm. If you cannot remove yourself from the situation, prepare for annoying behavior from aggressive drivers.
The tailgater might turn on their high beams, blow their horn, shout insults and give unfriendly gestures. Flipping your rear view mirror to nighttime position will help if they turn on the high beams, and preparing yourself mentally for the possible onslaught of horns and cursing will help you deal with it.
If you cannot switch lanes for any reason, various laws of physics are going to prevent the tailgater from driving through you. However, if you're matching speed with a vehicle beside you, perhaps you should consider slowing down and switching lanes. Diffusing the dangerous situation is far more advantageous than bickering over the speed limit.
Don't get distracted. Do not increase the stress of the situation. Do not flash your brake lights.Do not brake.
Do not use the tactic of gradually slowing and accelerating to annoy him into leaving a larger gap. Do not try to slow him down. Don't drive erratically in the belief that doing so might persuade him/her to leave a larger gap
Do not make it difficult for him to overtake.
If you are being tailgated on a motorway, change lane to the left to let him/her past as soon as possible. You might add a couple of seconds to your journey, but who cares? You might even be able to join the original lane behind the tailgater, and allow his/her aggressive tactics to clear a path that you can use to get there more quickly.
On a motorway (especially) you might find someone tailgates you while you are overtaking a stream in lane 1 or lane 2. The cars on the left (all driving too close as usual) prevent you from moving left so you accelerate to increase the gap behind. This works brilliantly if your vehicle is more powerful than the tailgater's vehicle. Do not get carried away and accelerate to a speed which isn't safe! Accelerating to get away tends to be a temporary solution, because he will probably catch up again. Be ready to pull left and allow him/her to pass easily if he/she does.

Forget pride. Forget saving a few seconds. Drive sensibly and dump the tailgater as soon as possible, & congratulate yourself for doing so.

Source: safespeed.org.uk . Defensive driving AAA

aakbar (AA) 2014-01-21 03:38:04 +0500 #2

Another very informative thread by @fazalwahab11375. However, in Pakistan, especially in Lahore, you can't imagine driving behind a vehicle without tailgating it. People behind you would literally thrash you for being keep safe distance if they could, and come in front of you with killer looks and what not.
What I've observed here is that instead of improving our driving skills and habits with better roads but also more traffic, we as a nation is not following basic driving rules let alone being safe on road at all. Hope this thread makes some differnece in our driving habits.

awais.9 (awais Khalid ) 2014-01-21 04:09:41 +0500 #3

what is this seconds rule,i read this before as well,n i dont get it
like if some one applies a brake,u got two seconds to react n apply brakes?

not every car has same brakes,some got good some got normal some got bad as well

tailgating is very common here....
i always think what will happen if the next driver applies brake,people literally drive bumper to bumper even when overtaking or normally as well,very common on jinnah avenue from F8 ptcl exchange to F10 round about starting from signal

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 04:14:56 +0500 #4

Seconds rule is an approximate safe distance keeping tool. Closer to the car infront means lesser reaction time as well as greater chances for rear ending the car at front. You as a driver know about your car and brakes as well as your driving. Keeping safe distance is must.

awais.9 (awais Khalid ) 2014-01-21 04:18:08 +0500 #5

then it cant b two second
it happened a few times even with safe distance when cars quickly apply brakes suddenly,n i applied mine n stopped before them that makes me realize i should keep even more distance otherwise i would have banged into the next car

n u know what these people do,i try to keep a distance,they come into that gap :mad: :mad: :mad:

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 04:20:25 +0500 #6

These rules are just for understanding.As I said a driver easily knows that he is too close at certain speed. So "fasla rakhain warna pyar ho jaey ga"..

nido807 (nido807) 2014-01-21 04:55:09 +0500 #7

n u know what these people do,i try to keep a distance,they come into that gap :mad: :mad: :mad:[/QUOTE]

lol story of my life :v

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 10:05:19 +0500 #8

StrikerX (StrikerX) 2014-01-21 10:14:52 +0500 #9

Avoiding tailgating here is very hard, mostly due to road congestion and idiots going at snail's pace in the fast lane. In dense traffic, if you leave a safe gap, the car tailgating you will come from the left and fill the gap -__-

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 11:26:46 +0500 #10

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ahmedk06 (ahmedk06) 2014-01-21 11:42:28 +0500 #11

pakistani,s will never learn this, Almost everybody is owner of the road here and enjoying his newly purchased xli or a city in highlane , , good article though.

jadoon1992_vxlimited (jadoon1992_vxlimited) 2014-01-21 12:33:07 +0500 #12

a very informative thread again by Fazal. keep it up and keep posting such threads so that our people learn. this is a very common issue. yesterday 5 cars collided just because of this tailgating at kalapul in Karachi. but still poeple dont learn. my brand new car was hit by a lady tailgater a few days back and now a guy on a bike Fu**** the bumper and left headlight when he came like an unguided missile when the signal on his side was red and mine was green.

ahsanzs (ahsanzs) 2014-01-21 14:08:09 +0500 #13

I read fazalwahab11375's blogs and posts with much interest. Maybe he's transportation engineer. Many of the posts are spot on, like the one about HIDs going on.

But here I beg to defer.

1. In Pakistan most of the time traffic is moving at a snail's pace. Pileups do happen but severe injuries or even minor whiplash is rare since the acceleration and speed of cars is much less.

2. This post discusses lane etc. at length. Whereas there are very less roads in Pakistan where there are lane markings. On roads which were made with lane markings, they soon fade and are never maintained.

3. Much of the time there are potholes on the road. Therefore lane markings are irrelevant and people tend to tread over the ruts of vehicles previously past.

4. About seat belts: Pakistan is a dusty environment. Many times seat belts do not work. Many times seat belts clasps are so worn out the seat belts cannot be undone. Once upon a time I sat in one 4x4 which was on contract with gas field. Driver told me to wear seat belt otherwise company would be fined PKR 5000/- by gas field operator. I tested the seat belt before wearing it (thank God) and the belt could not be removed from the clasp. Then I went to safety supervisor and told him you want to put me in this death trap?

5. Pakistan is a largely illiterate population. There is a dearth of trained rescue services personnel. In many cases it has been observed in highway crashes that the vehicle caught fire but the villagers who came to help helplessly watched unconscious people die in flames just because they did not know how to undo the seat belt.

6. Nowadays there are not normal tailgaters. People who tailgate are government officer convoys or private convoys etc. 4 hilux with guards with modern automatic weapons sitting inside and also in the cargo bed. Then sahib's LX570, after that 4 more hilux with guards with loaded weapons. All 9 vehicles with full tints and no number plate at all.

7. The entire post is gender-biased. Why is it always HE? Don't women drive cars?

8. The class divide of Pakistan is evident on the roads also. Speed parity is non-existent. Since there is little enforcement of regulation of any type, many companies are selling rickshaws, Qing-qi etc. which cannot keep up with the speed of traffic. As metropolitans are getting bigger by the day, people's daily commutes are also increasing and patience towards road-hogs is decreasing, to the point where if somebody does not give way people don't hesitate to push them on the footpath/storm drain when they finally manage to nose their way ahead.

9. Continuing point #8, the entire RMA infrastructure cannot keep the vehicles on road in tune. Therefore most of the vehicles are unfit (would not qualify if fitness tests are enforced).

10. Most of vehicles are overloaded. The cargo vehicles are also overloaded. The driver then tend to crawl since being overloaded it is easy to have a clutch burnt (clutch slip) or suspension or the entire chassis broken. Trying to accelerate would yield no result as engine would only burn more fuel and shorten its life but could not increase the speed of the vehicle.

11. Tailgating is safer: In some place where there is no lane marking and vehicles of different era have to coexist, the braking capacity of vehicles of various generations are different. Also, there are no flared bus stops, and encroachers tend to occupy one lane or so. Hand carts and people coming wrong way are a common sight. In this case if you leave a little bit of headroom someone would nudge his/her way into the small space and instantly brake (since they are coming in at a greater speed than you, or the vehicle ahead of you - and in this case you are going at exactly the same speed as the one ahead of you). Most of the times these vehicles who nudge in front of you are elderly black taxis which have no headlight, tail light, turn light, brake light, reverse light etc. It is much less taxing to follow a new car with working brake lamps rather than braking in an emergency for someone who just managed to cram themselves in the small room ahead of you. The problem is further aggravated when you are driving a bigger car (a compact or sub-compact like corolla, civic) which is wider than the one going ahead of you.

12. Tailgating is even more safer at roundabouts: Unless you follow the car ahead with less than an inch gap, some motorcycle coming from the right or left would introduce their front wheel in the gap between your vehicle and the next vehicle. Since nobody follows the traffic policeman, and there is much disregard of the law of land, the motorcyclist will also never get the where s/he wants unless they fight for the survival of fittest. In this case, you; sit simmering at the intersection for the next 20 minutes because now the other traffic has their way and you aren't. And I'm saying 20 minutes since it happens: Pakistan is a poor country and here there are more people and less resources. Therefore for every single resource there is a fight like refugee camp. And in the absence of welfare state performance, everybody from the many previous generations is of the mind that if they do not struggle for their own. and do not snatch from others they won't get their part. And it is indeed true. You have to beg here for every little basic necessity e.g gas, electricity.

13. Unlike the European countries where most of the population is old, Pakistan has younger drivers aged 13-55. Their PIEV time (reaction time) is much quicker than that representative of other countries' populace.

14. In Pakistan where there is culture of tailgating, if you single person starts not tailgating then you lose. One law of nature is that whatever is happening is happening because currently it is the most sustainable method of doing things. If it weren't the best method for the conditions, it would have been replaced by something more sustainable. You have to do in Rome like Romans do, whether you like it or not. E.g transporters are overloading passengers and cargo, it is sustainable that's why they are doing this. Now one day one transporter says I will not overload. Soon s/he will go out of business since overloading is cheaper given the current societal norms. When this person goes out of business, the only ones who remain will be those who overload! That's why I'm saying not to do things the way which would render you unsuitable by the society otherwise natural circumstances will eliminate you from the group. Now if the government comes and stops everybody from overloading, this would sure increase the fares but since the entire society will be forced to do this, there will be a level playing field.

Moral of the story: Like other members shared, when they try to keep their safe distance, unwanted disturbances into their personal space happen making their life more troublesome and unsafe (since there is no concept of lane or turn indicator). Therefore tailgating will remain a societal norm in Pakistan unless the power of state curbs it in an equal and just manner. Those who do not follow this societal norm will lose out on important opportunities in life (in a resource-starved country, one of the important opportunities of life is getting home on time before power fails so you can press your clothes you have to use the next day).

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 14:18:53 +0500 #14

I am civil engineer by profession so you are right.
Well I always talk about the road safety and other issues. I think first the whole licensing system is wrong. The way people get license all trash. There should be point systems and on record so that after certain points a license is revoked or suspended. We will talk later about road safety. Our basics need attention. careless drivers are every part of the word. sometime I get involved in a questionable behavior on the road as well. But we have to start from somewhere. lets start from today and obey road signs. rain starts with a single drop. if everyone starts doing what they like it will be chaos.

Well there is not gender based thread/ topic. I just remained generic. when you say driver.. it can be he/she or whatever. I can edit he into driver ( Edited to he/she as per your choice).

awais.9 (awais Khalid ) 2014-01-21 14:34:10 +0500 #15

see wid that thinking tailgating is again a common issue,i always keep distance,if some1 tried to come in,i honk them or better yet floor to keep them to the left,still if they get in then honk until they get out

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 14:50:48 +0500 #16

One more reason NOT to tailgate.

abbasaliabbasi (Abbas A. Abbasi) 2014-01-21 16:24:08 +0500 #17

Very useful thread Sir, but this nation will never change their habits and only 10% people will obey this.

faiz.aslam.121 (Faiz Aslam) 2014-01-21 16:41:06 +0500 #18

@ahsanzs, loved reading this:)

You summed everything up properly. Keep the good work up!

fazalwahab11375 (fazalwahab11375) 2014-01-21 18:46:49 +0500 #19

extra distance from trucks and buses.

MGK (MGK) 2014-01-21 19:07:47 +0500 #20

how to embed a facebook video here i want to share a related video?