What are your options?

If you are faced with a tailgater there are various courses of action that you can take to deal with the situation ...

Just grin and bear it

The first and most obvious choice is to grin and bear it - in other words: do nothing.

While the fact that you do not get annoyed by the driver behind might show great strength of character, it still leaves you vulnerable if the car ahead stops suddenly; even if you can stop safely, the following driver is almost bound to hit you.

Teach him a lesson!

A common reaction by many people is to brake sharply in an attempt to 'teach the following driver lesson'. Other drivers will touch the brake pedal lightly to illuminate the brake lights without slowing the car down.

On the face of it, this second option might seem like a good idea - after all, you are simply giving the driver a wake-up call.

However, you could provoke a road rage incident with disastrous consequences; it's also possible that driver behind could over react causing someone to slam into the back of his car.

Speed up to escape

Never a good idea!

By speeding up you are decreasing your forward safety gap when there is a car in front. If you are on an open road you are at of risk driving blindly into danger without enough space to stop in an emergency.

Added to this, there is a strong chance that the following driver will simply speed up with you; you will then have a situation where you are travelling faster, still being tailgated, and not paying sufficient attention to the road ahead because you are distracted by the tailgater!

Double your forward safety gap

This is often cited as the solution for the tailgating problem. But even this solution carries a degree of potential risk.

While the extra gap ahead will allow both you and your follower to stop safely, it could provoke erratic overtaking manoeuvres as the follower sees his gap! This is particularly dangerous where visibility is restricted or in double white line systems.

But the best solution? Click the forward arrow to find out ...