It can be quite frustrating to have a tailgater right behind your car. It makes you feel nervous and on edge. You constantly feel like an accident is just a split second away. You know that that person, by failing to maintain a proper following distance, is putting you in danger.
But why are they doing it? Car accidents lead to roughly 40,000 fatalities every year and many more injuries. Tailgating is certainly one of the reasons for all these accidents that result in such serious ramifications. Why would someone take that type of risk and put you in danger?
They’re in a hurry
First of all, some drivers are simply in a hurry. Traffic isn’t moving fast enough for them. All they can think about is their schedule. Maybe they left the house 10 minutes too late and now they’re not going to get to work on time. They will simply tailgate because they’re impatient and trying to get to their destination as fast as they can.
They want you to speed up
In other cases, people use tailgating as a way to communicate to the other driver that they want them to drive faster. Even if someone is driving at the speed limit, a tailgater may want to break that limit. They hope that getting close can “push” the other driver to speed up so that they can both move along at a faster rate.
They’re angry with you
You also have to consider road rage. Tailgating is sometimes the way that it begins. It could be a response to some sort of perceived slight or a driving mistake that the other person thinks you made. Maybe you pulled out of your driveway, they thought that you cut them off, and they had to slow down. Now they’re angry, so they’re tailgating you to show you how frustrated they are. It’s an act of aggression, even if it’s not yet full-blown road rage.
What should you do?
The best thing to do is to let a tailgater pass. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible, and you could suffer injuries in an accident. Take the time to look into all of your legal options concerning compensation. If you have questions, just give us a call at 859-495-1857.