Dangerous driving

“Making my regular round trip to Dorset by car, I was again astonished at the tailgating behaviour of many drivers,” writes a Craigie regular.

“It is dangerous and, in my case at least, counter-productive. If I am the only driver targeted by the tail-gater on a narrow, winding road, I slow up gradually as I look for a lay-by to let the impatient motorist pass. By tail-gating, the following driver has slowed himself as well me down.

“Tail-gating is even sillier and more pointless when the perpetrator is at the end of a queue of traffic, with no chance of overtaking. Yet such drivers show their frustration by driving even more closely behind the car in front. They cannot move any faster than the speed of the queue of traffic, so what’s the point?

“It is so much easier to accept the situation and sit at a safe distance from the car in front, making it possible to relax a little. Tail-gaters leave themselves only seconds to react if the vehicle in front stops suddenly.”