how to avoid tail gaters

[knightjp]

I hate to say this, but this type of driving will not go away from U.A.E.; no matter what kind of fine is enforced or whatever device is installed. It is the mentality of the people that needs to change and that never will.

This kind of driving has been the thorn on my side ever since I started driving and it has not gone away. I keep hearing about the many campaigns that the RTA and UAE  Authorities have tried, none have been successful; except in making revenue for the departments. That too, not much.

The Dubai is a nation of speed and the Emirati people are proponents of it, thus turning roads into race courses and much as they can. I've seen drivers pass speed cameras and speeds and show no sign of remorse or concern when the camera flashes. They continue, being caught by the other ones after.
Upon seeing this boldness in breaking the law, one can only draw up two conclusions:

1. They are so incredibly rich that they would gladly pay any fine.
2. They have someone in the Police or RTA who is able to fix it for them.

Probably some of the worst offenders and tailgaters are the ones from the capital, Abu Dhabi. I have never seen a car with a red and white number plate drive at the speed limit. It has always been way over and quite often tailgating someone.

Its prompted a response that if you do see a car with a red and white number plate, you'd do well to park on the side and hide behind a tree. You're safer that way.
If you think that tailgating happens only on the fast lane, think again. Its happened to me on even the slow lane. I'm driving at the speed limit and this guy was tailgating me and flashing me. I'm on the far right lane, where does he want me to go?

It is irritating and frustrating. But that is something that we are going to have to accept. It is not going away. You cannot avoid it.

 

[knightjp]

45 minutes ago, Hassam Tariq said:

Something really nice would be,
You have to understand that you are going slow in the fast lane,
IF you have a normal speedometer and if you are going at 119, it means you are driving at 115-117.
and probably the other driver is DOT ON 121, or may some emergency happened in his life that he is in rush OR he is just simply stupid.
 

This I blame on the car manufacturers. I've often been told the analog speedometer show numbers more optimistic as compared the car's real speed. The main thing is that cars come here with certain options. If you spec up your car at the dealer like putting larger rims, etc., then you need to re-calibrate your car's speedometer. Most of the time this is not done.

I do not know if this imbalance is done on purpose. Probably is, but you know that when someone then upgrades or updates their car's wheels and tires, makes it worse.

If your car has digital read out of the speed, then please use it. If you see a difference in between the analog and the digital readouts, then do visit your service dealer and ask them to re-calibrate it. Its not a hard thing to do.

Edited February 13, 2017 by knightjp

[Gaurav]

Some very good points made by Hassam and knightjp. Totally agree. I think the speedo error by 2-3 kms is placed intentionally by car manufacturers to counter the human errors, as none of the car manufacturers ever realise that in Dubai we live fast and furious 8 chase on daily basis, where every 1 kmph speed is a deal breaker, lol.

My wife trail blazer have slightly smaller tire as per OEM size and it runs at 113 when reading 120. My Mustang and Pajero has slightly bigger tires so they run very accurate like 119-120 when it reads 120.

Ethically tailgating in fast lane is the problem of the front car as one should not block any car in fast lane irrespective of the speed.

Ethically tailgating in all the rest of the right lanes is the problem of rear car, as you can't push people to drive faster. Go overtake from left and pass.

Problem here is the temperament and attitude people hold that if they give way, then they will become smaller. So to satisfy this dumb F ego they drive at 80 and block traffic who wants to pass at 120. 

Everyday on ras al khor Road in the morning and on nad al hammar road in evening I see this behavior for more than 4-5 times in 10 kms stretch. These are the mentally sick people who drive at 80 in fast lane with only aim to block traffic. Sometimes there are few drivers whose attention are diverted on phone, but most of the time they are doing it on purpose. I really don't know why?

[knightjp]

@Gaurav I agree with you..

Proper highway driving dictates that one should only use the outer lane for overtaking. You don't sit on the outer lane constantly if you are on a cruise.
Drivers that choose to disregard the speed limit (even the 20 kph grace), should be freely able to use the outer lane. We should give way. If fines are not going to stop them, what else will? However when the car in front is driving at 20 kph above the posted speed limit, and does not see an opening in the next lane, where does the law breaking driver expect the guy in front to go?

I once noticed a Nissan Patrol nearly bump off a car in front. He was flashing and honking at the guy, but at the same time, the lane to the right was completely full, there was no space. Finally when the guy got the space and moved off, the Patrol overtook, came in front of the guy and held the brakes. Typical Abu Dhabi maneuver...

I know that UAE has put up those smart cameras that will catch tailgaters, but so far it has not worked in stopping the creeps. Perhaps the guys who tailgate on the slow lanes hope to try to speed past the camera and not get caught; except for the fact that they are held up by those who drive at the sign-posted limit or lesser.

@Hassam Tariq

If the speed in between the digital readout and the analog is more than 2 - 3 kms, you're best asking the service center to check and calibrate it.

Edited February 13, 2017 by knightjp

[derik]

Fantastic read by everyone here, just a small suggestion for dubai police and RTA to stop wasting time without applying the basic common sense. They are actually increasing the traffic pilling by installing STUPID radar to shoot the tailgater.

Their radar need to shoot the car in front with 50 million dirham fine, if car behind them is too close and lane on their right is empty. PERIOD.

By current so called smart radar, the dumbest driver got more backing from RTA and Dubai police and they even more blatantly blocking traffic on fast lane as now they know no one can tailgate them.

[knightjp]

@derik Agreed about the slow drivers on the fast lane.
Think the biggest issue here in U.A.E. is people are not properly aware of the highway code. In all manner of speaking, there should not be as many cars on the fast lane as they are - especially if they are on cruise. The fast lane is for overtaking only.

If the person is not going to be driving at 120 on a 100 road, then they should not be on the fast lane. But then again comes the issue of the speedometers. How would drivers know that they are obeying the speed limit or not? Driving at 120 limit is risky if you cannot trust your gauge. 121 and you will be fined.

 

[derik]

Trust me if RTA and Dubai Police will introduce this fine, in next 24 hours fast lane will be empty and no idiotic driver will ever block the traffic flow and genuine 115-120 kmph driver will be using the fast lane. Speedometer variance issue is very minor, as 99.99999% public intentionally drive slow on fast lane as they don't want to get blocked by slowest traffic and also they don't have courage to drive faster, so fast lane is their blessing in disguise lane.

[Rahimdad]

It is brilliant to see so many valid points of view, but one thing disappearing from this world is patience, and that stands true when it comes to driving also. I have been driving in the UAE since 1994, that is 23 years now and every year I find the patience is running out a little bit more than the previous year. Plus the different styles of driving from different parts of the world, the driving culture here is not the best, but with time and patience everything can be sorted. i was surprised when i was driving in Europe and I gave an indicator to come to the over-taking lane and the car in the over-taking lane slowed down to give me way, as soon as I completed over-taking the car and moved to the right the driver behind me speeded up and over-took me. In UAE if I indicate that I want to take-over, even if the car in the over-taking lane is 2-3 cars away from me, they would rush in not to give me way and opportunity to change my lane. It seems here that everyone thinks that the lane they are in is theirs and do not want anyone else to use it.

Another example is I was on a red signal and while waiting an interesting topic came up and I lost track of when the signal turned green. Not a single person in behind me honked at me, one of my passenger's pointed out that signal was green and I moved out a little embarrassed from that incident. If I am in the same situation here, I would be honked at when the signal turns amber at the other junction asking me to race off as soon as our signal turns green.

Simple equation is there is no more patience in driving. For instance, when I want to overtake, I so not use my high beam, from a distance I give my left indicator which is little less offensive and demanding and little more pleasing to the car ahead, and due to the distance he has time to move. If the indicator does not work, my next step is to use my high beam to make him aware that I need to over-take him, if that does not work either than I use my honk. i do all this from a little distance and do not tailgate any cars.

As pointed out slow drivers in fast lane are a problem in UAE, but so are tailgaters. 2 wrongs never made a right. We should at least take a pledge among us not to tailgate anyone, and at the same time if we have place to give way to the car approaching behind us to overtake us. Someone has to start the right culture for it to catch on, lets us be the pioneers of a good driving culture in the UAE.

[knightjp]

@Rahimdad Spot on... Patience is the key.

This might sound a bit racist but I have noticed that the most impatient drivers that I've seen on the road are always the local Emiratis and the expats from the Arabic speaking countries. I mean no disrespect. They are perfectly nice people - very caring and very helpful. But the moment they get into the driver's seat, they're suddenly in Race-driver mode and they act like they're always in a hurry - even when they don't need to be.
How do I know this? A couple of those people are friends of mine.
Maybe it is a cultural thing, I do not know.. I've asked my friends many times about why they drive and behave like that, they just looked at me like I'm crazy. To them it is perfectly normal.

Even your observations about driving in Europe is interesting. Yes, driving in Europe is certainly more civilized, but that is slowly changing I think. A friend of mine in UK was complaining about recently there are some people over there constantly tailgating and driving crazy on the roads. She managed to get 5 people to stop so that she can talk to them. All of them were people who migrated - Two Lebanese, one Egyptian, one Iranian and one Pakistani. The Pakistani guy grew up in Kuwait.

For whatever reason people choose to tailgate or drive the way they do, it is clear that one person cannot make a difference.
All we can do is drive as carefully, lawfully and respectfully as we can and hope that it gets better.

[Pete]

I for one will not waste no time in installing the back off radio... tail gating is the bane of my life!

Edited February 14, 2017 by Pete