Tailgating Panics Learner 

Interestingly enough I have just done a quick bit of research and it turns out that this car shouldn't even be on the road. It is untaxed and has been since Feb 2016. The driver is an idiot in more ways than one.

We were all learners once... disgraceful beeping the learner... I notice once he overtook he was quick to tailgate the next car off the roundabout... your calm guidance was impressive..

Don't do what the tailgaters want. Are they going to pay your speeding tickets?

I get them honking at me all the time on my lessons. Gives me pleasure to do exactly the speed limit. Watch them sway and speed up and slow down and get annoyed. I just let them carry on

you didn't exactly seem calm yourself with the overload of detail and instructions you were giving. it was almost overwhelming alone.

"WHERE'S THE VAN GOING! WHERE'S THE VAN GOING!" Is enough to put an experienced driver off!

Definitely not the learner's fault but in my opinion it wasn't only the tailgater's fault. If I was in this situation and was being shouted at and chastised like "WHERE'S THE VAN GOING" and "TOO LATE" and then later on "... put us in danger" - it would make my anxiety build up more and more and make the whole situation a hundred times worse. Again, it's just my opinion and it's hard to judge from such a small clip if this is how the instructor normally is and if the pupil is comfortable with this kind of teaching (personally I wouldn't be, but that's just me).

Dealing with a tailgater may be a lesson for another day but the learner did very well. Kudos to the instructor for his calm instruction and reassurance. Well done to you both.

I’m currently a learner and I’ve been beeped about 5 or 6 times for just following the laws of the road. I had to come to a complete stop when turning right at a junction due to oncoming traffic and the idiot in the car behind me decided to sound the horn. When i eventually made my turn, my instructor told me to go slower and not let the idiot behind cause me to make a mistake. It was a narrow residential road with cars parked either side so the idiot was stuck behind me for a good 200m going at 15mph.

tailgaters need to get speeding tickets in order to stop tailgating other drivers.

I’d say the tailgater is probably an inexperienced driver.

when i was learning to drive, i came to a stop junction on the top of a hill and i was slow to take off because i just needed a second to look left and right and prepare myself to cross the busy road. A driver came right behind the ass of my car meaning that if i rolled backwards even a half metre i would hit him. He then held his horn for 15 seconds which really paniced me. it seemed like he wanted me to hit him!!? anyways i didnt let that stop me and i love driving!

As always your calm and concise instructions really helped that situation. Nice one Ashley

I've had my drivers license for one year but tailgating still kinda makes my heart go faster. Its annoying because you either have the option of having someone almost hitting the back of your car or having to go above the speed limit.

I remember when I had my lessons and I had someone tailgating me. We approached an intersection that was clear and I was going to pass it at a normal speed. Usually he lets me do this but this time my teacher slammed the brakes and made the tailgater almost hit our car, my teacher said it was to make sure nothing came from the right but I knew what he was doing :)

She did brilliant job keeping her cool !! Thumbs up girl x

That's why my first car was a Land Rover defender, slow, crumple zone is the other car and I can't see tailgaters behind. What a difficult lesson to learn for your student. You are an excellent tutor, handled very well. I hope she went on to pass first time.

When you are being tailgated by a driver who is pressurising, slow a little, take your time and ignore them. Otherwise they will push you psychologically into making mistakes and panicking. The police use this as a tactic to make you do something wrong, the tiniest thing, then they can pull you over. I once had a copper following me around town so close I couldn’t see in my interior mirror the ‘Police’ logo on their bonnet (yes…that close). I only recognised they were police because I could clearly see their uniforms😳. I kept cool, stayed a couple of mph under the limit and just carried on…after a few minute of matching my turns, they got bored and sought easier prey elsewhere. So yes…they were trying to panic me into making an error…why? Well, I was in an elderly vehicle, so I suspect they were looking for an excuse to give it a good roadside inspection.

I have never blown the horn at a learner, never would, whatever happened.

"off you go now cause you'll force him to over take and put us danger" Wonder why she panicked..

Ashley very well done keeping her calm. I get behind leaners and have 5 seconds of oh bugger. then relax my hands on the wheel and think we have all been in that car in front.

i always give learners plenty of space, hated the panic of seeing someone behind me when i was learning

Hope you've improved your teaching methods since this video. You was all over the place and bombarding the poor girl with a constant stream of information. Talk about overload.

Not surprised by this lack of consideration for fellow drivers, learner or otherwise. If everyone just drives at a safe distance, adopts a good road position, maintains awareness and anticipates the road ahead with some indication our roads just might be that little bit more efficient and safer. It’s not difficult. Thought you and your student responded professionally.

Viewing this in 2018,any updates regarding the illegal car?I'd be very surprised if the police did anything.

I passed my test in 1973 but haven't had a car of my own until now, so lm pretty much a learner returning to driving. The roads are very different now, very busy. This business of having to speed up so as to prevent someone trying to overtake a learner is a bad thing. A learner doesn't have either the confidence nor the control over a car to drive faster than they feel comfortable with. That in itself could cause an accident if they very suddenly encounter a problem in the road at a higher speed. When l was learning years ago, we just drove at a reasonable speed for learning until we were more confident in handling the car, then the faster driving and keeping up with the flow of the traffic came naturally as confidence increased.

It’s things like this that seriously knock my confidence whilst I’m learning at the minute. I had a older fella last week tailgating me from the end of a duel carriage way in ffynnongroew to talacre roundabout he then stoped just off the roundabout causing a obstruction. Then out of nowhere in Prestatyn he overtook cars and was once again up my bum he was that close I could see him in my mirrors shaking his head and doing hand gestures to get me to go farther dispite me driving at 30mph in a 30 zone and slowing to take my turning. Some drivers need to remember they were once learners and how they felt in these situations

THIS is the reason why i nearly have accidents on the road. Tailgaters get me extremely on edge. It's why I'm scared of learning. I've got the road rules down, simple enough... but they distract me so badly that I'm afraid of even driving again in case I crash.

I'd be in a perpetual state of anger if I drove a 2004 Ford, too.

She handled that idiot well, I would've given her extra points if she rolled down the window and gave him the middle finger.

It's a good thing this happened during the lesson. You explained how to deal with the situation, i.e. slow down gradually and let them pass. Another thing to do: increase the following distance (that is, in front of the car!)

I get quite mad about this stuff because I’ve been a learner for about a year now and people see L plates and drive like idiots because of it. Pulling out when they shouldn’t just to get a car length ahead of the learner, overtaking when they’re doing the speed limit, making a fuss if they stall. What you’ve got to remember is you don’t know if they are on their first lesson 20th lesson or their test, you driving aggressively or the way the car behind was driving here is going to frazzle the learner and make them nervous so they’ll make more mistakes and slow you down even more. If you do that on their test that’s potentially a failed test, (£120ish total gone), a disheartened learner, rebooking a test, more lessons in between time etc all because you can’t have patience or compassion for a learner who is probably just as scared as you when you were learning to drive

I'm a driving instructor and I'm finding the amount of stupidity and aggression on the roads wears me out. After 15 years I am presently changing my life generally and hopefully not doing this job much longer. Good job in pulling over to get rid of the tailgater , unfortunately while on lesson in residential areas , three idiots over the years have driven into the back , at junctions, having scared the learner into stopping short of the give way. My cars always have tow bars fitted, and as a result, no damage to me, dented grills or punctured plastic numbers for them. On all occasions they've driven away fast, I assume they had their reasons.

I never understood when I was driving I would go 5km over the limit and people would still tailgate me, and when I was first learning the clutch people would beep.

She did real well but I have to say. Good teaching too. Well handled by both learner and teacher

What can I say, ford drivers. But hey it’s all drivers TBH.

The way driving instructors give instructions stresses me out so much. I know the guy here isn't meaning any harm, but the sort of frantic/annoyed tone of his voice would really piss me off. Thankfully I've passed my test and don't have to worry about that anymore. Feels like they expect you to be able to drive properly already. Despite the fact that's what you're paying them to teach you.

I feel there needs to be a law that if you get court doing anything like this around a learner your license should be taken away without question and you have to re take your test

I do feel like the instructor was also quite intolerant with the learner almost having a go at her at times

In Poland, where I passed the driving license, they taught 3 basic things 1. Dynamics 2. Speed ​​(if 30, then 30) 3. Ride so as not to impede the ride of others sometimes I wonder if "L" should not have orange lights, signaling obstruction of traffic on the road

Is it bad that even as a learner i love to piss off the tailgaters? Like if they get close to me i’ll go a little faster and then slow down just to piss them off and show then that tailgating me isn’t going to bother me

Well done to the learner and instructor. Both kept calm. Shame on the tailgater.

People seem to forget they were leaner drivers once.

I think you both handled that better than most people would

I don't think the learner did anything wrong at all. You're a brilliant instructor, wish I'd learnt to drive with you but that was over 20 years ago now!

This isn't about speed or maintaining flow of traffic. This is about making an example of unsafe driving practice. For example, the aggressive acceleration and braking is a clear indicator that the driver in the car behind is flustered and should pull over. I suffer from road rage quite a bit and it takes a bit of practice to be able to calm yourself down. I understand this from both sides of the situation. I believe in situations like this, giving the person in front as much room as possible will help remove the tension both from yourself and the person driving in front. Please be aware of your own body and the way you react. You can only control yourself so getting angry at other people's driving is not only silly, it is also dangerous.

I have been driving for 3 years and still get panicked when I get tailgated its horrible. Always ensure I am doing the correct speed limit and continue to do so if they want to overtake me they can do

Personally, my driving instructor made me go at the speed limit and put me in a much deeper end than most people, so hadn't really experienced tailgaters during tuition. Usually it's when learners are driving extremely slow, that's when people tend to tailgate more. You can see at round-a-bouts etc... the hesitation, so that's also why traffic behind may get a little excitable. None the less, no one should really be tailgating what-so-ever. All it does is cause accidents.

The cops in my area like to do this and see if anyone will go over the speed limit in panic. It's annoying because they literally have nothing better to do

I never understood how some people would honk or tailgate a car that is from a driving school? Like we all were beginners, we all made mistakes back then(and even today) The only thing the impatient drivers would do is stress the beginner out usually resulting in more mistakes due to stress! I usually have a good distance to a driving school car, so I can manage when the beginner may makes a mistake

In the UK, you must do several things before you drive a car or ride a motorcycle. These include getting a driving licence, registering, insuring and taxing your vehicle, and getting an MOT. What is the difference between insuring and taxing your vehicle? Why is the tax payable yet 0$ for disabled peoples?

On a speed awareness course we were asked for reasons to speed. Tailgating came up and the suggestion was to ho all the way around a roundabout and let them get in front. Not sure if you would want to do this in a lesson. To all those screaming about tailgaters ‘getting away with it’ it’s not your job to teach them a lesson and the roads are much safer with egos removed. Also you are better off with dangerous drivers in front of you. Be the bigger person.

A lot of people act very tough when they’re closed up in their moving boxes with wheels but then their balls suddenly disappear when they’re no longer sat inside. Strange 🤔

tailgating car: goes on to drive dangerously close to another driver just trying to get from A to B.

As a learner myself this made me feel panicked just watching. i hate it when ppl tailgate arhhhhh

This happened to me as a learner, and it keeps happening very often now that I have my driving licence. I've had it for only one month so I still get nervous when cars get too close to me, sometimes when I have to turn I turn on the light signal and prepare to slow down, yet they still keep being so close I get anxious about slowing down. My father says i'll get used to it after a while, I really hope so

This happened to me once when I was learning, and I was only on a 20mph road but she was right up my arse. I always give learner drivers space. They don't need to be pressured.

For the tailgater to sound his horn like that is absolutely ridiculous, if he had given the learner enough space on the road he would have had more time to react to a situation such as a learner coming to a complete stop. Also, if he had not been tailgating, then the learner probably would be under less stress and less prone to error.

I'd panic too. it's a bit like being enclosed. no room for errors.

My Dad always wants me to go like 20k/h under the limit and then I get people tailgating and overtaking me on the windiest roads with ridiculous speed limits. He thinks I'm just panicking by speeding up but no, I just don't want to put us in danger of people like this.

Hoping that guy in that car isn't driving anymore.

Best way to handle and drive a tailgater nuts is to follow the rules of the road PERFECTLY. Absolutely drives them nuts when you do complete stops and follow the speed limit. However I have an extra car I would lke to scrap so I may stop a little harder at stop signs for a chance to see how well the guys breaks work.

Nicely dealt with by the driving instructor and by the learner driver, unfortunately we have people like this and I use the word people loosely when it comes to people like this, the police concern themselves so much about speeding they don't actually deal with problems that are far more severe, like tailgating

As a learner who been Learning for 2 month I feel really confident, but While out about but do find it hard to not slam my brakes on. I can't stand bullying on the road. even if someone isn't a Learner but looks nevous should give them space as you don't know what just happen to them or what they are going to do when they panic.

An important experience for a learner driver however if I was the instructor I would of asked the pupil to break check him

Impatience coupled with the constant MGIF mentality of people around learner cars is the sort of thing that could put people off driving for good. Doesn't help when some like this guy act aggressive, also.

I dont get how its possible to get angry at a learner holding you up slightly at a junction.. you know exactly why and that its not intentional, it can be annoying but to actually get angry just makes zero sense, it never ever annoys me like that.. and what is trying to get revenge gonna do lol, so wierd.

I know it's a pain especially on your way to work or running late but give them a bloody chance.

What amazes me about this tailgater is that he follows very close to a learner (not sensible) through a couple of roundabouts (which is stupid) where the car in front of him is driven in a tentative manner on approach and through the junctions (another big clue there). He has all the evidence to drop back to be safe and look for a sensible overtaking opportunity section to accelerate past with a run up. None of this is done he closes up really tight (not good for overtaking) and appears to be completely caught out by the learner stopping where experienced drivers would never need to.

I dont know how on earth you stay calm....I wouldnt be a driving instructor if you gave me a gold pig....I know a couple of guys who were instructors...one has jacked it in and the other has had an heart attack...!! I passed my test in the early 80`s....I think that it is not a lack of skill that people drive like idiots...its peoples attitudes...they have constantly got more aggressive over the last 40 years..I now teenagers ...girls and boys who are honestly too scared to drive any further than they need...they just stick to the routes they know...they will not have a run out like we used to do to the coast and that is a real shame to be honest...I used have a run out to see all parts of the country but sadly this is not the case anymore apparently because good law abiding kids are worried to venture far and wide like we used to...a real shame really....

Honestly I probably tail gate people without realising, I do notice when someone does it to me but because of the mirror distortion I can't tell if I do it too

Horrible bullies are all around. One destressor I use is to think these are all people I will probably never encounter again. Drive like it's a video game where these are all computer-generated hazards to avoid - you don't get angry at computer game hazards hopefully! - and of course you win the game by cleanly avoiding any bad outcomes. Philosophically, if you believe or assume there is no free will (or none without rare conscious effort), then the computer analogy is possibly quite accurate: these driving entities are primed to act the way they do by their genes, by their experiences and by their brain chemistry, so bad behaviour is inevitable. Just work around them, they cannot help themselves. And don't let YOUR brain chemistry dominate YOUR behaviour.

Gotta say instructions would have made me freak aswell,well done lass and that was a PROPER bell driving behind

Completely unacceptable! No need for that at all! That driver will realise one day when the person in front has to brake hard

I think the main thing that would really stress me out is the way the instructions are given here, not the guy behind. The tone sounds a bit harsh/chastising, which would really knock there confidence if they're sensitive. And the instructors is saying what to do, not what the learner is meant to be doing. Like for example the last one where she pulled in to let the tailgater over take. It would have been a lot less confusing if it was said like "right now we're going to pull over and let them overtake", or something along those lines. Just telling to pull over without the explanation at the beginning can make it just very confusing and conflicting. On the one had its double yellow lines on the the other the instructor said the work "park". And if you're already panicked that conflicting information is not going to processed effectively.

Also there was no need to tell the learner to pull over just so the tailgater can make an illegal overtake.

I’ve been driving on a highway (L plates in Australia) and I was following this low small car, he’s going slow making me go about 5km under the limit at some points, so obviously I want to overtake then suddenly fuckhead McGee comes in behind and then tailgates me in a big tall, 4x4 and because the road was mostly left turns and that he was looking to overtake so he was sitting on the middle I am unable to see out the side view mirror because his headlights are reflecting in them making it hard to see around him, and he’s sitting as right on the lane as possible. That was incredibly annoying especially when cars come overtake you without warning because you can’t see them coming so I couldn’t overtake the caravan and fuckhead refused to overtake me, he probably couldn’t see the slow car in front and thought he’d sit up my ass to make me go faster, finally the road turned right enough for long enough for me to see if there was traffic and have there be no traffic to allow me to make the overtake

I don't understand why people tailgate. For the most part they definitely won't be getting anywhere faster, they often end up doing more than the speed limit once they overtake/get past the vehicle they're tailgating, and they also don't do themselves any favors being so close to a vehicle infront of them. If the car infront has to do an emergency stop for whatever reason whatsoever, the tailgating car will rear end them. And seeing as pretty much all driving instructor/driving school cars now have dashcams both front and rear, the tailgaters will lose every time when it comes around to who was at fault regarding a collision/accident.

that happened to me today as a learner driver but stopped on a big hill way to close to a learner driver in the first place but on a hill it gets stressing

at 2:36, she should've indicated right as her indicator was already flashing left.

Assuming that's a regular dashcam on the rear window, the silver Ford was closer than it looks in the video. One of the first things I learned - and it should be common sense - is "do NOT tailgate a learner driver". I always assume that a learner driver is on the road for the first time and give them plenty of space.

It doesn't just panic learners I've been driving a full year and it panics me as well I can't help looking in the mirror when it happens to me I hate it puts you right off what your meant to be concentrating on in front of you

Give each other some room for gawd sake! And if you see a learner, new driver, hesitant driver or a driver behaving badly, give them extra room! If you are so close that someone causes you to panic when they stop or slow down, don't bib them, know that it's your fault for being too close. It's not like they pulled out on you. You were simply being impatient and getting too close.

When I was a learner I was in my tiny step dads car and a massive ford transit mini bus was tail gating me and I had to stop at some road works it was a but nerve racking

I recently started lessons i have just finished my 4th lesson we were doing roundabouts and the amount of people who cut you off and tailgate is pathetic 1 person caused me to stall in the middle of a busy roundabout i was more focused on what he was doing than what gear i was in and later as i was driving home a young girl it seemed was up my ass doing hand gestures and shouting something as i was going a few mph under the limit on a busy town street, drivers need to realise that they were a learner at 1 point and its fucking scary i went into my 1st lesson thinking ohh yeh this is great its gonna be easy buts its really not especially with most drivers being jerks and causing you to panic and when you panic you stall most likely and that just makes you panic more

Want to say that the learner failed, but it was almost entirely down to pressure from the tailgater

And is it not written that the day will come when a driving instructor will calmly issue the command for the learner to flick the red switch and dispense the oil slick and metal spikes to be dropped. And on that day the sound of the angry beeping horn will be lost in the distance

When someone tailgates me when im not going slow, i go even slower to annoy them.

So sad for the learner,this sod behind was driving on the lines,I passed my test over 30 years back and this was one of my pet hates,I always give lots of space, absolutely no need for it ,if this happened to me anytime which it has,i usually apply my brakes for a few seconds then they get the message

Best way to deal with tailgaters is to give them a lil brake check…jus a small one, more like a little flash of the tail lights, let them know they’re too close

I always do my best to give plenty of space to learners and not get into situations that can panic them. Very unfair what that driver was doing there. Impatience and incompetent driving there.

Imagine being such a nob that you can't give a learner a bit of space, time and understanding. Instead you have to get angry, tail gate and jump on the horn

My mum spoke to me like you talked to ur student as a learner (she worse tbh), and it put me off driving forever. I've passed my test and everything but every little move I fucking make I can just hear her yelling at me for no reason....

Why do people worry about tailgaters?? If you have a small car and they rear end you, you get a new car or just a new bumper. And if you have a truck like me, your rear bumper will teach them to not tailgate a truck when they rear end you.

i really want to learn how to drive from that instructor.

You call that tailgating? When I see a car with learner decals I drive just inches away from their bumper at all times

As a learner tailgating has never really bothered me. But 5 years of cycling gets you used to having cars up your ass

She will see that many times more unfortunately.. even when on the phone, on a busy highway, going 130 km/h and so close behind that you can't even see the front of the car

I'm not for violence, but if that driver got a blood nose from that, I wouldn't be unhappy.

Happened to me when I was learning I panicked, smashed the curb, wasn't a cheap fix. L plates all over the car. Some people don't care.