What to do about tailgaters?

[speedpro]

I must be getting old and mellow. Filtered past a line of slow cars, all nice and legal of course. Cars speed up a bit so I just match speed with them. 100m later a green fender appears about 2cm to my left with the driver apparently texting on her mobile. I drifted back a little and very gently folded her wing mirror back. It seemed to take her a while to notice as I had it right back before she disappeared back into my rear view.

[Two Smoker]

He was feeding you the company line. The truth is that few complaints result in prosecution. Limited resources, etc.
Lou

I got a complaint in the mail just the other day..... It was a complaint that i had run a red light on Queenstown Road at 0730 on easter sunday.......

Now that fucked me off, due to the fact i was in a milking shed milking cows and had been since 0500, and i didnt even go on Queenstown road in the morning!!!!!!!! Stupid munter.......

[mangell6]

Pouring with rain on the way home tonight, dark, heavy rain me on the bike watching the four cars ahead of me with less than a car length between them. One was a SUV and we were travelling at 80kmh, I hung back for obvious reasons.

[Jbee]

[B] Well i dont have to deal with trafic like you guys in the bigger cities do thankfully, But id still be willing to take a chance and report the buggers,if nothin comes of it ,well i tryed,as for goin to court then I think id rather take that chance knowin im at least tryin rather than just moanin my arse to no avail . As for me bein fed a line well that could very well be true but thiers allso a certain amount of truth wraped up in the bullshit along the way .

[FrozenTree]

What I find really works with tailgaters is that you swerve left and right in a smooth and controlled fashion within your lane. The car drivers then think you are real weird and back off....

[Max Preload]

Nice thread dredge!

[Jerry74]

Let em pass, pull over get out cell phone then *555 them and wait until the cops show up then laugh like hell as you pass.... it's a great feeling

[niero]

I start to slow down even more... 40km/h, 30km/h, 20... the guy cant handle it anymore goes on to overtake on the striped path... (here is a good time to whip out and start measuring, "yours and his", since you are on a bike my $100 is behind you!)
pull in the clutch Rev up to the redline... release (at this point usually a realisation occurs... "I LOVE MY BIKE!") next steps are optional.

Scream "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA" as you wheely past!

Depending on your current "pissedoff-o-meter" annalysis you can make a fist and aim for the Rear Vision Mirror.

Or my favorite... Golf Balls! bounce em down and watch... (Dont forget you that you are still going forward though, I advise to look on to oncoming traffic before this step is executed)

--- If you see that same guy trying to catch up to you when you have performed all (or even some) of the actions above its importaint that you note the following

a) He is probably not happy..
b) Or more importaintly... "STEP ON IT"
c) At times like these heavy traffic is your friend.. Good luck!

Otherwise...

*clears his throat*

ALL ANCHORS!!!!!!

[PirateJafa]

I start to slow down even more... 40km/h, 30km/h, 20... the guy cant handle it anymore goes on to overtake on the striped path... (here is a good time to whip out and start measuring, "yours and his", since you are on a bike my $100 is behind you!)
pull in the clutch Rev up to the redline... release (at this point usually a realisation occurs... "I LOVE MY BIKE!") next steps are optional.

Scream "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA" as you wheely past!

Depending on your current "pissedoff-o-meter" annalysis you can make a fist and aim for the Rear Vision Mirror.

Gah!

Advice NOT to listen to, particularly new riders.

Either slow down and change lanes so he/she can pass, or as I tend to do, twist around so you're looking right at him/her over your shoulder, then just split a couple of cars ahead.

Weaving often works as well.

Or, my favourite tactic, keep cruising. Why change your own riding style just for them? Just keep a closer eye on your mirrors!

[niero]

aw.. come on! Have a sence of humor. I wrote it to put a smile on your face. After 6 pages of reasonable anwsers I just couldnt resist!