Mirrors - object distances.

[mr v6]

One thing I hate is people that drive right up your hoop. What I've found in the Z is that drivers behind 'appear' to be driving very close, yet in the wing mirrors they don't appear to be as close as they do in the RVM (it still makes me uncomfortable). Is this because you can't see the bootlid through the RVM, or is the glass angled ever so slightly giving the impression I'm being tailgated?

 

This appears to be anything from shonky Vauxhall Astra diesel vans, to these Citroen Cacti with their silly fairy lights? Not forgetting anything Germanic either .

[Willsy1980]

I just brake check them to find out

[marzman]

On lots of cars in the USA, wing mirrors have a sticker on the glass saying 'Object in the mirror may be closer than they appear'. i think wing mirrors may be very slightly convex giving you a wider field of view, thus making things appear further away.

[Ekona]

As a very rough rule, if you can't see their front numberplate in your RVM then they're too close. Brake testing utterly retarded and the most moronic thing you can do,

 

Also, when overtaking if you wait until you can see the entire car in your RVM then that's a safe distance to pull back in front of them. Was taught that years ago, really handy to know

[mr v6]

I just brake check them to find out

 

It's one of those situations where you notice it & accelerate a little to create a reasonable gap, and the driver behind in their pokey 1.6 diesel or VAG Tdi lump immediately do the same as if it's a competition. I can be very hot headed when driving in situations like this & have in the past just stopped in the middle of the road & got out of the car 'to have a word'. In most cases immediately after there's the safe distance gap behind I was hoping to see. It seems a lot of people nowadays don't leave a decent gap in anticipation for a hazard in the road or an emergency stop.

 

Just a little rant I felt the need to get off my chest .

[Willsy1980]

I just brake check them to find out

 

It's one of those situations where you notice it & accelerate a little to create a reasonable gap, and the driver behind in their pokey 1.6 diesel or VAG Tdi lump immediately do the same as if it's a competition. I can be very hot headed when driving in situations like this & have in the past just stopped in the middle of the road & got out of the car 'to have a word'. In most cases immediately after there's the safe distance gap behind I was hoping to see. It seems a lot of people nowadays don't leave a decent gap in anticipation for a hazard in the road or an emergency stop.

 

Just a little rant I felt the need to get off my chest .

 

It's usually some tool in his Corsa 1.2 round here, just show them the brake lights then drive away.

[Zeezeebaba]

Tailgating cars cause the following course of action for me.

Text book mode kicks in and I instantly increase the distance between the car in front of me to allow the tool behind a safe overtake should the need arise, then it's bang on speed limit time, plenty of forward speed planning and minimal use of the brakes to encourage them to either overtake or drop back knowing they can't rely on a brake light as a warning. Psychologically they realise they are doing something wrong as they are braking all the time and I'm not. Also this ensures that if they do hit me at least my driving was ok and assists the rear end shunt claim should it end in investigation (usually straight forward tbh)

Where it is safe to overtake I will posture nearer the nearside to allow them a better view to overtake and basically say "of you go then".