The driver behind you wants to pass. You know because they're aggressively tailgating you, seemingly driving right on your rear bumper. You're scared that they're going to cause an accident. What do you do?
You're right to feel frightened. This is an all-too-common type of dangerous, reckless driving. You need to know how to handle it, and these five steps can help:
- Be careful. Understand the risks. Do not get overly emotional or make any quick, rash decisions. Safety must always come first.
- Touch your brakes lightly a few times. You don't want to do it hard enough to slow down, but just enough to flash the lights.
- Once you have given them that warning, then start to slow your car down.
- At this point, what you do next depends on what type of road you are driving on. If it's a multi-lane road, attempt to change lanes so that the tailgater can pass you.
- If you're on a road with only one lane in each direction, then you can slow down to make it easier for them to pass you. You may even want to consider looking for a safe place to pull onto the shoulder. After the tailgater goes by, then you can get back on the road and drive at a safe, responsible speed.
Knowing how to act can keep you safe, but the unfortunate reality is that dangerous drivers do cause accidents every day. If you suffer serious injuries in such an accident, you could wind up with high medical bills and related costs, so you need to know how to seek financial compensation.