How do you tell if someone is tailgating you?
- Thread starter Matthew_T
- Start date
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P_Dalen
Active Member
- Location
- Oslo, Norway
A mirror is essential. I have used a mirror on my commuting for several years. If I for some reason have to ride without a mirror, I feel really unprotected.
MissTillyFlop
Evil communist dictator, lover of gerbils & Pope.
They would be driving really close to you.
The like button is over there >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The like button is over there >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Trying too hard MissTillyFlop 
but it's late and you have had a busy day.
but it's late and you have had a busy day.
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
Agree
CraigTheBiker
New Member
- Location
- York
Sorry, I don't agree....but I think it is possibly a case of each to their own.Agree
Personally, I feel that shoulder checks are the best way to get a clear picture of the surrounding traffic - mirrors will only show you so much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that mirrors are useless, but I have seen many cyclists, usually on my morning commute, who depend on their mirrors to such an extent that they rarely do a proper shoulder check.And I find I have to be extra careful when overtaking them.
I also find that over-the-shoulder glances and eye contact are useful ways of demonstrating my intentions to approaching traffic.
OP
OP
Matthew_T
"Young and Ex-whippet"
- Location
- Prestatyn, North Wales
Exactly, how would the driver know what you want to do apart from you indicating. A mirror is limited to what it can see.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
To the OP, you need to look back behind you more often, and then you'll always know without any doubt at all whether someone is tailgating you.
Mirrors are just tools for looking, they come with advantages and disadvantages. They make it easier to look more often, but they have blind spots, and they remove that hugely important factor of letting the driver see your face, and communicating with them.
In the end what counts is you looking often and well enough, not whether or not you use a mirror. I have a mirror on my lowracer, as it's very reclined and thus much harder to look back, and don't bother on my upright bikes.
Mirrors are just tools for looking, they come with advantages and disadvantages. They make it easier to look more often, but they have blind spots, and they remove that hugely important factor of letting the driver see your face, and communicating with them.
In the end what counts is you looking often and well enough, not whether or not you use a mirror. I have a mirror on my lowracer, as it's very reclined and thus much harder to look back, and don't bother on my upright bikes.
BlackPanther
Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
- Location
- Doncaster.
Although it's difficult to fit a decent mirror (especially to a road bike), I feel it's a pretty essential piece of kit. My solution of using insulation tape to attach the mirror stem to the underside of the drops does not look pretty but it gives an excellent field of view. I always know what's coming up, and how fast they're approaching. I've taken primary against tractors/lorries in plenty of time purely down to having a mirror. Shoulder checks, whilst vital as 'life savers' just aren't a practical way of keeping tabs on rear traffic action at all times.
almost every accident you're involved in will come from the front, I check behind me properly when changing lane or moving over to primary, otherwise listenng and corner of the eye does for me, every accident I've ever had came from the front, usually very suddenly and without much warning, plus potholes, debris etc etc
numbnuts
Squire
- Location
- Gone over the hill and far away
growingvegetables
Guru
- Location
- Leeds
Hmm - I feel I ought to like and approve of mirrors. I've fitted them to the tandem. But instead, I hate them.
- They vibrate (ime) - and take longer to interpret than a quick look behind; it's daft to have a safety feature that requires physical confirmation.
- Their field of view is either so narrow they're useless ........... or so wide they're useless.
- And they're like mirrors on articulated trucks - the slightest move of the handlebars creates huge blind spots.
I prefer relying on looking behind. Frequently.
Aye, and I recognise the dangers of that horrible situation where some tw@t is tailgating. I know I'm looking behind more than I'm looking ahead, and that imbalance of concentration is just so scary and dangerous. I have not yet managed to school myself out of that.
- They vibrate (ime) - and take longer to interpret than a quick look behind; it's daft to have a safety feature that requires physical confirmation.
- Their field of view is either so narrow they're useless ........... or so wide they're useless.
- And they're like mirrors on articulated trucks - the slightest move of the handlebars creates huge blind spots.
I prefer relying on looking behind. Frequently.
Aye, and I recognise the dangers of that horrible situation where some tw@t is tailgating. I know I'm looking behind more than I'm looking ahead, and that imbalance of concentration is just so scary and dangerous. I have not yet managed to school myself out of that.
jefmcg
Guru
No, you don't. If you did, you'd know if someone was tailing you. Look over your should more often, and it won't take 1.5 seconds, because the following traffic will have only moved slightly.
Also, +1 on mirrors. I don't know why I didn't cycle without one for years.
