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Tailgating strange one.
britishtrident - 5/9/13 at 12:39 PM

I have just driven up the A77 and had a really weird experience, the driver of a Red Audi TT was tailgating cars to extreme, through the average speed camera north of Prestwick Airport section and on to 70mph limit section he would drive about 75mm (yes 3" of the bumper of the car in front.
If the car in front was in the outside lane and moved over he would pull over also in the mirror I watched him do this to several cars.

When he came up behind me I pulled into the nearside lane carefully leaving just enough space not cut the nose off the car I had just passed to my astonishment he forced his way into the tiny gap between me and the car I had just passed. So I passed the next car and I did more or less the same thing and so did he, so on the downhill section near Kilmarnock I backed off the throttle a bit doing 60 to 65 but he clung to my back bumper like glue --- no light flashing or anything like that

Eventually he passed me doing 70ish at the fairly congested section of road at Kilmarnock where both lanes tend to get fairly choked and then watched him exactly the same thing to several cars before I turned off at Fenwick

I eventually clicked to what he was doing he was hiding his registration plates from the the number plate recognition cameras !

Slimy38 - 5/9/13 at 12:51 PM

Yeah, I've seen this before, having worked with ANPR cameras I should point out that it will very likely not work. Despite the occasional confusion between road sweepers and kit cars, ANPR cameras are frighteningly good at what they do.

But it doesn't quite make sense hiding, because if you're attached to the bumper of another car then you're doing the speed limit anyway (unless you're both breaking the speed limit), so you might as well back off. If the road is clear enough to go above the speed limit, then there will be no-one to hide behind!

40inches - 5/9/13 at 12:53 PM

So as far as the BIB are concerned he's still on the A77

mookaloid - 5/9/13 at 12:53 PM

must have been up to no good then

40inches - 5/9/13 at 12:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
must have been up to no good then


Stolen. No insurance. Had gone between the first camera's at warp speed?

puma931 - 5/9/13 at 12:57 PM

Saw this a few times with the avg speed cameras on the M1 last year. From what I could tell they tailgate just before the camera and once they past it they floor it until the next camera.

Best to ignore them and hope that a copper catches them.

britishtrident - 5/9/13 at 01:05 PM

The driver looked dressed in the right income bracket for the car and he wasn't interested in going any faster than the speed limit --- it was a really weird experience. I was glad to turn off the motorway section on to the by-passed old version of the A77 as it looked like some major could happen.

mcerd1 - 5/9/13 at 01:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
...But it doesn't quite make sense hiding, because if you're attached to the bumper of another car then you're doing the speed limit anyway...

unless its not the speeding he's worried about

ANPR is used to track cars for plenty of other reasons....

johnny chimpo - 5/9/13 at 01:22 PM

He's from Ayrshire, that says enough about him....

iank - 5/9/13 at 01:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
must have been up to no good then


Stolen. No insurance. Had gone between the first camera's at warp speed?


Sounds like the most likely explanation - beyond the easy/cheap "Audi driver"

Don't know if the average speed cameras report dodgy insurance/MOT/stolen reg's or just stick to speeders (though they obviously could) so he might have been wasting his time.

Daddylonglegs - 5/9/13 at 01:57 PM

Surely better to risk a speeding ticket (if that's what it was) than ramming into the guy in front when he sneezes and drops the throttle for an instant!

coyoteboy - 5/9/13 at 02:00 PM

Slow down through the averaged section, leave it until the next active averaging camera and then hoof it away leaving him high and dry

PSpirine - 5/9/13 at 02:19 PM

I know ANPR is linked to the MOT/insurance/tax info, but I've heard, from a number of people that the cars aren't actually automatically checked.

Has anyone ever experienced first hand (or 2nd hand at most) someone getting nicked for no tax when driving through an average speed ANPR setup?


The reason I ask is that I was driving a car to a pre-booked MOT once, car was insured but obviously no tax, and I was wondering whether ANPR would pick up and send me a fine for it.

owelly - 5/9/13 at 02:27 PM

Perhaps the Audi driver had forgotten his glasses so needed someone to follow?

SteveWalker - 5/9/13 at 03:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by PSpirine
I know ANPR is linked to the MOT/insurance/tax info, but I've heard, from a number of people that the cars aren't actually automatically checked.

Has anyone ever experienced first hand (or 2nd hand at most) someone getting nicked for no tax when driving through an average speed ANPR setup?


The reason I ask is that I was driving a car to a pre-booked MOT once, car was insured but obviously no tax, and I was wondering whether ANPR would pick up and send me a fine for it.


It would certainly be sensible for the average speed check cameras to report cars with no Tax/MOT/insurance. It would be easy enough for the MOT database to return an OK if within a day of a pre-booked MOT (allowing for dropping off and picking up a day either side).

scudderfish - 5/9/13 at 04:11 PM

If you're that determined to avoid your plates being seen, just whip a plate off another red TT and stick it on the front of your own car.

Mr Whippy - 5/9/13 at 04:28 PM

I had a guy once tailgate me on a country road so I slammed the brakes on full and rammed my tow bar right through his bumper practically splitting it in two, funniest thing ever couldn't stop laughing. The joys of owning ancient cars you see

r1_pete - 5/9/13 at 04:34 PM

Maybe a disqualified driver, not wanting the cameras to pick his plates up and the awkward questions to start.

iank - 5/9/13 at 05:11 PM

Brave choice posting an admission of a serious motoring offence on a public forum Mr W.

morcus - 5/9/13 at 05:37 PM

I don't think he did, stopping suddenly isn't really a crime...

He might just have been a #### in an Audi, theres alot of them about. If you know his plate and when this was you might beable to report it to the Police who might be able to find him and award him with a prize...

iank - 5/9/13 at 05:42 PM

Deliberately braking hard to cause an accident is classed as dangerous driving. If attempting to emergency stop in order to prevent hitting a child that has run out into the road you'd be fine.

scudderfish - 5/9/13 at 06:02 PM

Damned dogs always running into the road. Other guy couldn't see it as he was too close.

Badger_McLetcher - 5/9/13 at 07:19 PM

Had a van tailgate me through the M5 average speed camera to other day- he pulled out right behind me and then didn't drop back at all. The funny part is he chose to do this as a cop car was overtaking, which "took notice" of the minuscule gap between. It took a couple of moments for the van driver to notice and drop back off and the last I saw the police car was following it off the junction.

jossey - 5/9/13 at 07:24 PM

Works if you tuck behind a lorry at the right ange but not cars

balidey - 5/9/13 at 08:02 PM

I wasn't doing it to hide my number plate, its to save fuel.
I'm broke after spending all my money on the TT, so I tail-gate. It makes a huge difference to the mpg (fact).
The closer you get, the less fuel you burn.
Although it does get a bit hairy when idiots in front keep pulling into gaps not big enough for both of us.
And when you go down hill and turn off the ignition you have to make sure not to put the steering lock on.

[Edited on 5/9/13 by balidey]

Ninehigh - 5/9/13 at 10:10 PM

That's karma for getting a flash hairdresser's car

dhutch - 6/9/13 at 05:02 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
Damned dogs always running into the road. Other guy couldn't see it as he was too close.
But thats not what the post says.

The post says 'I slammed the anchors on really hard, so he would crash into me, its was really funny'


Daniel

mcerd1 - 6/9/13 at 07:20 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PSpirine
I know ANPR is linked to the MOT/insurance/tax info, but I've heard, from a number of people that the cars aren't actually automatically checked.


the ANPR cameras on the major routes flag up on the police systems (at least for the cameras that aren't just average speed ones)
its then up to the police on duty if they want to investigate further, so 99% thats not going to happen...
they do record data for 'cars of interest' to give them long term patterns (mostly used when tracking drug dealers etc...)


[Edited on 6/9/2013 by mcerd1]

scudderfish - 6/9/13 at 08:48 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
quote:
Originally posted by PSpirine
I know ANPR is linked to the MOT/insurance/tax info, but I've heard, from a number of people that the cars aren't actually automatically checked.


the ANPR cameras on the major routes flag up on the police systems (at least for the cameras that aren't just average speed ones)
its then up to the police on duty if they want to investigate further, so 99% thats not going to happen...
they do record data for 'cars of interest' to give them long term patterns (mostly used when tracking drug dealers etc...)


[Edited on 6/9/2013 by mcerd1]


Surely this is low hanging fruit for them which would make their numbers look good.

mcerd1 - 6/9/13 at 10:10 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
Surely this is low hanging fruit for them which would make their numbers look good.

yeah you'd think, but its not the traffic cops that see it flag up - its someone sitting in an office who would then need to find someone to stop the car...

the traffic cops have their own ANPR fitted to the cars - so they'll take a car thats flagged up right in front of them rather than running all over the country looking for one that flagged up half an hour ago 20 miles away
most of them are basically lazy, if they need to boost there numbers they sit somewhere they know they can get 10 cars an hour for speeding, red lights, etc...
(I know a few cops up here - my info comes from them first hand )


besides a lot of the cars that flag up will have legitimate reasons, like pre-booked MOT's, temp/short term insurance, trade plates, just insured/taxed/MOT's and the database isn't updated yet......


[Edited on 6/9/2013 by mcerd1]

britishtrident - 6/9/13 at 10:36 AM

A77 is a major route to/from the ferries fro Ulster hence among other reasons one of the first to get the cameras.

nick205 - 6/9/13 at 11:46 AM

quote:
Originally posted by balidey
I wasn't doing it to hide my number plate, its to save fuel.
I'm broke after spending all my money on the TT, so I tail-gate. It makes a huge difference to the mpg (fact).
The closer you get, the less fuel you burn.
Although it does get a bit hairy when idiots in front keep pulling into gaps not big enough for both of us.
And when you go down hill and turn off the ignition you have to make sure not to put the steering lock on.

[Edited on 5/9/13 by balidey]



LOL - I did have the same train of thought, but it didn't fit with the whole Audi thing

02GF74 - 6/9/13 at 04:30 PM

It could have been Dr A Stove.
My first job was in research lab and AS had this theory that you will do less damage to your car if you drive very very close to it. Car in front stops suddenly so the difference in speed when you hit it is less if you are really close.

Ok so you have more accidents but they are much less severe meaning you are safer..

coyoteboy - 6/9/13 at 04:41 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
It could have been Dr A Stove.
My first job was in research lab and AS had this theory that you will do less damage to your car if you drive very very close to it. Car in front stops suddenly so the difference in speed when you hit it is less if you are really close.

Ok so you have more accidents but they are much less severe meaning you are safer..


Interesting thought but ultimately it makes you significantly more likely to have an accident in the first place, like once a week instead of once in a lifetime.