Brake checking

gman

gman

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Does anyone know roughly how the police or law stands with brake checking?

Was out today with the whole family in my wife's car taking it easy and a car pulled out right in front of me. Rather than slam the brakes I just took my foot off the throttle and let the car slow itself down so I rolled up a little close for a second, perhaps a few car lengths. No big deal I thought but he decides to start slamming his brakes and the predictable hand gestures follow from him etc. What's the deal with this?
 
gman said:
Does anyone know roughly how the police or law stands with brake checking?

Was out today with the whole family in my wife's car taking it easy and a car pulled out right in front of me. Rather than slam the brakes I just took my foot off the throttle and let the car slow itself down so I rolled up a little close for a second, perhaps a few car lengths. No big deal I thought but he decides to start slamming his brakes and the predictable hand gestures follow from him etc. What's the deal with this?
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Knob! (him, not you!) Just let him go .... why on earth do you think the Police would be interested? :rolleyes:
 
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gman said:
No big deal I thought but he decides to start slamming his brakes and the predictable hand gestures follow from him etc. What's the deal with this?
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Little willy syndrome ...
 
I'm sure I've read that people get charged for this when the police see the footage? Not hugely fussed about it, just a bit of a stupid thing to do when he could see I've got young children in the car. Perhaps it's not worth the hassle and best left alone, I'm sure he will do it to the wrong person one day.
 
not sure what is being discussed here so someone pulled out on you a bit close?
 
Mr Bump said:
not sure what is being discussed here so someone pulled out on you a bit close?
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And then started slamming their brakes on me lol. I'm just going to leave it, haven't got time to check the footage for what looks like nothing worthwhile. If there was an accident it would be different but I'm just going to chalk it up to one of those journeys. I'll let karma do its thing!
 
Karma is your friend. Technically there is an offence being committed, but I doubt the Feds will have the enthusiasm to take it up. This turnip will get his rewards one day. Well done for being restrained and not rising to it.
 
gman said:
and the predictable hand gestures follow from him etc. What's the deal with this?
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As I noted elsewhere, it seems that we now have to give way to people entering a roundabout, and now it seems we have to give way to pulling out of a side turning to.
So it was clearly your fault ;)

Oh as for the hand gestures, one finger is thanks for giving way, 2 fingers is thanks very much, and the clenched fist moving up and down, that's, cheers mate, I'll buy you a coffee next time we meet up.
(Nescafe :D )
 
Cobra said:
As I noted elsewhere, it seems that we now have to give way to people entering a roundabout, and now it seems we have to give way to pulling out of a side turning to.
So it was clearly your fault ;)

Oh as for the hand gestures, one finger is thanks for giving way, 2 fingers is thanks very much, and the clenched fist moving up and down, that's, cheers mate, I'll buy you a coffee next time we meet up.
(Nescafe :D )
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I'll try the new gestures next time I go to Birmingham :)
 
Can you honestly say you did nothing to antagonise him , no light flashing or tooting ,

there's a few videos on YouTube where mr angry meets mr nut job and it doesn't end well , best to leave them to it, one day they'll brake check the wrong person and realise a focus isn't impregnable with the doors locked

Cops won't be interested, best you can hope for is another non event on welshdrives YouTube channel
 
wack61 said:
Can you honestly say you did nothing to antagonise him , no light flashing or tooting ,
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Nothing other than roll a little close for a second because i didn't want to slam the brakes, my family is in the car so I'm extra careful, then I let the car start to fall back when he slammed the brakes. I also forgot to mention, he never indicated either before pulling out so I couldn't even anticipate what he was going to do beforehand. But I don't do the road rage thing, it's pointless, the event has happened and shouting, tooting etc serves no purpose. I only use the horn to warn someone if they are drifting into me etc. You see road rage tubes and everyone just looks stupid.

But I really don't like people who brake check, especially when he has a dog in the boot. I just seemed odd that he was the one who created the situation and rather than just move on or flip the hazard he does all this. It seems like very few people can admit when they make a mistake. I've made mistakes, I'll blip the hazards to acknowledge it and it seems to defuse any situation that may come off it. Much easier!
 
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I don't agree with the whole brake check thing but I also disagree with drivers getting really close. It takes 2 to tango as they say.

So to prevent the whole thing to happen again, don't drive so close to the car in front? No excuses about "letting the car roll", just brake your car and leave a gap.

Problem solved.
 
And then the car behind me slams their brakes and so on so forth which can result in the obvious. If I had rolled too close i wouldn't have been able to brake in time when he slammed his brakes. I was keeping things calm and controlled until he took even more stupid action. Doesn't always take two to tango, you are making it sound as if i was tailgating him which I wasn't, he was already starting to pull away from me when he decided that me not slamming my brakes because of his actions wasn't good enough.

But it's all irrelevant now as there's nothing more to be done.
 
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There's a great deal of difference between slamming on the brakes, and not using them at all.
 
viv1969 said:
There's a great deal of difference between slamming on the brakes, and not using them at all.
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Have you read the earlier posts properly or are you just playing the antagonist as well? This thread has run its course for me, there's no solution requried so there's no point with me continuing. :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
I don't agree with the whole brake check thing but I also disagree with drivers getting really close. It takes 2 to tango as they say.

So to prevent the whole thing to happen again, don't drive so close to the car in front? No excuses about "letting the car roll", just brake your car and leave a gap.

Problem solved.
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A few car lengths of a gap is hardly getting really close though, is it?
 
nilagin said:
Some coppers don't like it.
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I wonder what happened to the guy that was filming, and then "under took" both cars when the lead car had his left hand indicator on?
:D
 
No point tailgating or rolling up to someone (though I get the OP's point of view).
Too many crash for cash folks around; regardless of dashcam evidence to prove its not your fault, it's too much hassle to sort out.
 
Cobra said:
I wonder what happened to the guy that was filming, and then "under took" both cars when the lead car had his left hand indicator on?
:D
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They slowed down so technically he didn't undertake.
 
nilagin said:
hey slowed down so technically he didn't undertake.
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Technically he passed both cars on the inside ergo, he under took,
he should have either slowed to allow him to the near side / hard shoulder, or pulled out to the outside lane so the copper could escort him to the near side,
with a clear run.
 
Cobra said:
Technically he passed both cars on the inside ergo, he under took,
he should have either slowed to allow him to the near side / hard shoulder, or pulled out to the outside lane so the copper could escort him to the near side,
with a clear run.
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If traffic slows in other lanes whilst you maintain your speed and without having changed lane to do so it isn't undertaking. He was in a lorry. He isn't allowed in the outside lane anyway.
 
nilagin said:
If traffic slows in other lanes whilst you maintain your speed and without having changed lane to do so it isn't undertaking
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Only applies to heavy traffic..
Rule 268
Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.

nilagin said:
He was in a lorry.
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Fair enough I hadn't realised.
nilagin said:
He isn't allowed in the outside lane
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But then again, in exceptional circumstances you can.
Whether of not that would be classed as an exceptional circumstance, that one is for the courts to decide ;)
 
Cobra said:
Only applies to heavy traffic..
Rule 268
Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.


Fair enough I hadn't realised.

But then again, in exceptional circumstances you can.
Whether of not that would be classed as an exceptional circumstance, that one is for the courts to decide ;)
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I'd suggest in this instance that what the lorry driver did was the safest action. For him to brake or change lanes could have caused a danger to others around him. For him to have braked and moved the truck to drop behind the cop car would have been a bit silly, especially as he was only doing about 40 I think (without rewatching the video)
 
Funny how a thread has run it's course when someone doesn't get the comments they desire.

gman said:
. Rather than slam the brakes I just took my foot off the throttle and let the car slow itself down so I rolled up a little close for a second, perhaps a few car lengths. No big deal
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If a few car lengths was true, the braking of the other driver would be irrelevant.

I stand by my comment that there's a vast difference between slamming on your brakes, and not using them at all, irrespective of who is in the car.
 
If I was in the slow lane and someone crawled to a snails pace in the fast lane there is no way I would suddenly crawl to avoid undertaking as there would be a risk of being hit by faster traffic. Also signalling to change lanes does not give you priority over traffic in the lane you are changing to - the car should have waited until it was safe to switch lanes.
 
Question.

If the car is far ahead of you, what does it matter if he is brake checking. My point being that if I see a car 300 yards away braking erratically, brake checking etc, what does it matter to me?

If I am up close to him however, then I would be in danger of hitting him and be affected by his actions.
 
viv1969 said:
Funny how a thread has run it's course when someone doesn't get the comments they desire.
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I've already said why. You shouldn't assume.

But as a courtesy,

viv1969 said:
If a few car lengths was true, the braking of the other driver would be irrelevant.
Click to expand...

viv1969 said:
I stand by my comment that there's a vast difference between slamming on your brakes, and not using them at all, irrespective of who is in the car.
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Your statements contradict each other unless you have some crazy perception of length?

As for who is in the car, i believe you should drive extra careful if you have a baby in the car. Maybe you don't agree, that's up to you. Of course the antagonistics will argue and split hairs that you should always drive extra careful, but then you could say I drive extra, extra careful etc and then you see how silly it gets with these people.

And yes, there is a big difference between slamming your brakes and not braking at all, but you don't have to press the pedal to slow your car. I was allowing my transmission to slow me down, i thought that was obvious from my description of the situation. It's a common used and controlled action to take rather than everyone tapping their brakes which can have an exponential effect along the line of cars behind.

But then you could argue that pressing your brake pedal with 10% force would also be controlled, but then you could argue that 20% force is also controlled and so on so forth until we finally split the atom and the origins of the thread are completely lost amongst endless and pointless posts. A bit like this post.

Actually, there's another reason why for me this thread has run it's course.

So, you are right, I am wrong. You win. Happy now?
 
Raymond Lin said:
Question.

If the car is far ahead of you, what does it matter if he is brake checking. My point being that if I see a car 300 yards away braking erratically, brake checking etc, what does it matter to me?

If I am up close to him however, then I would be in danger of hitting him and be affected by his actions.
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If the car is 300yds away, that isn't brake checking. Not sure what it's called but it certainly isn't brake checking.
 
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im flabbergasted what is break checking?
 
Mr Bump said:
im flabbergasted what is break checking?
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It's where one car follows another too closely, the driver of the lead car brakes momentarily (possibly heavily) without warning to cause the driver behind to slam on their brakes. Hence checking their brakes and realising they don't really have enough braking distance should the car in front brake heavily to a standstill.
 
nilagin said:
It's where one car follows another too closely, the driver of the lead car brakes momentarily (possibly heavily) without warning to cause the driver behind to slam on their brakes. Hence checking their brakes and realising they don't really have enough braking distance should the car in front brake heavily to a standstill.
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oh right, sounds like "b****r off you are to close then".
 
Mr Bump said:
oh right, sounds like "b****r off you are to close then".
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That or "I am going to pull out in front of you and sod the consequences that your too close, I'm not going to accelerate out of the way".
 
gman said:
Was out today with the whole family in my wife's car taking it easy and a car pulled out right in front of me. Rather than slam the brakes I just took my foot off the throttle and let the car slow itself down so I rolled up a little close for a second, perhaps a few car lengths. No big deal I thought but he decides to start slamming his brakes and the predictable hand gestures follow from him etc. What's the deal with this?
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You did nothing wrong, you are perfectly within your rights to slow down gradually, make full use the buffer. Also, not indicating is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Every day, I cruise control up to a busy motorway junction with a lot of cars joining, with no cars to outside lane I usually move over to give (the self entitled) people space in the middle lane (because going to middle lane after joining seems the norm these days). But a lot of the time people join and go straight to the outside lane at slow speed, cause me to brake. Most of the time I only press enough brake peddle to light up my lights, let the engine do the braking for me. A lot of the times I allow the car come to half of highway code's 2s distances because I am using my buffer zone hoping the car in front would speed up to motorway speed. Minimal speed change = smoother motorway.


Remember, in a fossil fuel car, you spend money to buy fuel, you spend fuel to buy kinetic energy. You spend minimal fuel to your kinetic energy but any unnecessary braking turns that energy you've bought into hot air. Braking is enemy of efficient driving, looking ahead is the key. People who don't indicate or cut into 2s buffer zone should not be allowed to drive.

This is why if I'm moving, I usually don't give way to minor roads. Sometimes if there's sufficient distance in front of me, I flash my lights to let people in or people cut in, it's all okay, but ACCELLERATE to match the traffic speed for god sake! Every time I brake because of people like these, I wish I can send them a bill for my wasted energy.
 
nilagin said:
If the car is 300yds away, that isn't brake checking. Not sure what it's called but it certainly isn't brake checking.
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You are missing the point. If a car is so far in front, who cares what he is doing, he won't affect you.
 
Raymond Lin said:
You are missing the point. If a car is so far in front, who cares what he is doing, he won't affect you.
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But if the car has pulled out on you and failed to make adequate progress to keep a gap it does affect you. No one is obligated to let people pull out on them if people do pull out it I'd their obligation to at least pull away and maintain the safe gap.
 
rick448 said:
I'd suggest in this instance that what the lorry driver did was the safest action.
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Its a tough call, and I'm not sure what I've have done in that instance tbh.
But as the car only indicated left as the driver drew level, I guess I would have carried on too.
nilagin said:
That or "I am going to pull out in front of you and sod the consequences that your too close, I'm not going to accelerate out of the way".
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And the fact that if you rear end someone its automatically your fault.
Well it used to be but in the days of the dash cam, if it shows the other driver was a t***t, hopefully the blame would be "reversed"

nilagin said:
No one is obligated to let people pull out on them if people do pull out it I'd their obligation to at least pull away and maintain the safe gap.
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What's the wording? something like, you must be able to make your manoeuvre without making someone change speed or direction.
I wonder what happened to that?

I guess that all changed with the advent of these magic flashing amber light thingies that made people disappear as soon as you put them on?
 
Cobra said:
What's the wording? something like, you must be able to make your manoeuvre without making someone change speed or direction.
I wonder what happened to that?
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Exactly. During a practical driving test, if the driver made someone change speed/direction, it would be a major fault -> failed test.

Then why is this all thrown out of the window when driving in the real world? People seems to expect other people to give way, either on motorway slipping into other people's 2s buffer zone, or slowly inching out of a give-way until the major road is blocked and has to yield

Don't get me started on how minor road cars turning right by blocking one side of the road first.
 
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