Drivers who tailgate on busy motorways could face fresh fines as “state-of-the-art” cameras are rolled out by police to target offenders.
Earlier this month, National Highways launched a fresh campaign to highlight the dangers of tailgating and lane hogging on motorways which causes additional stress to drivers.
Tailgating is an offence under ‘driving without due care and attention’ prosecutions and holds a minimum £100 fine and penalty points.
A new survey has revealed that almost a quarter of drivers polled (23 per cent) admitted to tailgating at least occasionally.
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Cameras captured 60,343 instances of vehicles driving too close during the initial trial
PAThe data found that tailgating is a factor in around one in eight casualties on England's motorways and major A roads.
Back in 2020, National Highways joined forces with Northamptonshire Police to trial a scheme of smart cameras on a stretch of the M1 near Northampton where cameras were used to identify tailgaters.
The cameras captured 60,343 instances of vehicles driving too close in one year with offenders sent letters in the post.
In 2022, National Highways, in conjunction with Warwickshire Police, trialled cameras that could detect dangerous driving including tailgating.
Graham Conway, managing director at Select Car Leasing, said: “Camera technology to detect tailgating clearly works and has been trialled several times here in the UK - it’s surely only a matter of time before it’s adopted fully as a means to increase the number of prosecutions.
“Tailgating blights all of our roads and having someone follow you within touching distance of your rear bumper can be a truly terrifying experience.
“Whether someone tailgates due to sheer absentmindedness or ineptitude, or whether they’re driving aggressively, the repercussions of such behaviour can be deadly - as the accident stats prove, and hence the reason for National Highways’ new campaign warning against it.”
Driving in the middle lane is only for overtaking or turning right, but in recent years, it has become the norm to travel the whole journey on this route.
The research showed that tailgating was among the most likely actions to make drivers feel anxious, stressed or unsafe.
Almost seven in 10 adults in England remarked how close following, or tailgating, was a serious problem on roads.
Meanwhile, more than a third (34 per cent) of those surveyed, said they noticed middle lane hogging with many responding that it made them feel frustrated or angry.
Conway continued, saying: "The police can’t physically be everywhere all at once.
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Seven in 10 adults in England said tailgating was a serious problem GETTY"And with tailgating so endemic, it makes sense for state-of-the-art camera technology to be deployed to act as a real deterrent to offenders.”