There are two main ways that tailgating causes car accidents. The first is simply that the rear driver doesn’t have enough reaction time. If the car ahead of them begins to slow down rapidly, they just don’t have space to brake or swerve, and they rear-end the car ahead of them.
To prevent this, the front driver will sometimes “brake check” the rear driver by sharply pushing the brakes. They’re trying to communicate to that rear driver that they should back off by causing a near miss. But this is dangerous and illegal, and it can lead to the front driver causing an accident.
Get the tailgater to pass
Instead of brake checking someone or taking any other type of aggressive action – like gesturing out your window – it’s best just to try to get them to pass. Odds are that that’s what they want anyway. If you can get them to do it, you keep yourself safer because you lower your odds of being involved in an accident.
One way to get someone to pass is just to gradually slow down. Don’t hit the brakes, but you can’t take your foot off of the gas.
In some cases, it’s also an option to pull over to the side of the road or change lanes. This doesn’t necessarily help if it’s a road rage incident, because the rear driver may keep tailgating. But if they honestly just were trying to find space to pass, then they’ll be glad to have a chance to do so.
All that being said, rear-end accidents are the rear driver’s fault in the vast majority of cases. If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, then you need to know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills and related costs.