Comment by robocat

I am surprised that research backs you up... my guess had been that the majority of tailgaters are just arseholes (technical term) so I checked:

  There is substantial research that frustration with a slow driver in a fast lane is a significant factor in aggressive tailgating (as a way to express anger, control, or impatience) to get others to change lanes.

There's a balance between selfish lane-hoggers and selfishly impolite/dangerous tailgaters.

But perhaps research doesn't measure arseholeness?!

For selfish reasons I usually let dangerous tailgaters pass me: I want to avoid the bad outcomes from pissed off aggressive drivers.

If I'm stuck behind someone slow, I usually politely wait or politely flash lights or politely tap horn. I think Tailgating is personally dangerous as a way to signal my displeasure and I value my life highly. Polite drivers generally let one pass, and impolite drivers do whatever the fuck they want.

Regardless, it would be interesting to see stats on how risky tailgating actually is (unfortunately stats are sure to be biased by correlation versus causation).