Just glad you made it home, Eliza. I think we share the same approach - simply put, how do I keep safe in this circumstance? You were wise, imho, to not play games or try to teach the tailgater a lesson.

Experienced a similar situation to that Frogprince related early in the thread, though even a bit more menacing. Dark, 2 lane highway in the country late at night. The guy was flashing his lights at me and occasionally pulling into the opposing lane and pacing me. Definitely trying to intimidate at best, and meaning harm at worst. To the best of my knowledge I had not driven in any way to provoke road rage - he had started following me in town though I didn't realize that until we got out of town a little ways. Was so close behind me when he was behind me that I could not even safely slow down and pull over or turn down another road without fear of being rear-ended (and then possibly assaulted.) Finally, at one of the times he was in the wrong lane beside me, I was able to make a turn onto a side road that he could not anticipate. Pulled into the driveway of the first house I came to with lights, and called the police.

Was even more frightening than the one time I was robbed at gunpoint on a sidewalk on a city street.