There have been a lot of rear-end incidents recently. Some have been reported and will be moderated in due course, but many have not. Some unreported incidents have been debated on the drivers’ forums, unfortunately not always in a friendly manner.
So perhaps now is the time to remind everyone what the rules are regarding rear-end shunts. The general guidelines are on the
Etiquette page under the General section. Specifically bullet points 4, 6 and 7. The
penalty guidelines describe the various degrees of severity when moderating rear-end shunts. There are additional guidelines in the
Recommended Driver Behaviour, specifically under sections “Never run into the back of someone in front of you” and “Avoid close racing when it’s not necessary”.
I appreciate there is a lot to read there, so to save anyone the trouble of reading everything, it means:
With the obvious exception of deliberate “brake testing”, it is
ALWAYS the responsibility of the following driver to avoid a collision. It doesn’t matter if the leading driver is slow, has a damaged car, is lacking in ability, is on cold tyres, doesn’t know the track, has got lost or any number of other reasons. If you rear-end someone, it is
YOUR FAULT. It is only the degree of severity that varies.
