Tailgaters - objects in the mirror are closer than they should be?

I wish there was something the Police could do about tailgaters or people who follow you so close that you can nearly see the back of their car... (slightly impossible but you get the picture ;) ).

I've tried reporting a couple of tailgaters before, went into the Dunedin Central Police station one time after a Mr Impatient in his (i think?) Honda Accord station wagon was following us too closely for a while on the way back from Palmerston in my brothers Skyline (now wrecked and being stripped for parts, thanks to a gravel road, inexperienced driver and an embankment - R.I.P. Skyline :( ) and gave them the details including licence plate and so on but as far as i'm aware nothing was done about it. The Policeman just said they can't really do a whole lot but will look to see if Mr Impatient has any previous driving convictions.

And then the other day (Sept 30, '06) while coming back from the car racing at Levels Raceway in Timaru we had this 'boyracermobile' type Mitsubishi Mirage or something black and hatchbacky follow us too closely for a while.
I tried the recommended brake tapping move (hitting the brakes only so much so that the brake lights go on but you don't slow) a few times but it (as usual) didn't do a thing - i've pretty much lost faith in this technique, i think it has only worked once out of the ten to fifteen or so times i've tried it.

So yeah, i ended up going 50 km/h in a 60 km/h zone because i was starting to get a little bothered by them, especially as it was at night and anything might be on/run across the road which could force me into evasive maneuvers. So as i got to the 100 km/h sign i floored it up to 100 after passing it and they caught up after a short while (bear in mind i was driving a 130 hp or so Mazda MS-6 five door so wasn't exactly in the quickest of cars).
When they caught up they were even closer so i braked and slowed kinda abruptly (but not excessively) down a few k's and they got closer. I kept slowing down and when at about 70 km/h or so i booted it up to 100 again and they could *nearly* keep up with us.

While going down the long straight alongside the Moeraki Boulders entrance i was getting even more annoyed with them (and i pretty much never get road rage of any sort) being so stupid and dangerous as they were probably closer still. So i basically then just kept braking and slowing down until i was doing about 50 km/h or so in the 100 km/h zone - they had MILES of safe room to pass but instead decided to get so close that their headlights were no longer in view. After they likely realised i was just going to keep getting slower (and perhaps the car approaching us from behind played a part) they pulled out, apparently very close to our back bumper according to my brother, and finally passed us while making all sorts of hand gestures and likely yelling unrepeatable stuff too. My youngest (20) brother gave as good as we got though (with hand gestures), while i played them a cheerful tune on the horn (beep beep beep-beep beep, beep beep!). The approaching car also passed us, just after the idiots did and we had the road to ourselves again.

A stop at the beach was in order so that we wouldn't catch up to them or anything (funny how sometimes the tailgaters finally pass you and then go way too slow around corners - just proves their lack of driving ability i suppose) and i hadn't eaten the rest of my 'Bonaza Burger' - bought from the fish and chip shop across the railway in Temuka - these burgers are huge, at least to me anyway!).

I realise now that what i did in the tailgater scenario likely made the situation as worse as it was, but tailgaters annoy me to no ends because insurance isn't compulsory in this country so in the event of a tailgating related crash they probably wouldn't pay up even if forced to by the courts. And i never want to be involved in a crash, even on the racetrack in a racecar (latter of which i will build/buy one day).

From now on though in the event of some low life following too close i will pull to the left as much as i safely can and keep gradually slowing down. If in a car that handles well and am approaching some tight or winding corners i may try (safely) lose them a bit through the corners and then fid a place to pull over or let them pass afterwards for the reasons i briefly mentioned in the second paragraph above this.

*sigh* Sadly this is an insanely common worldwide problem and the only way to avoid it is not to drive i suppose - none of the retaliation methods (suddenly braking hard, going faster, tailgating them once they pass, using the handbrake to slow down instead so they won't see the brake lights, and so on) many suggest are safe for either party and i'm even more unlikely to ever try any of them now. People huh. *shakes head*