The gap you leave should be speed-dependent and about 2 seconds to allow for reaction time. Yes, this caps the highway's capacity to 0.5 cars per second per lane but roads are inherently inefficient.
Aye, and 2 seconds is the bare minimum. A company I have worked for wanted 4 seconds between you and the car in front. That always felt a little much, but it definitely helped prevent wrecks.
In my state, it's one car length(15-20 feet) for every 10mph. Good luck getting anyone to actually follow it though! Getting on a major highway here is like the Autobahn.
I was taught to look when the car in front drives past a landmark like a lamppost, then say to myself "Only a fool breaks the two second rule"
If you pass the lamppost before you finish saying it, you're too close
If you're only two lengths away from the car in front of you while driving at highway speeds, you are tailgating. Back off. It's far more dangerous than speeding.
Help me out with this, because it's driving me crazy. Whenever I leave anywhere close to 2 seconds between me and the car on front of me, someone cuts in, and I'm now too close to them, so I slow down, leaving a 2 second gap, and another cuts in. Rinse, repeat. I end up being the slow ass that everyone keeps zooming around unless I tailgate.
It just be that way. Idiots will see your safe following distance as their opportunity to switch lanes. Just keep being the safe one.
Just... Don't care? Let people in and adjust the distance with them. Driving is an involved process, get a car with adaptive cruise control if you want one that will do exactly that for you.
At 65mph, you cover two car lengths (~30 ft) in about 1/3 of a second.
Typically human reaction time for braking is about 1.5 seconds.
If something went seriously wrong in front of you (like a sideways car, or a hidden obstacle in front of the car in front of you) you would have covered 10 car lengths before your foot touches the brake pedal.
nothing gets me more pissed off than when I'm driving the speed limit on an open road with an open passing zone, no one coming towards me or ahead of me, and some dipshit decides to ride my ass
Then you need to lift off the accellerator, don't brake check or anything, just slowly slow down.
If the car behind you won't give you enough safety margin to maintain a high speed, then your only option to maintain safety is to reduce your speed so that the safety margin they give you is enough to stop in time for an accident.
Here in Sweden we have plenty of roundabouts, I will use those to also get rid of annoying drivers who just can't manage their distance, if I have someone like that behind me when I get to a roundabout, I just drive a full lap of the roundabout and let them pass.
I will allways let these guys past when I can, they are in a rush to their own accident, and I am not, let them pass and and make them stop being my problem, if I can't find a place to let them pass I will reduce my speed to compensate for their lack of safety margins
I already subconsciously do this because I know it pisses them off, but I like your justification much better
It isn't even a justification, it is simple defensive driving, as I was taught in driving school, and reenforced by my dad many times.
If what you’re doing makes idiots angry, feel good about yourself and keep doing it.
More space means less braking, reducing bunching up. Check this article on traffic waves out
I just moved to Michigan
I have never seen a group of drivers so committed to Tail Gateing .... Like it's the state sport
Visit Tennessee and get back to me. Moving from Tennessee to Michigan I noticed a distinct uptick in the quality of driving.
Intelligent people leave a space of about two cars ahead of them on the freeway.
Stupid people think that space must be for them.
Intelligent people leave a whole fucking lot more than just two car lengths.
Two car lengths isn't even remotely enough space if you're traveling at high speeds.
Yeah, I follow the 3 second rule and try to keep 3 seconds of travel distance between me and the car in front of me
I think my biggest pet peeve about driving is when you come to a stop and the car behind you tries to shove their nose up your ass. Like bruh you don't need to ever be that close
Especially annoying if you're driving a manual and are stopped on an incline.
When i was 13 bill Clinton told me 1 car length per every 10mph i was traveling at. Ive been following that advice ever since
My car's "smart cruise control" leaves what seems to be around a car length for every 10 mph, which is what I remember hearing in driving school. Feels a bit excessive in practice, but I also never feel like I'm being an asshole so I'm okay with it.
I was rear ended, HARD once. That distance gave me the space to control both my vehicle, and the one that hit me. It turned a potential multi car, multi lane pileup into a 2 vehicle wreck, either 1 more dinged car.
The space isn't for the 99.999% of the time, but that 0.001% OH FUCK time.
When I leave two car lengths, four cars will go into it, and at least one of their drivers will throw a half empty beer can at me.
Two car lengths? You absolute madman! That's positively grotesque!
For the purposes of this comment, I'm assuming that cars are about fifty feet long.
I leave 2-3 seconds following distance minimum on interstate highways.
"Only a fool breaks the 2 second rule."
I was taught to repeat that phrase, at a normal steady pace, when I saw the back of their car go past something, to use as a marker (a signpost, the end of one of the lines on the road, whatever).
If you finish the phrase after the front of your car has gone past the same marker, then you don't have a big enough braking distance and need to ease off a bit.
The simplified distance rule we learn in europe is: half your speed (km/h) in meters or as an equation, v/2000. E.g. you drive 120km/h, keep 60m distance.
I've always preferred the 2 second rule. You don't need to do distance math in your head, just find a tree and count the time it takes to get from their car to yours.
I have a two lane road for most of commute every morning. What hate is when you pick up a buttplug. A buttplug is some dipshit who crawls up your ass and refuses to pass. They wont leave enough gap for the person behind them to pass without passing both of us and they wont pass themselves.
What is crazy about this is that person will usually stay there until every car behind them has passed. After that they usually pass almost immediately.
Lord I hate those fucking cunts who see two car lengths of space as an invitation. I'm going 85, you're going 75, don't suddenly hop in front of me because the clown in front of you is going 70.
I've always followed the rule of 1 car length for every 10 miles per hour you're going.
I always (sometimes) do three seconds between me and the car in front of me. That automatically adjusts for increased speed.
3 seconds when under 65. 5 seconds when it's raining or I'm moving faster than posted highway speeds. It pisses people off but I'm hauling a ton of steel and plastic around, I'm not going to risk my life and everyone's around me just because some guy is late for work or can't be patient and needs to get where he's going a few seconds before me. People tend to lose the reality of the situation when driving their super fast metal explosion machines.
How am I supposed to leave 10 car lengths while speeding through a school zone? Explain!
You can't do this in LA, but LA fucking sucks so fuck 'em haha.
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