> Tailgating is such a subjective term. A reasonable distance to me may
> scare the **** out of someone else. TFA recommends leaving a 3 second gap
> when driving. IMO this is ridiculous! Why do I think this? Because I
> drive the way I ride and race - by watching the road ahead and
> *anticipating* what is about to happen.
>
> Leaving a 50 metre gap between me and the car in front (which is what a 3
> second gap is at 60km/h) only invites people to do stupid things like
> change lanes from a stationary position into the path of fast moving
> traffic.
>
> You only have to watch people trying to merge to see how many people *do
> not anticipate*. Some driver in front of me on my way home from work
> today was driving along completely oblivious to the fact that traffic in
> front of them was merging nicely (quite surprisingly actually, alternating
> one from each lane the way it should be done) until confronted with a van
> who had left a gap in front of them big enough for one car that this iijit
> was trying to fit two into. Of course they then had to brake hard and
> suddenly the smooth flow of traffic was interrupted. The freeway
> butterfly effect (see http://kevinforsyth.net/essays/driving2.htm) then
> kicks in and 5 minutes later some guy is wondering why he had to stop on
> the freeway for no apparent reason.
>
> --
> Brett"Wow I need to drive less..."S
I can see this is going to be an entertaining discussion. I leave a 2 sec
gap. Yes, people jump in, but consider:
Reaction time alone is in the order of half a second. If a top duel drag
racer; someone who drag races for a living and practices extensively, makes
a .4 sec reaction time, it's considered perfect. There are limits to how
fast your nervous system can send information and how fast you can process
is, even if you're intently watching for a signal to the exclusion of all
else.
However, you're not watching a single light. You can easily find yourself
watching the dodgy looking p-plater coming out of the side street to the
right just as a pensioner dodders out from between parked cars to the left,
causing the car in front of you to prop. Watching the traffic hasn't helped
because it's not the traffic that's at fault.
Real life 'my helmet saved my life' type story: Driving in right hand lane,
car in front of me changes into the left lane. Without an indicator. Just in
time to avoid the stopped car waiting to turn right. Coming over a crest. My
2 sec gap to a moving car just became a 2 sec gap to a stopped car. Couldn't
go left because there was a car next to me (head check cost me half a sec
although I was already braking, but stopped me barging into another car,
yay!) I stopped just in time. Much heavy breathing, swearing etc.
So I do look as far up the road as I can, but lots of others don't. Add in a
mix of vehicles that you can't see past such as vans, 4WDs, trucks etc and
things get even hairier. So leaving a gap has saved me not only from hitting
someone in front of me, but it's allowed me to brake early and gently enough
that the oblivious git behind me has had enough time to react and not hit
me. In addition, there have been plenty of times where it's allowed me to
react to a situation easily rather than with maximum sturm und drang. No
less damage to the car, but far less wear and tear on the nerves.So I let in
half a dozen cars over the course of a trip? Assuming that they all leave 2
sec gaps as well, (which they generally don't) it's costs me about 12
seconds. Maybe a couple of minutes if I catch a red light which I otherwise
wouldn't have. I cope.