Nasty situation - not easy to avoid?

Nasty situation - not easy to avoid?

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Discussion

Evanivitch

19,797 posts

121 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
I think he was further back than that - dashcams make the distance look shorter.

There was also no sense of bunching traffic - up to that point everything had been flowing freely - lanes 1 & 2 didn't even look busy.

Impressive he managed to hit several cars to slow himself down gradually though!
Can I appreciate why you interpreted it that way, but I meant his stopping distance was about 3 car lengths too short to stop clear.

Agree on the other points, peripheral would suggest traffic was moving smoothly.

I'll take on board others view about offsetting so you can see around the car in front.

KAgantua

3,848 posts

130 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Sheepshanks said:
Evanivitch said:
.. and he was only about 3 car lengths out.
I think he was further back than that - dashcams make the distance look shorter.

There was also no sense of bunching traffic - up to that point everything had been flowing freely - lanes 1 & 2 didn't even look busy.

Impressive he managed to hit several cars to slow himself down gradually though!
i counted a 1 second gap
not enough

red_slr

17,122 posts

188 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Register1 said:
The Mad Monk said:
Shall I be first?

http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/126

Always drive at such a speed that you can stop well within the distance that you can see to be clear.

I feel better now.
40 mph x 3 = 120 feet ((36.5 meters) or 9 car lengths)

50 mph x 3.5 = 175 feet ((53 meters) or 13 car lengths)

60 mph x 4 = 240 feet ((73 meters) or 18 car lengths)

70 mph x 4.5 = 315 feet ((96 meters) or 24 car lengths)

can never happen,
All that's going to happen is your going in reverse.

Feck, if I leave 3 car lengths at 70mph, some one always want "in",
At 70 mph, Leaving 24 car lengths is just a historical joke.

You just co further and further to the back of the tail.
http://tips.drivingtestsuccess.com/featured/stoppi...



Edited by Register1 on Sunday 25th September 10:33
I have this problem often - I set my active cruise to "4 bars" which is about 4 seconds and get people cutting in all the time. If traffic is heavy I reduce it to 2 bars to stop this - which is totally backwards and not as safe but if I don't I end up going backwards as you say.

Alex_225

6,233 posts

200 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
I suspect that 90% of drivers on the road would have been caught out by that.

I did around 600 miles this week mostly on the motorway and I'm still surprised how many people sit within a cars length of the car in front (or less) at 70mph. Giving themselves literally zero room for any unforeseen circumstance. Literally driving by the car in front which in this case made a mistake and left the person behind to rectify their own issue.

It's so clear that people brake when the car in front brakes and not in reaction to cars further ahead. Because people sit far to closely together, there's no ability to see what is happening beyond that one car.

It's wrong and it's bad driving but it seems that most people, unless they are caught out on an occasion have no idea the consequences of tailgating and not reading the road ahead. frown

Nickbrapp

5,277 posts

129 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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That man must be annoyed, brand new Megane and that happens to him.

dave_s13

13,813 posts

268 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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KAgantua said:
i counted a 1 second gap
not enough
Only has fool breaks the...... Ooohh st, fk, st, aarrrgh...//bang!!!

Would've caught out at least 50% of us that one I reckon.

Sheepshanks

32,519 posts

118 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Alex_225 said:
I did around 600 miles this week mostly on the motorway and I'm still surprised how many people sit within a cars length of the car in front (or less) at 70mph. Giving themselves literally zero room for any unforeseen circumstance.
I guess on the positive side if they do all crash it should just be like railway carriages bumping together.

The thing that really scares me is stopping when there's no-one for some distance behind me.

Alex_225 said:
It's so clear that people brake when the car in front brakes and not in reaction to cars further ahead. Because people sit far to closely together, there's no ability to see what is happening beyond that one car.
Yet if people brake early they're criticised for causing the concertina effect that ripples back through the traffic.

NiceCupOfTea

25,280 posts

250 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
I think the real issues are:

1. middle laners meaning that you get a procession of frustrated cars queueing in the outside lane to get past.

2. people undertaking the outside lane queue to "push in", meaning people in the outside lane bunch up to prevent it.

It's very hard not to get dragged down to this level unfortunately. Pull in after an overtake and you get hemmed in by somebody in your blind spot so you end having to brake and pull out again - and join the outside lane queue further back.

I've done about 1000 motorway miles over the last week and it is a very frustrating business on the whole.

It's unfortunate that the van in the video chose that moment to pull out as it left the camera car with nowhere to go. I suspect I would have been caught out too. I don't like following heavies/vans for the simple reason that I can't see what's going on ahead.

RYH64E

7,960 posts

243 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Durzel said:
It's not that scientific really, if you can't stop in the distance you've left between you and the car in front - you're too close.
Easy to say, impossible to achieve. If you try leaving a gap that big at motorway speeds someone will always pull into it, regardless of what lane you're in.

Fort Jefferson

8,237 posts

221 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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I think the camera car should be applauded for making the best out of a bad job.


thepeoplespal

1,615 posts

276 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Fort Jefferson said:
I think the camera car should be applauded for making the best out of a bad job.
clap This. Could have been very nasty and while cars were damaged there didn't look to be too much damage to either humans or the vehicles themselves. It certainly could have been a whole lot worse.

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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thepeoplespal said:
Fort Jefferson said:
I think the camera car should be applauded for making the best out of a bad job.
clap This. Could have been very nasty and while cars were damaged there didn't look to be too much damage to either humans or the vehicles themselves. It certainly could have been a whole lot worse.
Could have been in a position to stop without hitting the ones that saw a reason to stop and already had done so safely.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
RYH64E said:
Durzel said:
It's not that scientific really, if you can't stop in the distance you've left between you and the car in front - you're too close.
Easy to say, impossible to achieve.
I'd have to disagree - it's really quite easy to achieve. If someone pulls into the gap you've left, open up that gap again - repeat as necessary. What's the hardship? It's not a race, you're not 'going backwards' - leave your ego at home.

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Looks like a whiplash claim in waiting.


andyalan10

402 posts

136 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
lanes 1 & 2 didn't even look busy.
This x 100.

Most people seem happy to take the gamble of being able to travel 2-3 mph faster in exchange for reducing the gap in front of them to a fifth of what it would be in the first or second lanes. I'll leave them to it.

The white van driver is in my opinion probably the worst of the lot.

The drivers in the third lane weren't paying attention, but white van man made a deliberate decision to move from the first lane into a lane next to stationary traffic which was clearly visible to him while doing 50-60 mph. Serves him right that he had to take emergency action.

BTW, a gap of one car length which so many people on here claim to see regularly is under 0.2s. 60mph is very roughly 1500m/min, 5m car 1/300 of that. About as accurate an estimate as "he was doing at least 100mph when he went past me".

Andy


The Mad Monk

10,474 posts

116 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
Register1 said:
The Mad Monk said:
Shall I be first?

http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/126

Always drive at such a speed that you can stop well within the distance that you can see to be clear.

I feel better now.
70 mph x 4.5 = 315 feet ((96 meters) or 24 car lengths)

can never happen,
All that's going to happen is your going in reverse.

Feck, if I leave 3 car lengths at 70mph, some one always want "in",
At 70 mph, Leaving 24 car lengths is just a historical joke.

You just co further and further to the back of the tail.
http://tips.drivingtestsuccess.com/featured/stoppi...



Edited by Register1 on Sunday 25th September 10:33
No. You are not going in reverse. You are still making progress along the road.

Evanivitch

19,797 posts

121 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
280E said:
RYH64E said:
Durzel said:
It's not that scientific really, if you can't stop in the distance you've left between you and the car in front - you're too close.
Easy to say, impossible to achieve.
I'd have to disagree - it's really quite easy to achieve. If someone pulls into the gap you've left, open up that gap again - repeat as necessary. What's the hardship? It's not a race, you're not 'going backwards' - leave your ego at home.
So jump on the brakes everytime someone moves into the gap you've left? Because that would be the only way to constantly maintain a distance.

You eventually find yourself backiioff so much you're not making progress past lane 2.

EazyDuz

2,013 posts

107 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
No one could avoid what happened in the video. Its easy to say what you might do yourself when viewing a vid, in real life you have milliseconds to react

red_slr

17,122 posts

188 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
280E said:
RYH64E said:
Durzel said:
It's not that scientific really, if you can't stop in the distance you've left between you and the car in front - you're too close.
Easy to say, impossible to achieve.
I'd have to disagree - it's really quite easy to achieve. If someone pulls into the gap you've left, open up that gap again - repeat as necessary. What's the hardship? It's not a race, you're not 'going backwards' - leave your ego at home.
I think you have missed that lane 3 was doing zero miles per hour though. Stopping distance is 50-150m depending on car and conditions etc, even at the low end 50m, its way way way more than you would normally drive with. Most people leave 10-15m gap. Any more and people just move into the gap or people behind start flashing.

Sadly without re-educating everyone it will never change.

If I drive long distances on the motorway I much prefer to take my 4x4 as I can see over the top of other cars. Plus I know if I get rear ended by a truck or big vehicle I stand a better chance. I don't like driving my sports car on the motorway too much, even though I am careful its the other people I worry about and spend a lot of time trying to manage the gap behind as well as in front. Sometimes its easier to throw it in lane 1 and sit at 65 ish and stay out of the way. Its sad but that's life.

KevinCamaroSS

11,553 posts

279 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
quotequote all
EazyDuz said:
No one could avoid what happened in the video. Its easy to say what you might do yourself when viewing a vid, in real life you have milliseconds to react
Only if you are not driving properly. Concentration, observation, anticipation, speed, time. The drivers (both camera car, van and the car in front) were all clearly failing on most of those basic driver skills.