Coasting slowly up to the back of traffic , annoying ?

[Stoatman]

So, Im in a long queue of traffic ( about 1/2 a mile) to a set of traffic lights I know are a distance away. As I do not really like stopping and starting every 5 secs I tend to coast quite slowly, keeping an eye on the diminishing queue ahead so the gap does not become large. This way I can be constantly moving and not hanging on the bumper of the car in front with my foot ever on the brake.

This morning I left a bit of a gap and was just starting to catch the trail car as the traffic backed up , when another driver decides I am obviously in his way and nails in past me and slots in the gap I was leaving, immeadiately slamming his brakes on to stop. The lights change to green and we both easily pass through the lights and then he turns off.

Am I being annoying , in my mind it is much less infuriating constantly moving. Perhaps not !.

[BluePurpleRed]

No he was being a cock.

HTH

[Galsia]

You just encountered a tt is all.

[Gad-Westy]

I do it too. The only times I won't do it is if I'm going to hinder cars behind the to the point they will block junctions etc. It's just a more efficient way to drive.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

If everybody drove in traffic like you (and I) do then the traffic would flow far quicker. These sort of stop start morons cause the Concertina effect and are the cause of phantom traffic jams on motorways.

[Pablo16v]

It's also a technique that is taught when you take defensive driving lessons.

[Ian974]

Less annoying than coming to a stop, creeping forward 3 inches, stopping, creeping forward a little more...
Half the time when I stop at a stationary queue for traffic lights, a queue of around 10 cars will slowly twitch 1-4 car lengths closer to the lights without them ever changing.

[thetwistys]

situation dependant obviously, but sounds fine to me. I regularly find myself in a 3/4 mile ish cue of traffic on the way home - instead of go-stop-go-stop with everyone in front , I let a little gap build then set a reasonable steady pace, say 5 to 10 mph. Got to be careful not to leave too big a gap, so ppl dont miss out at the lights at the end of the road, but otherwise seems the best thing to do...
You do get the occassional 'burn past smoking the tyres then slot in in front' tosser as you did
... doesnt raise my blood pressue too much though ;-)

[Jonny671]

Dr Derek Doctors said:

If everybody drove in traffic like you (and I) do then the traffic would flow far quicker. These sort of stop start morons cause the Concertina effect and are the cause of phantom traffic jams on motorways.

I did this earlier.. Just slowly rolled along in the traffic rather than the person next to me who was wizzing up and stopping.. Wizzing and stopping, constantly.. We did eventually move further than them and much smoother, didn't even need to clutch down once, they'd have been all over the place.

[Pints]

I do this. As said, nothing odd about it.

Edited by Pints on Thursday 25th November 12:44

[Cost Captain]

i do this too, its a good way of helping prevent traffic jams further down the road (people usually brake more than the car infront, meaning eventually, someone brakes to a standstill if there is sufficient traffic).

[markh1973]

I do the same sort of thing but it seems that some people have to either have their right foot on the accelerator or the brake. It can't just do nothing.

[N88]

Dr Derek Doctors said:

the traffic would flow far quicker.

I understand your point but would it? In this traffic light scenario the timing on the lights is controlling how many cars get through yes?

[Zod]

You did as I do. I was pleasantly surprised last night to find that the driver in front of me was doing it too, so that we both managed to reach the lights without braking and keep moving as they turned green (uphill approach to the lights).

[RobM77]

I do this to ease the wear on the clutch and gearbox. I pop it into first, release the clutch and give just a little revs. This is far better for the car than accelerating and braking through the gears, provided the gap doesn't get too big because you can get road rage...

[Jonny671]

Pablo16v said:

It's also a technique that is taught when you take defensive driving lessons.

Why is it? Is it because you are then in gear, and have a gap available to drive if you needed to?

[Guybrush]

If you hang back too much though and the driver behind does the same and the driver behind him and so on, the queue would be very long and at the back would probably come to a stop unnecessarily.

[omgus]

I take an absurd amount of pride in getting it right and never having to brake or dip the clutch in traffic, if i can do the route home in traffic and only stop when the lights are red i feel warm inside.
My rules are that there should never be enough space to cause a tt to overtake, and that if i come to a halt then i should be stopping for long enough to put on the hand brake and be in nuetral. It also makes a marked difference to the amount of petrol the Scooby uses in traffic. Once i started doing it i would get maybe 30-40 extra miles out of a tank on my old commute.

[The Wookie]

I'd say if it's the first time you've had grief it was just an impatient knobber, but if you keep getting abuse you're probably leaving too big a gap.

[Stoatman]

Cool, not just me then. DOnt really know what he wanted to acheive but amused me when we went through the same cycle of lghts.

Yeah , never leave a massive gap I suspect he was having "one of those mornings". I'll look out for him next time as I dont see many Forester boxer diesels around

Edited by Stoatman on Thursday 25th November 13:03