It is safer not to leave a 2 second gap
Discussion
I have come to this conclusion after modifying my driving style now I have two young children. I started leaving more of a gap, and discovered what that actually does is encourage people to misjudge the gap and pull into it, causing me to have to apply the brakes, sometimes quite forcefully.
My theory is that is much safer to be slightly closer to 2 seconds to the car in front so that people do not perceive a gap in the first place, and therefore you are not subject to errors in their judgement. I have never driven into the back of anyone, and if I do from not leaving enough space it is likely to be quite a low speed collision as both our cars will have a starting similar speed, with the cars square to each other, which is dealt with well by the cars crash structures.
If someone completely misjudges a gap and I hit the front of their car as they pull out, it will be an offset collision with a stationary object, which not dealt with as well by most cars, and much more likely to knock my car sideways into oncoming traffic, which would be the type of crash dealt with least well by a cars crash structures.
It also seems safer for pedestrians and cyclists, who often struggle to judge the speed of oncoming traffic accurately.
My theory is that is much safer to be slightly closer to 2 seconds to the car in front so that people do not perceive a gap in the first place, and therefore you are not subject to errors in their judgement. I have never driven into the back of anyone, and if I do from not leaving enough space it is likely to be quite a low speed collision as both our cars will have a starting similar speed, with the cars square to each other, which is dealt with well by the cars crash structures.
If someone completely misjudges a gap and I hit the front of their car as they pull out, it will be an offset collision with a stationary object, which not dealt with as well by most cars, and much more likely to knock my car sideways into oncoming traffic, which would be the type of crash dealt with least well by a cars crash structures.
It also seems safer for pedestrians and cyclists, who often struggle to judge the speed of oncoming traffic accurately.
I guess it makes sense for other reasons too, if you were to leave next to no gap at all then there would be less impact damage when hitting the car in front?
If a car brakes and your reaction times are sh*te then the car in front will have deaccelerated more in say 3 seconds so the difference in speed when you hit them up the chuff will be greater than if the gap was only 1 second. Although the chances of impact are increased to nearly 100%, the damage will be far more limited as the car in front will be doing all the braking for you when you're resting on its rear.
Am I right???
(Come on, its half term)
If a car brakes and your reaction times are sh*te then the car in front will have deaccelerated more in say 3 seconds so the difference in speed when you hit them up the chuff will be greater than if the gap was only 1 second. Although the chances of impact are increased to nearly 100%, the damage will be far more limited as the car in front will be doing all the braking for you when you're resting on its rear.
Am I right???
(Come on, its half term)
ExPat2B said:
I have come to this conclusion after modifying my driving style now I have two young children. I started leaving more of a gap, and discovered what that actually does is encourage people to misjudge the gap and pull into it, causing me to have to apply the brakes, sometimes quite forcefully.
My theory is that is much safer to be slightly closer to 2 seconds to the car in front so that people do not perceive a gap in the first place, and therefore you are not subject to errors in their judgement. I have never driven into the back of anyone, and if I do from not leaving enough space it is likely to be quite a low speed collision as both our cars will have a starting similar speed, with the cars square to each other, which is dealt with well by the cars crash structures.
If someone completely misjudges a gap and I hit the front of their car as they pull out, it will be an offset collision with a stationary object, which not dealt with as well by most cars, and much more likely to knock my car sideways into oncoming traffic, which would be the type of crash dealt with least well by a cars crash structures.
It also seems safer for pedestrians and cyclists, who often struggle to judge the speed of oncoming traffic accurately.
It's just a small price to pay for having common sense. My theory is that is much safer to be slightly closer to 2 seconds to the car in front so that people do not perceive a gap in the first place, and therefore you are not subject to errors in their judgement. I have never driven into the back of anyone, and if I do from not leaving enough space it is likely to be quite a low speed collision as both our cars will have a starting similar speed, with the cars square to each other, which is dealt with well by the cars crash structures.
If someone completely misjudges a gap and I hit the front of their car as they pull out, it will be an offset collision with a stationary object, which not dealt with as well by most cars, and much more likely to knock my car sideways into oncoming traffic, which would be the type of crash dealt with least well by a cars crash structures.
It also seems safer for pedestrians and cyclists, who often struggle to judge the speed of oncoming traffic accurately.
That gap is not just to give you room to react to the car in front but also to give you space to compensate for the fool behind.
I'll leave a 2 second gap but increase it if the car behind is too close as the closer they are the less force I can apply to my brakes in an emergency.
ExPat2B said:
I have come to this conclusion after modifying my driving style now I have two young children. I started leaving more of a gap, and discovered what that actually does is encourage people to misjudge the gap and pull into it, causing me to have to apply the brakes, sometimes quite forcefully.
My theory is that is much safer to be slightly closer to 2 seconds to the car in front so that people do not perceive a gap in the first place, and therefore you are not subject to errors in their judgement. I have never driven into the back of anyone, and if I do from not leaving enough space it is likely to be quite a low speed collision as both our cars will have a starting similar speed, with the cars square to each other, which is dealt with well by the cars crash structures.
If someone completely misjudges a gap and I hit the front of their car as they pull out, it will be an offset collision with a stationary object, which not dealt with as well by most cars, and much more likely to knock my car sideways into oncoming traffic, which would be the type of crash dealt with least well by a cars crash structures.
It also seems safer for pedestrians and cyclists, who often struggle to judge the speed of oncoming traffic accurately.
It's just a small price to pay for having common sense. My theory is that is much safer to be slightly closer to 2 seconds to the car in front so that people do not perceive a gap in the first place, and therefore you are not subject to errors in their judgement. I have never driven into the back of anyone, and if I do from not leaving enough space it is likely to be quite a low speed collision as both our cars will have a starting similar speed, with the cars square to each other, which is dealt with well by the cars crash structures.
If someone completely misjudges a gap and I hit the front of their car as they pull out, it will be an offset collision with a stationary object, which not dealt with as well by most cars, and much more likely to knock my car sideways into oncoming traffic, which would be the type of crash dealt with least well by a cars crash structures.
It also seems safer for pedestrians and cyclists, who often struggle to judge the speed of oncoming traffic accurately.
That gap is not just to give you room to react to the car in front but also to give you space to compensate for the fool behind.
I'll leave a 2 second gap but increase it if the car behind is too close as the closer they are the less force I can apply to my brakes in an emergency.
PositronicRay said:
If you drive a car with adaptive cruise control, it will leave less than 2sec. Some of the settings are something like 1.6s.
Driving in heavy traffic a 2s gap is almost impossible to maintain.
But the computer can react more quickly than you, so maybe that is understandable. I'd also disagree with your second point - leaving an a 2 second gap is not hard in traffic conditions, you just have to be prepared to drive more slowly than you would otherwise. Driving in heavy traffic a 2s gap is almost impossible to maintain.
DonkeyApple said:
It's just a small price to pay for having common sense.
That gap is not just to give you room to react to the car in front but also to give you space to compensate for the fool behind.
I'll leave a 2 second gap but increase it if the car behind is too close as the closer they are the less force I can apply to my brakes in an emergency.
+1 That gap is not just to give you room to react to the car in front but also to give you space to compensate for the fool behind.
I'll leave a 2 second gap but increase it if the car behind is too close as the closer they are the less force I can apply to my brakes in an emergency.
I don't find it a problem leaving a decent gap and if someone pulls into it it makes zero difference, the gap is just re-established with that vehicle in front.
Interesting point earlier on about lane 1. I tend to find that in heavy traffic you can make good progress in it and then just move out in good time before junctions slow it down. Using that method I usually 'beat' whatever marker vehicle I've chosen (usually some prick forcing their way in and out of lanes and doing near emergency stops in their efforts to gain 5ft of road space).
kambites said:
On the rare occasion I drive in heavy motorway traffic, I tend to just sit in the left lane at the same speed as the lorries because it seems to be the only way to maintain a safe gap.
I do it a lot on the M6 north from B'rum onwards and I don't think overall it makes any difference, but it's a smoother drive. However I'm wary of being caught between trucks - you can't see anything else forward and you really don't want to caught between them if the one behind is so close he forgets you're there. A concertina type crash in lane 3 would be annoying, but shouldn't result in serious injury or worse.
Sheepshanks said:
kambites said:
On the rare occasion I drive in heavy motorway traffic, I tend to just sit in the left lane at the same speed as the lorries because it seems to be the only way to maintain a safe gap.
I do it a lot on the M6 north from B'rum onwards and I don't think overall it makes any difference, but it's a smoother drive. However I'm wary of being caught between trucks - you can't see anything else forward and you really don't want to caught between them if the one behind is so close he forgets you're there. A concertina type crash in lane 3 would be annoying, but shouldn't result in serious injury or worse.
I normally leave around that in Scotland. Did it on the M25 to the M1 I think on a Friday night and got flashed multiple times and undertaken twice. Even when I went back past them as soon as traffic opened up when it slowed they flashed me again. Without dawdling in the inside lane it was nearly impossible to leave a sensible gap, very easy to see how a small accident could turn into a pile up. Doubt adaptive CC could handle a road that busy with no one leaving gaps.
Steve_F said:
I normally leave around that in Scotland. Did it on the M25 to the M1 I think on a Friday night and got flashed multiple times and undertaken twice. Even when I went back past them as soon as traffic opened up when it slowed they flashed me again. Without dawdling in the inside lane it was nearly impossible to leave a sensible gap, very easy to see how a small accident could turn into a pile up. Doubt adaptive CC could handle a road that busy with no one leaving gaps.
Yup. Round the M25 and nearby M roads you'll always get the same type of punter undertaking or flashing. There isn't much you can do about thick or angry people. Funnily enough these are the exact same people who run inner 'importance' scales on fellow road users so you find they react differently depending on what car you are in. For example in my TVR they never act like that and very often cars infront pull in. Driving on motorways is about as easy as it gets in that car. It seems to be a car which generates no animosity or anger from other road users.
Drive in the same way with a Range Rover and it brings out the full repertoire of the debt monkey. Lethal undertakes, rabid flashing of lights or cramming right up behind you.
This enormous difference in behaviour does kind of tell you that it's not you but them. They are just those loser punters in life who think their failures are the fault of anyone but themselves.
DonkeyApple said:
Drive in the same way with a Range Rover and it brings out the full repertoire of the debt monkey. Lethal undertakes, rabid flashing of lights or cramming right up behind you.
I think people instinctively know that if there's a crash, it's always the SUV driver's fault.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff