• ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • BalooWasWahoo@links.hackliberty.org
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      2 months ago

      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.

      • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

      • where_am_i@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        2 seconds assumes an instantaneous reaction and perfect road conditions. In the EU they’ll teach you about 3s and at least +1 in poor conditions.

    • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
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      2 months ago

      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

      • Sharp312@lemmy.one
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        2 months ago

        This is the only good answer. No need to distract yourself by figuring out your speed and guesstimating your gap like others are saying. Just count the seconds whenever you need to

    • GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      3 seconds is the guideline I’ve been taught here in Sweden, but yeah. Riding too close is crazy dangerous and I don’t understand why people keep doing it.

  • Drusas@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • tonyn@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      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.

      • Dr. Wesker@lemmy.sdf.org
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        2 months ago

        It just be that way. Idiots will see your safe following distance as their opportunity to switch lanes. Just keep being the safe one.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        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.

        • tonyn@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          I guess it’s more than just “caring” - I feel that we’d all be a lot safer if we were all going the same speed instead of inviting people to dodge in and out

          • kmaismith@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            It would be safer if we were all riding the train/bus. Getting in a car in america is accepting the risk that you share the road with everyone. no matter the qualifications or mental state we still all gotta get to work/grocery store/wherever, and the only way is by ~4000 pound metal speed box.

            Worrying about safety on the highway is about making sure you are in situations you can handle and react to, staying attentive to the styles and mental states of other drivers and being a step ahead of the road conditions

            • tonyn@lemmy.ml
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              2 months ago

              Unfortunately I can’t see how public transport would be feasible without accepting that the vast majority of places I might want to go are simply inaccessible, and the places I could go would take 3-5 times longer. Case in point, there are no public transportation options to get to my son’s high school. It would be a 35 minute bicycle ride. I can drive there in 12 minutes. Getting to my local Wegmans would take 37 minutes by bus. I can drive there in 9 minutes. I live on the outskirts of a medium size city on the east coast in a low density residential neighborhood.

          • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            But people need to change lane sometimes and if you’re the one giving them the space to do so then more power to you, don’t complain

      • MeatsOfRage@lemmynsfw.com
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        2 months ago

        Let them hop in and keep your 2 seconds. I used to have a 40 minute commute and on a busy morning would have 10-15 people do that. Know how much time that sets me back? 20 to 30 seconds. Following this rule I have a 25 year clean driving record and I guarantee these lane hoppers can’t make that claim

        • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          it’s probably even less, maybe even negligible because of traffic lights at either end: you can’t calculate a single journey because you’re never going to hit the same light exactly the same every time. I have four lights between my house and the freeway, and 7 between the freeway and one of the sites for my job. Each one adds between 0-60 seconds randomly for an average of 6 minutes sitting and waiting per day. I would have to have a commute of like 120 miles of uninterrupted freeway driving for that to matter.

    • Takumidesh@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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.

  • IMNOTCRAZYINSTITUTION@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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

    • stoy@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      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

        • stoy@lemmy.zip
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          2 months ago

          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.

      • greenhorn@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Sometimes I increment my cruise control down a mph at a time to see how much I can get them to slow down

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          2 months ago

          I just clean my windows.

          The speed and distance will make it so all the cleaner fluid will spray on their windshield. Making it all nasty.

          Feels like I am driving a spy car.

        • stoy@lemmy.zip
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          2 months ago

          My car can only increment in 5km/h steps, snd it is a bit too large to do this, but I would do this if I could

    • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Or you’re in the right hand lane and people are still tailgating you even though you’re going 70mph.

      Some people are unnecessarily aggressive on the road. Probably because they have unresolved emotional issues and take it out on other drivers. At least that’s what I tell myself.

      • Fuzzy_Red_Panda@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Probably because they have unresolved emotional issues and take it out on other drivers.

        Oh they absolutely do.

        Besides guns, motor vehicles are probably the most physically powerful things most of us (in the US) have the freedom to control in our lives. And there are almost no restrictions on allowing someone to drive when they can’t or won’t regulate their emotional state.

    • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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      2 months ago

      I tend to annoy people by dropping off the gas much sooner for lights than strictly necessary, but by gently slowing I both save gas, wear and depending on the timing of the light I can often even time it to miss the red entirely

  • UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I just moved to Michigan

    I have never seen a group of drivers so committed to Tail Gateing … Like it’s the state sport

    • lengau@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      Visit Tennessee and get back to me. Moving from Tennessee to Michigan I noticed a distinct uptick in the quality of driving.

    • didntbuyasquirrel@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I was driving in slowish freeway traffic in Detroit and the guy behind me plowed right into me, didn’t even slow down, didn’t even look away. He sort of bounced off of me, pulled onto the shoulder, and squeeled off while I had to find some sketchy spot to stop and make sure my bumper wasn’t dragging too much.

      A person I was visiting there in Detroit told me that insurance wasn’t required so many people run off rather than risk getting blamed and the cops wouldn’t even bother with a report.

      • greenhorn@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Insurance is required in all of Michigan, with fines, license suspension, and jail all possible for not having it. With Michigan’s no-fault insurance we have some of the highest rates in the country in Detroit—especially relative to income—and almost no viable alternative to owning a car.

        That said, as a native Detroiter I feel safer in Detroit driving around other Detroiters, the suburbanites and out of state folks are always in the way.

        • didntbuyasquirrel@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I thought I heard that insurance laws changed maybe since then or around that time and there was a reason for a lot of hit and runs. I don’t know, but that was my experience a while ago. The weird part was mostly how the dude had no visible reaction at all except to take off, which probably could’ve been anywhere.

          As an out of towner I did have trouble with the short on ramps. I wasn’t sure how to get into a rhythm because there was no place to get up to speed. I didn’t like feeling like I had to shove my way in and it was hard to tell how to let others in safely. I suppose you just know those things when you live there long enough.

          • greenhorn@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Those are some of the first below-grade expressways built in the country, so the shorter on ramps are from an era with fewer and slower cars, and there isn’t space to lengthen them. The law only changed to stop the insurance companies from using zip codes to determine rates, and reduced the maximum payout for healthcare related costs from a crash, with the aim of lowering costs, but of course the insurance companies worked around it.

            • didntbuyasquirrel@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              I learned about the infrastructure at the time but that’s why being unaccustomed was a hinderance, especially when it’s unexpected. The insurance stuff seems likely more in line with what I was told than what I was remembering in short.

  • BilliamBoberts@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I leave enough room for me to have time to react and give the person behind me enough time to react to my breaking. Because most people drive way too close to avoid a rear-end collision if I have to slam my breaks for an emergency. Sometimes that means I’m 4, 5 or 6 car lengths away from the car in front of me, but that has the added benefit of pissing off tailgators who will almost immediately choose to pass me which works out great for me. The less space the person behind gives, the more space I leave between me and the person in front.

    • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Spoken like a true left lane hogger

      Edit: OP is bragging about forcing cars behind them to pass on the right because they are too entitled to get the hell over. It’s dangerous and you people applaud them. Pathetic.

  • alienanimals@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Intelligent people leave a space of about two cars ahead of them on the freeway.

    Stupid people think that space must be for them.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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        2 months ago

        It depends.

        On a well developed well maintained “freeway” with multiple lanes, shoulders for break downs, gentle curves, et cetera it’s common. 3 car lengths is more common here I think.

        That said, on a “highway” (interstate?) without everything listed above I aim for 2 seconds, which is about 60 metres at highway speed.

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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

    • OR3X@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Especially annoying if you’re driving a manual and are stopped on an incline.

      • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I drive a 6 speed. This is where my rage for this comes from.

        But even in automatics rollback isn’t uncommon on an incline.

        • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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          2 months ago

          I feel like it really isn’t your fault if you role back 6 inches and hit them. If you were to roll back 4 feet it would be different but in this case you can’t control something so small.

          • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            In court it won’t be your fault if they’re that close, but it’s still the hassle of dealing with people who don’t understand basic driving etiquette.

        • OR3X@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          I can usually set off on an incline with no rollback but I’ll be damn if it doesn’t slightly stress me out every time someone pulls that shit.

    • AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      My driving instructor taught me that I should still be able to see the other car’s back wheels when I stop. I actually don’t know how close that looks from the other driver’s perspective.

      • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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        2 months ago

        What it looks like:

        1000005472

        Not actually as the “see the tires” rule is fairly good advise. Keep in mind sometimes it is smarter to give a little more space depending on the situation. Think of it as more of a minimum. Also lose most of your speed farther back and then role forward. This allows for recovery time in case of failure or loss of traction.

      • SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social
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        2 months ago

        Terrible, terrible advice. That leaves a full car-length of empty pavement with the driver sight-lines of modern SUV and crossover designs. Pickup trucks are worse; I’ve seen pickup truck drivers stop a full 30 feet back. It wastes huge amounts of space on the street, and causes traffic congestion. On the other side of the coin, van and bus drivers can still get right up on your ass when following this advice.

        • Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de
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          2 months ago

          I hate breathing in pollution so I keep a car’s length between me and the next car at traffic lights. Cars themselves are a huge storming waste of space and I hate being in or around cars with all my heart and soul so if I make traffic worse then I will consider it a passive form of protesting against car dependency

    • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      At a stop? Who cares? Can’t being closer together at a stop light at least help with intersections? I guess it depends on the city.

      If you’re driving a manual and you roll back on a stop, you shouldn’t be driving a manual. Unless you live in like San Francisco I guess? In the Appalachian region, cops will stop you for rolling back.

      • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Ever heard of clear distance? If you’re at a stop and someone rear ends you and you hit the car in front of you you are at fault and will be held liable.

        As for the rollback in my state they’ll again look at distance. Because if I don’t have enough space to back up because you’re too close you’re once again at fault for not having clear distance.

        On top of all that it helps move traffic along faster. You don’t have to wait as long to accelerate if you maintain distance because you don’t have to wait for the car in front of you to move far enough to start accelerating.

        Getting bumper to bumper has zero benefits outside of the false psychological feeling of forward progress.

    • desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 months ago

      if they are following the two second rule they should be less than a foot from your car. If your car is stopped you are always more than two seconds from the car in front of you.

      • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        So you can hit the car in front of you too?

        It’s not only a safety hazard but it leads to slower traffic. If you maintain the right distance at a stop the whole line of cars can accelerate faster because you don’t have to wait as long for the car ahead of you to move. There are zero actual benefits of sniffing my ass at a stop.

  • Dearth@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      And I know it’s state dependent, but the highways by me, each white line is about one car and each gap is one car, so if you’re doing 50, having two to three white dashed lines between you and the car in front of you is probably good.