So this has been annoying me lately; drivers leaving excessive spacing when stopped for a red light. I get it, you don’t want to be right on the next guys bumper, you should leave space to escape if the guy in front stalls or somebody tries to carjack you. But 2-3 car lengths? It really bugs me when they do it in a left turn lane causing a back up to the travel lane resulting in overall congestion. Or, if they’re first at the light, they don’t pull up far enough to reach the road sensors that trigger a light change. I haven’t been able to isolate to a specific demographic, seems to be young, old, black, white, you name it. Maybe they’re just stoned at the wheel. I’m tempted to roll down my window and ask ‘wtf’? I’m in the Northeast US. Has anybody else witnessed this?
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I got the advice once to make sure you can see the bottom of the tires in front of you. As a general rule, your turning radius tends to align with that. This falls apart with big trailers and snub nose trucks, but it’s a good start.
I think this advice made more sense when the majority drove reasonably-sized vehicles rather than the huge trucks and SUVs that pollute our roads now (at least in North America).
I wouldn’t be surprised if this bit of advice contributes to the problem in OP.
That’s likely true. I drive a little car, so it still makes sense for me
Thanks for not participating in the vehicular arms race!
I would bike more for utility if there were places to park it safely (though I would have to add the rack back onto the bike, and it interferes with the tag-along)
You should just be able to see the ground under the back tires of the car in front of you. That’s the appropriate distance.
I leave a couple of feet between the front of my Miata or Wrangler and the next car ahead. I’ve been driving since the late 70s and this is the first I’ve heard of the “botton of the tires” rule of thumb. It wasn’t taught back in the day (is it, widely, now?) and it doesn’t make much sense to me since it’s a function of the size and the shape and height of one’s vehicle, which can vary greatly, whereas I know where my front bumper is and I can (usually) clearly see where the rear of the car in front of me is, and hence create the appropriate gap. Sure, I might leave more space if I’m on a steep hill and think the person in front might have a manual (another Miata for example) but that’s rare.
Up until very recently people seemed to always keep just a couple of feet between cars at stops like I did. This business of “a car length or two” seems like a very new thing - the past 5 years mostly - and that led me to think it’s some kind of stupid new internet cancer. Probably some “influencer” telling his/her audience that you should put your dominance on display at stoplights by pissing people off and preventing them from getting through intersections. Or putting your dominance and alpha-hood on display by blocking them from getting into the turn lane at all. Anything to get attention, anything to show that you’re not (truly) a nobody, even when you are, because you have power!
I’ve only been rear-ended once in 45 years of driving. Being a d*ck on the road in order to (allegedly) absolutely f-ing MAXIMIZE your own self-perceived “safety” (from highly unlikely events) at the expense of everyone else is a totally modern-American sort of thing to do I guess. But I’m not doing it.
Usually this is the result of distracted driving. At a stop light? Perfect time to check your phone! Once the light turns green I give a solid three count then I honk. I’ll probably end up shot dead sooner than later but fuck it and fuck those assholes on their phones.
In case of armed road rage, remember that your car is a weapon. It’s self-defense if a gun is drawn on you.
Once the light turns green I give a solid three count then I honk
In Ottawa it’s a customary 4 picoseconds.
I usually flash my high beams first as a more gentle “look up” and then do the horn if they don’t notice that one
Yup, I see this shit all the time. “The sooner I stop the faster I can stare at my fucking phone!” It’s one thing I wish was actually policed, cause these people are a menace. It’s one thing to risk your own life, but those dumb asses are making it dangerous for all of us around them. Throw in two or more and baby you’ve got a stew going.
Tyres and tarmac!
I was taught this in driving school. If you’re the last car slowing down, leave a gap of a few car lengths so if a car behind you is going to hit you, it gives you some room to escape either to move up, or enough room to turn out of the lane.
That sounds like some kind of superhero fantasy to me. In what scenario am I about to be rear ended and have enough time to move my car safely?
I usually leave enough space that I could turn into another lane without having to reverse, so if the car in front of me stalls I can go around without too much fuss. That’s like half a car length at best.
I agree it’s highly unlikely. However, I’ve been rear-ended once, and my car got pushed forward the space of at least another car and a half, in spite of my panicked reflex of pressing the brakes as it happened. I didn’t crash into anything because I was first on the lane, I got pushed into the intersection.
So yes, you can get rear-ended and the gap in front of you will save you in money and insurance claims bs time if you don’t hit anyone in front as well as a result. It will make little difference regarding your ability to switch lanes though.
In saying that, I don’t leave this massive space in front of me. I stick to the “see the next car’s tyres” rule and if traffic is really packed (as during rush hour, when everyone crawls start stop) I sometimes reduce it to curb parking distance.
On the other hand I had a guy get out of his Jaguar the other day and yell at me a while because I stopped too close to his bumper.
I’d just be like “my bad dude” and pull a little bit closer after that. What a weenie.
I turned up my music and ignored him because historically nothing good happens when someone gets out of their car in traffic and you bet your sweet ass I made sure our bumpers were almost touching next red light.
I don’t leave any space
I just ram them
I’m experiencing this daily in Los Angeles. Also people don’t seem to scoot up onto the sensor so the light takes longer than necessary to change (though stupidly half of those sensors are in the crosswalk or even beyond it).
Or worse, people who stop just past it, but not far enough to get the car behind it to actually touch the sensor
Are ‘road sensors that trigger a light change’ a real thing? I thought lights are on a timed cycle.
There sometimes are induction loops under the street for this purpose: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop
Video, radar, and infrared are also common. In some places I’ve been, only older non-upgraded intersections have induction loops.
In Germany almost every traffic light has them nowadays. It can sometimes be annoying when you’re riding a bike made of carbon. But usually my phone and laptop seem to be enough to trigger them.
I once ran a red light with my moped, made of steel, because the light never turned green
Add a magnet! Maybe idk if this works for sure or not
In the US I’ve noticed a difference between west coast and the rest of the country. West coast tends to use these circle bandsaws to cut circles into the pavement, everywhere else uses a circular saw to cut rectangles into the pavement. Either way, these are the things you want to be stopped right on top of, especially if you’re on a side street or left turn where you might get skipped if it doesn’t sense you. If you’re on a motorcycle, try to scoot up a bit so a car can be on them. They probably won’t sense a motorcycle.
Enough that you can maneuver out of the lane in an emergency.
The correct answer
So much that it’s reasonable.
Example:
A driver fucking up and fumbling the start during shift (for manual). The car could jump forward/backwards and/or roll.
Which is bad.Just care about your own distance as you can’t do anything against those other drivers anyway.
But 2-3 car lengths? It really bugs me when they do it in a left turn lane causing a back up to the travel lane resulting in overall congestion.
This reminds me of one time I witnessed instant karma. I was driving behind someone doing this in crawling-slow heavy traffic, and got to one of those large intersections with such lanes. Here in Australia they’re right turn lanes, though that’s irrelevant for the story I wanted to share.
So right in front of me there was this car with at least four guys in it, loud music, and an imbecile on the wheel. I got stuck behind him on a single lane road with no means to overtake. He was driving somewhat below the speed limit for no apparent reason and leaving a massive gap before the next car in front. He still left a large gap when we both merged on a crowded multi lane road, and he kept that 3 car spaced gap at every red light stop. He would lag several seconds before starting to move, obviously not paying attention. I honked a couple times to nudge him.
One of those irritating assholes I guess.
Now, somewhere behind me on the lane to the left there was some other guy with a red convertible and an attitude that screamed “YES I’M OVERCOMPENSATING”.
We got to the intersection where the turn only lanes appeared, and the idiot in front of me was once again holding traffic as he lagged to resume driving. But the lane on my left, which continued straight, moved just enough to let the red convertible guy right beside the idiot. And then all of a sudden the convertible revved and zoomed right in front and across the idiot, cutting him off and overtaking him on the turn only lane, sliding right in that annoying massive gap he was leaving.
That was the only time in my life I celebrated such a douchebag move. The slow idiot went insane. Started yelling at the convertible, gave him the finger. The convertible was the last car able to turn on that change of lights so the idiot and everyone behind had to wait yet again for green, but I wasn’t mad. Watching the car in front of me shake with rage until the lights changed again made up for it. He didn’t lag once they went green again.
I recall i was driving with a friend, and he was surprised I pulled up, leaving only a feet between my car and the car in front of me. I asked him why.
He said he grew up in an area prone to car-jackings. His dad taught him to leave that extra space in case someone tries to car-jack you. The extra space is so you’re not boxed in by the driver in front and can get around them no matter what. Even if you have to jump the curb and escape on the sidewalk.
I agree that the sensor lights are annoying to deal with, but perhaps the driver has a reason.
I’ve noticed this as well, first time was Texas in 2020. I’d lived in other places prior and never noticed it. I’ve sinced moved away from Texas, and the bahavior is a lot less common here. I couldn’t figure out why people did it. My theory is, people initially stop at a reasonable distance from the next car and pull out their phone. The next car moves a bit forward for some reason, and the person on their phone doesn’t notice.
