Keeping distance when driving

[fd15k]

Curious, how much space do you guys keep to the vehicle in front ?

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[slimmer13]

A lot more than my wife

 

[John Gault]

Depends on the situation. When there's 20 people trying to get thru a turn signal I'm pretty darn close cause I want the guy behind me to get thru also. When I'm on a freeway at rush hour moving slowly I'm closer than I am when we're moving at free way speeds when common sense tells me it makes no difference whether I'm going 55 100 feet away or 10 feet away. When I'm on a highway and the guy in front is going 45 talking on phone I'm pretty close until I get around them however f I'm on a double yellow line highway with no chance of getting around I relax and stay back a good distance. I get pretty upset when I'm doing 50mph in a 45 mph zone on a curvy road and someone behind me is pushing me along but won't pass when I give them the chance. I typically slow down to speed limit at that point and if it's night time I make sure to adjust my side view mirrors to shine right back in their eyes until they back off.... Sometimes I want a .50 cal roof mounted turret gun.....

 

[marty8587]

I believe I was taught 1 car length for every 10 miles per hour.

 

[Nwcid]

Depends on what I am driving, the road type, the location and the weather.

General rule for standard size passenger vehicles under good conditions is 3 seconds.

 

[Mark W.]

Usually close enough to crush the life out of everyone in the car in front of me that just cut me off in the dump truck. Or close enough to the moron pulling out that thinks his sorry assed Honda can accelerate fast enough for me to not catch them and knock them a block. Luckily I have been paying attention and brake as hard as needed to help their challenged little butts out. Only because it would put points on my driving record for their stupidity.

Don't get me started on the Spandex Mafia. Those dicks on Bicycles need to be ticketed about every third block until they learn to obey the traffic laws. Cause 105,500Lbs of dump truck with 22 tires on the ground won't look good when it runs over them.

 

[44mag2ndamend]

Don't get me started on the Spandex Mafia. Those dicks on Bicycles need to be ticketed about every third block until they learn to obey the traffic laws. Cause 105,500Lbs of dump truck with 22 tires on the ground won't look good when it runs over them.

Ha! the mafia we call em SHELLHEADS. Had one full bore cream the chrome on my chevy caprice years ago. Thousand dollar bike and the driver (who was a doctor) did not fare well.

At least he walked away, what a dipbubblegum!

 

[rick benjamin]

My kids: Don't tell US how to drive, We are LICENSED DRIVERS!
Me: You met minimum requirements. Impress me, pass the OR CDL written test.
We don't have to...(older daughter has totaled 2 cars in 6 years).
Oregon CDL exam: 3 second space cushion.

Bell System defensive driving: 4 second space cushion.
Vehicle ahead passes a sign, etc., 1 mississippi, 2 mississippi, etc

A co-worker: too much distance! They take my space cushion!
Me: You make it, then it's public property. Make some more, doesn't cost you anything.

Be generous to stupid people! Space cushion is reaction time for you in your bank.
Amazing how less tense I am with space (reaction time) ahead of me.

Afternoon, sunshine, dry pavement.
I5 northbound, traffic bunching-up between Wilsonville and I205.
Tractor-trailer to my right, both of us slowing down, anticipating the mess ahead.
Red corvette zips past us on the left, whiskers my left front bumper as he swings right ahead of me.
Continues to cross lane till he slams his brakes on in front of tractor-trailer to avoid slowing traffic ahead.
Tractor-trailer hits the brakes, all tires smoking, rig is bunny-hopping to a stop.
Red corvette slides right, takes the 205 ramp.
I get on the CB and say "that was close, hope he has to change his clothes"
A minute later, a shaky voice responds "me too, did you see that axxkkkk?"

 

[fd15k]

I just visualize whether I have enough room to stop should anything happen to the vehicle in front of me, and keep that distance, readjusting when somebody cuts in front. Old lady style

 

[Colt Carbine]

Curious, how much space do you guys keep to the vehicle in front ?

Usually about one car length for every 10 MPH I'm traveling.

Usually a lot more than the jack hole following behind me that can't tell somebody is in front of me. Most folks think you should be as close to guy in front as he is behind you.

I don't drive with the freight train of cars bumper to bumper in the fast lane, usually I get there just as fast in the middle or slow lane driving the speed limit.

It is fun to laugh at all the idiots that take their lives in their own hands when driving around 80K pound trucks. Some people just have no clue how long it takes to stop a semi traveling.

 

[Don H]

Don't get me started on the Spandex Mafia. Those dicks on Bicycles need to be ticketed about every third block until they learn to obey the traffic laws.

HAHA! Great name. These guys are even pricks to pedestrians. I usually take an after noon walk along a not-so-busy road and since I walk against traffic (there isn't a side walk) when they approach they seem annoyed that I don't step further into the dirt for them to pass. Such jerks.

 

[Mark W.]

HAHA! Great name. These guys are even pricks to pedestrians. I usually take an after noon walk along a not-so-busy road and since I walk against traffic (there isn't a side walk) when they approach they seem annoyed that I don't step further into the dirt for them to pass. Such jerks.

Wed I was coming along Hobart Street in North Silverton a 45mph residential/business two lane road with center turn lanes. On my right along the shoulder was a Spandex Mafia dude on a bike doing about 30mph. I was in a 75' long Dump truck and Pup trailer. I moved over to the left into the center lane to give the guy plenty of room. As I did this some Moron kid on some sort of powered scooter tricycle thing that is heading the opposite direction swings out in a huge circle in the middle of the street to turn around to go the other direction.

He never even looked up to see what traffic was coming at him. And with his EARS COMPLETELY COVERED BY WHITE HEAD PHONES I had no doubt he didn't hear me. Not knowing if the kid was turning around or if he planned on weaving back and forth in the middle of the street. AND knowing that the Bike rider on my right was about to be directly besides me slamming on my brakes with an empty trailer didn't seam like a good option.

I used my 120PSI mood enhancer and LAID on the AIR HORN the Moron on the scooter thing looks up gets the hell out of the middle of the street. And I assume the bike rider came close to crapping his pants.

About a 1/4 mile ahead I stop behind a 1/2 dozen cars waiting to cross Silverton/Mt. Angel Hwy. The bike guy rides up the shoulder and when he gets just ahead of me flips me off!
As a Pickup leaves the stop sign turning to the left the bike goes through the stop sign and across the hwy. About a truck length from the Hwy on the other side of Hobart is a Stop sign at the railroad tracks. The bike rides right through it and cuts the corner real deep turning on to James street (had a car been coming up to that stop sign at James and Hobart they could have hit)

I watch Bicycles on College campuses do stuff all day long that if the drivers weren't being anal about watching everything there would be a dead kid every day. I have had them pass me on the right at an intersection as I right missing the front bumper by fractions of an inch.

If they want to repair Portlands streets they should just start ticketing every bicycle rider they see.

OH and least someone think I'm just a big bicycle hating truck driver. In 1975 I bought a Motobecane Grand Record with all Campy equipment. The bike cost $500.00 the custom wheels with Phil Wood low flange hubs cost me another $250.00. I rode racing bicycles before it was cool. And before spandex was the color of choice so I know all about riding.

 

[teflon6string]

I've given this more than a bit of thought in recent years/months, coaching GF's teens behind the wheel. Both passed ODL test first time, and I reminded them... "Now you'll spend the next 5 years actually learning to drive. Please be patient and safe."

Using highways in various states and countries since the late 60's, I've become more instinctive than rational. I go more by gut feeling vs. counting Mississippis, aligators or car lengths. Without holding anyone up, my interval to follow is generally twice what everyone else seems to be doing. The logic?

(1) Most motorists are self-absorbed a-holes barely cognizant of what it takes to pilot a rolling projectile, even without jabbering/texting.

(2) I've seen plenty of crashes, and I grew up driving beaters with drum brakes for a few decades before I could even spell ABS.

(3) Mostly, I think my protective bubble of comfort comes from riding motorcycles. There's little chance of walking away from rear-ending someone on a bike, even gently, like you get on 4 wheels.

Favorite tailgating story:

Some sh*t-head kid with a megaphone exhaust on his Civic kept darting from lane to lane ending up behind me 4-5 times (maybe 10 feet off my rear). Speed limit 45, heavy traffic doing 50. Looking ahead, I realized I needed to change lanes to avoid a road hazard. So I signaled, and he sped up to claim my vacant spot before I was even done with it. I scooted over quickly and he ran over a huge truck muffler in the middle of the lane, lengthwise, bouncing his lowered Honda a foot off the ground. That was last century, and I still chuckle out loud when I recall his crazy engine revving and eyes bugging out in my mirrors.

 

[bellarum]

Curious, how much space do you guys keep to the vehicle in front ?

I leave enough space that another car can't slip in. If you leave a car length gap ; a car will slip into it. Now you back off more than a car length again and another car slides in. Pretty soon you are just the guy letting everyone in front of you. I'm not that guy!

 

[fd15k]

I leave enough space that another car can't slip in. If you leave a car length gap ; a car will slip into it. Now you back off more than a car length again and another car slides in. Pretty soon you are just the guy letting everyone in front of you. I'm not that guy!

Finally someone is being honest!

 

[Colt Carbine]

,,,,,,,

 

[bellarum]

Slower traffic stay right!

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Rubbins racing

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Think of a NASCAR restart after a yellow flag...Yeah, like that.

 

[The Heretic]

Judging by my daily commute observations, more than about 95% of the drivers out there.

I keep 2 to 3 seconds between me and the vehicle in front of me.

I also try to pay attention to what is going on around me, especially in front of me, I don't speed up and slow down a lot, and I do not lane shop.

I do not view my daily commute as a race or a competition with other vehicles on the road.

I leave early enough that if traffic is slow I won't be late for an appt., so I don't need to rush.

Again, quite different from most people.

Most people think they are good safe drivers when just the opposite is true.