Unsafe driving ticket

I'll start this by noting the sage wisdom of a mentor of mine early in life. Whenever I did something stupid he'd say, "Let's play GOOD THINGS, BAD THINGS".... oh boy, I knew what was coming then. The rules of "Good things, bad things" goes like this. He'd say something like, "What are all the GOOD THINGS that can happen when you are tail gaiting a truck.... ready? GO!" Then that would normally be followed by a few moments of silence on my part, and he'd say, "STOP"!

Then he'd go on to say, "Okay, let's list all the BAD THINGS that can happen if you tail gait a truck".... then he'd go on to list a bunch of bad outcomes (ramming into the back of the truck, the truck blows a recap and it crashes through your windshield, the truck throws a rock into your windshield, the truck does a sudden lane change to avoid a stopped car and you plow into it, etc. etc. etc....

The point was well taken.

Really, the point of driving in heavy traffic is to SLOW DOWN and GIVE AWAY SPACE and leave yourself "OUTS" or having "DEFENSIBLE SPACE".

About ten years ago I was listening to a radio interview with a scientist that was interested in flow dynamics and how it applies to traffic congestion. He said he'd started driving in a manner in heavy traffic that any single person could do that would interrupt the "stop and go" effect in heavy traffic and get everyone moving at a safe even speed. The rules are like this:

1. You lose one point every time you have to apply your brakes.

2. Try to find the speed at which you never have to apply your brakes. Look ahead, if you see brake lights coming on about 300 yards ahead then either slow down or maintain a speed at which they will have started moving again and you join in with the flow of traffic.

3. If someone "jumps into your lane" in front of you, LET THEM... and slightly back off on your speed to give space. THE POINT IS THAT YOU ARE ALLOWING TRAFFIC TO FLOW AROUND YOU SLIGHTLY.

I've driven this way in very heavy urban traffic for the last ten years. It works. Not only does traffic flow better because of the way I'm driving, I'm more relaxed and start to enjoy driving in heavy traffic. Fancy that... instead of being stressed out and trying to tail gate to prevent people from "cutting me off" I'm trying to give space to encourage people to flow into the space in front of me. That's the whole point.

Not only does this manner of driving work well when you are driving a truck, you will also notice that your mpg will improve dramatically in heavy traffic. I remember sitting as a passenger in a truck my brother was driving in heavy traffic, carefully monitoring the mpg display and the boost gauge, and listening to the high pitch whine of the turbo. He was continuously romping on the accelerator, then taking his foot off the pedal, the turbo was screaming then quiet, screaming then quiet, then he would slam on the brake when he came up on a line of slow moving or stopped cars.... end result after his session compared to a similar session I ran in the same city and time of day.... I recorded 2.3 mpg better than he did.... and I was much more relaxed... and the actual time to get from point A to point B had very little improvement with his method of driving.

Now, onto the concept of having "outs" or defensible space. Not only are you looking to have that space in front of you, but you need to have space to change lanes or maneuver if an event happens unexpectedly in front of you and you don't have time to stop. Never drive next to another vehicle for long periods of time if you can help it, either speed up or slow down so you are positioned to have a clear lane next to you at all times.

I have a particular experience with the concept of defensible space that saved me when I was driving a car northbound on I-5 approaching downtown Seattle about 20 years ago that illustrates this concept very well. I was in the left ("hammer") lane, giving space and defending space ("outs"). The left lane was moving at an average of about 2 miles per hour faster than the next lane. I had a row of three tail gaiters behind me when I overtook a car that was following about 100 feet behind a semi. In front of me was a dually, probably a painter or plumber, with a rack that had an extension ladder strapped on top. He was slowly overtaking the semi, but since I never want to drive right next to a vehicle, especially a semi, I slowed to have the 100' gap behind the semi and the following car... this left Tail Gate Tommy driving next to the following car.... I was waiting until the dually in front of me had enough room ahead so I could speed up and pass the semi quickly... then...

... the extension ladder on top of the dually came off and started spinning like a helicopter in my lane right in front of me. My "out" was there, and I quickly changed lanes behind the semi... unfortunately Tommy the Tailgater and his cohorts behind me had no outs. They all ran right over that extension ladder. In my rear view mirror I saw Tommy's car jump in the air and start spraying oil and smoke, the car behind took the end of the ladder in the windshield and then ran over it, the last car tried to swerve to avoid the ladder and clipped the car next to him....

... I'm sure those drivers all told their insurance agent that, "Gosh! There was no way I could have avoided that ladder! What a surprise!" But you and I know that is absolutely wrong. They very well could have avoided the ladder if they had room to change lanes, if they had "outs", if they had defensible space.


So, the point is that not only is tail gating stupid because it is costing you money, it is stupid because it removes your outs, stresses you, and is a primary cause of "accidents". Forget about trying to keep people from "cutting you off". Instead, drive as though it is your job to create space not only for yourself, but also for those around you. Make space so they can move into your lane in front of you and then either continue your moderate speed or back off a tad on the accelerator to start creating new space. It can be a fun way to drive, try it sometime.

 

Give a man a CDL and he becomes the Greatest Trucker Driver Ever to drive on the USA Highways..Amazing....

 

so many perfect drivers in here..

 

This has actually become very boring....

 

Instead of a lame remark tell all of us your view...not one person has made that sort of claim...tell us YOUR history

 

It does get boring with you don't hear what you want to.....doesn't it.

 

Wait , wait...I'm the only PREFECT one...remember......

 

I always thought tailgating was a measurement of distance between 2 vehicles, not a length of time.


Tailgaters never bother me. I don't care how much they honk their horn, flash the lights, or ride in the left side of the lane. I've yet to meet a tailgater who could intimidate my cruise control.

 

So, there were a few pages spent arguing over the "proper" amount of following distance, but I did not see anyone put the "formula" that we were taught in order to determine. If it was posted, sorry, I must have missed it. Isn't it:

1 sec for every ten feet of your total length, if you are traveling at 45 mph or less, add one second if you are traveling at any speed greater than 45.

Which would mean a 9 sec min right?

with that said, common sense then dictates I add more seconds just to be on the safe side.

 

Let me shine some truth.Every single one of you ''drivers'' have screwed up at one point...But ONLY the HONEST ones and HUMBLE ones will admit to this....