i AM "captain of the ship"

I think the better way of looking at it is to drive so people around you are comfortable.

 

Ahh, my favorite subject, following distance.

I agree, keeping 8 seconds on a multi lane local road with any amount of traffic is pretty much impossible. You can't control what others do and people will jump in there.

Of course if you leave more than a car length people will jump in there and only a real tool would try to stay so close that no one could possible get in.

With that in mind I leave a whole lot of extra space, make it easy for them. People have to change lanes at times. I'll usually pace a big truck that's far ahead. Far enough that a number of 4 wheelers can get in there.

Contrary to what some say I guarantee that will not result in you going slower and slower until you're going backwards.

Cars will fill the space and then they will turn off the road or get back over because that truck way ahead of you that you're pacing will be going too slow for them also and no one wants to stay behind a truck for too long.

I don't count the seconds between me and the person ahead of me but I usually manage to maintain a good amount of space, keep my speed fairly steady and, more importantly, I almost always manage to keep where my view far ahead is not blocked.

I rarely get cut off and can't remember the last time I did a hard brake for anything other than wildlife or an ill timed traffic light.

I find it a whole lot easier to do this in the granny lane.

 

AMEN BROTHER! I've never understood how anybody could be dumb enough to look ten feet in front of their hood. But I don't think that ANY driver's courses in school, (if they even have them in public school,) teach "LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!"
Nor was it touched on when I went through trucking school, or by anyone in any company that I worked for.
(@otherhalftw Hopefully, Otter will forgive me borrowing his red pencil!)

 

Big Don went to a truck school. I'm flabbergasted. Figured you started in the 60s.

 

Yeah, but how many times do you have to get surprised to realize it might be a good idea to know what's going on up ahead?

 

90's. Second, well actually, third career.

Some of the idiots never learn, no matter what happens. Like the idiot tailgating, and slammed into the rear of the car in front of him, because that car stopped for a red light. Then he tries to blame that driver for stopping!

 

Engine on, brain off. Operating both at the same time is too much multi-tasking for some.

I don't know what it is about driving that makes intelligent people so stupid but it's an epidemic.

 

wasn't truck school....it was mule skool....1844, brought some group of settlers to some summit and one screamed, "this is it!".....BD took Alice on to SoCal and discovered gold..foolish find, but the py was rite!

Otter's dimented history lesson for June 2017....pay attention...there might be a test!

 

Oh there is a test all right. A test of my patience!

 

Now we all know otter. And we all know he IS captain of the ship. Until Admiral Significance comes along.