In the stop light line: how much space between cars?

Very interesting comments by all, and thank you.

I do understand why, in a sketchy neighborhood, you might want to leave room to get away without being boxed in. I seldom if ever drive in one of those around here, but I see the logic.

Otherwise, leaving enough room to see the rear tires of the vehicle ahead just seems to me to be overkill. Just my opinion, nothing more.

I sorta understand the reasoning that if you're hit from behind, you don't want to be pushed into the vehicle ahead. A front impact, though, is what is going to activate your air bag, and that's a good thing, whereas rear impacts don't do that. Working in a personal-injury law firm handling many auto collisions, I see much more injury in crashes with only rear-impact involved, when there was the typical stop-and-go traffic situation.

I'll be giving more of the benefit of the doubt to those who stop a car-length behind, from now on. Thanks again for your inputs!
 
I also leave enough that I can swing around if the car in front conks out. Having been trained to drive in the UK, the car is also in neutral with the handbrake on. We are taught there is NO circumstance where your car can roll from a stop uncommanded. Being pushed with the wheels locked is on the other guy.

There are other groups of people at lights who REALLY frost my chops.

"Creepers" cannot stop in one place. A red light shining in their eyes causes their ankle muscles to atrophy and repeatedly release the brake. I have been honked at for NOT creeping.

"Squatters" are incapable of stopping before the line or the pedestrian crossing area. I don't know if it's poor distance judgement or a control thing. Either that or they have a brother with a road painting company and they are drumming up business.

A close cousin of the "squatter" is the "hooker", who is incapable of taking a freeway off ramp without hooking their right wheels over the solid line at the shoulder. Maybe they are all ex-World Rally Championship drivers and think they are using the ditch to help them around the curve.

As for the OP saying he has to brake hard before people stop short, that is because he has an automatic expectation of where the guy in front will stop. It is a VERY dangerous to assume the guy in front drives like you. My only assumption about other drivers is that at some point they may try to kill me.
 
Great looking boat/ship on the avitar. Its funny but the Coasties back east always called them ships no matter how small, Coasties in the Lake call 'em all boats no mater how big.
 
Enough room so I can get out of the lane. I must be able to see their brake lights at a minimum. I was rear ended once in Tampa in 1983 and vowed it would not happen again. So far so good.
 
LVSteve said:
As for the OP saying he has to brake hard before people stop short, that is because he has an automatic expectation of where the guy in front will stop. It is a VERY dangerous to assume the guy in front drives like you. My only assumption about other drivers is that at some point they may try to kill me.
Click to expand...

So very true, and helpfully pointed out. I could not agree more.:)
 
WHAT'S AN AIR BAG?

Not all cars/trucks on the road have them. My older truck took the hits with very minor damage, ME not so much, I was the crumple zone. I'd rather pay for a new vehicle than a surgery. Down here, running into people stopped at red lights and into buildings is a favorite pastime. After my 3rd and last (hopefully), I was getting checked out in the ER and my nurse said his parents live near Orlando & have been rear ended sitting at traffic lights 5 times. :eek:
 
I've noticed this also. I missed a light yesterday because of it. Most of the time the people are looking down at their phones. Not paying attention to anything else. So the just fail to pull forward when the rest of the cars settle in to position.

How much time is wasted waiting on these idiots to realize the light turned while they were updating their Facebook status.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Off topic but related: I know the rules vary from locale to locale on doing this this, but one of my pet peeves when driving is people who are turning left at a light do not drive into the intersection and wait for the opportunity to turn left once oncoming traffic isn't a factor. At some lights it's the only way to get through before the light turns red. If people pay attention and drive into the intersection when they can, usually at least two cars can make the left turn. You don't do this if you're not certain you can continue on and clear the intersection once the light turns yellow or red and oncoming traffic stops.
 
I have always been a "see the bumper" type guy.... 3-4 feet maybe
but enough to get around the car, if needed.


As for the long, large area some do..............
it could be poor vision, someone having a "Bad" day or even a driver
that does not have insurance and hoping for the best.
It does mess with the number of cars that get through the lights but...........
that is why we leave 7-10 minutes early, right ? !
 
Many years ago I attended a driver training class at So. Conn. State College for AT&T people. We were told to be able to see the MV in front rear wheels on the pavement when stopped at a traffic light. As far as spacing between MV's moving on the roadway it was suggested that you should maintain
a 4 second intervals between vehicles. Most do not do either and that is why there are so many rear end collisions.
 
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I've noticed this recently, too. I chalk it up to basic "me first" inconsideration.

I'm a "see the rear tires" guy. A few times I've seen folks leave two car lengths or more in front of them and have pulled into the gap on the assumption their car is broke. It made for some interesting rearview mirror theater.
 
I teach a Senior Citizens Safe Driving Course. We recommend you be able to see the bottom of the rear tires on the car ahead of you.

One poster mentioned pulling out in the intersection when making a left turn.. In some states, that is prohibited.
 
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I tend to leave enough room so I can see the entire rear of the vehicle. Meaning not just the deck lid or something to that effect.
 
I leave enough room that I can pull out and escape if something bad happens . . .

vigil617 said:
The turn-signal thread reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask the national audience here on the Forum.

Where I now live in the Fayetteville, North Carolina area, I have observed a phenomenon I don't ever remember seeing anywhere else I have lived. I can't figure it out, and I wonder if anyone else sees it and whether it's some kind of new trend.

When coming to a stop for a stoplight, my habit has always been to leave perhaps 3 to 5 feet or so between me and the car ahead. This is what feels like a comfortable space, plus I do it in consideration of people behind me so when the light changes, most or all of us can get through the light before it turns red again. Simple, right?

Well, it's amazing to me that so many drivers here will stop a full car length, or even more, behind the one in front of them. Some even stop that far behind the stop line if they're first in line. In a long line of stopped traffic, this means that the folks near the end of the line are gonna have to wait through another light cycle to move through.

Not to mention the fact that when someone "stops short" ahead of me as I'm decelerating, I have less room to stop and sometimes have to brake hard, even if I had not been following too closely. We have a ton of rear-end collisions in our area, and I wonder if this is partly why.

This behavior puzzles, and frankly, gripes me. It's another grrrrrrrrrrrr moment among the many others I have when driving these days. ;)

Do people do this where you live? Is there a reasonable explanation?
Click to expand...
 
Many of the traffic signals around me operate on a fairly short cycle but are programmed to allow more cars to go through during peak times.You can always tell the drivers that are unfamiliar with the area because they are the ones not paying attention when the light turns green.

What really gets me is when you're at a major intersection waiting to make a left turn.The light turns green and everyone tries to make it though safely.All of a sudden one jerk slows down to make a u-turn instead of continuing through the intersection.What was once a synchronized movement quickly becomes a mass of near rear end collisions and honking horns.People have a habit of making u-turns in some of the worst places to do it.There aren't signs prohibiting the action but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

I can see leaving enough distance between you and the car in front in case there's a breakdown but if something bad happens you're not going anywhere until the traffic on your right starts moving so it's kind of a mute point.
 
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