It's stock, it's slow, and I don't want to race you.

Leaving proper following distance is a sign of respect for others on the road. Hence, it is rarely seen in the wild anymore.

Knurled wrote:

plance1 wrote: Wrong. This is why people behind you evidently hate you. Its not just the fumes. Leaving too much space is just an open invitation for everyone to change lanes in front of you. And im telling you this as one who is a firm believer in the zipper merge, ie i let everyone in who uses a signal. But 3 or 4 car lengths just signifies that you're a sucker and makes life miserable for everyone behind you. Tighen it up.

I increase my following distance the closer the doofus behind me is following, and brake earlier and gentler. I assume anybody who tailgates is too inattentive to slow down properly. I have only been rearended once, and that was unavoidable on my part. I was already stopped when it happened.

I agree whole heartedly. Im too old for road rage and when someone tailgates in traffic, i do the same. Im not suggesting tailgating.

I think closer than 3-4 car lengths in moving traffic IS tailgating.

What I don't get is how I will see people have a sub-1 carlength following distance in city traffic, then they will stop 2 car lengths back at a light. WTH???

In reply to Knurled:

I am not going to get started on city traffic. I walk all over the city and drive all over it. Lately ride-share drivers have been getting as bad as cab-drivers ever were and if you're in a tall vehicle your street I.Q. drops and and if you drive a tall Ford your aggression seems to go up to I-95/Beltway nexus levels. I think I started.

In reply to Knurled:

Im talkin in a traffic jamb.

In reply to TurboFocus:

On the tires it's on, even pretty much sidestepping the clutch at 4500rpm, just barks the tires once and then the engine falls on it's face. Besides, burnouts at car shows is how you earn instant Colton status and ruin things for everyone.

i was joking, i know how gutless the miata is...

plance1 wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote:

Stefan wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I drive a diesel Mercedes wagon. A tan one. Non-turbo. No one tries to race me, but last week some kid in a silver Golf decided he would be cute and tried to pass me on the shoulder. Mind you, this was in afternoon traffic on a 4 lane primary road. I guess the fact that I'd left 3 or 4 car lengths between my Mercedes' front bumper and the car in front of me meant that I clearly needed to be passed at all cost.

If its like every other tan diesel Mercedes I've been stuck behind (they are a scourge around here) the fumes and general speed means they needed to get around you to get some fresh air before they asphyxiated. Seriously, I despise these things plodding around town as they are sooo slow to accelerate, almost always cruise at 5 under, usually stink to high heaven and almost always driven by some smug bearded person who is also somehow clueless about the tailback they've created. Welcome to Portland where the Hippies drive old Volvo's, diesel Mercedes and clapped out old Toyotas, unless their parents buy them a Prius or hand them down something newer.

In the situation in question, I was driving the exact same speed as the flow of traffic, only I like to leave 2 seconds' car length between the front bumper of my car and the rear bumper of the one I'm tailing. There's a difference between driving slowly and leaving appropriate following distance. Doing the latter can actually speed up traffic flow as it reduces the standing waves.

Wrong. This is why people behind you evidently hate you. Its not just the fumes. Leaving too much space is just an open invitation for everyone to change lanes in front of you. And im telling you this as one who is a firm believer in the zipper merge, ie i let everyone in who uses a signal. But 3 or 4 car lengths just signifies that you're a sucker and makes life miserable for everyone behind you. Tighen it up.

Nope, you're wrong. Leaving respectful (not excessive) following distance speeds up traffic flow. It's been studied (along with zipper merging, which is correct). 2 seconds following is about right. I'm usually a little closer, but try for 2 seconds.

As mentioned before, this guy was a flaming douchebag VW driver. He was doing this to everyone.

Zipper merging would be great if people weren't incredibly timid behind the wheel. But they are, so what happens is, they run up to the end of the closing lane and then stop, and wait for someone to let them in. So that lane stops. And the through lane has to stop in order to let them in. And the people 1/8 mile back both two stopped/crawling lanes don't know which way the merge is going to be because they can't see the signs through all the stopped traffic, so it's chaos.

Perfect theory falls apart when it meets human nature.