Safe Speed Forums

Oh nuts, you may be right JT and I have therefore preciptated something here by jumping to the wrong conclusion If so, I apologise to Sixy.

The ther day I was on the M1, doing just under 70 in lane 3, with my usual 5 sec gap in front of me and a tailgating BMW behind.
As soon as there was a gap behind an undertaking car he pulled into lane 2, overtook me on the inside, pulled in front of me and proceeded to tailgate the car I had been following.
I got the impression he took great exception to the fact that I was leaving a big enough gap to be able to smooth out the acceleration and braking of the car in front. And I would have pulled over and let him past anyway if he had given me the chance.

Remember the studies conducted a few years ago into traffic jams. You know the type - 5 mile tailbacks with nothing at the head.

If I recall correctly, it was to do with 'bunching', one car slows for 'whatever reason'. Following cars dab the brakes, and the next over-reacts and dabs a little longer and in the process bunching up on the ones in front. As these acccelerate back out of the slowing phase, they are still causing following traffic to slow and this propagates down the line until it could result in a complete stop at some point. Once this halt has been reached, it can take hours to clear.

We've all seen it. Rubberneckers at accident sites on the opposite carriageway. NOBODY actually intended to slow to 10mph, the first few may have only dropped to 60 from 70 to 'get a better look', pretty soon 1000's of motorists are crawling past...forced into getting that 'good look' even if we don't really care.

What's the best place to get 'taken from behind' by the tailgater & generally unobservant? Yup, approaching suddenly stopped queing traffic. They're so fixated on your ar$e, they fail to notice the bigger picture. I've narrowly avoided being 'raped' a few times, only averted because I rolled forward into the space I left in front of my car as the smoke poured off the tyres of the knob behind.

ps..... Did I carry that pun a bit too far?

Sorry - my fault. I didn't define 'heavy traffic' properly. I was talking about crawling traffic, where leaving a small gap rather than accellerating right up the car in front's tailpipe improves the flow of traffic. JT pretty much got it - well done mate !

There's an argument on another thread, the one about L2 reatrictions to HGVs on the M40, about whether or not leaving a gap in crawling traffic helps or not, so sorry for the defensiveness

Of course I would never DREAM of travelling 2 car lengths away at 70, that would be suicide....

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

BTW Rigpig - dont worry about it, no offence taken

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Oh good. We were quite worried about you!

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Oh phew



And phew again, thanks

Hehe - I should think that I was subscribed to the wrong forum if I really Did drive like that!

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

There are millions out there though. There must be 'responsible' drivers who just don't understand what size gap is required. Sometimes I'll see 8 or ten in a group with no more than two car lengths between any of them. Probably some of them think it isn't tailgating unless they get under 5 feet.

It'd be VERY interesting to set up surveys at motorways services and ask:

What's the closest you should follow another car on the motorway at 70mph?

We could have answer boxes in all the common forms (1 second / 5 car lengths / 100 ft etc). I bet we could make some good news. Anyone fancy accosting drivers at a motorway service station for a few hours?

I bet we could make some good news on the basis of such a survey.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

The problem isn't just about motorways though is it? As someone who likes a pint, I'm often stood at a bus stop in the evening, watching cars drive past on a built up area 30 limit single carriageway A road on the approach to/from a roundabout. What do I see? Estimated average gap between cars LESS than two cars length (and often just feet).

Interestingly, given the speed limit and the facts that a) most people appear to going 40+mph, b) there are a fair few rear-end shunts (few serious fortunately) and c) I live in a scamera infested area - there are NO "safety" cameras to be seen! (Could it have something to do with the close proximity of the county police headquarters?).

People even pull up too close in stationary traffic - so close that should the car in front stall/break down, they can't pull around it.

It is, of course, most terrifying at speed - I once had a lift with friend on the motorway who drove so close that I could read the name of the supplier on the numberplate on the car in front! (Not joking). I refuse now to go in a car with him driving...

I saw a classic this morning. Bear in mind its pouring with rain and extremenly windy today, I saw a line of traffic following a bus, doing around 40 - 50 on a NSL s/c with no more than a car's length between nay of them. I think Paul is right to an extent - I genuinely think that most people don't actually know or understand WHY they need to leave a decent gap.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Although I try desperately to avoid it, I often find myelf on the M1 on a Friday afternoon.

Last week I was tailgated through the road works at Leicester by a huge articulated truck in L1. He was no more than 5 feet behind me. I did wonder what he thought I would do. The choices I had were, speed up through the specs cameras (Are they still there? I didn't see them), or drive in fear of being crushed?

This is the time of day that the worst tailgaters appear. I always keep as far to the left as possible i.e. I drive in lane 1 if it isn't full of trucks or the 55mph brigade. (I hate 55mph CLOC's*) they can back up traffic for miles in complete oblivion.

Last Friday I was in L2 and had completed the "Only a fool breaks the 2 second rule" to check my diatance and noticed that there was a car next to the one I was following in lane 3. There was also a black 3 series along side me in lane 3. As the traffic was moving at a very similar speed I reckoned that this BMW was around 2 seconds behind the car next to the one I was following. So what?

Well, there was a car and a Merc Sprinter between the BMW and the one 2 seconds in front of it. Scary



CLOC = Centre Lane Owners Club

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If you're right, did your heels in
If you're wrong, admit it!

Sink the scameraships
Give us back our Police Force

Could have been this?

Yeh. That's pretty much it. Good little GIF animation too! Glad I wasn't imagining things again..

Yes, the SPECS were still there this morning. I drive through those roadworks twics a day.

But even driving normally on the M1 in the rush hour, outside the roadworks, I will be following at a safe distance behind the car in front, and often see three or four cars packed into that distance in the lane alongside (especially if it is lane 3). Scares me to death.

We need an emoticon for scared. I'm sure we often talk about those brown underpants moments!

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

I know lots of people hate them but don't you think those variable speed overhead gantries with cameras on the M25 around Heathrow have actually smoothed out the traffic flow. The jams don't seem quite so bad now as they were at times in the past. I know there are a lot of roadworks at the moment so it may not be fair to judge.

Foot hard down between stops seems to be what causes the jams.

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Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

Went through those specs on Monday and spent a lot of time looking at the speedo with huge lorries inches from the nearside.

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Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

Dude, your doing just under 70 in lane 3 You've got a 5 second gap between you and the car in front, a triffle cautious perhaps. Now the guy behind in the german saloon wants to press on. If there is a big enough gap for him to undertake you why were you not in that gap?

On one hand, the Government's obsession with speed limit enforcment has made many drivers fearful to exceed to the speed limit, no matter what the circumstances (e.g 68mph overtaking manouvers in the outside lane of motorways etc).

On the other hand you have the people who only care about getting to their destination as quickly as possible, give little regard to other road users and know that they can get away with this attitude because there are so fewer traffic police on patrol now (due to traffic police being replaced by speed cameras)

The result can only be a worsening of the tailgating problem. Yet another reason why our speed limit obsessed "road safety" policy is making the roads a more dangerous place.

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken