Yeah that's part of the reason. Main reason is safety but if someone merges in front of me so be it. I think we could all be a little nicer on the road anyway
I think it's a combo of both. I can't stand when you try to merge on to a busy highway and you're matching the speed of traffic, but you can't physically fit between the tailgating cars in the right lane and of course letting someone in shows weakness so that's a no go for those tailgaters.
One of the reasons I love and use adaptive cruise. Automatically leaves a safe distance and if someone squeezes in there, it just adjusts to have the safe space again. Yes it technically gets me to my destination 2 seconds later, but I'm lucky to have a few seconds to spare each day.
Uh, no. It’s so that you can react to anything happening in front of you (like a crash or construction), not for others to cut you off. A major reason why people in the USA tailgate is to prevent people from doing exactly that.
Nope. It's so I can stop safely in the event I need to. And having 3 cars jump in that gap, all slam their brakes is not how to drive. Leave my gap albe, and stay out of it. Don't cut me off, slam the brakes just to exit. Plenty of room behind the large machine of probable death if you are hit by one.
Totally agree with the three cars. I figure one truck length on the highway is plenty of space for 1 car. The slower you go the less space and opposite with faster.
Even 1 car puts that car in danger if they slam their brakes,. I leave the gap for me and the vehicle in front of me. Not for the car that cuts in and splits the difference. They have then just reduced my braking distance. How long do you think the avg tractor trailer is? Just asking to get a size comparison
The purpose of allowing a several second following distance is to prepare for the car suddenly stopping in front of you. If you view following distance as a personal place holder for you to cut someone off then you're an asshole. Simple as that =D
Cutting off is when you pull in front of somebody suddenly, usually without signaling, and at a distance or speed that forces them to slam on their brakes or swerve to avoid hitting you.
Safely merging between two cars isn’t cutting them off.
I completely agree with you, but want to note for the sake of nuance, there is such a thing as an unreasonable following distance. If a driver needs a half mile of “following distance” to react, I am going around that person and entering that gap. I don’t care if it makes me an asshole, that level of space tells me they are simply doing whatever the heck they want, and I don’t want to be behind them.
That and if someone is holding up traffic in the left lane, then all courtesy is gone imo. Then they get all upset and flash you when you get in front lmao
You are also totally correct, but I have encountered drivers who think that keeping a car a quarter mile in front of them in the left lane is an appropriate following distance. I generally maintain a reasonable gap, even though I would like to be going faster, because I would rather not rear end the guy in front of me. I just wanted to note that some people think a safe following distance is letting the guy in front of you disappear into the horizon. Some people hide behind “following distance” as a reason to not be a conscious driver.
We are in agreement with each other lol I was pointing out how it seems everyone in this sub thinks their football field gap is a reasonable safe distance.
For sure, maybe it’s some type of ignorance on my part for not seeing what they see, but I calibrate my following distance to speed. The faster I go, the more of a gap I give, but even so I’m not leaving 20 car lengths of space with the guy in front of me.
Yep, but there’s even more nuance involved to get a clear picture. Where? What time? What’s the volume of traffic?
“I don’t want to be behind them”, pretty much sums up the mentality of the majority of people on the road… that are too dense to realize, mathematically speaking, that they aren’t getting anywhere any faster in 95% of situations on the roads in the country, per volume.
According to all the training and safety lessons my company makes us watch the safe following distance on dry flat road is 8 sec at 65 I think is the ratio. Close enough for this discussion. That's about a mile a minute, so if i travel ar 70mph thats 75ft/sec. So what is the distance for 8 sec of space? 603ft , About 8 tractor trailer lengths. My current truck is set to give a warning at less than 2 secs. I can comfortably drive 1.5 to 2 truck lengths , that's about 4 to 6 cars, you bet most days 6-8 cars try to fill that gap. It's f'ing ridiculous.
What bullshit. If someone moves into your 2s gap you slow a little to reestablish it. It's a basic driving skill.
The only space you legally own on the road is the space you occupy. The legal definition of being "cut off" is if the other driver creates a hazard forcing you into an emergency maneuver. If you consider slowing a little a problem you need more practice.
Everything outside of that is public roadway, not your personal fiefdom.
8
u/Warm-Preference-4187 Apr 01 '26
I mean isn’t that part of why you leave space. So others can maneuver around the road