Tailgate and speed

Head-Out-Of-Sand

Not London, but yes big city. Take your life into your hands driving here!

It amazes me that people who tailgate (and get angry at ppl who rudely refuse to exceed the speed limit because the tailgater left the house late...) don't seem to understand that it is *them* who are creating the greater risk. Take a breath, slow down and think about what you're doing. So easy to make a mistake when you're focusing on your right to get somewhere quickly, and you can't undo it once it's done. Just not worth it.

Joe_Horner

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

It amazes me that people who tailgate (and get angry at ppl who rudely refuse to exceed the speed limit because the tailgater left the house late...) don't seem to understand that it is *them* who are creating the greater risk.

It's also them who generally create the biggest delays, but so many people don't seem to grasp that.

Leaving aside the (fairly rare) accidents that cause major delays, most of the slowness in heavy traffic is caused by the accordion effect of a row of cars braking progressively harder in response to a fairly small change of speed further ahead.

We've all seen it when traffic comes virtually to a standstill before moving again for no apparent reason. That effect is cause by people being too close, meaning that each car in the line has to brake harder than the one in front by the time they react. Because of that, tailgaters are at least as guilty of slowing everyone down as the MLMs that they blame!

By everyone backing off to a sensible distance, the accordian effect is removed and traffic flows smoother and faster.

Jamie_Carter

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It's also them who generally create the biggest delays, but so many people don't seem to grasp that.

Leaving aside the (fairly rare) accidents that cause major delays, most of the slowness in heavy traffic is caused by the accordion effect of a row of cars braking progressively harder in response to a fairly small change of speed further ahead.

We've all seen it when traffic comes virtually to a standstill before moving again for no apparent reason. That effect is cause by people being too close, meaning that each car in the line has to brake harder than the one in front by the time they react. Because of that, tailgaters are at least as guilty of slowing everyone down as the MLMs that they blame!

By everyone backing off to a sensible distance, the accordian effect is removed and traffic flows smoother and faster.

Which is why variable speed limits were brought in. If everyone is doing the same speed when traffic is heavy, then it flows much better.

Unfortunately, many regular users of the M25 near Heathrow seen to know which gantries have cameras on them. So they still put their foot down between them. It would be better if the civil liberties groups hadn't got their way, and speed cameras could be hidden. That way people would stick to speed limits.

Lum

Joe_Horner wrote: »

By everyone backing off to a sensible distance, the accordian effect is removed and traffic flows smoother and faster.

The counterpoint to that is that if you actually leave the proper distance it will be filled by 2 Audis and a BMW as soon as you pass the next junction, if not sooner.

That winds me up more than tailgaters.

Joe_Horner

Lum wrote: »

The counterpoint to that is that if you actually leave the proper distance it will be filled by 2 Audis and a BMW as soon as you pass the next junction, if not sooner.

That winds me up more than tailgaters.

Yeah, I know. But in this Driving Nirvana I speak of, I did say everyone backed off, which would include the Audis and BMWS, so that issue would also disappear

Jamie_Carter

Lum wrote: »

The counterpoint to that is that if you actually leave the proper distance it will be filled by 2 Audis and a BMW as soon as you pass the next junction, if not sooner.

That winds me up more than tailgaters.

If you left a safe gap, and then the BMW/Audis fill up that gap, then unless they slow down to create a gap in front of them, then they will become the tailgaters you hate.

Jamie_Carter

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Yeah, I know. But in this Driving Nirvana I speak of, I did say everyone backed off, which would include the Audis and BMWS, so that issue would also disappear

Hmm, I can see two problems with this idea.

Twiggy_34

suvla wrote: »

i always find it interesting when im doing 30mph on my road cycle that people overtake me in a 30mph stretch of road??? never quite understood that

Seeing as pretty much everyone else turned this into a free for all rant about bad drivers (not us of course lol), I thought I'd join on in as well!

I'm sure I have some bad habits which wind other road users up, but I tend to think of myself as a fairly considerate "by the book" driver. I indicate at all times it is required of me and with good, but not too early, warning, I always stay in lane on windy roads and don't cut corners. The only exception I'm aware of is that I have been known to speed a little bit from time to time (depending on the accuracy of my speedo of course). However, the one thing I pride myself on is that if the car in front of me is doing the speed limit, even if it's slower than I might have been driving had there not been anything in front to slow me down, I will respect this and pootle along behind them at the same speed. They're doing nothing wrong after all so why be in a rush to break the speed limit just to overtake them?

My absolute biggest gripe, and I won't deny that this happened to me just yesterday and had me worked up into something just short of fury :mad: by the time I got home, is about the drivers who seem to only have 1 speed, e.g. 35mph regardless of whether they're in a 30mph zone, a 40mph zone, or like my example from yesterday, a NSL zone. I try to reason with myself and say, "oh they're just an over cautious driver trying to drive sensibly" or "maybe they're a new driver", but in the next moment they're taking corners excessively wide, in one scenario using the lane meant for oncoming traffic for turning off into a side road, so that imo obliterates those theories! I turn into one of those morons who sits in the car ranting about the driving skills (or lack of) of the person in front, even though I'm in my car alone, gesticulating away out of sheer frustration! I've even witnessed situations where learner drivers in the same line of traffic have been driving better than others in the same line, which is something I find almost comical. If anyone has any useful techniques for talking myself down from such pointless states, please do let me know

Jamie_Carter

Twiggy_34 wrote: »

Seeing as pretty much everyone else turned this into a free for all rant about bad drivers (not us of course lol), I thought I'd join on in as well!

I'm sure I have some bad habits which wind other road users up, but I tend to think of myself as a fairly considerate "by the book" driver. I indicate at all times it is required of me and with good, but not too early, warning, I always stay in lane on windy roads and don't cut corners. The only exception I'm aware of is that I have been known to speed a little bit from time to time (depending on the accuracy of my speedo of course). However, the one thing I pride myself on is that if the car in front of me is doing the speed limit, even if it's slower than I might have been driving had there not been anything in front to slow me down, I will respect this and pootle along behind them at the same speed. They're doing nothing wrong after all so why be in a rush to break the speed limit just to overtake them?

My absolute biggest gripe, and I won't deny that this happened to me just yesterday and had me worked up into something just short of fury :mad: by the time I got home, is about the drivers who seem to only have 1 speed, e.g. 35mph regardless of whether they're in a 30mph zone, a 40mph zone, or like my example from yesterday, a NSL zone. I try to reason with myself and say, "oh they're just an over cautious driver trying to drive sensibly" or "maybe they're a new driver", but in the next moment they're taking corners excessively wide, in one scenario using the lane meant for oncoming traffic for turning off into a side road, so that imo obliterates those theories! I turn into one of those morons who sits in the car ranting about the driving skills (or lack of) of the person in front, even though I'm in my car alone, gesticulating away out of sheer frustration! I've even witnessed situations where learner drivers in the same line of traffic have been driving better than others in the same line, which is something I find almost comical. If anyone has any useful techniques for talking myself down from such pointless states, please do let me know

First of all, you do know that it is absolutely fine to straight line corners, as long as it is 100% safe to do so, and there are no solid white lines in the middle? It actually helps with fuel economy, and is therefore more environmentally friendly.


Unfortunately there is a large number of drivers on our roads who are unsafe to be there. And I'm not just talking about idiots. These include people who are driving illegally without a license, people who's reactions and perception aren't what they used to be when they were younger, people who are illegally in this country, and so are not going to apply to take a test in the UK, and then those who passed their test in another country, where the test was extremely easy. I don't know if it is still the case, but in Egypt the test used to be to drive forwards 10m, and then reverse 10m.


As for how to stay calm. Well either try to pass them, or stop and take a break. Then take a deep breath, and remind yourself that you are a much safer driver.

smashingyour...

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

First of all, you do know that it is absolutely fine to straight line corners, as long as it is 100% safe to do so, and there are no solid white lines in the middle? It actually helps with fuel economy, and is therefore more environmentally friendly.


Unfortunately there is a large number of drivers on our roads who are unsafe to be there. And I'm not just talking about idiots. These include people who are driving illegally without a license, people who's reactions and perception aren't what they used to be when they were younger, people who are illegally in this country, and so are not going to apply to take a test in the UK, and then those who passed their test in another country, where the test was extremely easy. I don't know if it is still the case, but in Egypt the test used to be to drive forwards 10m, and then reverse 10m.


As for how to stay calm. Well either try to pass them, or stop and take a break. Then take a deep breath, and remind yourself that you are a much safer driver.

You've got an Egyptian licence then have you?