Rant

facade

Just calm down and accept the fact that every single person on the road actually goes out of their way (literally in some cases) to do things that inconvenience me, and make my life just that tiny bit more miserable than it was already. :mad:

Obviously you must be experiencing the fallout from this (in this case I will be immediately behind the car leaving the 500 yard gap, just enough that I reach the traffic lights on red)

Joe_Horner

No, leaving smaller gaps really won't make them clear quicker.

Imagine you're approaching the back end of a 1 mile stop-start queue that's currently taking 10 minutes to get through. That means that yoru average speed through that mile will be 6 mph. Nothing you can do will increase that speed because it's set by the cars ahead of you so, short of physically barging them out of the way, that's the speed you'll do.

To average 6 mph you can either:

• Drive at a steady 6mph, or
• Drive up to the car in front, stop, wait for it to move a bit, drive forward again, stop, and so on.

Either way, you'll still only average 6mph because that average is the speed of the cars ahead. In congestion, every car is limited to the average speed of the cars in front.

By allowing a large gap to open you're not altering that average speed - so you're not affecting the total capacity or traffic flow but you are altering how it's achieved.

With a little care and practice leaving such a gap can allow you to continue moving without stopping because, as the cars ahead stop, you just let the gap close up until they move, when you let the gap open again by not immediately accelerating.

If the car behind you does the same then, within one or two cars, the traffic is flowing steadily - if slowly - at exactly the same speed it would if you left no gap.

That steady flow is infinitely better for wear & tear on the cars and the road surface, better for your nerves, better for the patience of other drivers, and better for fuel economy than continual stop-start driving.

eamon

I give the opening rant 6/10. Would have been 8/10 if only the OP hadn't gone all soft by offering floggings and arguing with the post responders about his rant.

Mercdriver

AndyPix wrote: »

Undertaking is illegal

No it's not. Point me to the relevant Act of Parliament that states it is.

Mercdriver

To that I'll add, I doubt you'll like to be behind me. Because I leave a large enough gap to see ahead of the car in front so I can see cars in front slowing and braking so I then ease off on the go pedal and not slam on the stop pedal until I need to use it.

If I look ahead and see the traffic ahead is going c 30mph and the car in front of me is still doing 70mph, what do you think I should do? Stay up with the car in front or ease up?

When I get into that traffic on the M6 moving at 20 - 30mph how does it help me or you to be up against the car in front? If the traffic ahead is doing no more than a certain speed, how do you think you are going to get ahead any quicker?

When I'm in traffic and I notice that the body of traffic speed up a little but not to full motorway speed, I'll be conservative with the go pedal, because usually, the traffic will slow down further ahead.

It's about being prepared and making progress, not being impatient and driving on your brakes. The only way you will be prepared is to give yourself time to do so.

glentoran99

AndyPix wrote: »

And having zero consideration for anybody behind you.
During that 1 minute, 10 cars have probly failed to make it on the motorway a mile behind you because you basically hogged all that empty space in front of you


Do you also walk through town like that ?

Well I don't walk right behind people? Do you?

almillar

I doubt you'll like to be behind me. Because I leave a large enough gap to see ahead of the car in front so I can see cars in front slowing and braking so I then ease off on the go pedal and not slam on the stop pedal until I need to use it.

That's good driving, and he's not complaining about you, he's complaining about people who leave TOO BIG a gap (leave this purposely undefined), stop needlessly, then don't get going again quickly. And he's right, it's against the Highway Code which does, basically tell you to 'go with the flow'.

In a queuing motorway, your first aim is to NOT STOP. Your second aim, then, if you can manage it, is to stay reasonably close to the car in front. Far enough back to allow you to see ahead, anticipate and NOT STOP, but close enough that people won't pull in in front of you. If you can't manage number 2, just concentrate on number 1, it's more important.

glentoran99 - A car length or 2 I understand, especially with stop/start etc, but more than that, and you're wasting road space and making traffic worse.

scaredofdebt

It's more efficient to maintain a constant speed, one of the reasons queues form is the time delay in people starting and stopping. By moving at a constant speed you eliminate that inefficiency. In a queue on the motorway I will try to leave a gap ahead so I can keep moving forward at all times, although I don't think I've ever got it quite as big as 2 miles.

Your argument is flawed as the cars behind me, who are moving constantly because I am, don't need to leave a gap other than the usual gap as per the "2 second rule".

Obviously this depends on circumstances and I aim to make sure the gap is as small as possible by the time the traffic is back to normal.

I'd rather make my brakes last as long as possible and maximise fuel efficiency because I am tight, so not start/stop if I can avoid it.

This only tends to be feasible in single file queues though as where there are more than one lane of queing traffic someone will invariably fill any gap more than a couple of car lengths to save a second or two.

lluzers

AndyPix wrote: »

This is a message to the people who, in rush hour traffic, on a chocca-bloc motorway -
In the 3rd lane, leave a massive 2 mile gap between them and the car in front ...


I hate you


I hate you with every fibre of my being


You do reaslise that it is people like you who actually cause the massive tail-backs ??
If you dont want to keep up - MOVE OVER


You make my blood boil and you should be stripped of your license and sent to jail


Rant over

Try anger management techniques and mindfulness , never let stupid people drag you to their level.:rotfl:

Money_saving_maniac

almillar wrote: »

In a queuing motorway, your first aim is to NOT STOP.

Totally wrong.

In a queuing motorway your first aim is not to be hit, then not to shunt the car in front of you.

Patience saves injury and lives in any traffic jam situation.

Friend of mine was rear shunted by an impatient smart alec last week who wasn't reading the road ahead.