On my way home from Sacramento on I-80 west today, the benefit of leaving PLENTY of space between me and the car in front of me PAID OFF.

I was doing about 65-70MPH in the right hand lane with the flow of traffic, readying for my exit about 1/2 mile ahead. A motorcyclist was following me about 3 car lengths behind me, and I was about 5 car distannces behind a mid 90's white Toyota Camry. Up ahead on the righht shoulder of the interstate was a big rig, parked. For some reason as the Camry ahead of me passed the big rig, the driver decided to SLAM ON THE BRAKES from 70MPH!!!!!!!!!! (it stopped dead, in thhe lane but to the right, and didnt even bother minding their own safety, or anyone elses by merging onto the shooulder!) I instantly sat on the horn, and began reducing speed, applying my brakes enough to be able to manuver safely, yet keeping my speed up ennough to avoid creating a pile-up in MY trunk. As I approached the haulted Camry in my lane, I gracefully driifted into the middle lane to my left, where a Mecury Sable in the lane next to me to my left, drifted towards the FAR left lane which was empty to his left. While remaining on the horn, I swooped around the stopped Camry, and returned into my lane. WHOA!

My exit lane appeared shortly there after, and I merged into it towards my right, while the Guy driving the Sable, and the motorcylist passed and gave me some thumbs up. GOD that could have been a whole different story. WHAT THE HELL was the Camry driver doing!!!!!?!?!?!?!

If I hadnt left so much space between me and the car ahead of me, I might have been SERIOSULY hurt, if not dead,my W123 would have been WRECKED, a motorcylist probabaly would have been in my trunk, and the Camry in front of me would have been toast, along with the people in it.

DRIVE SAFELY!

__________________
Nate

1995 E420
1992 BMW 525i
1984 300D Turbo sold
1993 Volvo 244 sold
1995 Volvo 944T R.I.P!


"The details are not details. They make the product."
-Charles Eames

www.cbs.nu

The reccomended space/speed is 10', for every 10 mph of speed. Although... I have found that leaving that much space is an open invitation to every Indy driver wannabe to try and squeeze in, in front of me, creating a dangerous situation. To avoid this, I try not to tempt people, by leaving, about a car length of distance to the car in front of me. I wish I could leave more room, but there are to many wankers out there.

Defensive driving . . . taught at all driving schools and driver's ed, but is probably the first thing forgotten after getting a license.

Its definitely hard to keep a safe distance betwen cars with all of the aforementioned "indy driver wannabes" on the road.... Just lastnight a friend and I were driving from San Francisco to Sacramento, and the fog was SOOOO thick that there was about 2 car lengths of visibility ahead.... despite the danger in such conditions, drivers were passing me going 70MPH+ People can be extremely IDIOTIC when it comes to driving.

I think it is an entirely good idea, and should perhaps be mandatory, for people seeking a drivers license to attend a closed course defensive driving school in addition to the basic drivers ed, which would enable many people to become more aware of how a vehicle reacts in panic situations, how to handle a car in case there is a loss of control, etc etc etc. (Many raceeways across the nation offer courses that teach drivers about threshold breaking, skid control, high speed handling and control, and accident avoidance...)And if people dont learn from the class, it certainly wont hurt fro them to at least absorb the info proveded in some way or anothher by just being present- it would certainly be more benficial than what is now required for a license. Maybe it would be a great idea to eliminate those who dont benefit from the class from driving at all until they can pass the class with flying colors. All in all, I strongly feel there needs to be more stringent testing, courses, and in-car experience required to become a licensed driver. There are just WAY too many people on the roads knocking on deaths door, and knocking on that door for many otherwise decent drives, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. It makes me SICK

__________________
Nate

1995 E420
1992 BMW 525i
1984 300D Turbo sold
1993 Volvo 244 sold
1995 Volvo 944T R.I.P!


"The details are not details. They make the product."
-Charles Eames

www.cbs.nu

I agree about the defensive driving classes. These wannabe Indy drivers are mostly young kids that have the attitude---I have my seat belt on, I have front wheel drive, and I'm bullet proof.

It may be that "young kids" aren't going to be our scapegoats for very long. Check out the latest government statistics. Of all 16 and 17 year olds in the United States, only 43 percent have a driver's license. In California the figure is even smaller, about 27 percent.

Out here in cali its a combo of all types... youve got the "whipper-snapper" kids my age in their sports cars, the "uber yuppies" of all ages in their 05' Audis, Merc AMGs, an M cars who seem to think that rush hour on any of the freeways is their own personal Autobahn, youve got the "soccer moms" doin their hair & drinking trippple lattes in SUV's full of kids barreling along at 85MPH, the "macho guys" in their rasied pick ups looking down on everyone like theyre in a monster truck rally tailagting and speeeding, mr. and mrs. jones riding your bumper zoned out after a 12 hour day in a cubicle, and then you have ol gramps and grams pushin 55MPH, no more, adding to the congestion!!!! Its INSANITY.

Not that any of these people are "bad people", but a stricter liscensing process would surely filter out some of the folks who seem to have an altered perception of what driving means. And hopefully the majority of the ones who do get their license will have a better understanding of what exactly is "on the plate" when it comes to getting behind the wheel- and will hopefuully gain the knowlegde of how driving responsibly can dramatically reduce the amount of accidents and near accidents on the road, in addition to knowing how to react properly when an accident is going to happen- beacause in the reality of today, accidents ARE going to happen.

__________________
Nate

1995 E420
1992 BMW 525i
1984 300D Turbo sold
1993 Volvo 244 sold
1995 Volvo 944T R.I.P!


"The details are not details. They make the product."
-Charles Eames

www.cbs.nu

. . . between me and the car ahead whenever possible since I began driving. My best friend at the time used to say, "You'd better close up, somebody'll get that space," but I knew better. You can only stop so fast and no faster.

For nearly 8 years I drove a delivery van in New Orleans traffic, and the spacing routine saved me more times than I can count. Of course during major rush hours it's hard to do, the morons will swoop in (and here they have no idea what the turn signal lever is for, so you have no warning). I have to stay on my toes. I don't drink coffee in my car, I don't have a cell phone. I'm too busy watching out for the crazies.

I leave about 3 seconds' space between me and the car ahead, more if the road is wet or visibility is poor. Should I leave more even under dry clear conditions?

__________________
* *
-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino

I've been trying out the "ripple" method of reducing stop-and-go traffic congestion that someone here posted a link to the other day. I get on the Greater New Orleans Bridge (and people here are as crazy as anywhere, and have no idea what the turn signal lever is for), try to leave a little more space than usual in front of me, and aim for a steady pace of 35 mph. Sure, morons swoop in, but I fall back a little and keep going.

The *best* we could hope for on that bridge at that time of day is 35-40 mph anyway, and you know, I think I'm coming closer to that average speed myself; far less "stop, accelerate to 30, slow down, stop, repeat."

Of course I wouldn't try this on the open road at 65. I'd get creamed, and would deserve it. But in this set of conditions, it seems to help.

__________________
* *
-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino