Driver Behaviour in traffic jams...

tommmy1979

When in a very very slow moving traffic i'll often leave a large gap between myself and tha car in front, often as much as 4 car lengths, i find that it frequently pisses off the driver behind me.. why? I've no idea.. but i find that i'm less stressed when i do this becasue i'm not constantly clutching or on the brakes all the time.

What do other people think ?

T

MagicMarker

I think a lot of things.

Sully

Usually do the same and turn the engine off. Ill move up when there is a much larger gap but it really depends where the jam is (traffic lights, roundabouts or whatever)

PirateShampoo

tommmy1979 wrote: »

When in a very very slow moving traffic i'll often leave a large gap between myself and tha car in front, often as much as 4 car lengths, i find that it frequently pisses off the driver behind me.. why? I've no idea.. but i find that i'm less stressed when i do this becasue i'm not constantly clutching or on the brakes all the time.

What do other people think ?

T

Because instead of crawling with the traffic at the same speed ur forcing the people behind you to stop and start and there by adding to the problem.

tommmy1979

tommmy1979 wrote: »

When in a very very slow moving traffic i'll often leave a large gap between myself and tha car in front, often as much as 4 car lengths, i find that it frequently pisses off the driver behind me.. why? I've no idea.. but i find that i'm less stressed when i do this becasue i'm not constantly clutching or on the brakes all the time.

What do other people think ?

T

i hate when people do that! :mad:

what about the guy who wants to turn off behind you but has to wait for you to wander on up to the car in front of you?

or when your going through traffic lights and you leave a gap in front of you? you might get through but people behind you will get a red light when they shouldn't have.. making traffic worse behind.

or between roundabouts, cars need room to get off the roundabout, not fair for you to be sitting back..


i'd say i could list about ten reasons for that bein a selfish way to drive.. i see it every day on the road to claregalway, one eejit in a black bmw sometimes 100 yards behind the car in front of him. yea, doesn't matter to him but plenty of people behind him are turning left and right of the road.

drive properly and be considerate to other drivers. :mad:

tommmy1979

PirateShampoo wrote: »

Because instead of crawling with the traffic at the same speed ur forcing the people behind you to stop and start and there by adding to the problem.

Wrong, i crawl but leave enough of a gap so that when the car in front brakes then i don't have to break before he moves off again... that in my opinion is smooth driving.

T

tommmy1979

Deleted User wrote: »

i hate when people do that! :mad:

what about the guy who wants to turn off behind you but has to wait for you to wander on up to the car in front of you?

or when your going through traffic lights and you leave a gap in front of you? you might get through but people behind you will get a red light when they shouldn't have.. making traffic worse behind.

or between roundabouts, cars need room to get off the roundabout, not fair for you to be sitting back..


i'd say i could list about ten reasons for that bein a selfish way to drive.. i see it every day on the road to claregalway, one eejit in a black bmw sometimes 100 yards behind the car in front of him. yea, doesn't matter to him but plenty of people behind him are turning left and right of the road.

drive properly and be considerate to other drivers. :mad:

I hear you but i don't do it in any of those circumstances and i'm very considerate driver... cheers

chickenhawk

tommmy1979 wrote: »

i'm very considerate driver.

In your opinion.

L-M

chickenhawk wrote: »

In your opinion.

Lol!

I'm sure you'd fail your test for not making progress:P

But come on, four car lengths? Sound like a bit of a pain in the arse to be behind.

tommmy1979

tommmy1979 wrote: »

I hear you but i don't do it in any of those circumstances and i'm very considerate driver... cheers

well then it's grand but in those circumstances listed, it really just isn't on... i've had the traffic lights issue a few mornings and it's very irritating

j@utis

if I leave such a big gap in front of my car on slowly moving N11, I usually get 4 cars trying to get into it from the slower lane and another 4 from the merging in lane or even hard shoulder...

T-Maxx

I agree with the OP on this one.

If everyone would do the same, traffic would be able to crawl along with none of this stop/start business.

It's a lot easier on the car, on the driver and on the environment.

tommmy1979

j@utis wrote: »

if I leave such a big gap in front of my car on slowly moving N11, I usually get 4 cars trying to get into it from the slower lane and another 4 from the merging in lane or even hard shoulder...

yea, you will get that but i usually only do it on long stretches where people are settled in their lanes and not looking to jumpo around the lanes although you do get the odd one jumping into the space just because it's there or they think they can save them selves a microsecond.

T

P.C.

tommmy1979 wrote: »

When in a very very slow moving traffic i'll often leave a large gap between myself and tha car in front, often as much as 4 car lengths, i find that it frequently pisses off the driver behind me.. why? I've no idea.. but i find that i'm less stressed when i do this becasue i'm not constantly clutching or on the brakes all the time.

What do other people think ?

T

It irritates the hell out of me.

1.) the driver/s behind me will undertake me and you in the bus lane, as they have seen the large gap you have left. I don't use bus lanes, as it is wrong.
2.) only 3 cars will get through the lights - you being the last one, where normally 7 cars would get through the lights.

These are just two things that make me travel time longer. :mad:

Stop behind the car in front of you, don't crawl along.

Think of the other road users.

bryanmurr

i think the OP has a good idea in principle but 4 car lengths may be a bit much.

P.C.

I am watching Mission Impossible 3, and have just heard Tom say that thing about traffic.
something to the effect of:

If you tap the brakes when driving on the motorway, the effects will be felt miles back. :eek:

Think about that.

Damien360

Someone crawling along like that in a traffic jam is not that bad as long as not too much space is left. Nothing worse than seeing cars racing up the bus lane to get to that space and the line just gets longer.

But, by far the worst is the driver that does that and then stops over 2 car lengths from the car in front. You are expecting to creep up a bit closer and then they stick on the brakes. Not expected and nearly hit the fool in front of me last time it happened. I tend to watch the brake lights of the cars ahead of the one in front of me to get the timing for clutch and brake correctly.

Happens a lot on the road from longmile to red cow. Add this driver to the creeper above sitting in the middle lane as all cars race up the left lane to get in before that lane closes. That really, really iritates me. I genarally dive in to the left (nobody lets anyone in to the right lane) and go round him, looking like a lunatic to other drivers.

fletch

I do this all the time in stop start traffic. While other cars are spending their time accelerating and braking constantly, I can tip along never having to use my breaks or come to a complete stop, saving on my breaks, gearbox etc and sanity, does drive some other road users mad but couldn't care less. If they want to go past me, I let them.

fryup

my old man does it, but he leaves a space in front...just in case the car in front stalls/breaksdown, making it easier for him to get around...does anyone else do that??

tommmy1979

fryup wrote: »

my old man does it, but he leaves a space in front...just in case the car in front stalls/breaksdown, making it easier for him to get around...does anyone else do that??

I think there's an unwritten rule that says if you're stopped in a traffic jam then you should be able see the bottom of the rear tyres of the car in front.. perhaps it's just a guideline that instructors give.

su_dios

tommmy1979 wrote: »

I think there's an unwritten rule that says if you're stopped in a traffic jam then you should be able see the bottom of the rear tyres of the car in front.. perhaps it's just a guideline that instructors give.

I was told the same and usually do this. Obviously this may not always be the case where in doing so you would cause the person behind to become an obstruction(yellow box or something).

OP by doing what you are(I do get what you're saying tho), less people will go through the lights or more people will end up breaking the lights, cues will become longer possibly making it harder for people to join onto these cues from side roads and also frustrating the drivers behind you enticing them to make dangerous moves.

One car length should do fine, and no you don't need to move every time someone inches along but I think 4 car lengths is a bit too much!!

OldmanMondeo

As other people have said, it causes other road users to miss turns of traffic lights etc. OP, 4 car lenghts is way to much, max should be 1 car lenght. You are causing no more wear on your brakes or gear box by moving at that type of speed.

Tha amount of time I have missed a turn of trafic lights because of drivers like you. Like everyone else on the roads, I have a life outside the car and would like to get home as quickley and safetly as possible wothout been held up by gobs***es like your good self.

Twin-go

I've seen people leave way more than 4 car lenghts, maybe 20-30, (Clondel Rd. inbound Limerick). It is bad driving. It causes conjestion and slows everybody behind down.

In most driving conditions I use the 2 second rule or I leave about a car lenght in stop start and as mentioned above stop when I can still see the back tyres of the car in front.

For those who leave big gaps think of those behind you and stop been selfish.

seamus

Depends on the situation. This works quite well on the M50. If you can time it right, you can actually set it up so that all of the traffic behind you is flowing smoothly rather than the stop/start motion. There was an interesting thread on it here a few years ago which had a link to a theory that such traffic was actually a waveform and by "compressing" your section of the wave, you could effectively dissipate it and improve traffic conditions.

On roads with light controlled junctions or very busy roundabouts though it's a tad pointless because you're going to have to stop at some point for the lights.

BlackWizard

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

As other people have said, it causes other road users to miss turns of traffic lights etc. OP, 4 car lenghts is way to much, max should be 1 car lenght. You are causing no more wear on your breaks or gear box by moving at that type of speed.

Why are so many people not listening to the OP. He never mentioned traffic lights or anything like that. And when did he mention saving his breaks or gear box He is just sitting in traffic in a car park like the M50 and is leaving a gap (possibly too big) between him and the car on front. It makes for comfortable driving for himself and others behind.

I do exactly what the OP does when ever Im in bad traffic on the main roads. Except I don't think the gap I leave is that big. I often notice I can sometimes keep a constant speed while others on front are accelerating and braking all the way down the road.

I would much prefer to be doing a guaranteed 10kph home than a stop start 0-15kph all the way home. At the end of the day I get home at the same time either way.

Cookie_Monster

I used to do this but have stopped as the space usually just gets filled by someone either turning onto the road or moving lanes etc etc, which is even more annoying than the stop start stop start.

@everyone... it B-R-A-K-E-S not breaks:p

OldmanMondeo

BlackWizard wrote: »

Why are so many people not listening to the OP. He never mentioned traffic lights or anything like that. And when did he mention saving his breaks or gear box He is just sitting in traffic in a car park like the M50 and is leaving a gap (possibly too big) between him and the car on front. It makes for comfortable driving for himself and others behind.

I do exactly what the OP does when ever Im in bad traffic on the main roads. Except I don't think the gap I leave is that big. I often notice I can sometimes keep a constant speed while others on front are accelerating and braking all the way down the road.

I would much prefer to be doing a guaranteed 10kph home than a stop start 0-15kph all the way home. At the end of the day I get home at the same time either way.

I have read all the OP posts here and he has mentioned his brakes and gearbox. As for traffic behind, I am not just talking about the 3 / 4 cars directly behind, but also the cars that are 10+ behind. All stuck behind people who are afraid they will crash. If your paying proper attention you will not hit the person in front and you will not cause anyextra wear and tear on the components of the car.

Berty

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I used to do this but have stopped as the space usually just gets filled by someone either turning onto the road or moving lanes etc etc, which is even more annoying than the stop start stop start.

@everyone... it B-R-A-K-E-S not breaks:p

I think the correct spelling is "its" and not it, to be pedantic about it.

OldmanMondeo

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

@everyone... it B-R-A-K-E-S not breaks:p

Oopps, for someone in the parts game I must be having a Blonde day. Cheers Cookie...

seamus

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

All stuck behind people who are afraid they will crash. If your paying proper attention you will not hit the person in front and you will not cause anyextra wear and tear on the components of the car.

It's nothing to do with being afraid of crashing. Where in God's name did you get that from?

Also, rolling moving slowly in 2nd/3rd -v- braking and changing gear every 15 seconds; The latter causes wear on your clutch, gearbox, brake pads/discs and your tyres. Over 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year, that's a hell of a lot of additional wear.

OldmanMondeo

seamus wrote: »

It's nothing to do with being afraid of crashing. Where in God's name did you get that from?

Also, rolling moving slowly in 2nd/3rd -v- braking and changing gear every 15 seconds; The latter causes wear on your clutch, gearbox, brake pads/discs and your tyres. Over 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year, that's a hell of a lot of additional wear.

1 or 2 people mentioned in the thread about the possibility of hitting the car in front.

As for the wear, probebly the same as brakeing from 120kph to say 80kph. If you driving properly this will make min. difference.