Distance between vehicles at a red light

[Jstpssng]

A coworker keeps telling me "You should be able to see the tires of the vehicle in front of you when you are stopped. We got into a heated discussion today... as he stopped a car length back and stated " It's what the insurance people say to do" I looked in my mirror at all of the traffic behind me and thought about how much slower traffic would flow if everybody followed that logic. When at a light I shift into neutral, press down on the brake, and watch what's going on around me.

How many of you follow the "see the tires of the car in front of you" logic? Should I go back to driving school? (In 40+ years I've driven well over a million miles and never hit anyone; but have been rear ended multiple times)

 

[Fawken]

A coworker keeps telling me "You should be able to see the tires of the vehicle in front of you when you are stopped. We got into a heated discussion today... as he stopped a car length back and stated " It's what the insurance people say to do" I looked in my mirror at all of the traffic behind me and thought about how much slower traffic would flow if everybody followed that logic. When at a light I shift into neutral, press down on the brake, and watch what's going on around me.

How many of you follow the "see the tires of the car in front of you" logic?)

None, probably. If you did that in Dallas or LA you'd get beat up.

 

[ericb2400]

That's what they taught me in drivers Ed 35 years ago. I still try to do that. Gives some stoping space when you are rear ended

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[MikeInEburg]

Actually, leaving too much space really aggrevates my wife - especially in city driving, where those half car lengths added up across a city block equals another two or three cars getting thru the light. The only advantage of leaving space is that IF someone rear-ends you, you're less likely to hit the car in front of you.

 

[Oaktree]

How many of you follow the "see the tires of the car in front of you" logic? Should I go back to driving school? (In 40+ years I've driven well over a million miles and never hit anyone; but have been rear ended multiple times)

Sheesh, in Boston they don't leave that much space at 50 mph.

 

[dave1949]

It depends on whether the car ahead has any interesting bumper stickers I'm trying to read.

I don't leave that much space except behind trucks on slopes, but I can see the logic as it applies to reducing accident damage--but who has time for that nonsense?

 

[Deere Dude]

I try to leave a car length at least in case my foot slides off the break I won't tag a rear end, or if somebody rear ends me a tad and pushes me. Maybe from living in Wisconsin most of my life and dealing with snow and ice formed my driving techniques.

Especially in the country I will leave a little more room and keep an eye on the rear view mirrors in case I need to escape in a hurry. There were times when I needed to drift ahead a little bit to avoid a rear ender from somebody not stopping as I feel he should.

When he starts moving I have the flexibility to get as close as I want and I just seem to be more in control of everything. I don't fool around shifting into neutral because that is one more distraction when the light turns green, like accidentally putting it in reverse. But that is just me.

 

[Mace Canute]

I like to leave enough room to be able to, without having to back up, turn out around the vehicle in front of me if it happens to break down just at that time or as happens much more often, if they decide to put their signal light on after they've stopped.

 

[jaotguy]

the real traffic slowdown is the inattentive ( distracted / day dreaming / texting ) drivers that wait 5 -8 seconds before moving again ....

the tire rule is for insurance purposes ...

drive according to the road conditions ( and your skill level at the time ) ... which means "leave yourself an escape route"

 

[QRTRHRS]

Not sure about the tires but you should be able to see the bumper just the same as you should be able to see the wide white line if there is one and you are in the front of the line at a light.