Massive room between cars at red lights?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I leave enough space for myself to get out if the car in front of me stalls. It has happened!

Same. It's what I was first taught. And it has actually happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the recommendation? That you can see all of the vehicle in front of you? All the way to where the tires touch the road?

Yes. All of the tires of the car in front of you.

[Anonymous]

I think that people whose cars shut off at lights do not creep after stopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It causes blocked intersections because the cars behind see that there is in enough space to go through, then the car stops suddenly a full length or more back leaving others in the middle of the intersection when their correct judgment would have had them and the car behind them through the intersection.

Oh please. Please block the box because they're checked out and not paying attention. IOW, they're just lousy distracted drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people have taken the defensive driving course where you have to be able to get out of stopped traffic to avoid carjackers etc. That requires a little more room.

I think some of the 3 letter agencies around here train new hires to leave space for evasive maneuvering. There are probably enough contractors and GS employees in NoVA that it's noticeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people have taken the defensive driving course where you have to be able to get out of stopped traffic to avoid carjackers etc. That requires a little more room.

This is EXACTLY what’s going on. I do it myself now. I leave enough room where I can go up over the curb or into the oncoming lane to get away if someone comes up on me on foot. This is why I leave more space now, and I suspect other people are doing it too.

I personally know two people who were both carjacked in the same week, 3 weeks ago. One in DTSS, the other in SWDC. In the DC carjacking, the kids who stole her car were laughing at her as they fired shots at her as they were driving away. They are animals. Absolute animals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people inch/pull forward causing more space between the cars -- which almost always happens -- but these days the car behind them doesn't pull forward as well because they are looking at a phone.

I don’t feel obligated to sporadically inch forward in response to the car in front of me doing so. The lights usually aren’t that long, and it makes more sense to me to hold my place if the gap in front of me doesn’t get bigger than a car length. When it turns green and we drive off, my acceleration is less likely to bring me too close to the car in front of me, so I will have the desired following distance sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people have taken the defensive driving course where you have to be able to get out of stopped traffic to avoid carjackers etc. That requires a little more room.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people inch/pull forward causing more space between the cars -- which almost always happens -- but these days the car behind them doesn't pull forward as well because they are looking at a phone.

I vote for this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people have taken the defensive driving course where you have to be able to get out of stopped traffic to avoid carjackers etc. That requires a little more room.

I think some of the 3 letter agencies around here train new hires to leave space for evasive maneuvering. There are probably enough contractors and GS employees in NoVA that it's noticeable.

I learned it in drivers ed. I don't normally leave much space, but if I'm somewhere where I know there have been carjackings, I'll leave enough to get out. I also leave space at intersections without left hand turn lanes where I know people tend to make lefts and hold up traffic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people have taken the defensive driving course where you have to be able to get out of stopped traffic to avoid carjackers etc. That requires a little more room.

This is EXACTLY what’s going on. I do it myself now. I leave enough room where I can go up over the curb or into the oncoming lane to get away if someone comes up on me on foot. This is why I leave more space now, and I suspect other people are doing it too.

I personally know two people who were both carjacked in the same week, 3 weeks ago. One in DTSS, the other in SWDC. In the DC carjacking, the kids who stole her car were laughing at her as they fired shots at her as they were driving away. They are animals. Absolute animals.

No you don’t, because this didn’t happen. You probably read it on Facebook or something. Carjackings yes, but firing at someone while driving away no.

[Anonymous]

This is not what gets me. What gets me is when there’s a lane closure past an intersection and people drive across the intersection, see it, and then stop with their blinker on to move over into heavy traffic.

You need to go ALL THE WAY TO THE LANE CLOSURE. Then zipper in one at a time. When people do this they strand others in the intersection and effectively double or triple the size of the lane closure. It’s infuriating.

[Anonymous]

I have a small car so I slip right into those big spaces (some are so huge) even if I wasn't planning on turning just on principle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people inch/pull forward causing more space between the cars -- which almost always happens -- but these days the car behind them doesn't pull forward as well because they are looking at a phone.

This is what I’ve noticed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the recommendation? That you can see all of the vehicle in front of you? All the way to where the tires touch the road?

That's what I learned way back when in driver's ed.

Same here. You should be able to see where their back tires touch the road.