Highway speeds - Keep your distance!

[BobsYourUncle]

It always amazes me how close people follow going highway speeds. They seem to think it's OK to follow 4 car lengths at 110K / 70MPH...

Yesterday afternoon, returning from a day trip to the Banff / Canmore area, traffic was fairly heavy. Nice day, a lot of people out.

I was at the wheel of our Nissan Rogue doing about 111K with the cruise on. Suddenly, I saw 2 deer, a doe and her fawn, at a fast trot coming right towards the highway from the right, on an angle directly towards the front of our car. DW and her 90 year old mother with me.

I jumped HARD on the brakes, a very dangerous thing to do in highway traffic but it was that or a collision. The doe passed about 40 feet in front of us and somehow made it between the back of the car beside us, and the front of the one behind him. I started to swerve into the left lane to avoid the fawn when it suddenly turned and ran back. I then stayed in my lane.
Quick mirror check, the guy behind me swerved off the road on the shoulder, hard on the brakes, to avoid hitting us, and had to stop fast to avoid the fawn. The Class A MH right behind him also took the shoulder. Not sure, but I think he hit the car behind us. He was following too close to slow down fast enough. Again, not sure.

As soon as I was clear of both deer I hit the throttle to get out of the way of traffic rapidly climbing towards my bumper. Success, I made it through without hitting anything or getting hit.

I watched the mirror as we left the scene. The MH and the car behind us were now both stopped on the shoulder, likely to exchange info and insurance. There were other cars now stopped on both shoulders, likely multiple collisions. Most vehicles were following too close. Maybe not, who knows?

Bottom line, keep your distance from the next car, pay attention to what's going on. Even though an open divided freeway tends to make people think it's all clear, a sudden emergency can show up in an instant like that.

I'm glad I was paying attention.

[wa8yxm]

noteven wrote:

And then settles in 1 point 5 seconds off your stern and drives there ...

Why?

Well that's better than 0.5

[Mike134]

valhalla360 wrote:
Good advice but this is a situation that technology will solve over the next 10-20yrs as adaptive cruise becomes standard.

I've ridden in a vehicle with adaptive cruise control, you have to set it to follow close, otherwise folks keep entering in front of you and the adaptive cruise keeps backing off the throttle to maintain the gap if you set it to large.

[cptqueeg]

Another caution is remembering motorcycles can stop extremely quickly so giving them extra space is warranted.

[JRscooby]

toedtoes wrote:
I always leave 3-4 seconds between me and the car in front of me. Especially in stop and go traffic.

For those who decry "they cut in front of me", think about it.

This is NOT a line. You don't reach a common end where those extra cars will get the prize before you. So it doesn't matter how many cars are in front of you - as long as you are moving forward, you are getting where you are going.

Leaving the space and letting cars move over and get off the highway/freeway without having to stop will get everyone to their destinations faster than if you hoard the space and make them slow down or stop to make their exit - regardless of how many cars there are.

It also reduces your stress level.

Thank you!

When driving a heavier vehicle, you not only need to allow distance to react to the car in front slowing, you need to add extra distance because he can slow faster than you can. The fact that somebody will steal your following distance, and still not have any is something an adult has to deal with. The only safe thing you can do about it is drop off his donkey and repeat. This is why you often see 2 trucks running side by each approaching a lane drop. You can rant about them blocking traffic, but in just a few seconds the trucks are rolling at the average speed traffic is moving and most of the speed-up/slow-down/speed-up is gone.

[rexlion]

Recently on the freeway I've had several drivers pull in front of me so soon after passing, I don't know how they missed clipping my front bumper. People are driving like idiots.

[toedtoes]

I always leave 3-4 seconds between me and the car in front of me. Especially in stop and go traffic.

For those who decry "they cut in front of me", think about it.

This is NOT a line. You don't reach a common end where those extra cars will get the prize before you. So it doesn't matter how many cars are in front of you - as long as you are moving forward, you are getting where you are going.

Leaving the space and letting cars move over and get off the highway/freeway without having to stop will get everyone to their destinations faster than if you hoard the space and make them slow down or stop to make their exit - regardless of how many cars there are.

It also reduces your stress level.

[mockturtle]

On some busy freeways, leaving four car lengths in front of you means someone will merge in. 😄

[S_Davis]

I drive from Seattle north on I-5 and some days it feels like I am going backwards so many people cut me off because I leave extra room. Some will cut in front of you if there is a car length plus 6”.

[time2roll]

rk911 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Good advice but this is a situation that technology will solve over the next 10-20yrs as adaptive cruise becomes standard.

adaptive cruise: otherwise known as “i don’t have to pay attention...the car will save me”. until it doesn’t.

ACC actually works quite well. I find my following distance is greater than most other vehicles. When traffic accelerates from a slow down the ACC keeps up better than most drivers. When rapid deceleration is needed it gives prompt audible and visual warning.

Give it a try for a few thousand miles before you decry all the bad issues your mind invents.

[blofgren]

Great post, Bob, and I totally agree with you. It always amazes us how many semi trucks tailgate as well; extremely dangerous! :M

[Tyler0215]

The ones that tick me off are drivers that come up in the left lane, get even with your back bumper and stay there mile after mile.

[NamMedevac_70]

I noticed some states seem to be worse than others for example NM where they ride your bumper then after passing cut in immediately in front of you with only a car length. Why they do this I have no idea. The habit is catching as I now see it occasionally in other states of the west. By the way before you I happen to like NM for a variety of reasons.

[Ed_Gee]

noteven wrote:
I wonder about another phemo...phenoma... situation that I experience on lonely western roads..

You are cruising along all by yourself at whatever speed... and in the mirrors another vehicle appears...

It catches you after a few km/miles...

And then settles in 1 point 5 seconds off your stern and drives there ...

Why?

My guess - as I sometimes do - he is following you at night because you provide a nice buffer in case some obstruction is in the road ahead...... of course when I do it I leave a large buffer of 5 seconds or more....

[pianotuna]

As I'm rarely in a hurry I look for alternate highways. So I take highway 1A from Canmore to Calgary. Of course from Banff to Canmore there is no alternate route that I'm aware of.

[rk911]

valhalla360 wrote:
Good advice but this is a situation that technology will solve over the next 10-20yrs as adaptive cruise becomes standard.

adaptive cruise: otherwise known as “i don’t have to pay attention...the car will save me”. until it doesn’t.