2 second rule on motorways

In article , says...
Also make the driving schools tech people to actually drive properly,
rather than teach them to pass their test



Some of us do/did. One of the most effective lessons was to take
learners out onto a 60mph country lane, explain that shortly they would
be travelling at speed and that they would see a particular signpost.
The game was to do an emergency stop as late as possible yet still stop
before passing the sign. Very few stopped short. Some were over by
dozens of yards.
The other fun game was to drive down to Marble Arch and tell them to
find their way back to Pinner/Uxbridge/Watford on their own.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

On Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:06:15 +0000, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
wrote:

On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:40:08 -0500, "Mr. Bean" wrote:

I feel that that at 70mph, the 2 sec rule between cars is an inadequate
time to avoid a pile up.I would say more like 4 secs.

I feel that it's irrelevant to bicyclists.

Guy


Most of what you have to say is irrelevant to the real world.

"I swear by almighty God, that the evidence I shall give ........"


Oh - bugger - I'd better not do that - it may nip me on the arse :-)

--
Porky Chapman bragged about the fact that he was taking someone he
had accused of harassing him through the court system.
All of a sudden his court case is off. Was it because Porky was scared of
being cross-examined and having to answer questions under oath?
Or did the CPS sling the case out because of Porky's "evidence"?
Why won't he tell us?

On Feb 14, 12:06*am, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:40:08 -0500, "Mr. Bean" wrote:
I feel that that at 70mph, the 2 sec rule between cars is an inadequate
time to avoid a pile up.I would say more like 4 secs.

I feel that it's irrelevant to bicyclists.

Guy
--
Guy Chapman,http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
The usenet price promise: all opinions are guaranteed
to be worth at least what you paid for them.

Off topic.
Bicycles are banned from motorways.

--
Simon Mason

Doug wrote:



Dear me, there are so many problems with driving its a wonder that so
many people are still keen to do it.

Because I'm not as privileged as you are Doug; I need to drive to work
to earn a living. Oh of course there are public transport, but then I
would spend the whole day just for commuting and no time in the office...

On 14/02/2012 07:44, Doug wrote:
On Feb 13, 10:34 pm, Alex wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:40:08 -0500, "Mr. wrote:
I feel that that at 70mph, the 2 sec rule between cars is an inadequate
time to avoid a pile up.I would say more like 4 secs.

In that case, your reactions are not adequate to driving in the modern
world, and you should give up your licence.

2 seconds is plenty for any reasonable driver who is paying attention.

And whether you are doing 35 or 75 makes no difference to that, since
the gap is to take account of reaction time before you are slowing at
the same rate as the vehicle in front.

Obviously reaction time is related to speed and stopping distance.

No it isn't. Reaction time will vary from person to person, but, for a
given stimulus, each individual will have essentially the same reaction
time whatever speed they are travelling at. The two second rule is not,
in fact, a reaction time. It is a response time - the time taken to
recognise a stimulus, to react to it and to take whatever action is
needed as a result of the stimulus. Two seconds is a pessimistic
estimate of how long an average driver will take to respond to something
happening on the road ahead. Most will respond in about half that time.

What if the guy in front suddenly stops or crashes? I doubt if 2
seconds will avoid your crash into him at 70+ mph

The laws of physics still apply and, unless he drives into an immovable
object, like a bridge pier, which you are unlikely to be following him
into, he won't still be there when you reach the point he was two
seconds previously. In any case, nobody should be driving exclusively on
what the car ahead of them is doing. On a motorway, you should be
looking anything up to a mile ahead.

and especially when
you are tinkering with your many car gadgets or glancing at your
passenger or sneezing, etc..

Two seconds is pessimistic precisely because there may be an occasional
distraction. As for gadgets, I can't think of one in my car that
requires me to take my eyes off the road.

Hence why there are so many pile-ups on
motorways.

Motorways being the safest roads in Britain.

Colin Bignell

On 14/02/2012 11:09, steve robinson wrote:
Tony Haynes wrote:

On Feb 14, 9:46 am, R C wrote:
Tony Haynes spoke:

The problem with the 2 second rolling gap theory is, at speed,
in multiple shunts, that gap rapidly decreases and the car in
front could almost suddenly stop dead. You won't.... or will...
as the case may be. In bad weather especially the gap should be
far greater. If you don't think so then perhaps you should give
up your licence?

Unfortunately most drivers simply drive and observe to the car in
front rather than beyond as far as possible.

In many circumstances I've seen a problem develop several
furlongs ahead and started to slow (without brakes) and drivers
behind tend to get aggravated.

--

Scenario. M4 towards Swindon. 7am. Heavy bank of fog rolling across
motorway. I, and several other truck drivers saw it and slowed down
hazards on. Frustrated motorists behind us pulled out and joined the
80mph procession in the third lane, closing down stopping distances
of everyone else and actually accelerating into the fog bank.

Utter madness. Nothing happened. They were all lucky.

But this was just days after people lost their loves in fires and
multiple crashes on the M42 in an exactly similar situation.

Tone

A proximity sensor linked to a vehicles speed versus distance from
the vehicle in front may discoorage tail gating

I have one of those on my car, using radar. I can rarely use it in the
UK, as, even at minimum sensitivity, it leaves too large a gap for most
British drivers to want to see empty. Wound up to maximum range, which
is fine for most Autobahn, it will start to react to a slower vehicle
around half a mile away.

Colin Bignell

Skipweasel wrote:
Also make the driving schools tech people to actually drive properly,
rather than teach them to pass their test
Some of us do/did.

When I started learning I told my instructor: I don't want to learn
to pass the test, I want to learn to be a safe driver. My lessons
tended to include a lot of "this won't be on the test, but..."

One of the most effective lessons was to take
learners out onto a 60mph country lane,

Sheffield Parkway is all but a motorway, and is very useful for
practising motorway driving skills as a learner. The first time
my instructor sent me on it the first few minutes was filled
with argh! argh! arrgh!! arrrgh!! (from me

JGH

In article 79e145e5-2017-4997-b843-758a4e150520
@w4g2000vbc.googlegroups.com, says...
Sheffield Parkway is all but a motorway, and is very useful for
practising motorway driving skills as a learner.


Used to use the A40 for that - as far as where it became the A40(M)
where we had to leave and run down to White City, left and along through
Shepherds' Bush along the top of the park, past Lancaster Gate and so to
Marble Arch. Down to Hyde Park Corner and then on the way back up show
them where to find the foot of the A404 and tell them to follow it all
the way until they find somewhere they recognise and find their way
home.

Only a couple of times in five years did a parent ask why I did this.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

Jgharston spoke:
One of the most effective lessons was to take
learners out onto a 60mph country lane,

Sheffield Parkway is all but a motorway, and is very useful for
practising motorway driving skills as a learner. The first time
my instructor sent me on it the first few minutes was filled
with argh! argh! arrgh!! arrrgh!! (from me

I used to take my motorbike trainees on the Runcorn Expressway -
similar experience.

--
Rab C. Nesbit
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made

On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:42:44 -0000, Skipweasel
wrote:

In article ,
says...
If the traffic on the motorway is travelling at that speed, then that's
the speed at which you have to travel /to get on/.

I'm not aware of any motorways in the Uk where you join from a
non-motorway directly into the outside lane (wrongly described as the
"fast lane" by the pillock above).

Well, there are situations were two motorways merge which have that
effect. But no, and that's why I added the caveat to the answer, of
course.

That is also why I added the "from a non-motorway" to my response.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue.
To reply by email, my address is alexDOTheneyATgmailDOTcom