2 second rule on motorways

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.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

On 13/02/2012 22:36, Alex Heney wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:41:05 -0000,
wrote:

In articleef05ab79-903e-4783-87eb-
,
says...
I've just watched a piece in iPlayer where a motorist bounced off the
central barrier, risking the lives of all around him, just after
joining a motorway. His excuse? He hit lying water at 75mph and lost
it. "But at motorway speeds in the fast lane that you've just joined
you don't have a chance to react," he said.

Then bloody slow down, especially in rain, and when joining a motorway
don't jump straight into the overtaking lanes, you pillock!


Depending on the circumstances, he might just have a point.

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).

The M25/A21 junction north of Sevenoaks comes as close to it as makes no
difference. The two nearside lanes of M25 southbound move *left* away from
the offside lanes (which continue south as A21 Sevenoaks Bypass) and become
the outside two lanes of M25 westbound (joined on the nearside by the two
westbound M26 lanes which become part M25 westbound).

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=51.294102,0.144303&spn=0.009191,0.02 2724&t=k&z=16

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.

On 14/02/2012 00:06, Just zis Guy, you know? 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.

I feel that it's irrelevant to bicyclists.

But surely 85% of cyclists are drivers and vice-versa?

On Feb 13, 10:36*pm, Alex Heney wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:41:05 -0000, Skipweasel
wrote:





In article ef05ab79-903e-4783-87eb-
,
says...
I've just watched a piece in iPlayer where a motorist bounced off the
central barrier, risking the lives of all around him, *just after
joining a motorway. His excuse? He hit lying water at 75mph and lost
it. "But at motorway speeds in the fast lane that you've just joined
you don't have a chance to react," he said.

Then bloody slow down, especially in rain, and when joining a motorway
don't jump straight into the overtaking lanes, you pillock!

Depending on the circumstances, he might just have a point.

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).

--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
A big enough hammer fixes anything
To reply by email, my address is alexDOTheneyATgmailDOTcom

This pillock did, straight across two lanes of slower moving traffic
into the outside lane that he could not see to be clear. It wasn't.

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?

Tone

JNugent said:
On 14/02/2012 00:06, Just zis Guy, you know? 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.

I feel that it's irrelevant to bicyclists.

But surely 85% of cyclists are drivers and vice-versa?

Oh, yeah. And some of them use software, so why not cross-post it to all the
software advocacy groups ? I daresay some of them are religious, too ...

To put it another way, if they give a toss about the arguments that drivers
indulge in, they're probably subscribed to a group where people bang
on about driving.

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://www.qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

On 14/02/2012 00:25, Richard Robinson wrote:
JNugent said:
On 14/02/2012 00:06, Just zis Guy, you know? 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.

I feel that it's irrelevant to bicyclists.

But surely 85% of cyclists are drivers and vice-versa?

Oh, yeah. And some of them use software, so why not cross-post it to all the
software advocacy groups ? I daresay some of them are religious, too ...

To put it another way, if they give a toss about the arguments that drivers
indulge in, they're probably subscribed to a group where people bang
on about driving.

WHOOSH.

In article , me8
@privacy.net says...


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).

M60j25northbound

--
In vino veritas,
In cervisia coelum,
In aqua bacteria.

On Feb 13, 9:30*am, Nightjar
wrote:
On 13/02/2012 06:20, Doug wrote:









On Feb 13, 2:26 am,
wrote:
On 13/02/2012 00:40, 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.

Two seconds is a pessimistic estimate of the perception and reaction
time of the average driver and is intended to ensure that you don't
drive into the back of the vehicle in front before you realise it is
doing something other than continuing along the road at the same speed..
It is not intended as a stopping distance, which would actually be close
to a three second gap, using the Highway Code's average stopping
distance table (stopping distance from 70mph = 315 feet : 70mph = 102
feet per second).

If you prefer a larger gap, there is nothing to stop you leaving one.

Except when your gap is taken by another impatient and dangerous
motorist.

That will happen with a two second gap as well. You simply drop back and
leave the same gap behind that one. It doesn't make any significant
difference to the journey time.

Agreed but it can add to the frustration as more and more drivers get
in front of you. Maybe too it can make all the difference at red
lights where you can be further delayed.

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

-- .
A driving licence is a licence to kill.

On Feb 13, 10:34*pm, Alex Heney 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.

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.
What if the guy in front suddenly stops or crashes? I doubt if 2
seconds will avoid your crash into him at 70+ mph and especially when
you are tinkering with your many car gadgets or glancing at your
passenger or sneezing, etc.. Hence why there are so many pile-ups on
motorways.

-- .
A driving licence is a licence to kill.