Just for fun of discussion, look at it this way. In NASCAR race after four hours of driving, the winner is determine by half a car length or 0.01 sec. Now after 5 hours of driving, you arrive 5 minutes ahead, that's a long long time.
If I leave a cars length in front of me in the fast lane it doesn't matter how fast I'm going. There is always someone willing to fill the space with no use of a turn signal. Always. If I drive in the slow lane not so much. but it does happen. I have given up on the hoern since it sounds like it's off a moped.
Hmm, now what does this remind me of? Ah, I remember... There's no fool like an old fool... GT-I9300 ?
I've found over the years (50+ , with no accidents (so far)), that my best bet is to drive as if I were invisible; I've noticed that most other drivers (certainly on this side of The Pond) drive as if everyone else is invisible… - Wil (loving my Prius - filled up today (48+ mpg))
Please show your math on this. Unfortunately, you aren't driving with only 'high performance' drivers. Oddly enough those 'non-drivers' are more likely to kill you when you don't leave enough room for them.
i'm more worried about the guy behind me slamming me into the guy in front of me. that's why i try to leave as much room as possible in front of me.
And you are only 13.5 times more likely to die in NASCAR than in regular traffic (per mile). Of course, there surely aren't any 'high performance' drivers in NASCAR.
+1: As you say - those 'non-drivers' are more likely to kill you when you don't leave enough room for them. I thought high performance driving schools teach drivers to get the most out of their cars and themselves given the driving conditions they encounter. Driving in heavy freeway traffic would entail being as cautious as possible about the relative positions of the other cars and take into account, as much as possible, the other drivers' reaction times. Once in heavy traffic everyone ahead of me stopped, I just managed to stop about two feet from a Mercedes, driver behind me stopped. Then heard the screeching of brakes - yep - the car behind me got hit from the back and was pushed into my car. I stopped, the guy in back of me stopped but the third car in line - either from following too closely or inattention - did not. My brakes held and the Mercedes was spared. Anyway - I don't think we are talking about "racing" or did I miss something?
Re: the OP's question (and posing a related question esp. since OP is a driving instructor): I am not a race-and-stop driver and have wondered the same thing. But I also have a "devil's advocate" question that mulls around in my head: When I attempt to maintain a more even speed and try to minimize braking as I was taught, does this present a safety hazard, since drivers behind me use brake lights as cues to slow down? If most people did the minimal braking thing it wouldn't be much of an issue. But with "race-and-brake" seeming to be the norm, it seems like a lot of people might be more alert to red lights than to narrowing distance. So sometimes I do use the brakes even though I don't need to just for the sake of triggering my brake lights.
the only way to eliminate stop and go traffic is to eliminate the human factor, and that will never happen unless you like public transportation ***ALSO, real racers are born...not taught in school =P
This is probably one of the best bits of advice for city driving. Always always always leave a gap when you stop in traffic. Then if an inattentive fool two cars back causes a smash pushing the car behind you into your rear, then you're the innocent party and not part of a very complicated insurance claim - or worse.
The whole not using brake lights thing is something that I have thought about also. I see your point with the fact that most people don't pay enough attention to see that traffic is slowing ahead (this whole thing would be easier if everyone paid more attention and noticed this) so if you are checking your mirror and the person behind you isn't noticing that you are slowing down then yes tapping your brakes (but not stopping) should get their attention. But realize that if you do this too much that person at some point will no longer take your brake lights seriously and just think "oh that person is just tapping their brakes for no reason". I know that I do this but I am paying attention enough to traffic way ahead that I can see that the person is not going to be slowing that much and I just lift off the gas a little.
When stopped, if you leave some extra space (can see the rear tires of the car in front of you touching the ground which is not enough to let another car in front of you) it gives you more options than what you mentioned. When ever you hit your brake pedal you should take a quick glance in your rear view mirror to be able to take note of how close the car is behind you and whether they are going to stop or not. If you are stopped at a light you should watch the car behind you come to a complete stop. If you see that they are not going to stop, because you have left some space in front of you, you now have a couple of options. You can creep forward a little to hopefully give them the extra distance they need to stop or you can turn into another lane (if there is one open beside you) to avoid getting hit at all. If you never glance in your mirror you don't have any option but to trust that anyone pulling up behind you will stop. I don't trust anyone else in a car so I am not ok with the last option.
That's true, but as any CDL holder will tell you, always leave enough room to pull around anything in front of you when you stop - reversing a 'semi' is not A Good Idea, and will earn an immediate 'FAIL' if executed during a road-test (you can never be sure exactly what is close-in behind you!)
There are many other reasons for not stopping too close to the car in front. When I drove limos I was informed to leave enough escape room in case of robbery (or worse).
