this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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What driving concept you feel that most drivers don't understand? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by TeckFire@lemmy.world to c/cars@lemmy.world
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I’ll start. Stopping distance.

My commute is 95 miles one way to work, so I see a lot of the highway, in the rural part of the US. This means traveling at 70+ mph (112km/h) for almost the entirety of the drive. The amount of other drivers on the road who follow behind someone else with less than a car’s length in front of them because they want to go 20+ over the speed limit is ridiculous. The only time you ever follow someone that close is if you have complete and absolute trust in them, and also understand that it may not even be enough.

For a daily drive, you likely need 2-3 car lengths between you at minimum depending on your speed to accurately avoid hitting the brakes. This doesn’t even take into account the lack of understanding of engine braking…

What concepts do you all think of when it comes to driving that you feel are not well understood by the public at large?

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[–] MajorHavoc@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I hate people who hang out in the passing lane as much as anyone, but for those overtaking at 15 mph over the speed of the rest of traffic, allow me to explain:

The rest of us can move over a lot sooner if everyone is driving predictably at a reasonable speed for current traffic conditions.

The person overtaking at 15 mph faster than the wisdom of the crowd - that person is causing the very delays that are slowing then down.

The rest of must move slower and change lanes slower until the reckless driver is well away from us.

[–] TeckFire@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When there’s nobody else on the road, I see no problem with driving as fast as you want. When I’m passing someone else though, I usually only go 5+ what they are, even if I was just going 20+ in the lead up to them. I’ll let off the accelerator and by the time I reach a proper following distance, we’re close to the same speed

I don’t necessarily think people going too fast are the reason for slower traffic, I think it’s other behaviors like lane changing without signaling, following too close and braking, etc., but I’m sure it contributes

[–] MajorHavoc@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nice. And that's the fast play. If I see someone approaching at that speed, I can find a gap and get over ASAP, even though I was just passing someone myself.

For the clowns that keep doing 15 mph over at they approach, I hold still until they either find a way around, or have matched speed. Anything else would be reckless on my part.

[–] TeckFire@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yup. There’s a specific few cars I recognize on my commute, one of them is in a blue Chrysler 300 and he drives me nuts. Never signals, drives anywhere between 70 and 90 with no consistency, and follows right behind your bumper. Even if you move over to let him pass, he may just sit there in the left lane for no reason.

Those are the kinds of things that makes the highway dangerous IMO