If you’re a “a car length or more” person I’m curious as to the benefit of leaving yourself that much space.
A couple of metres or so, I suppose. I might leave more if it were a big truck, or something else that I wanted to overtake as soon as the lights turned green.
I was taught in Driver’s Ed to leave enough space so that you could see the bottom of the tires of the car in front of you. But I also seem to remember something about leaving a lot of space in case someone rear-ends you. If someone really nails you and you’re too close, you’ll hit the car in front of you too. I assume that’s what excessive space leavers are thinking.
Doesn’t the rule of thumb say that you should be able to see its rear wheels?
Because then if something happens to block the lane ahead of you, you can merge over to an adjacent lane without taking out the car ahead’s rear bumper.
It has happened to me several times that traffic is moving extremely slowly approaching a traffic light, nobody can see far enough ahead to figure out why, and then it turns out that there’s a bus broken down or someone has stalled in my lane or something and I suddenly need to get over from basically a dead standstill. Having a little extra space to maneuver reduces stress.
I don’t know if I leave a full car length, and of course if the ass of my car is blocking someone from a turn lane or whatever I’ll move up, but I usually leave a good deal of space.
That’s my rule of thumb. I want enough space to be able to change lanes without the car in front of me moving. IOW, if his car dies, I don’t want to have to back up to move. It’s also, and I know this sounds stupid, safer if you were to get car jacked or have someone banging on your window trying to rob you. In fact, I make extra sure to do this in crappy neighborhoods. I know, I know, I could still be boxed in on the sides, but at least I can give myself a fighting chance.
When the light turns green, I can start to move off, instead of thumb twiddling as it dawns on Mr. Glacier in front that the lights have changed. No faster in the end, just slightly less stressful.
The guideline I grew up with is close enough so (visually) the bottom of their rear whiles is touching the top of your hood. I answered 5-10 feet although, now that I think about it, I probably leave less room than that. Maybe 3-5 feet.
Tyres 'n tarmac, I was taught.
Where I drive (mainly midsize German cities) that would be severely frowned upon, I suppose. The queue in some lanes I frequently use is long enough that, if people wasted space that way, drivers would be unable to cross the previous intersection.
I for one drive up as closely as possible without actually touching, except when on a noticeable rising grade (because some cars/drivers slip down a short space when starting on a grade), or when an large truck’s tailpipe is staring at me.
Always leave enough space for people with sticks that roll backward can take off. On slippery inclines leave the whole incline empty so you can get up after the person ahead leaves or for when their vehicle just slides down the incline. Don’t go through the stop sign until you know the other vehicle can stop at the icy intersecting.
I refuse to measure it in feet, but it depends on road conditions mostly. Upslope in rain, more distance than flat and dry. It ranges from “as close as if we were parked” to “enough for a bike to get in between”.
I was taught to leave enough space to be able to read the license plate. But I really don’t think that’s enough room, having been rear-ended while stopped at a red light. Fortunately I was not behind anybody at the time; as it was a dump truck that hit me, I probably would have been killed.
In winter, when there’s a light at the top of a hill I always do my best to stay on the bottom (unless I have people behind me). It’s considerably easier to get started on flat ground then on a hill. If I can’t stay at the bottom I do everything I can to stay in motion until the light changes.
I voted 5 - 10 feet, but definitely on the shorter end of that. Exceptions are if I’m second at the light, and the first car might turn left, even though it doesn’t have its turn signal on, or on a hill. Then It probably is closer to ten feet, which is plenty to get around the car in front of me.
My son just took Driver’s Ed, and they told him the “see the tires of the car in front”, but that’s unnecessarily far. If everyone did that, it would just back up more traffic behind the previous light.
ETA: I suspect none of really have a good feel for how close we normally stop is when measured in feet. I bet there’s a large systematic bias in the poll results.
I remember a few years back walking over one of the foot bridges in Las Vegas and noticing that they seem to stop really far apart. It seemed like they were at least one car lenghth apart, if not more.
Checking Google Maps, it looks like they might not be quite as far apart as I remember, but they still seem to be spaced further apart then I’ve seen in most other places.
The only thing I could think of at that time is that maybe the heat caused cars to break down more often so people prepare for it by making sure they have enough space to get around the person in front of them.
I thought you all left the space so I could weave my motorcycle in and out to get to the front.
It’s rather automatic, but I guess about two feet is my norm. On black ice it would be more and I’d be creeping up to get there.
Strangely enough, the other day this woman pulled into the left lane long before the yellow marker. I had my turn signal on and was waiting to get up to the mark before getting in the left lane myself. When I did get there I pulled in behind this woman waiting for the long left turn light. I kept creeping up behind her with my big truck, trying to get within a millimeter of her bumper. It’s hard to judge, but I chanced touching bumpers. That was my only revenge.
I wish more people did this.
Sometimes, if I find that a car is stopped pretty close behind me and I’m on a hill, I let myself roll back (and then inch forward) just enough so that the driver can see me and get the message.
Most drivers don’t get it. They inch forward after I’ve stopped again. :smack: I’m especially uncomfortable with the huge pickup trucks that do this because I drive a teeny car.
Why are people rolling back at all on hill starts? If you’re doing it properly, you shouldn’t roll back even an inch.