It’s a depth perception issue. People are taught to stop at the white line, so they stupidly believe that when they stop and can see the line just at the front of their car, that it means they are all the way up to the line.
Yeah, I’ve been waiting for this light to change for, like, a* year* now!
BEEP!
I am not in New York but I do this to be safe and avoid accidents. Though 2 car lengths is extreme. I stop short by 1/2 a car length. The problem is people turning left on to the street I am on. They tend to drive through the opposing lane where I am sitting. Yes they would be at fault but that doesn’t reduce the aggravation of an accident. Almost all people will see you at the end of your lane and avoid hitting you. But then you are counting on the quality of their driving. Experience has shown me that isn’t a good bet.
So I hang back, admittedly usually on narrower roads. It is safer.
People in Charlotte like to leave huge gaps between cars at red lights. More than once, I’ve been tempted to parallel park in the space they leave.
They either seem to be inattentive dolts playing around with their phone, or psychopaths who want to make the sensor time out, trapping everyone behind them at another red light as they go through on the stale yellow.
I see this quite a bit in WI.
All lanes, often the first car at the light but definitely not always.
I think it’s people who’s eye-sight, or line of sight due to their height, makes it hard for them to determine where to stop so they err on the side of caution.
I’ve taken to pulling in the ‘spot’ they leave open when I’m on my motorcycle. I had one old lady pull up to RIGHT behind me - I looked back and shrugged.
I don’t know anyone who was taught that, and there’s only one more state north of here that you can go.
I was stopped at a light behind three other cars. I was last in line before a drunk crashed into me at more than 40 mph. My car was pushed into the car in front, that car was pushed into the car in front, and that car was pushed into the intersection. The drunk created a five-car pile-up. My car and the drunk’s were totalled.
Had the leading car hit another travelling through the intersection on a green light, I can assure you the driver who was pushed into the intersection would not have been held responsible.
Ediited to add it was summer.
That white line is called a “stop bar”. It is 24 inches wide and there are very specific guidelines as to where we place it, i.e., distance from the crosswalk, traffic signals geometry, etc. You are supposed stop at the line, not past it and not behind it. If the traffic signals use detection (embedded loops or cameras), their placement is based upon vehicles stopping at the stop bar. If you stop too short of the bar, chances are you won’t be detected and you won’t get a signal. You shouldn’t have to stop short to avoid being clipped by turning traffic; the location of the stop bar also takes that condition into account (there are always exceptions, however).
I believe the reason why people stop too short, as previously stated, is poor spacial awareness and/or poor depth perception. Understandable but annoying when they prevent signal activation & you are stuck behind them.
Are these people who stop too far back driving long nosed vehicles? They can’t see the white “stop” line anymore (due to the length of their front hood).
The role of non-specific brain death should not be underestimated.
Things like this reach a critical mass, and that’s when more and more idiots think it’s acceptable. Cell phones helped it reach that critical mass, but mostly I think it’s people whose delusions have caused them to think that the people in the cars on their left and their right might shoot them or something. No kidding.
Cracking up at the parallel parking dude upthread. I’ve done that too.
Is it possible these people have received an automated red light ticket, or know someone who has?
That can turn people into absolute nuts about staying as far away as posible from red lights.
If you’ve ever seen an 18-wheeler try and make a tight turn and seen that sucker go way over the white line you may understand why some folks prefer a little wiggle room rather than put themselves in potential danger.
I think it is a psychological phenomenon that some drivers refuse to pull up because the car in front of them is visually “touching” their hood, from their POV. In other words, no 3-D thinking, they “see” that they are close enough.
Also, see “idiots”.
I posit that as a nation, we could save a* lot* of gasoline by simply pulling ALL THE WAY up to the stopped car in front of you (couple feet of space). Then, when the light goes green, we don’t all have a lot of ground to cover that could have been covered by simply coasting a few more feet seconds earlier.
If the lights are strung too high, which is common around here, then I have to stop well back from the stop line or else I can’t see the traffic lights because they’re then above my windshield.