When you come to a stop light and the guy behind you comes to close.

Gruber

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Just a couple of weeks ago I watched literally hundreds of traffic accidents recorded on dash cameras.

Number one cause of accidents is people driving totally distracted and oblivious to their surroundings.

Number two is people who drive way too fast and/or way too thugishly, relative to their skills and road conditions.

Number three is drivers who just don't know how to drive a car and/or ignore the basic rules of traffic.

Stopping very close to the car in front may multiply a bit the damages from a rear end wreck, but it is common and can't be helped. In a crowded urban context, the capacity of the lane is often limited and getting close packed is actually seen as a courtesy to other drivers. Keeping a half car distance would be taken as rude and selfish and cause a worse jam. It's just a tiny problem altogether.

It's amazing how many accidents happen, play out, and finally come to a still without any apparent attempt ever at using the brakes from any of the drivers involved. They seem to wake up (or not) after it's all done. Equally amazing is how many horrific wrecks happen because someone jerked their steering wheel like they were playing in a gokart, while driving at 70 mph. Either spooked by something or trying to sharply get in front of a vehicle in the next lane.

But if we accept the fact that people suck ("people will do what they do," as one prominent politician recently said) the number of accidents is proportional to the quality and quantity of the roads, the quality of traffic engineering, and traffic overload. I believe the US is the country where driving is the easiest and the most stress-free in the world, because of generally good wide roads and relatively disciplined drivers outside of the areas where drug use is popular. Yes, there may be some tiny countries in the north of Europe where driving is also fine, but they are too unimportant to mention.:cool:

(Please don't tell me how hellish it is in your neck of the US before driving in other countries. I mean average -- obviously some parts of the crowded US cities are not so great because of traffic, roads, and the rudest people.)
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Mae22

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(Please don't tell me how hellish it is in your neck of the US before driving in other countries. I mean average -- obviously some parts of the crowded US cities are not so great because of traffic, roads, and the rudest people.)
Agree 100%...just spend some time watching dash cam videos from Russia, China, or any southeast asian country, and you'll realize how good you have it. I never ever want to drive anywhere near Russia - I think in general it's the worst of all I've seen, they are terrible drivers.
 

dennisf6

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... In a crowded urban context, the capacity of the lane is often limited and getting close packed is actually seen as a courtesy to other drivers. Keeping a half car distance would be taken as rude and selfish and cause a worse jam.
This. Situationally.

In rush hour heavy and slow traffic, it is really frustrating when people don't pull up close at stoplights and cause traffic to backup in to prior intersections and to block side streets, store entrances,...

I have been rear-ended by someone doing about 35 while I was sitting at a stop light. I understand wanting some space in front for situations like that. However, that isn't going to happen in stop and go traffic. So, personally, I pull up when in heavy traffic and leave more space other times.
 

ITGuyLevi

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In rush hour heavy and slow traffic, it is really frustrating when people don't pull up close at stoplights and cause traffic to backup in to prior intersections and to block side streets, store entrances,...
I'll be "that guy" and say it... Traffic should never block prior intersections, if there isn't room to proceed through the intersection, no one should enter it.

That being said, most of my driving has been in the US with about a decade sprinkled around England, Germany, Belgium, and France (absolutely no experience with SE Asia driving here).
 


Gruber

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I'll be "that guy" and say it... Traffic should never block prior intersections, if there isn't room to proceed through the intersection, no one should enter it.

That being said, most of my driving has been in the US with about a decade sprinkled around England, Germany, Belgium, and France (absolutely no experience with SE Asia driving here).
I will be that guy who will tell you that left turn lanes are often only long enough for moderate traffic and they become overloaded at peak traffic times. The cars that don't fit tin the left turn lane have to block straight going traffic or give up on turning left.

In the US separate left turn lanes are common even on smaller country roads, while in many countries they are quite rare, except for big multi-lane intersections, which makes blocking the traffic by cars waiting to turn left a common thing.
 

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I believe many accidents are caused by "left lane bandits," the drivers who refuse to get out of the left lane on the highway. This causes those behind them to weave in and out of lanes, and potentially cut other drivers off in their attempts to get past the left lane bandits. Just pass in the left lane and move the F over! Years ago I spent a fair amount of time driving in Germany, and I miss it to this day! It's illegal to pass on the right there, so everyone passes on the left and then moves over, resulting in incredibly smooth and predictable highway driving. Just imagine if we could do that here!
 

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I was taught by a reputable driving school to give a good amount of space to the car ahead of you when you stop. You might wonder, how much is enough?
I always practice, you should still be able to see the tires of the car ahead of you touching the pavement. If you're so close that your hood or forward view blocks seeing the tires of the car ahead of you touching the pavement, you risk being rear-ended and you going into the car in front of you, for which you're responsible for.
 

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Why do people need to come so close to the back bumper when I'm at a red light or stop sign? Some people are like a foot away. Please leave at least a half car length.

Maybe this is just a canadian thing I have no clue .

Geez sometimes these people get so close i feel like I need to pull over to see if they put a mark on my bumper.
Hate it especially when trucks do it!
 


Gruber

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If you're so close that your hood or forward view blocks seeing the tires of the car ahead of you touching the pavement, you risk being rear-ended and you going into the car in front of you, for which you're responsible for.
You made it up. :lol: You are not responsible for someone throwing you against another car when you were stationary. Practically, there is no such distance that would prevent it.
 

vladucard

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You made it up. :lol: You are not responsible for someone throwing you against another car when you were stationary. Practically, there is no such distance that would prevent it.
This is correct. I was in a 3 car accident in where the guy behind me got hit by the guy behind him. The one who had to pay for all the damages was the guy who hit the guy behind me. So, to draw it out:

ME<RAV4Guy<Subarudude

Subaru dude paid for eeeeeverything (lol, well, his insurance).
 

dennisf6

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This is correct. I was in a 3 car accident in where the guy behind me got hit by the guy behind him. The one who had to pay for all the damages was the guy who hit the guy behind me. So, to draw it out:

ME<RAV4Guy<Subarudude

Subaru dude paid for eeeeeverything (lol, well, his insurance).
More personal experience here. More than I would like... .
I was rear ended at a stoplight and pushed into the car in front of me. I think he might have been pushed in to the car in front of him too (17 year old boy who hit me was moving pretty fast). There was never any hint that I shared any responsibility for the damage to the cars in front of me.

My wife had the same experience. 2nd in a chain.
She also had the experience of being the person at the back that caused 3 cars to be damaged.
In all cases, the person at the back bore full responsibility.
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