Brake checking - why?

[mean dad]

There is no reason for it to be 1/4 mile, that was just an observation that with 1/4 mile remaining everybody had already merged.

What is your preference? That they merge right up to the single lane?

Why are you stressing on '84 car lengths'? What have you lost with everybody merging well before the single lane? You think they're stupid?

Average car length is 15.75 feet. 1320 divided by 15.75 rounds up to 84 car lengths.

You brought up the 1/4 mile measurement and when you were countered that it was too early to merge, you immediately imply that the only other choice is to wait until the last minute and slam on brakes.

Ridiculous.

And as to time saved, two lanes move more cars than one. Period. Assuming there are no assholes waiting until the last minute and slamming on their brakes and causing issues, the shorter the distance traveled in one lane instead of two, the better for everyone.

 

[scootergmc]

How are you educating me?

Courtesy is necessary for good traffic flow. Lack of courtesy results in far more traffic jams. I've seen this in practice for decades.

I don't know WTF you're educating me on, it's really quite simple and absolute.

Apparently you haven't read any studies on zipper merging or construction traffic flow. Read some.

You probably hate roundabouts too.

 

[Climber]

Apparently you haven't read any studies on zipper merging or construction traffic flow. Read some.

You probably hate roundabouts too.

You're making a bunch of assumptions about me that aren't true.

I understand about merging, what you're failing to understand is that in the Bay area there are too many opportunists for reasonable merging to take place.

Same thing with roundabouts, which we had many in New England, and because they have much better and more courteous drivers around there, even if they are more aggressive, they work out very well.

I see roundabouts as ending up as disasters around here, too many assholes/opportunists who would take the 'me first/fuck the rest of you' approach to them.

 

[Climber]

Average car length is 15.75 feet. 1320 divided by 15.75 rounds up to 84 car lengths.

You brought up the 1/4 mile measurement and when you were countered that it was too early to merge, you immediately imply that the only other choice is to wait until the last minute and slam on brakes.

Ridiculous.

And as to time saved, two lanes move more cars than one. Period. Assuming there are no assholes waiting until the last minute and slamming on their brakes and causing issues, the shorter the distance traveled in one lane instead of two, the better for everyone.

You keep fixating on that '1/4 mile'.

I've already spelled out that it wasn't a preference, it was an observation that they had already merged 1/4 mile before the single lane.

It's not clear to me why you continue to fixate on that observation and try to put words in my mouth that I think everybody SHOULD merge before 1/4 mile, it's rather idiotic to keep trying to force that into my mouth.

My other observation is that it was the end result of courtesy, which is absolutely lacking around here, and that there are far fewer traffic jams in those other parts.

Not sure why you continue to insist on forcing a square peg into a round hole.

 

[MotoCat]

I hate roundabouts because they're hard to navigate! I kept getting lost in Washington DC with all those streets leading in/out of those roundabouts!

 

[mean dad]

You keep fixating on that '1/4 mile'.

I've already spelled out that it wasn't a preference, it was an observation that they had already merged 1/4 mile before the single lane.

It's not clear to me why you continue to fixate on that observation and try to put words in my mouth that I think everybody SHOULD merge before 1/4 mile, it's rather idiotic to keep trying to force that into my mouth.

My other observation is that it was the end result of courtesy, which is absolutely lacking around here, and that there are far fewer traffic jams in those other parts.

Not sure why you continue to insist on forcing a square peg into a round hole.

The words came out of your mouth.
Here, let me help you: In every other state, when there is a sign showing a lane merge ahead, people have already merged over with over 1/4 mile to go, only in this state do you have the ASSHOLES who don't

I never once said it was your preference, nor did I ever imply that you said everyone SHOULD do that. Stop trying to put words in my mouth to continue this debate in your favor.
But I'm not sure why I wouldn't use it as a reference point in a conversation with you. You literally used it as an example of 'better' driving behavior.

 

[Climber]

The words came out of your mouth.
Here, let me help you: In every other state, when there is a sign showing a lane merge ahead, people have already merged over with over 1/4 mile to go, only in this state do you have the ASSHOLES who don't

I never once said it was your preference, nor did I ever imply that you said everyone SHOULD do that. Stop trying to put words in my mouth to continue this debate in your favor.
But I'm not sure why I wouldn't use it as a reference point in a conversation with you. You literally used it as an example of 'better' driving behavior.

What is your purpose, then, to continue to try to take my statement out of context and try to make me look stupid?

What are you trying to get at? Instead of trying to attack me, how about if you say what you're trying to say?

 

[mean dad]

How did I attack you, little buddy?

 

[aminalmutha]

This thread sucks.

 

[mean dad]

Needs moar dickbutt.

 

[aminalmutha]

Fuck yeah.

 

[Reli]

Not pointless, just as tailgating is a statement, applying brakes to indicate that you don't appreciate them on your ass is also a statement.

Once again, you're assuming tailgating is a "statement", like as if he's trying to tell you "move your ass over". But when I "tailgate", it's because I don't want some ass-munch cutting in between us.

And in my truck, I can probably see over you, so I don't need supercar brakes in order to respond quickly if I need to. It's simply not that big of a deal. Plus I'm not 90 years old.

 

[Blankpage]

I wish I could adjust the adaptive cruise control in my car to maintain a smaller gap. I try to avoid leaving a large enough gap that every dick on the road tries to squeeze into.

 

[enki]

I just remember to be mellow and love all the other people on the road. They are my brothers and sisters.

 

[250mL]

I do agree about inattentive drivers, but that is a whole other discussion.

Take the above statement and compare and contrast the following statements:

And in my truck, I can see over you, so I don't need supercar brakes in order to respond quickly if I need to. It's simply not a problem. I'm not 90 years old.

Now here’s a story that I still kinda feel bad about to this day even though this happened over 15 years ago and really this isn’t my fault at all.

Some fool in a small sedan is tailgating so close that I can’t even see the front of their car in my mirror anymore because the tailgate blocked my vision.

Imagine the tailgater’s surprise when their entire view changed from a black truck tailgate and chrome bumper under it to a car dead stopped in front of them they were closing on doing 65 and they were less than 50 feet away.

Which of these two truck drivers is more attentive than the other?

Within 50 feet for you to recognize stopped/slow traffic? You seem to harbor some level of guilt (commendable, ), but only because you saddled another driver with taking the rearender, but not because you share some level of fault for not being more attentive to the road conditions. It is true, I have no idea what Hwy 237 is like, but in general...

Also as an aside to general attentiveness: I absolutely HATE tinted rear windows for reasons of not being able to see traffic ahead of the car. One can only glean so much information from sneaking left in the lane to try get visibility around them. Using neighboring lanes as an indicator helps too, but nothing like seeing through the car ahead. Yes, clear or tinted rear windows plays into my hypothetical tailgating distance. So, in the vein of safety, increased reaction times, and courtesy to other driver's desires to not get into rearenders, please remove rear tint (yeah yeah yeah, heat, privacy, security, blah blah blah).

 

[ejv]

This thread is a bit depressing.

 

[nakedape]

I don't see it that way at all. While super annoying AND if you have to stop quickly, they're certainly gonna hit you, but it's gonna be from a very close distance and a very small speed delta. I'd rather that than someone be not paying attention and smash into me with a 50 MPH speed difference. Those hits hurt...the ones where they're already on your bumper aren't as bad.

Ah ha! Now I know why you don't mind getting buttfucked by Trump! Thanks, my brain was beginning to hurt trying to figure that one out...

 

[MysterYvil]

I think brake checking is silly. I also think tailgating is silly.

Traffic wouldn't be such a pain if people stopped taking everything personally and just flowed with it. Racing for position is pointless, anyone who can do simple math should realize that.

 

[JakesKTM]

Tailgate and takes your chances of pissing someone off to the point of no return.

Brake check and takes your chances of pissing someone off to the point of no return.

Ive seen both end badly - and Im not talking vehicle collisions.

Fuck around and find out where the limit line is. It might be much closer than you think.

Stay calm and lane share

 

[SM610]

This is a subject I've put a lot of thought on, as tailgating really annoys me. There are obviously lots of reasons why it happens, but my obsevations lead me to believe that there are two main reasons. Both seem to pertain to the particular gender of the driver.

1. Women seem to do the majority of the day to day tailgaiting, at least where I'm currently living. They are not being assholes. They seem very focused on getting to the place they're going to, you are one of the things between them and their destination. If they're anything like my wife, they are probably late... I think that much of the time women dont even know that they are dangerously close to the back of your car, which is in itself a problem because it would mean that they really arent paying attention to the conditions. This is no less annoying then what men do...

2. Men tailgate because they are annoyed. They ARE being assholes. You are going too slow, and are in the way. Get the fuck out of the way, NOW. This behavior is not hampered by a long line of cars in front of you, meaning that even if you did let them by the tailgater would just be behind the car you're behind. "They ALL need to get the fuck out of the way, and i will force my way right through the bunch of you idiots..." seems to be the mentality sometimes. Some of this has shown itself to be true in posts here in this thread!

3. I said two reasons, but am willing to concede that a third reason may exist. Prius. Every Prius driver, regardless of gender, has a need to be doing the wrong and/or annoying thing regardless of the situation. If you drive a Prius and think this isnt you, may you get a salty paper cut on your pee pee...