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How do the laws of physics relate to tailgating? I took university level physics courses that required calculus, so I will understand the explanation.
Using your university level education, please articulate the set of equations for the boundary conditions for tailgating, including variables for distance, speed, acceleration, coefficients of friction, temperature, time, reaction time, visibility, vehicle weight, road gradient, and everything else that matters.
This is what I’ve seen a lot on the roads and highways. For no good reason hit the brakes when the roads are slightly choppy or they see a slowdown ahead they decide ride the brakes early...
Many locations you can see routine slowdowns simply because people expect a delay at that point... whether there is or isn't. Several spots on I-35 through Austin like that.
I brake/slow early mainly because I HOPE it will give that wacky Tailgater right behind
me...plenty of time to see what I am doing and avoid rear-ending me.
Many locations you can see routine slowdowns simply because people expect a delay at that point... whether there is or isn't. Several spots on I-35 through Austin like that.
Yes, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I hate when people give an obligatory tap of the brake in a situation where it made absolutely no difference. Either there was never going to be a collision of if there was the little they slowed wouldn't matter.
I hate when people need to turn or change lanes and will brake BEFORE even looking or signaling. Sometimes the best opening is ahead of you. And the point of signaling is to let you them know you are about to brake not to explain why you already braked.
As for slowing early, I try to use my brakes minimally. If a light ahead is red and is going to still be red for awhile, why race up to it and brake hard? I'll just coast until I get there or it turns green. Studies have shown that aggressive start and stop creates a ripple effect that causes more traffic than driving slower and maintaining spacing to smooth it out.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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That driving behavior is typical of inexperience, not being confident about the space it will take to stop in time. A lot of this is due to the large numbers of immigrants that never drove before coming here. Around the Seattle area, for example, we see many cars with "New Driver - Please be patient" and more often than not it's not a teen, but an adult from India.
I hate when people give an obligatory tap of the brake in a situation where it made absolutely no difference. Either there was never going to be a collision of if there was the little they slowed wouldn't matter.
I hate when people need to turn or change lanes and will brake BEFORE even looking or signaling. Sometimes the best opening is ahead of you. And the point of signaling is to let you them know you are about to brake not to explain why you already braked.
As for slowing early, I try to use my brakes minimally. If a light ahead is red and is going to still be red for awhile, why race up to it and brake hard? I'll just coast until I get there or it turns green. Studies have shown that aggressive start and stop creates a ripple effect that causes more traffic than driving slower and maintaining spacing to smooth it out.
As for that "obligatory" brake tap, I look at it this way. I am not a mindreader. I cannot possibly know whether the impatient driver behind me has seen the approaching potential hazard or not. So many drivers aren't paying attention to the road and are sitting on another car's bumper because they resent everyone else not vacating the roadspace they feel they're entitled to. While in most cases the person who plows into me from the rear will be at fault for the crash, I really don't want the hassle of an insurance claims or repairs, blah blah blah. I'm going to do what I can to prevent it. If that means my cautionary brake tap dumps a mug of steaming coffee in their lap so be it.
As for braking before signaling, ever consider that the driver ahead of you isn't familiar with the road and is attempting to check a road sign or approaching cross traffic before turning? It isn't a crime to be unfamiliar with every section of every road just as it isn't a crime to slow a car down before starting a maneuver.
I seem to recall the defensive driving advice about driving more than one car ahead. Look through and beyond the rear window and taillights directly in front of you. By the time that driver starts a maneuver you've already anticipated and prepared for it. I must be doing something right. In over 50 years of driving in 9 states plus several transcontinental moves, I've never been implicated in any type of accident (although two other drivers have hit me: one was drunk, the other lost control on an icy road), never been ticketed or cited for anything.
Man, no wonder so many people whine about how stressful their daily lives are. They choose to make them that way by allowing themselves to get steamed up/fixated on trivia and trying to psychoanalyze the actions of total strangers.
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-02-2023 at 03:52 PM..
As for that "obligatory" brake tap, I look at it this way. I am not a mindreader. I cannot possibly know whether the impatient driver behind me has seen the approaching potential hazard or not. So many drivers aren't paying attention to the road and are sitting on another car's bumper because they resent everyone else not vacating the roadspace they feel they're entitled to. While in most cases the person who plows into me from the rear will be at fault for the crash, I really don't want the hassle of an insurance claims or repairs, blah blah blah. I'm going to do what I can to prevent it. If that means my cautionary brake tap dumps a mug of steaming coffee in their lap so be it.
That little brake tap is more likely to cause an accident than prevent it. And I'm not talking about the driver deliberately trying to signal something to those behind but the instinctive tap before the driver even engages brain.
That little brake tap is more likely to cause an accident than prevent it. And I'm not talking about the driver deliberately trying to signal something to those behind but the instinctive tap before the driver even engages brain.
Sorry, hairsplitting doesn't cut it. If the car behind is observing the appropriate following distance that brake tap (regardless what led up to it) shouldn't cause an accident.
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-02-2023 at 04:03 PM..
That little brake tap is more likely to cause an accident than prevent it. And I'm not talking about the driver deliberately trying to signal something to those behind but the instinctive tap before the driver even engages brain.
It's the same thing.
In the S I'll do a double tap when traffic slows and I'm coasting up to it. It's a manual with a surprising amount of drivetrain losses and thus engine braking. It's not something I think about. I just do it instinctively when I come off the gas since I slow down a lot faster than anyone with an automatic.
Brake riders are annoying. They don't cause accidents though. Tailgates cause accidents. Brake riders tend to aggravate tailgaters so they tailgate more thus resulting the tailgaters causing even more accidents than they normally do. If I'm behind a brake rider, particularly one I cannot see around, I give them more space rather than less.
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How do the laws of physics relate to tailgating? I took university level physics courses that required calculus, so I will understand the explanation.
