Speed Limit 85 (money, teachers, distance)

[Trainwreck20]

Other times, you're the last one to make the light and miss the long cycle.

If you are on a road with a light, there are no 'slower traffic keep right' signs.

So if there is a way for me to easily pass on the right and be in the clear for x amount of miles, I will do it. I'm not going to sandwich myself between vehicles because traffic may sort itself out in a few minutes,

If there is an easy way to pass on the right, do it! But the reality seems to be the opposite...instead of staying in the left lane, where the driver can control distance relatively easy, the eager driver forces them self into a tight spot in the right lane hoping it moves a wee bit quicker, sandwiching themselves between two cars and making it more difficult to control distance.

And honestly, those 'few minutes' I refer to are on pretty much open flowing highway over long distances. In crowded traffic, time difference comes out to seconds.

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Trae713, it's two seconds, not two car lengths. Two seconds at most driving speeds works out to a lot more than two car lengths. So if you're only leaving two car lengths between you and the car in front of you, you're driving too danged close!

Two seconds is completely ridiculous. At 70 mph, that would be over 200 feet. It doesn't even take that much distance for most cars to stop. I hope you don't live in the city because you'll never get that kind of space except at 02 to 04:00.

All the space you need is enough for your reaction time, assuming you're driving at the same speed and have the same braking distance as the person ahead of you. For most people who aren't using their cell phone or drunk, that's about 1/2 second. If you're highly alert (as in you're anticipating the person stopping), it can be even less. Of course if you're in a big truck or the person ahead of you is on a sport bike, you need to leave a little extra room for the difference in braking distances.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

If you are on a road with a light, there are no 'slower traffic keep right' signs.

I didn't say that.

If there is an easy way to pass on the right, do it! But the reality seems to be the opposite...instead of staying in the left lane, where the driver can control distance relatively easy, the eager driver forces them self into a tight spot in the right lane hoping it moves a wee bit quicker, sandwiching themselves between two cars and making it more difficult to control distance.

And honestly, those 'few minutes' I refer to are on pretty much open flowing highway over long distances. In crowded traffic, time difference comes out to seconds.

That's why you map you're route out before changing lanes. Or you see the danger ahead (slow poke in the left lane) and you move around be it crowds.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by kenshi

Two seconds is completely ridiculous. At 70 mph, that would be over 200 feet. It doesn't even take that much distance for most cars to stop. I hope you don't live in the city because you'll never get that kind of space except at 02 to 04:00.

All the space you need is enough for your reaction time, assuming you're driving at the same speed and have the same braking distance as the person ahead of you. For most people who aren't using their cell phone or drunk, that's about 1/2 second. If you're highly alert (as in you're anticipating the person stopping), it can be even less. Of course if you're in a big truck or the person ahead of you is on a sport bike, you need to leave a little extra room for the difference in braking distances.

In other words, you don't know much about that multi-thousand pound vehicle you're driving.

Stopping distance at various speeds is well-known. At 70 mph on dry pavement it takes a car 315 feet to stop. (Wet pavement takes a lot longer to stop.) If you are two car lengths behind the car in front of you at 70 mph and it has to stop suddenly (wreck in front of it or whatever), you're going to go through it.

And you're the one who thinks you're a good enough driver that you should be allowed to drive however fast you want. Yeah, right.

[Trainwreck20]

All the space you need is enough for your reaction time, assuming you're driving at the same speed and have the same braking distance as the person ahead of you. For most people who aren't using their cell phone or drunk, that's about 1/2 second. If you're highly alert (as in you're anticipating the person stopping), it can be even less. Of course if you're in a big truck or the person ahead of you is on a sport bike, you need to leave a little extra room for the difference in braking distances.

A quick look at any kind of literature reveals that the best reaction and brake engagement time is about 0.7 seconds for an alert driver EXPECTING (not just prepared for) the need to brake. An alert driver in traffic is expected to take about 1.25 seconds, due mainly to the fractional processing time (not just the physical movement). Distracted or otherwise not alert drivers take longer, with 90% of drivers responding in 2.5 seconds - meaning 10% may take longer then 2.5 seconds and may be behind you.....

Not that I am arguing with you, 2 seconds is not going to be viable in many commuter driving conditions, but on open highway it is the goal, especially at higher speeds.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by love roses

Seriously? Of course 70 doesn't bother me. 75 doesn't bother me, and I already go 80 since they raised the speed limit on the toll road recently. I just don't understand why people have gotten so hurry hurry lately and need to floor it to get everywhere? Really, what's the hurry?

[TheOverdog]

That looks like the highway between San Angelo and Lubbock. My record on that road was 4 minutes at 80mph without touching my steering wheel. If I had gotten a really proper alignment, I think I could have made 7-10 minutes. The speed limit should be about 100 mph.

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

In other words, you don't know much about that multi-thousand pound vehicle you're driving.

Stopping distance at various speeds is well-known. At 70 mph on dry pavement it takes a car 315 feet to stop. (Wet pavement takes a lot longer to stop.) If you are two car lengths behind the car in front of you at 70 mph and it has to stop suddenly (wreck in front of it or whatever), you're going to go through it.

And you're the one who thinks you're a good enough driver that you should be allowed to drive however fast you want. Yeah, right.

I seem to know more than you. Your information is likely outdated and still only lists the braking distance at 245 feet. Here's one that lists braking distances of specific cars:

Physics - Car Braking Distances

They're listed by stopping distances from 60 mph but when you convert them to 70 mph, only the slowest two break 200 feet. I'm quite confident my Galant can out-brake a Blazer. Plus it says in the description that's for "new" cars from 1991 to 1995. Brakes have improved by now.

It doesn't really matter anyway. Like I said, unless the vehicle in front of you can stop faster than you can, braking distance doesn't come into play, only reaction time.

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

A quick look at any kind of literature reveals that the best reaction and brake engagement time is about 0.7 seconds for an alert driver EXPECTING (not just prepared for) the need to brake. An alert driver in traffic is expected to take about 1.25 seconds, due mainly to the fractional processing time (not just the physical movement). Distracted or otherwise not alert drivers take longer, with 90% of drivers responding in 2.5 seconds - meaning 10% may take longer then 2.5 seconds and may be behind you.....

Not that I am arguing with you, 2 seconds is not going to be viable in many commuter driving conditions, but on open highway it is the goal, especially at higher speeds.

Anyone that takes two seconds to react should not be driving.

[love roses]

Having driven from Texas to Colorado a number of times, we've been on roads like that. My husband will drive over 80. I don't like it but he doesn't pay much attention to my whining.

[TexasHorseLady]

Actually, I checked several sites to confirm the information I provided. The one that I provided could, I suppose, be outdated since it says it was amended in 2004, but that's still a lot more recent information than the one you provided.

But how about these:

Vehicle Stopping Distance Calculations (and even they say that with a VERY quick response time of half a second on the part of the driver, the stopping distance is over 200 feet, so you're still in the back seat of the vehicle in front of you)

Kansas Highway Patrol states that "at 70 mph a vehicle in proper working order takes 351 feet to stop, while at 55 mph a vehicle can stop in 217 feet."

Edmunds article says 350 on dry pavement at 70

Driving Test Success says that the BRAKING distance at 70 (after you've applied the brakes) is about 245 feet

Motorsport Mathematics says that the total stopping distance at 70 mph is 96 meters (a lot of sites with the info are out of the UK) or 315 feet.

I could go on and on and on, and even post some sites where the calculations look like something you'd see in a cartoon with a physics professor putting a problem on the blackboard, but the bottom line is, you're incorrect that 200 feet is plenty of room to leave between you and the car in front of you at 70 mph.

But that's okay. Physics, itself, will no doubt teach you that lesson far better and more memorably than anyone else here ever could!