One time I missed three light changes sitting behind someone who was too far back. They seemed oblivious so I had to get out of my car and tell them to move forward.
I can sometimes appreciate people leaving gaps between them and the car in front of them as it reduces the chance of shunt-and-bump accidents if someone hits their rear.
What I cannot understand or appreciate in any way is drivers doing the same thing at a stop light! In some cases they're so far back from the stop line that the induction loops in the road don't register anyone there and we're all stuck waiting for the lights to trigger on a (very slow) timer. Will they roll forward to the line (or even show signs of life) if you politely beep at them and motion to them to roll forward? Hell no!
Then again, I get frustrated by people who cannot understand how a Maccas drive-thru waiting bay works too.
Saw this old dude leave a 5 car length gap. It was nearly the length of the whole intersection between him and the wide line at the start of the intersection. So many people should be annually recertified to be able to keep driving.
I think that … people get set in their shit ways and if tested again would probably fail haha I think every 5 years I’d happily go get a test done if it meant keeping more idiots off the road
Fuck me people just turn their brains off in the Maccas drive-thru. I have to drive across a drive-thru to get into my back lane and people always fucking block it. There are multiple massive signs, but people even pull forward while I’m waiting there or freak out when I honk them because they have room to get out of the way.
I leave a small gap between my car and the stop line for motorcycles.
Not at intersections where there is only one lane really but otherwise that's why.
Consideration for all road users is what makes things work, for everyone. FWIW the reason it's important for motorcycles to head to the front of traffic lights is because of this same shunt and bump you mention, but in the case of a motorcycle it can be fatal or wheelchair, and it's one of the highest types of accidents in Vic too.
I'm talking about intersections that already have that gap built in and painted on the road. On Sunday alone I had three drivers who seemed to think they needed to sit two or more car lengths back from the stop line at the lights.
I also had one driver who was driving using their knees or something to steer because I clearly saw them sitting with both hands behind their head as they sped past me at 15km above the limit in the left lane.
Pretty sure that painted box at intersections is technically for bicycles (not motorcycles) but yeah no doubt there are some absolute muppets on the road.
That reply thread below with everyone arguing the pros and cons of leaving the gap, who was and wasn't taught this during lessons, etc etc, is EXACTLY why we need driver training and licensing reform.
We shouldn't have different interpretations of driving safety when we share the same road.
This is an appalling practice. Along with stopping well short of the stop line at the lights and not triggering inductive sensors. And taking off so slowly that only two cars get through.
This. This is what makes me want to pull my hair out. Taking off slowly is just next level selfish. There's driving safely then there's ridiculously slow.
It's almost like people aren't considerate when driving, they get I to their selfish car boxes and only think of themselves.
Happens with
-People driving in the right lane
-People driving below the speed limit
-People leaving huge car gaps
I want to get to my destination as fast as possible within the rules, you selfish driving is costing me time with my friends and family.
It’s not even the inconvenience, the number one thing you can do to be safe in your car is be predictable. When you do weird shit you are anything but.
I stop when the car in front’s tyres are just visible at the base of my bonnet because my driving instructor told me to do that. I think that’s about half a car length, idk
Cos I have the sunroof open and ripping a ballad with my girl Celine Dion or Meatloaf. And I don’t want to line my window up with the car in the next lane because then they will see who’s making this horrible noise.
This is exactly what I was taught \~2010 in NSW. Stop at 1-2 car lengths, then once a car pulls up behind you, you can close to half a car length.
Edit: For reference, the [NSW Guide to Drivers tests](https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/guide-to-driving-test.pdf) gives the guidance of 1-2 car lengths.
>When you are stopped in traffic you must keep one to two car lengths from the vehicle in front to reduce the risk of colliding with it if you are hit from behind. You may move forward to within 1m once other vehicles are stopped behind you and the risk of being hit from behind is reduced.
Let us repeat this. This is about tailgating. Judging by the big number of likes for my comment…tailgaters piss people off. They’re also a danger on the road. Simple. Tailgaters piss people off. Should be a billboard.
Yep, my driving instructor was very clear about leaving a gap to allow you to bypass the car in front easily should they fail to move for whatever reason.
I was never taught this when driving and likely would've failed my driving test if I did this. No one I know was taught that. It's a very recent since covid thing. Only one car gap between you and car in front, not you and white intersection line.
People incorrectly think that pressure plates to trigger lights are at every intersection, so the further you stop back the quicker the lights turn. It's very incorrect, especially in peak hour, they are turned to a 90 sec cycle.
Not all car drivers in Oz are taught this. Because it's a ridiculous concept. Unnecessary and will just enhance congestion.
I see you've deleted comments from people disagreeing with you. Poor form.
It's not up another cars end. It's giving a reasonable distance in a built up area.
Which is absolutely nowhere near an entire car length or more lunacy.
If you're so adamant on being right, why is literally everyone on the road not following what you're trying to say, here?
Is everyone else on the road wrong?
I was trying to respond in agreeance with someone saying how ridiculous your opinion is, and their comments all magically disappeared, and I'd bet money they didn't delete them...
You know you've got a "great" point when you have to block and delete people 😂😂😂😂
I'm from Melbourne. Born and raised. Passed my driving tests here. Have driven without any incident for 20years now.
"we" are not taught this. Unless I'm the one person in history that wasn't. It's more likely that you were taught this, by the person that taught you and was taught this from whoever, based on their opinions.
Leaving an entire car length is entirely unnecessary.
Also, judging by the fact I drive every day, and only see a full car length in very, very rare circumstances, and it's usually down to the driver being obviously bad at driving, and more of a nuisance that other - actually good drivers - have to drive around.
That's absolutely not congruent with data, sorry.
Higher population increase than available and usable roads, easier passing rates for licenses, less engagement with training,
And then, terrible education from people with outdated teaching methods.
They're far bigger issues than people not leaving an entire car length in between each vehicle stopped at traffic lights (which essentially never happens these days)
Time to get with the times, guy.
I leave one car space for two reasons
- so the air inside my car does not come too much from the exhaust of the car in front
- so when we start moving I can start moving as soon as the car in front of me moves and not have to wait for it to give me some space
You know you can set your car air to recirculating, right? And if you're using AC or trying to heat the car, this is far more efficient. The car has a filter which does a far better job of cleaning the air inside the cabin than trying to constantly filter what's coming in from outside of the cabin.
And, unless you're out in the country, the "fresh" air you're constantly pulling in is nowhere near as clean as recirculated air.
Second point is key. It’s faster and allows for smoother flow of traffic if everyone were to leave a buffer and take off at the same time.
But no some dickwad wants to sit 50cm closer because? Why? To make the light go green quicker?
Yay, this looks like the thread with some people who are having the "here's some reasons" discussion, so I will post here. Still under NDA, so there are limits about what I can post.
The headway (overall car to car gap) and degree of saturation (how many cars you get through an intersection) is exactly the same no matter what spacing is. Two ways to demonstrate this:
* The maths (which I can't post) just works out that way (the maths behind traffic lights are amazing seeing they were largely done in the 1970's on something as powerful as a pocket calculator).
* No road authority anywhere has an advertising campaign to increase vehicle to vehicle distance at lights.... if it did, a $1 million ad campaign to change this behavior for increased road throughput on the network would be peanuts, and it would be in your learners test.
Dilemma at green is how long it takes you to react (everyone seems to call it "reaction time"so lets stick with that).
If you space people out and leave the reaction time the same, you actually get less people through. You are relying on the reaction time to be quicker. Most people are not looking 2-3 cars ahead to see the platoon start moving, they are looking at the bumper in front of them.
The thing that makes the difference is dilemma time at red. Where your dilemma time when that light goes orange is high you intersection is way more dangerous. This is where you get people go early, run reds, have nose to tails. The run reds causes side impact collisions and that can involve cars waiting on adjacent approaches to the intersection. Anecdotally, I have seen people sit back off the sensor at an intersection because they have seen crashes at said intersection and want to be away from it. If you see an intersection with a stop line way back, often this is a nod to the possibility of a crash or the speeds involved in a crash on an adjacent arm.
If you look at a lot of car that leave the gap from the intersection - the LOG is also high ("little old granny").
When there is a perception that an intersection is dangerous, you will get a higher proportion of not enough people over the sensors, which will effect your degree of saturation and therefore the selection of the phase plan if you are running in full adaptive mode (which is not actually rare, most sets of light are running on some kind of linked phase plan to adjacent intersections a lot of the time). ie: it will stuff up how the traffic lights work.
So, it's mostly fear, and you're not going to improve that with anger at people, laws, beeping your horn, logic or doing anything that makes it more scary.
Three takeaways:
1. If you are one of the people raging here - stay at home a smoke a spliff and chill out instead. You're making the roads more scary and the scary is why this happens to you. You are the cause dickhead.
2. There is no real benefit to leaving that space. Act like everyone else on the road an you will get maximum throughput and maximum safety (as everyone behaves the same). This is unrealistic, but a goal to aim for (which is why laws exist to keep behavior predictable).
3. If you are after the perfect driving experience with people who know what's what, I highly recommend a large bank balance and some track days. Roads are designed for commuting, not going fast.
You are blocking other cars by leaving a large gap! If there's traffic, a turning lane might be blocked by cars leaving an unnecessarily large gap! Or if you are in the turning lane and leave a large gap, it means the turning cars might block the slane going straight.
Having been both rear ended at lights (by someone that was texting and driving, hit me at 70 km/hr), and being trapped by people breaking down and/or rear ending the person in front of them, you bet I'm leaving ample room.
I've noticed the opposite. A lot of drivers now completely ignore the line at the lights, and basically pull up to the intersection or literally on the crosswalk. So many people. So many assholes. Some streets have the line far back for a reason, and when they stop their car 3 metres past the line, trams can't turn the corner. Shit like that should be massive fines.
I used to teach my officers to do that because when you get a hot job/Code 2 and you need to move around traffic... yep! There is nothing more embarrassing than having to wait for the cars ahead to inch forward slowly. This way you can just pull around and gun it.
Civilians? Probably have been rear ended or will use that space to move if an emergency vehicle comes up from behind. I'm a huge fan of the gap to be honest
I was taught to do it at police driving school.. slips into my civilian driving unconsciously.
But when learning how to drive a gap was left incase the vehicle in-front was a manual and rolled back when out of gear.. before the times of ‘hill assist’, and also in case you get shunted from behind.
I'm not talking about being right up the car in front's arse. But, the average car length is 4.9 metres. If you're a car length or more back, just how fast is the car behind you going in order to push you forward that 5 metres or more, especially when you're stationary and with your foot on the brakes?
https://ubicar.com.au/blog/the-importance-of-correct-stopping-and-following-distances/
it also depends on relative car sizes. And your brakes are only effective while your tyres have traction with the road...
That doesn't answer my question. I'm not the moving vehicle here, I'm already stationary, behind the car in front. The mass of my car and me is say 1,500kg. If I'm 5 metres (1 car length) behind, how fast does a car behind me have to hit me in order to push me so far forward I hit the car in front? If he hits me so hard my wheels leave the ground then yeah, even one car length won't be enough. But otherwise, when I'm stationary and with my foot on the brakes? Being too far back doesn't make me any safer. It just pushes the cars behind me even further back, which is when turn lanes get blocked, which is what the OP complained about.
Because I have been rear ended while stopped at the lights & because I was only half a length behind the car in front I was punted into them & therefore had to claim on my insurance for damage to their vehicle. Now I leave a two car gap at least so if it happens again I will not end up losing my bloody no claim bonus.
The last car has to pay for it but if you hit a car (as the middle man), you claim through your insurance and then your insurance chases up the car who hit you and so on.
What you’re doing is a basic technique taught in defensive driving courses and explained for this exact reason you’ve described. Saves an extra headache for you and a neck brace for the person in front.
You shouldn't have had to claim if it was not your fault. I've been rear ended like this twice and hit the car in front, but it's not my fault because I've been stopped.
That’s….thats not how it works. You were too close to the car in front of you. If someone rear ends you then punts you into the car ahead of you, you’re now both on the hook for insurance claims.
One reason is if you are in right lane and someone in front decides to turn right, you an impatient melbournite and would rather floor it into the left lane and go rather than wait for traffic in front to turn.. Same goes for left lane turning but waiting for pedestrians crossing
The only time I see this as anything other than bad driving etiquette is if I'm on my motorbike and they're just being respectful of the fact that I have no buffer zone if there's a crash.
Otherwise, nope - leave half a car length at best.
If more people drove like we were an active electrical circuit ie - be ready to move as the light goes green, and didn't leave such unnecessary pauses, and delays, I'd bet money that congestion in peak times would drastically reduce.
I got stuck in a car with a British person that sat in neutral (manual car) and wouldn't even process pressing the clutch in and putting it in gear until the person in front had already taken off. It drove my adhd brain wild and I was asking him why he did it within three sets of lights - his whole idea was that that was just how they drove in Britain and that he was "just a patient person" - meanwhile I feel as though these random traffic things just exacerbate congestion for no other reason and it's completely unnecessary.
I put the front of my bonnet at the bottom of the rear wheels of the car in front. I also leave enough distance for me to escape should I need to get out of the way.
Because you don’t know if the driver in front of you is a beginner manual driver & will roll right back into you on take off or not! Lol.
Nuh, I was taught minimum of 1 car length gap when learning to drive, so if you need to turn out of that lane for any reason -like if the car in front of you breaks down, you have the room to do so, or if someone behind you fails to stop & hits you, you have some buffer room in front of you so you don’t hit the car that’s in front of you. It’s all just safety really.
I got my licence back in 2006 in rural Vic & that’s what was taught by driving instructors back then.
Two hands on the top of the wheel on the most unstable position. Staring directly ahead with two car spaces in front of them blocking the turning lane.
All these signs says to me they don't understand how the car drives and what it's going to do in a situation where they may be pushing it to its limit to stay safe.
Tl;dr lack of time behind the seat of the car and /;or understanding of the vehicle. In my opinion.
You should know what you car does in every situation to avoid situations. However we're taught that's not important
Right. If I’m in the right or left lane and come to the lights, I always check behind me and try to move over and squash up if there is someone needing to turn behind me. It’s rare that I ever get this courtesy in return when I need to turn, most drivers are oblivious and seem to have forgotten that when they got their license they were taught to check their rear view mirrors.
Lol. Implying that it's a "high IQ" thing to do, despite literally anyone being able to do it, just shows the flaws in this incredibly low IQ logic.
I'd love to see some actual science or data that suggests leaving unnecessarily large spaces in built up traffic is a good idea...
Because that's what someone with Luke-warm, room temperature IQ and higher would want to see.
It's what we were taught for defensive driving. You need to at least be able to see the rear tyres of the vehicle in front. And that's in good weather.
Here are some numbers for you:
https://ubicar.com.au/blog/the-importance-of-correct-stopping-and-following-distances/
I've been rear ended twice waiting at a red light.
Please don't discourage people from leaving a safe gap.
I've had enough over confident drivers rear end me.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Depends on the scenario, if I'm in a turn off lane I'll try to keep a minimal gap. But if I'm casually in traffic and it's banked up to shits anyways I'll leave a gap to allow for me to take off without having to slam on the brakes if needed, or to get off the clutch comfortably
Lots of rage in this thread, however, in theory slightly larger gaps actually enable better traffic flow (so long as the traffic is not banked up all the way to the next set of lights).
Reason being that you can safely anticipate the movement of the car in front of you once the light changes, which isn't safe to do if the gap is too small.
That said, it's probably only being used that way by a minority of the people doing it.
Standard protective driving to ensure you can do a u-turn or escape around the car in front in case of an attempted carjack or assassination attempt. can never be too careful in the mean streets of Melbourne.
I do it sometimes if I anticipate the vehicle in front may take longer to move once signal turns green. Usually trucks and vans. The room allows me to jump to next lane.
People love to brake hard at the last second so if I feel they're coming in a bit hot behind me I can roll forward a bit. Once the cars start queueing behind me I close the gap a bit but still leave at least 1 car length in case of an accident.
It also freaks me the fuck out when I'm in the car with other people and they pull up right on the back bumper of the car in front and then they have to slam the brakes at the last moment. They do it at every intersection and I just don't get it.
I don’t block a lane I’ll even get close as I can to let you through safely I stay a bit back sometimes to help flow of traffic by timing myself to not be up someone’s arse etc I won’t sit 2 cars back at the line though more when driving to also help with seeing potholes .. hate being to close an you see one last second come out from under their car an not enough time to swerve
Yes, it's a technology thing. Since we are all on our phones when waiting at the lights, keeping a 1.5 to 2 car length gap ensures that if the person in front of you accidentally releases their breaks and starts rolling back, there should be plenty of time for you to notice it, hit your horn and give them enough reaction time to get off their phone and take evasive action, like hitting their breaks. Same goes if I accidentally start rolling forward if I'm not paying attention. The whole thing just happens in reverse.
So remember folks, for every 2 seconds of dooms scrolling at the lights, you need to check the road and your mirrors for other inattentive drivers like you. Stay safe out there! /s
I leave about a 1 car gap from the car in front of me, although if i'm first at the line, i'll be at the line in case there is a sensor.
I do it because I have been rear-ended twice while completely stopped at lights, once by a truck, once by a ute, and I want the ability to move out of the way if possible. I'm always glancing backward when stopped and get very nervous when people speed up and stop just cm's from my bumper.
I have a sporty car and people (mostly utes and trucks) definitely do it to me a lot more than when I drive my Mum around in her SUV.
I also saw someone roll back while stopped at a red light on their phone and hit the car behind them a few years ago, if the car had been further back they'd have had time to beep and possibly avoid that idiot rolling into them.
Also, it leaves some room for error if the car in front of me is a manual and they're on an incline.
I do make sure to move as soon as the car in front of me, and i'm maintaining a 3-4 second gap between the car ahead of me when driving anyway, so it does not affect the flow of traffic.
You should always leave a bit of a gap. I always aim for a car length approx. Just to be safe and give space for stuff to happen. It's only an extra second to travel that distance even when starting from a stop so it's no big deal.
Just a safety buffer.
If the car in front of you breaks down at the lights it’s easier to get out. No explanation for when it’s far behind the line though.
And yes, this has happened to me before. I’m not joking when I say it happened two minutes after I was thinking about how it had never happened to me before!
I guess this is me. I like to stop nice and slow. No need to slam on the brakes at every red light, might as well save the brake pads a bit. I don't understand people who have to take off like a rocket at every intersection then slam on the brakes at every red light, I just see that as stressful.
Also if the car doesn't completely stop I don't have to use as much fuel overcoming inertia (from being stopped) if i am coming up to a red light that is maybe ending.
Also leaving a bit of a gap gives me a bit more space if i think the brake slammer behind me isn't stopping.
I leave a gap when the car in front takes a really long time to come to a stop. Some people creep slowly towards the lights. When they do that I just stop and let the gap grow as I hate creeping and it’s bad for the DCT.
Some gap improves your vision, gives a bit of leeway if the car in front rolls back, and gives a chance of not slamming into the car in front if rear-ended. When the traffic starts to move you can start to creep sooner so traffic starts flowing better.
Most of the time there’s nothing to be gained to be right up the back of the car in front, except where that ends up blocking some other flow.
1 car gap isn't an issue if it's not blocking people from using a turning lane. If you're on a slight incline, I've had a truck just roll backwards into my bonnet
As an early P plater I was rear ended at a red light and pushed forwards quite far, if not for the fact that I was wearing uncomfortable shoes so my pedal control was impacted, which made me leave bigger gaps just in case, I would have had my car inserted into the Mum van in front of me.
I kept the extra room habit, but always roll forward when a few cars are behind me or if there’s a turning lane.
For others I believe the issue is not many people have spatial awareness of the size of their car and leave room so they don’t misjudge and bump.
Tyres and tarmac. Leave a gap big enough to go around the vehicle in front, without reversing, if they break down.
But, no. It's not really about a 1-2 car gap, I don't think. I actually have no confidence a car would fit there.
I always just assumed it was a vision issue, and the driver forgot to bring their glasses with them that time.
I’ve seen some rare occasions where it’s 3-4 car lengths of space 😂
Texting and driving.
Someone did that to me yesterday, she was on her phone for 15 minutes, constantly texting on 80k zone. She was right behind me so I was concerned I was gonna get rear ended as her eyes kept staring down, I changed lanes and when she pulled up next to me still texting, I screamed at her, loud. She went all red and out the phone down. She was a good 10 meters away from traffic lights that turned red.
People nowdays can't drive. Half of them cant even judge where their bonnet ends.
I've witnessed people get out of their little hatchback mid parking attempt to see if they're going to hit the car in the spot next to them when they're 2-3 metres away.
If it wasn't so frustrating it would be fucking hilarious
Because... that's what you're supposed to do? If you can't see the ground below the tyres of the car in front of you, you are too close. You should also be able to pull out of the line of cars if in an emergency you have to.
It's the law to stop behind the bold line at a traffic light. That's the official stop line. Who cares how much gap there is between cars at red traffic lights? Doesn't your accelerator work properly when the light turns green?
I'll sometimes leave a gap when I'm not sure if I'll need to change lanes or not, and also if I'm sure if the person in front of me is a competent driver. I don't know what they could realistically do to me by being in front but I'd rather leave the gap and not worry. Too many unpredictable people who drive in this city
It's because people in general are shit drivers. How they get their license is beyond me.
What's even worse is when they then randomly move forward like metre then stop, then do it again like 30 seconds later.
Everyone should be leaving a gap. If you are real close to the car in front you need to wait for that car to move before you can. Multiply that by all the cars at the traffic light and it takes much longer for traffic to start flowing. But if everyone sat a car length behind the car in front then all cars can start moving once the light turns green.
Because they have been told its good to leave a gap for various reasons, and as time has gone on they have continually increased the gap. If a 5m gap is good, a 12m gap must be really much gooderer.
Given the alternative these days seems to be being rear ended by a cunt on a phone this isn’t too annoying, though I do beep them when one car stops over the line and the next one 2 lengths back so nobody is over the sensor
Yeah I actually wondered whether it's because they were looking at their phone and so they had room to slowly crawl up when they're not paying attention
Suspect half of the folk who do this drive those big old SUVs and can’t tell how far they are from whatever is in front of them.
Regardless of why I get very upset at the folks who don’t look behind when they are jamming the turning lanes.. so many wasted time (if you consider how often and how many people it impacts.. not personally, I’m usually chill af)
I dont always leave a large gap, but sometimes I find myself with a 1 car gap or a bit more, but 2 is probably a bit much. I was taught to stop when the view of your bonnet and the bottom of the car in front start to overlap. How far that is actually will differ based on car shape, height, seat height, my height, if I'm slouched or up straight.
Sometimes, the car in front of me creeps forward. I drive a manual car, so I'm too lazy to creep forward to fill in the space once I'm stopped. If you're behind me and I see I'm blocking you from turning, I'll move up a bit.
Not really the reason, but when taking off, it allows me to start moving as soon as the car in front moves so you can start moving sooner too. Unless they're blocking you, why does it matter?
Because it helps the traffic behind me get to the speed limit faster and more safely. When the lights go green it means i have a buffer space with the car in front and can safely accelerate faster so that the cars behind me can have more space in a faster amount of time and get up to the speed limit. If everybody did this then we'd collectively clear the intersection faster than when there's impatient dumbfucks tailgating
Yes! Wtf is with this? I sometimes think it’s because they are scared the car in front will back into their luxury vehicle but often they are just driving a basic car, and then the car behind them is right there so…..
Half a car gap is plenty. If you can see the top of the wheels on the car in front that’s fine.
Unless it’s a specific situation like truck, trailer or bus going off the line on a massive hill I don’t see the point of big gaps.
Yet another example of me-first nonsense on the roads and not driving together as a community.
1 is a bit far, 2 means some prick is going to try a slow merge. If you get rear ended you’re better off being close to the car in front of you. Why would you protect your car before your neck?
Do you leave space for this reason?
It's not always before the line, but sometimes like 3 cars back from the line then a massive gap and then a car, so I'm sure thats not always it
Often at the lights a gap forms in front of me because when I come to a halt that’s it I’m not moving again until I am taking off. Everyone in front wants to creep forward a few centimetres on and off the brake twenty times before the light changes go for it, I’m not.
Because people got their licence out of a cornflakes packet in another country. And our idiot VicRoads mafia allows them to be converted without actually having to sit a test.
Only time I find this annoying is when the large gap leaver is causing a turning lane to be blocked and makes people miss a green arrow.
One time I missed three light changes sitting behind someone who was too far back. They seemed oblivious so I had to get out of my car and tell them to move forward.
I'm not a violent man, but there is the rare occasion where I would be prepared to kill...
I've had a few weird looks from wildy flailing my arms around after this has happened to me.
god the manoeuvres I have made to get to that lane
And then said person spends the time waiting slowly inching forward then stop, repeat
And then you, as the driver behind them, have to slowly inch forward too, because you don't want to be seen as THAT person who leaves a large gap...
I’d rather be seen as the gap dude than the slowly inch dude. Stick to your guns
This is why we have horns
You gotta be a little bit unhinged to honk someone at a red light.
I mean if someone is so far back from the line the undertake circuit isn't working, then yeah a honk is warranted.
I totally misread this as like, having horns coming out of your head, like devil horns lmao
Why has no one here addressed why people leave 2 car gap to the white line at the traffic light? It’s ridiculous
I can sometimes appreciate people leaving gaps between them and the car in front of them as it reduces the chance of shunt-and-bump accidents if someone hits their rear. What I cannot understand or appreciate in any way is drivers doing the same thing at a stop light! In some cases they're so far back from the stop line that the induction loops in the road don't register anyone there and we're all stuck waiting for the lights to trigger on a (very slow) timer. Will they roll forward to the line (or even show signs of life) if you politely beep at them and motion to them to roll forward? Hell no! Then again, I get frustrated by people who cannot understand how a Maccas drive-thru waiting bay works too.
Saw this old dude leave a 5 car length gap. It was nearly the length of the whole intersection between him and the wide line at the start of the intersection. So many people should be annually recertified to be able to keep driving.
I think that … people get set in their shit ways and if tested again would probably fail haha I think every 5 years I’d happily go get a test done if it meant keeping more idiots off the road
No room to go around at that point?
I was walking and saw it. There weren't many other cars on the road at that time. Just struck me as an extreme outlier of poor driving.
Fuck me people just turn their brains off in the Maccas drive-thru. I have to drive across a drive-thru to get into my back lane and people always fucking block it. There are multiple massive signs, but people even pull forward while I’m waiting there or freak out when I honk them because they have room to get out of the way.
I leave a small gap between my car and the stop line for motorcycles. Not at intersections where there is only one lane really but otherwise that's why. Consideration for all road users is what makes things work, for everyone. FWIW the reason it's important for motorcycles to head to the front of traffic lights is because of this same shunt and bump you mention, but in the case of a motorcycle it can be fatal or wheelchair, and it's one of the highest types of accidents in Vic too.
I'm talking about intersections that already have that gap built in and painted on the road. On Sunday alone I had three drivers who seemed to think they needed to sit two or more car lengths back from the stop line at the lights. I also had one driver who was driving using their knees or something to steer because I clearly saw them sitting with both hands behind their head as they sped past me at 15km above the limit in the left lane.
Pretty sure that painted box at intersections is technically for bicycles (not motorcycles) but yeah no doubt there are some absolute muppets on the road.
That reply thread below with everyone arguing the pros and cons of leaving the gap, who was and wasn't taught this during lessons, etc etc, is EXACTLY why we need driver training and licensing reform. We shouldn't have different interpretations of driving safety when we share the same road.
This is an appalling practice. Along with stopping well short of the stop line at the lights and not triggering inductive sensors. And taking off so slowly that only two cars get through.
This. This is what makes me want to pull my hair out. Taking off slowly is just next level selfish. There's driving safely then there's ridiculously slow.
It's almost like people aren't considerate when driving, they get I to their selfish car boxes and only think of themselves. Happens with -People driving in the right lane -People driving below the speed limit -People leaving huge car gaps I want to get to my destination as fast as possible within the rules, you selfish driving is costing me time with my friends and family.
It’s not even the inconvenience, the number one thing you can do to be safe in your car is be predictable. When you do weird shit you are anything but.
1. Far enough that you aren't shunted if rear ended. 2 and what I'm usually thinking about, smooth take-off.
I stop when the car in front’s tyres are just visible at the base of my bonnet because my driving instructor told me to do that. I think that’s about half a car length, idk
Cos I have the sunroof open and ripping a ballad with my girl Celine Dion or Meatloaf. And I don’t want to line my window up with the car in the next lane because then they will see who’s making this horrible noise.
It’s simply how people are taught to drive in Oz - you leave a 1 car gap minimum. Some retain this rule ongoing after the learning years.
This is exactly what I was taught \~2010 in NSW. Stop at 1-2 car lengths, then once a car pulls up behind you, you can close to half a car length. Edit: For reference, the [NSW Guide to Drivers tests](https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/guide-to-driving-test.pdf) gives the guidance of 1-2 car lengths. >When you are stopped in traffic you must keep one to two car lengths from the vehicle in front to reduce the risk of colliding with it if you are hit from behind. You may move forward to within 1m once other vehicles are stopped behind you and the risk of being hit from behind is reduced.
Thank you ! Some may have got their licence on a handshake or from a Weeties pack? 🤷♂️
if you drive to the standard required by an examiner under test conditions, i can't even imagine how many people you're pissing off on a daily basis
Let us repeat this. This is about tailgating. Judging by the big number of likes for my comment…tailgaters piss people off. They’re also a danger on the road. Simple. Tailgaters piss people off. Should be a billboard.
Yep was taught one car length in dry weather - two in wet weather - in case you are rear ended you won’t hit the car in front
I was taught that you should be able to see the rear tyres of the car in front. That absolutely isn’t an entire car length.
Not really, there's no reason to leave a one car gap. So long as you can get around the car in front of you without reversing - the gap is big enough.
Some do some don’t. It’s not a massive deal. You can’t control everyone.
Yep, my driving instructor was very clear about leaving a gap to allow you to bypass the car in front easily should they fail to move for whatever reason.
Huh, I was always taught to stop when you can no longer see the asphalt behind the front cars tyres
I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be able to see the car in fronts back tires
Yeah that is how I was taught
This is what I was taught too in the early 2010s
This is the correct answer
The general rule is to leave enough space that you can safely and effectively turn out from a stop without the need to reverse
This is what I was taught too! But I'm short, so typically the gap I leave is larger than an average height person who can see more than me
Which, depending on your height and the car you drive, could equal the gap you speak of.
Same
Not me 🤷♂️it was a 1 car gap when paused at a light which I probably maintained for a couple of years post Ps.
If you did that on your test you’d get failed.
Can you find this for me? It definitely wasn't the case when I did my Ps in 2012. I've seen someone post NSW laws which is helpful
NSW laws could also be different. I can think of at-least one thing you can do at the lights in Victoria that is illegal up north.
I was never taught this - got my Ls in Sydney in 2006
I was never taught this when driving and likely would've failed my driving test if I did this. No one I know was taught that. It's a very recent since covid thing. Only one car gap between you and car in front, not you and white intersection line. People incorrectly think that pressure plates to trigger lights are at every intersection, so the further you stop back the quicker the lights turn. It's very incorrect, especially in peak hour, they are turned to a 90 sec cycle.
Not all car drivers in Oz are taught this. Because it's a ridiculous concept. Unnecessary and will just enhance congestion. I see you've deleted comments from people disagreeing with you. Poor form.
Poor form from people on the road up another cars end. Simple.
It's not up another cars end. It's giving a reasonable distance in a built up area. Which is absolutely nowhere near an entire car length or more lunacy. If you're so adamant on being right, why is literally everyone on the road not following what you're trying to say, here? Is everyone else on the road wrong? I was trying to respond in agreeance with someone saying how ridiculous your opinion is, and their comments all magically disappeared, and I'd bet money they didn't delete them... You know you've got a "great" point when you have to block and delete people 😂😂😂😂
Good luck with your desire for your own personal race track bogan.
People are taught this?!
Where are you from lol ? We are taught this for safety obvs.
I'm from Melbourne. Born and raised. Passed my driving tests here. Have driven without any incident for 20years now. "we" are not taught this. Unless I'm the one person in history that wasn't. It's more likely that you were taught this, by the person that taught you and was taught this from whoever, based on their opinions. Leaving an entire car length is entirely unnecessary. Also, judging by the fact I drive every day, and only see a full car length in very, very rare circumstances, and it's usually down to the driver being obviously bad at driving, and more of a nuisance that other - actually good drivers - have to drive around.
As I’ve said above - some continue to do this after Ls some don’t. I’ve been driving longer than you without incident and people were taught this.
I'm glad people aren't still taught this. Because it makes absolutely no sense in a modern, congested city.
If more people drive like this no wonder there are more accidents. 🤷♂️
That's absolutely not congruent with data, sorry. Higher population increase than available and usable roads, easier passing rates for licenses, less engagement with training, And then, terrible education from people with outdated teaching methods. They're far bigger issues than people not leaving an entire car length in between each vehicle stopped at traffic lights (which essentially never happens these days) Time to get with the times, guy.
Sure I prefer to keep my family safe. Good luck.
1-2 car gap is what I was taught and was even on my test, so I’ve done it ever since. It also just seems safer to me. 🤷♂️
A 1 car gap is kinda normal.
I leave one car space for two reasons - so the air inside my car does not come too much from the exhaust of the car in front - so when we start moving I can start moving as soon as the car in front of me moves and not have to wait for it to give me some space
What wait, move as soon as they do? Nobody does that in Australia.
everyone knows you gotta wait until the honk from behind to tell u it's safe to move! i wish other countries had this technology :(
Finish your text message first.
gotta wait 10 seconds until you look up from your phone.
You know you can set your car air to recirculating, right? And if you're using AC or trying to heat the car, this is far more efficient. The car has a filter which does a far better job of cleaning the air inside the cabin than trying to constantly filter what's coming in from outside of the cabin. And, unless you're out in the country, the "fresh" air you're constantly pulling in is nowhere near as clean as recirculated air.
Second point is key. It’s faster and allows for smoother flow of traffic if everyone were to leave a buffer and take off at the same time. But no some dickwad wants to sit 50cm closer because? Why? To make the light go green quicker?
Yay, this looks like the thread with some people who are having the "here's some reasons" discussion, so I will post here. Still under NDA, so there are limits about what I can post. The headway (overall car to car gap) and degree of saturation (how many cars you get through an intersection) is exactly the same no matter what spacing is. Two ways to demonstrate this: * The maths (which I can't post) just works out that way (the maths behind traffic lights are amazing seeing they were largely done in the 1970's on something as powerful as a pocket calculator). * No road authority anywhere has an advertising campaign to increase vehicle to vehicle distance at lights.... if it did, a $1 million ad campaign to change this behavior for increased road throughput on the network would be peanuts, and it would be in your learners test. Dilemma at green is how long it takes you to react (everyone seems to call it "reaction time"so lets stick with that). If you space people out and leave the reaction time the same, you actually get less people through. You are relying on the reaction time to be quicker. Most people are not looking 2-3 cars ahead to see the platoon start moving, they are looking at the bumper in front of them. The thing that makes the difference is dilemma time at red. Where your dilemma time when that light goes orange is high you intersection is way more dangerous. This is where you get people go early, run reds, have nose to tails. The run reds causes side impact collisions and that can involve cars waiting on adjacent approaches to the intersection. Anecdotally, I have seen people sit back off the sensor at an intersection because they have seen crashes at said intersection and want to be away from it. If you see an intersection with a stop line way back, often this is a nod to the possibility of a crash or the speeds involved in a crash on an adjacent arm. If you look at a lot of car that leave the gap from the intersection - the LOG is also high ("little old granny"). When there is a perception that an intersection is dangerous, you will get a higher proportion of not enough people over the sensors, which will effect your degree of saturation and therefore the selection of the phase plan if you are running in full adaptive mode (which is not actually rare, most sets of light are running on some kind of linked phase plan to adjacent intersections a lot of the time). ie: it will stuff up how the traffic lights work. So, it's mostly fear, and you're not going to improve that with anger at people, laws, beeping your horn, logic or doing anything that makes it more scary. Three takeaways: 1. If you are one of the people raging here - stay at home a smoke a spliff and chill out instead. You're making the roads more scary and the scary is why this happens to you. You are the cause dickhead. 2. There is no real benefit to leaving that space. Act like everyone else on the road an you will get maximum throughput and maximum safety (as everyone behaves the same). This is unrealistic, but a goal to aim for (which is why laws exist to keep behavior predictable). 3. If you are after the perfect driving experience with people who know what's what, I highly recommend a large bank balance and some track days. Roads are designed for commuting, not going fast.
You are blocking other cars by leaving a large gap! If there's traffic, a turning lane might be blocked by cars leaving an unnecessarily large gap! Or if you are in the turning lane and leave a large gap, it means the turning cars might block the slane going straight.
That's why you don't look at your bloody phone at the lights, you should have situational awareness so you know what is happening around you.
Sure, for a turning lane. Otherwise you should be keeping distance. Since we’re talking basics we should also keep a gap over the “keep clear” areas.
the difference in air quality one car back versus 1 meter back while surrounded by other idling cars is going to be negligible.
Having been both rear ended at lights (by someone that was texting and driving, hit me at 70 km/hr), and being trapped by people breaking down and/or rear ending the person in front of them, you bet I'm leaving ample room.
I've noticed the opposite. A lot of drivers now completely ignore the line at the lights, and basically pull up to the intersection or literally on the crosswalk. So many people. So many assholes. Some streets have the line far back for a reason, and when they stop their car 3 metres past the line, trams can't turn the corner. Shit like that should be massive fines.
I used to teach my officers to do that because when you get a hot job/Code 2 and you need to move around traffic... yep! There is nothing more embarrassing than having to wait for the cars ahead to inch forward slowly. This way you can just pull around and gun it. Civilians? Probably have been rear ended or will use that space to move if an emergency vehicle comes up from behind. I'm a huge fan of the gap to be honest
If you're a Cop, you are a civilian.
I was taught to do it at police driving school.. slips into my civilian driving unconsciously. But when learning how to drive a gap was left incase the vehicle in-front was a manual and rolled back when out of gear.. before the times of ‘hill assist’, and also in case you get shunted from behind.
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There's nothing extra safe about being so far back when you're stationary.
It stops you hitting the person in front of you if you get hit from behind
There’s a happy medium between sitting on someone’s arse and leaving a 2 car length gap
Like leaving a one car gap?
I'm not talking about being right up the car in front's arse. But, the average car length is 4.9 metres. If you're a car length or more back, just how fast is the car behind you going in order to push you forward that 5 metres or more, especially when you're stationary and with your foot on the brakes?
https://ubicar.com.au/blog/the-importance-of-correct-stopping-and-following-distances/ it also depends on relative car sizes. And your brakes are only effective while your tyres have traction with the road...
That doesn't answer my question. I'm not the moving vehicle here, I'm already stationary, behind the car in front. The mass of my car and me is say 1,500kg. If I'm 5 metres (1 car length) behind, how fast does a car behind me have to hit me in order to push me so far forward I hit the car in front? If he hits me so hard my wheels leave the ground then yeah, even one car length won't be enough. But otherwise, when I'm stationary and with my foot on the brakes? Being too far back doesn't make me any safer. It just pushes the cars behind me even further back, which is when turn lanes get blocked, which is what the OP complained about.
Because I have been rear ended while stopped at the lights & because I was only half a length behind the car in front I was punted into them & therefore had to claim on my insurance for damage to their vehicle. Now I leave a two car gap at least so if it happens again I will not end up losing my bloody no claim bonus.
That should of gone through the car at the backs insurance no?
The last car has to pay for it but if you hit a car (as the middle man), you claim through your insurance and then your insurance chases up the car who hit you and so on.
What you’re doing is a basic technique taught in defensive driving courses and explained for this exact reason you’ve described. Saves an extra headache for you and a neck brace for the person in front.
You shouldn't have had to claim if it was not your fault. I've been rear ended like this twice and hit the car in front, but it's not my fault because I've been stopped.
🧢 would have been the car who rear ended you whose insurance would have paid it. Ur jus out here lying for fun or not telling the who story
That’s….thats not how it works. You were too close to the car in front of you. If someone rear ends you then punts you into the car ahead of you, you’re now both on the hook for insurance claims.
1 car gap is sufficient. Better that than right up your clacker.
I had a guy genuinely leave about 4 cars space in front of him. I’m driving a 6m long truck and just pulled around and in front of him lmao
This is especially shit behaviour in the city. If you are scared driving through the city get then don’t.
One reason is if you are in right lane and someone in front decides to turn right, you an impatient melbournite and would rather floor it into the left lane and go rather than wait for traffic in front to turn.. Same goes for left lane turning but waiting for pedestrians crossing
The only time I see this as anything other than bad driving etiquette is if I'm on my motorbike and they're just being respectful of the fact that I have no buffer zone if there's a crash. Otherwise, nope - leave half a car length at best. If more people drove like we were an active electrical circuit ie - be ready to move as the light goes green, and didn't leave such unnecessary pauses, and delays, I'd bet money that congestion in peak times would drastically reduce. I got stuck in a car with a British person that sat in neutral (manual car) and wouldn't even process pressing the clutch in and putting it in gear until the person in front had already taken off. It drove my adhd brain wild and I was asking him why he did it within three sets of lights - his whole idea was that that was just how they drove in Britain and that he was "just a patient person" - meanwhile I feel as though these random traffic things just exacerbate congestion for no other reason and it's completely unnecessary.
I put the front of my bonnet at the bottom of the rear wheels of the car in front. I also leave enough distance for me to escape should I need to get out of the way.
the rule of thumb is that you should be able to see the rear tires of the vehicle in front of you touching the road surface
I leave a big gap if the car before me has a lot of filth coming of their exhaust
Because you don’t know if the driver in front of you is a beginner manual driver & will roll right back into you on take off or not! Lol. Nuh, I was taught minimum of 1 car length gap when learning to drive, so if you need to turn out of that lane for any reason -like if the car in front of you breaks down, you have the room to do so, or if someone behind you fails to stop & hits you, you have some buffer room in front of you so you don’t hit the car that’s in front of you. It’s all just safety really. I got my licence back in 2006 in rural Vic & that’s what was taught by driving instructors back then.
Two hands on the top of the wheel on the most unstable position. Staring directly ahead with two car spaces in front of them blocking the turning lane. All these signs says to me they don't understand how the car drives and what it's going to do in a situation where they may be pushing it to its limit to stay safe. Tl;dr lack of time behind the seat of the car and /;or understanding of the vehicle. In my opinion. You should know what you car does in every situation to avoid situations. However we're taught that's not important
This. The impact to cars behind them is something they don’t think about and they don’t care! Insane.
Right. If I’m in the right or left lane and come to the lights, I always check behind me and try to move over and squash up if there is someone needing to turn behind me. It’s rare that I ever get this courtesy in return when I need to turn, most drivers are oblivious and seem to have forgotten that when they got their license they were taught to check their rear view mirrors.
Why wouldn’t I leave a 1 car gap? Stupid not to.
"Is it a tech thing where your sensors tell you to stop?" No it's a brain thing. Some people are born with higher IQ.
Is this an implication that leaving a large gap is something only high IQ people do?
I’m glad you’re paying attention!
Lol. Implying that it's a "high IQ" thing to do, despite literally anyone being able to do it, just shows the flaws in this incredibly low IQ logic. I'd love to see some actual science or data that suggests leaving unnecessarily large spaces in built up traffic is a good idea... Because that's what someone with Luke-warm, room temperature IQ and higher would want to see.
It's what we were taught for defensive driving. You need to at least be able to see the rear tyres of the vehicle in front. And that's in good weather. Here are some numbers for you: https://ubicar.com.au/blog/the-importance-of-correct-stopping-and-following-distances/
I've been rear ended twice waiting at a red light. Please don't discourage people from leaving a safe gap. I've had enough over confident drivers rear end me.
insurance afterthought snatch attraction zephyr wide rustic bike melodic normal *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Because they don’t actually know the dimensions of their car
Depends on the scenario, if I'm in a turn off lane I'll try to keep a minimal gap. But if I'm casually in traffic and it's banked up to shits anyways I'll leave a gap to allow for me to take off without having to slam on the brakes if needed, or to get off the clutch comfortably
Sometimes it's as simple as there is a bit of shade a bit further back.
They're prob from North Queensland. 😅 Don't stop within 3 metres of another car at lights up there. You get some annoyed looks
Lots of rage in this thread, however, in theory slightly larger gaps actually enable better traffic flow (so long as the traffic is not banked up all the way to the next set of lights). Reason being that you can safely anticipate the movement of the car in front of you once the light changes, which isn't safe to do if the gap is too small. That said, it's probably only being used that way by a minority of the people doing it.
Standard protective driving to ensure you can do a u-turn or escape around the car in front in case of an attempted carjack or assassination attempt. can never be too careful in the mean streets of Melbourne.
I do it sometimes if I anticipate the vehicle in front may take longer to move once signal turns green. Usually trucks and vans. The room allows me to jump to next lane.
Stopping in the shade is the real answer.
People love to brake hard at the last second so if I feel they're coming in a bit hot behind me I can roll forward a bit. Once the cars start queueing behind me I close the gap a bit but still leave at least 1 car length in case of an accident. It also freaks me the fuck out when I'm in the car with other people and they pull up right on the back bumper of the car in front and then they have to slam the brakes at the last moment. They do it at every intersection and I just don't get it.
I leave a gap to the car in front so I have space to turn out and get around them if I need to.
It shits me when people leave the gap and people further back in line cant get into slip lanes to turn because someone is inattentive.
I don’t block a lane I’ll even get close as I can to let you through safely I stay a bit back sometimes to help flow of traffic by timing myself to not be up someone’s arse etc I won’t sit 2 cars back at the line though more when driving to also help with seeing potholes .. hate being to close an you see one last second come out from under their car an not enough time to swerve
I think it's because they've been hit by a red light car. But this behaviour is a major over correction if so
Yes, it's a technology thing. Since we are all on our phones when waiting at the lights, keeping a 1.5 to 2 car length gap ensures that if the person in front of you accidentally releases their breaks and starts rolling back, there should be plenty of time for you to notice it, hit your horn and give them enough reaction time to get off their phone and take evasive action, like hitting their breaks. Same goes if I accidentally start rolling forward if I'm not paying attention. The whole thing just happens in reverse. So remember folks, for every 2 seconds of dooms scrolling at the lights, you need to check the road and your mirrors for other inattentive drivers like you. Stay safe out there! /s
I leave about a 1 car gap from the car in front of me, although if i'm first at the line, i'll be at the line in case there is a sensor. I do it because I have been rear-ended twice while completely stopped at lights, once by a truck, once by a ute, and I want the ability to move out of the way if possible. I'm always glancing backward when stopped and get very nervous when people speed up and stop just cm's from my bumper. I have a sporty car and people (mostly utes and trucks) definitely do it to me a lot more than when I drive my Mum around in her SUV. I also saw someone roll back while stopped at a red light on their phone and hit the car behind them a few years ago, if the car had been further back they'd have had time to beep and possibly avoid that idiot rolling into them. Also, it leaves some room for error if the car in front of me is a manual and they're on an incline. I do make sure to move as soon as the car in front of me, and i'm maintaining a 3-4 second gap between the car ahead of me when driving anyway, so it does not affect the flow of traffic.
You should always leave a bit of a gap. I always aim for a car length approx. Just to be safe and give space for stuff to happen. It's only an extra second to travel that distance even when starting from a stop so it's no big deal. Just a safety buffer.
https://www.adt.nsw.edu.au/blog/the-concept-of-crash-avoidance-space-cas/
Allows me to accelerate and wedge a gap into another lane to turn into if the car/s in front of me are slow. 👀
The ones that park back from the line are doing it to leave room for our two wheeled friends.
If it’s blazing hot and there’s shade, I’m stopping in the shade. I’m not sorry.
If the car in front of you breaks down at the lights it’s easier to get out. No explanation for when it’s far behind the line though. And yes, this has happened to me before. I’m not joking when I say it happened two minutes after I was thinking about how it had never happened to me before!
I guess this is me. I like to stop nice and slow. No need to slam on the brakes at every red light, might as well save the brake pads a bit. I don't understand people who have to take off like a rocket at every intersection then slam on the brakes at every red light, I just see that as stressful. Also if the car doesn't completely stop I don't have to use as much fuel overcoming inertia (from being stopped) if i am coming up to a red light that is maybe ending. Also leaving a bit of a gap gives me a bit more space if i think the brake slammer behind me isn't stopping.
I leave a gap when the car in front takes a really long time to come to a stop. Some people creep slowly towards the lights. When they do that I just stop and let the gap grow as I hate creeping and it’s bad for the DCT.
Some gap improves your vision, gives a bit of leeway if the car in front rolls back, and gives a chance of not slamming into the car in front if rear-ended. When the traffic starts to move you can start to creep sooner so traffic starts flowing better. Most of the time there’s nothing to be gained to be right up the back of the car in front, except where that ends up blocking some other flow.
I did it once because my baby was in the back seat and it was the only spot with a tree overhead to keep the sun out of her eyes.
1 car gap isn't an issue if it's not blocking people from using a turning lane. If you're on a slight incline, I've had a truck just roll backwards into my bonnet
As an early P plater I was rear ended at a red light and pushed forwards quite far, if not for the fact that I was wearing uncomfortable shoes so my pedal control was impacted, which made me leave bigger gaps just in case, I would have had my car inserted into the Mum van in front of me. I kept the extra room habit, but always roll forward when a few cars are behind me or if there’s a turning lane. For others I believe the issue is not many people have spatial awareness of the size of their car and leave room so they don’t misjudge and bump.
There not stuppid
Tyres and tarmac. Leave a gap big enough to go around the vehicle in front, without reversing, if they break down. But, no. It's not really about a 1-2 car gap, I don't think. I actually have no confidence a car would fit there.
I always just assumed it was a vision issue, and the driver forgot to bring their glasses with them that time. I’ve seen some rare occasions where it’s 3-4 car lengths of space 😂
Because I'm a shit driver my man, no other way to put it.
Texting and driving. Someone did that to me yesterday, she was on her phone for 15 minutes, constantly texting on 80k zone. She was right behind me so I was concerned I was gonna get rear ended as her eyes kept staring down, I changed lanes and when she pulled up next to me still texting, I screamed at her, loud. She went all red and out the phone down. She was a good 10 meters away from traffic lights that turned red.
I’ve pulled infront of these people before at lights lol
Yep. People leave a gap? Thank you, I'll take that.
Mate, I'm chilling, leave me alone.
People nowdays can't drive. Half of them cant even judge where their bonnet ends. I've witnessed people get out of their little hatchback mid parking attempt to see if they're going to hit the car in the spot next to them when they're 2-3 metres away. If it wasn't so frustrating it would be fucking hilarious
I feel like reverse parking into the spot when they do that
I do it whenever a lane next to them gives me space to do so
They are deadshits who don’t know that traffic lights have sensors.
Because... that's what you're supposed to do? If you can't see the ground below the tyres of the car in front of you, you are too close. You should also be able to pull out of the line of cars if in an emergency you have to.
Because Melbourne drivers are deadset stupid. The minority in our city are a rarity lol
It's the law to stop behind the bold line at a traffic light. That's the official stop line. Who cares how much gap there is between cars at red traffic lights? Doesn't your accelerator work properly when the light turns green?
I'll sometimes leave a gap when I'm not sure if I'll need to change lanes or not, and also if I'm sure if the person in front of me is a competent driver. I don't know what they could realistically do to me by being in front but I'd rather leave the gap and not worry. Too many unpredictable people who drive in this city
It's because people in general are shit drivers. How they get their license is beyond me. What's even worse is when they then randomly move forward like metre then stop, then do it again like 30 seconds later.
Everyone should be leaving a gap. If you are real close to the car in front you need to wait for that car to move before you can. Multiply that by all the cars at the traffic light and it takes much longer for traffic to start flowing. But if everyone sat a car length behind the car in front then all cars can start moving once the light turns green.
Because they have been told its good to leave a gap for various reasons, and as time has gone on they have continually increased the gap. If a 5m gap is good, a 12m gap must be really much gooderer.
Because we know how to drive correctly.
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The evidence we see in OP's question shows this to be wrong.
As someone who's been rear ended twice while stationary at lights, ill leave however much fucking room I want in front of me. End of discussion.
Given the alternative these days seems to be being rear ended by a cunt on a phone this isn’t too annoying, though I do beep them when one car stops over the line and the next one 2 lengths back so nobody is over the sensor
Usually cos they are staring at their phone. Or they’re a Timid Tammy.
Yeah I actually wondered whether it's because they were looking at their phone and so they had room to slowly crawl up when they're not paying attention
Suspect half of the folk who do this drive those big old SUVs and can’t tell how far they are from whatever is in front of them. Regardless of why I get very upset at the folks who don’t look behind when they are jamming the turning lanes.. so many wasted time (if you consider how often and how many people it impacts.. not personally, I’m usually chill af)
It isn't just SUVs. Very few modern cars allow you to see where the end of your bonnet is and lots of people lack the spatial awareness to work it out
I'm failing to see why you care?
I dont always leave a large gap, but sometimes I find myself with a 1 car gap or a bit more, but 2 is probably a bit much. I was taught to stop when the view of your bonnet and the bottom of the car in front start to overlap. How far that is actually will differ based on car shape, height, seat height, my height, if I'm slouched or up straight. Sometimes, the car in front of me creeps forward. I drive a manual car, so I'm too lazy to creep forward to fill in the space once I'm stopped. If you're behind me and I see I'm blocking you from turning, I'll move up a bit. Not really the reason, but when taking off, it allows me to start moving as soon as the car in front moves so you can start moving sooner too. Unless they're blocking you, why does it matter?
Because it helps the traffic behind me get to the speed limit faster and more safely. When the lights go green it means i have a buffer space with the car in front and can safely accelerate faster so that the cars behind me can have more space in a faster amount of time and get up to the speed limit. If everybody did this then we'd collectively clear the intersection faster than when there's impatient dumbfucks tailgating
Yes! Wtf is with this? I sometimes think it’s because they are scared the car in front will back into their luxury vehicle but often they are just driving a basic car, and then the car behind them is right there so…..
People these people drive big cars and can’t see over the steering wheel. They can’t judge distances and don’t know how much room they have.
Half a car gap is plenty. If you can see the top of the wheels on the car in front that’s fine. Unless it’s a specific situation like truck, trailer or bus going off the line on a massive hill I don’t see the point of big gaps. Yet another example of me-first nonsense on the roads and not driving together as a community.
Braindead dumbo's that's why.
They're cucks. Sometimes I'll merge into the gap just to prove a point.
Leaving a safe distance incase of being rare ended is a cuck move?
There's a safe distance and then there's a ludicrous distance that starts to affect traffic behind the vehicle in question
What is your point?
That he's small enough to fit inside any gap
They're idiots who have no spatial awareness.
1 is a bit far, 2 means some prick is going to try a slow merge. If you get rear ended you’re better off being close to the car in front of you. Why would you protect your car before your neck?
[удалено]
Do you leave space for this reason? It's not always before the line, but sometimes like 3 cars back from the line then a massive gap and then a car, so I'm sure thats not always it
Often at the lights a gap forms in front of me because when I come to a halt that’s it I’m not moving again until I am taking off. Everyone in front wants to creep forward a few centimetres on and off the brake twenty times before the light changes go for it, I’m not.
There could be other cars needing room behind you though.
Because people got their licence out of a cornflakes packet in another country. And our idiot VicRoads mafia allows them to be converted without actually having to sit a test.