The study also doesn’t take into account the amount of gridlock that would be created when there are sequential intersections with lights.
Then you have to wait for the idiot in front to realize the light has changed and to stop texting.
Last January, I was sitting about 20 feet from the car in front of me at a stoplight when an old lady blithely plowed into my ass at 40mph.
She didn’t even hit the brake and after my car lurched forward, she continued to ram me a second time.
$3000 damage to the rear and frame.
Imagine the amount if I’d hit the car in front of me, too.
I’ll take that buffer, every time because it also gives me room to move if I see something dangerous coming up on me again.
On the Harley, I’m watching my rear mirror all the time, at a light.
A reasonable rule is to stop just far enough behind the car ahead of you that you are able to see the bottom of their rear wheels. Anything more invites some other jack@$$ to try and fill in the gap. Anything less invites a bumper touch when traffic gets moving again.
We were taught that in case you were rear ended at a light. It lessens the chance you will then hit the car in fron of you.
Eh. As long as you can see pavement behind the car in front of you, your good. If you can’t see pavement behind the next car up then you are too close.
Q: What is 0.13 seconds?
A: The time period between the light turning green and the first horn honk.
Big spaces between waiting cars also cut off access to right and left turn lanes that begin closer to the intersection, causing even more gridlock.
I typically leave a buffer between me and the car in front of me...as a defense tactic against carjacking (I also try to stop in either the far left or far right lane for the same reason). Lived in So Cal when that was in style several years ago -- don't know if it's still the rage there that it was in the early 90s or not.
What you're supposed to do at a red light is to leave enough space so that you can see the rear tires of the car in front of you. That way, if someone rear ends you, it's unlikely to cause a chain reaction collision with the car in front of you...
I always leave a couple feet in case the car ahead of me stalls out or becomes otherwise immobile (like a driver dreaming of Planet Mongo as the light changes), enough room to turn into the next lane and go around. I don’t tailgate and tailgaters riding my @$$ are subject to random brake testing.
I’ve pulled into those ‘empty’ spaces myself. Even crossing into the other side of the road to do it. I see someone 25 feet back I must assume they are texting and don’t wish to be stuck behind them.
And they cruise in my blind spot!
In general, they’re all in my way!!!!!!
Even better is the idiot who stops one car length from the stopline, especially in the left hand turn lane. “Gee, why don’t I get the green arrow?”
I like to leave what I consider adequate room, but 25 feet is probably too much. When the main lanes get filled it blocks the cars trying to get into the turning lane(s), and this just makes a mess of the whole intersection.
I have always felt one of the things I can control is the space in-front of my vehicle and I keep that as wide as possible be it standing or under way. Standing I will not leave a void large enough for someone else to fill.
The time saved is the amount of space between you and the car in front *after* you start moving.
“...completely offset by the time it took for cars to regain a comfortable spacing before drivers could accelerate.”
Ah-Ha! The truth revealed.
They are presuming all will wait until the car in front of them will move ahead a “safe distance” before starting to move themselves.
This is bogus. Especially for short lights, you start moving as soon as the other guy does, maintaining the close distance.
Their model used doesn’t reflect reality.
Typical.
As an authorized defensive driving instructor, all I can say is, “DUH!”
However, 25’ is an excessive amount of space to recommend. My training says that you should leave the length of your car between your front bumper and the rear bumper ahead (12’-18’ is the average length of American cars). It used to be “see the tires of the car in front of you touch the road; however, that rule of thumb was written when you had 9’ of hood space and 7’ of trunk space. I can be in a full size 2017 Chevrolet van and see the tires of a Smart Car touching the road from about three feet away - LOL!
More importantly, if we would all do a better job of looking further up the road, we could time and pace traffic lights to avoid stopping at most of them.
If you inch forward and just touch the rear bumper of the car in front of you. If you are rear-ended, all the energy will pass thru your car. The car in front will absorb all the energy, fly forward while you are standing still.