Drafting

While I agree drafting is something that should be done with great care, someone drafting a semi in a Prius a 2 car length distance, doing the speed limit worries me a LOT less than the folks who are doing 15-20mph over the speed limit. It is hard to give someone a hard time for drafting while as a country we totally condone speeding by 10 or mph over the posted speed limit.

For following distance, we want you to obey the law, however, for speeding we will allow 10% variance..... Either let's follow the posted speed limits or increase them. But to make it the norm to constantly speed is the wrong approach.

I think the way you fix this is change the way we license drivers. You want to drive above 65mph? You have to qualify for a license to drive 65-80mph. You also have to drive a vehicle that qualifies for those speeds from a safety standpoint, and pass a more rigorous safety inspection yearly. You get a special license plate same as Hybrids/EV's get special plates.

If you don't want the added expense, and don't want to take a tougher driving exam, then you can stick to 65mph or lower.

just my 2 cents....

 

In part, it is local traffic patterns. I spend 80% on my miles on a rural 2 lane road, one lane each way. The two second rule works great. 20% of the time I am on a rural 4 lane road, and again the 2 second rule is fine.

Others will be in 'rush hour' or on Multilane Freeways where the 2 second rule may be counter productive. At 25, I decided not to live that way, and have been avoiding cities since.

 

I think of it as involuntarily drafting. Until they pull away, my MPG goes up by 5.

 

Yep, also leave yourself a "safety envelope in case the semi has to lock up the binders!

DBCassidy

 

Isn't drafting the same as tailgating and isn't tailgating dangerous as well as illegal?
I've had a car totaled from behind and it sucked a lot. NASCAR drivers train to react and drive this way to compete. Most commuters don't train like that and I see no reason to have any faith in anyone to not hit me. How can a car length at highway speed ever be enough reaction time at highway speed? I love watching the tailgaters go flying off into the shoulder every time traffic hits the brakes.


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And what is the problem with this is? If you are going to claim that you will slow down too much, or lose too much time, please provide the math.

 

Corwyn,

No offense, but the traffic in Maine I am sure is quite different than in other areas like here in Northern VA/DC/MD. Here it can take upwards of 45-60 minutes to drive 12 miles. If you leave even 6-7 feet of space someone will steer their vehicle into that space, and essentially play chicken to see who is willing to risk damage to their vehicle more.

If you are not doing 5-10+ in the right lane of moving traffic, especially on a highway, they will gladly switch lanes and cut you off. It's possible in this traffic to get continuously cut off 5-10 times in a 12 mile stretch if you leave too much following distance. In the state of VA if you rear end someone, you are at fault. Even if the a-hole cut in front of you and slams on his brakes.

There is a reason I found a job 5 miles from work, where I can take back roads. I do not ever want to see traffic like 66/495/95 on a daily basis. I'd become a dangerous driver again.

 

I note the absence of any math.

[I drove in Boston traffic for many years, I am QUITE familiar with it. Also, if you have people steering 20 foot long cars into 6 foot spaces, NASA could use them. And 12 miles in 60 minutes is 12 mph. Drafting at 12 mph is a bit dicey. Allowing people to switch lanes at will is shown to improve the flow of traffic, and thus decrease everyone's travel time. No offense, but hyperbola isn't a great persuasion technique.]

 

A few weeks ago, I ended up in a semi convoy on a two lane State Highway. It became "unintentional" drafting because instead of getting in a hurry and trying to pass all the trucks, I just took my rightful place in the middle of the pack and "rode it out" for about 50 miles. Terrain was hilly, but not mountainous, with few opportunities to pass.

I had just happened to fill up the Prius and reset the trip meter before this happened, and the computer said I achieved 61 mpg for approximately 50 miles. Speeds were about 50 mph going up hill and 60 mph going down. Speed limit was 55. In my previous life I would have been frustrated. This time I just focused on how good my mileage was and actually enjoyed it.

 

if someone fills the space in front of me.....I back off and make a new space,,,try it it's easy!

 

Again, most likely works well on Tulsa..... but that is simply not a way you can drive around here in traffic. I'm assuming when someone is merging in on the highway in Tulsa, you let them in. That does not happen around here, you have to floor it in hopes of reaching 60mph to be able to merge on to the 50mph road.

I'm not asking anyone here to visit, just keep in mind that if you don't live in one of the traffic hotspots in the US, you cannot simple assume everyone drives the same way in those hotspots.

 

No you need it to show that this affects you measurably in any way.

Oh by the way, top ten traffic cities: [Time Newsfeed] ...
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Boston
So, get over it. And I drove Boston during the big dig...

 

Perhaps they're going fast to get around a line of cars drafting each other so that they can get through an opening to an exit? Tailgaters create a wall of cars, then there's no choice for the others if they have to be in another lane. I missed an exit years ago on one of my first trips on the glorious DC beltway for this reason. Someone sped up to keep me from getting into the right lane. Learned my lesson about area drivers in no time. ;-) I just don't see it. Why be just downright mean?



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-Chris I don't see what you mean by tailgaters create a wall of cars. There can't possibly be that many tailgaters/drafters in the DC area. Unless they were behind a semi trailer or moving van then they were just your normal dumb driver and not drafters. Besides, when there is traffic, the cars are always going to be closer to each other. I think who you dealt with was just a dumb driver.

 

I guess that was pretty vague..... True that beltways do get crowded and close. But here's an example I see too often of people just not letting anyone get in the way:
Visualize you're rolling in the right lane on a 4-lane divided highway with crossroads every mile or so. The highway has exit and entrance lanes on both lanes so the drivers can turn on and off at any crossroad. Now, you're in the right lane and following a handful of people a few seconds apart at 60 to 70 in a 55, nice and mellow. The left lane is packed, cars for up to a mile, spaced maybe a car-length apart going a mph or 2 faster than you. You find that you need to make a left and now have to shoehorn yourself in between 2 people in the left lane bent on not letting anyone get in their way, just like others on this thread. People here also, will speed up if they see your plans. I am glad I don't have to turn off the road and as before, it didn't take me long to realize why many don't use turn signals anymore. It's hard to explain and I drive alone so no pics.



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