2 Second Rule
 

No, I don't mean the amount of time you have after dropping your favorite slice of Pizza on the ground. I mean the amount of time and distance between you and the car in front of you. The proverbial rule of thumb is 2 seconds. Now in today's hustle and bustle society I've notice a very prominent decrease in the amount of time you actually see the rule in use. Not only that but if you try to use the rule yourself you get a very annoying side effect.

As I was driving home from my shop yesterday the conditions were shitty to say the least. It was foggy and rain was coming down in places and just generally a shitty Vancouver day on the roads. Traffic, however, was flowing at a very good pace of 115-120km/hr in the "fast lane". I was giving myself between 1 and 2 seconds distance from the car in front of me. What did I notice? People take that as an invitation to squeeze their car in that safe spot you have created for yourself. When I say squeeze its not really squeeze because at those speeds 2 seconds leaves alot of distance from the car in front of you.

However, every :)time someone "invades" that space you have created for yourself your space shrinks, forcing you to ease off and once again create the distance from the car that just came into your lane. This happened again and again. I went into the slow lane to test this and again every time I created a 2 second safety zone someone would change lanes in front me and shrink my space.

I began to take note of the average time and distance between cars on the highway and it was shocking. Take a look next time your driving along Hwy1. There were cars sometimes 5 in a row with less than a car length distance between them. Are they going to get were they are going any faster by tailgating in shitty weather on the highway? Leaving 2 seconds or even 1 full second for that matter between cars on the highway allows for much safer driving practices. From leaving enough space for that poor merger to join the flow of traffic to having enough time to react to a situation on the road. So for everyone on the highway please allow yourself, and the others on the road a safe driving distance on the highway.

Sorry for the long post I just want everyone to be careful out there for yours, and my sake.

Berz out.

welcome to vancouver where ppl have no road sense thinking they got 6 pot brembos with racing compounds that can stop in a blink of an eye

About people always cutting into your 2 second gap... that's completely standard, and it would not be logical to think that it shouldn't happen.

If you have a 2 second gap going at 120km/h, that means you have 67m of space between you and the car in front. That's like 2/3 of a city block... which is HUGE.

I mean... obviously if someone wants to change lanes, they'll take that. What do you expect them to do, wait for a gap that's at least 100m wide before they change lanes?

Touch their rear bumper, secure you spot! Speed up and slow down accordingly to the driver beside you.

Speaking of this, I find it funny when some asshole tailgates me, then decides to go around me only to get slowed down even more by someone else ahead of me or in another lane

I totally see where you're coming from, and people wonder why they get into accidents

you do realize the faster you are going, the more space you need to stop right? would you rather be following on someones ass at 120kph and have to stop without hitting them if they did an emergency stop?

Isn't it supposed to be a 5-second gap?

No

It's supposed to be whatever gap you think is safe...holy unless you're an N driver, 2 seconds, 3 seconds...drive with your instincts

*KAPLOWWWW, CRASSHHH*

Really? Damn... man, I guess all that university physics I took went to waste. :rolleyes:

You're not understanding my point. My point is if you are leaving a 2 second gap, it should be fully understandable that people will change lanes into that gap - AT WHICH POINT, yes, you would then need to slow down to increase the gap again.

Its naive to think that it's abnormal for people to change lanes into your 2 second gap.

yeh, people run red, dont stop when they are suppose to,, whats new,

i like to follow the 'common sense' rule, rather than the 2 second rule.
unfortunately some people have none.

I seriously have no idea wtf a 2 second rule is. Other than the principle, of course. How the fuck are you supposed to do rocket science calculations when you're supposed to be concentrating on driving?

BTW going at 120km/h in shit conditions is not the best idea either...that along with following someone with only 1-2 seconds gap

so you're condoning someone moving into my braking zone because it's convenient for them? i'm not saying its abnormal, it happens all the time, i just think its an asshole move.

take the skytrain...that wont get cut off :)

Um....If you cant count to "2" while driving, you really shouldn’t be behind the wheel.:haha:

If you are serious and dont know what it is, here you go: You pick an object (a telephone pole for eg.) and once the car in front of you passes it, you should be able to count out 2 seconds before you pass the same object.

^Sorry, I failed physics. I still don't get it.

driver in front passes a street sign -> 1..................2...............> you pass the street sign

I love it when this happends

dude, 604 soccer mom style man! q (-__-) p

show Chopstick 1 bitch in a suv that can keep more than .5m distance to the car in front of her, and also able to not give the driver behind her a seizure with her brake lights, and i will walk naked in public

and like Draft said, Chopstick loses many brain cells everytime some1 next to Chopstick decides to cut him off hoping they can go faster in the other lane

WHY CANT THE FUCK PPL THINK AHEAD A LIL BIT AND SEE WHICH LANE IS ACTUALLY MOVING FASTER BEFORE ACTUALLY PULLING SOME SHIT OUTTA THEIR ASSES

90% of fucking idiots out there that pull that stunt ends up slower than the lane they were in, and 98% of them have no fucking guts - if u gonna cut off 2 ppl in 3 seconds, why slow down and ignore ppl giving you the finger? might as well finish what u start, and keep cutting off ppl so u can actually be somewhere, and leave the people u cut off behind, SO THEY DON'T PUNCH THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU when u are at a stoplight next to them

freaking goofs that cant make up their minds when driving PLAY SOME FUCKING GTA4 FOR DRIVING PRACTICE PLZ

sigh~ (>__<)

Alphamale --> (o__x )Q=(o__o )o *smak*

Alphamale --> (x__o) Q(-__- )o

Alphamale --> (x__x )Q=(>__< )o *pewpewpow*

I'm not really saying I condone it, but I'm saying this is just totally standard and I don't think it's something to be upset over. As long as the person gives ample warning of his lane change and doesn't cut over right in front of your bumper, that's all you can ask for.

By your logic, there needs to be at least a 4 second gap (or 133 meters) between your car and a car in front to be adequate for someone to change into your lane, so that you wouldn't need to brake.

First of all, would you be leaving a 4 second gap? If no, then how is that person supposed to change into your lane? What if there is no 4 second gap between any cars in your lane for miles? How is that person supposed to change lanes?

lol...you guys make it sound like you're all perfect drivers :p
At any point during my "driving career", I'm sure I've done all of the mentioned in this thread :D

If it weren't for all the bad drivers out there, there wouldn't be good drivers ;)