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Originally Posted by breadbooze
4-6 seconds under 30mph, 6-8 over 30.
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Well, I think that's overkill (unless you are driving a big truck or something), but I won't argue that it isn't safer than being 3 car lengths back at 70 mph. I normally drive about 1 second back in-town and 2 seconds back on the highway. I also back off when I'm not in a sports car with good brakes (a rare occurrence). My problem with 6-8 seconds is that by the time I can determine how rapidly they're braking, I'm 3-4 seconds away, but have to do a lot more stopping because they got a few second headstart on me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by breadbooze
Cool. Though I was taught you use "an" when preceeding a vowel.
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The difference is that "MR2" is an acronym and pronounced "em-are-two", not "mur-two". "An" for a, e, f, h, i, l, m, n, o, r, s, u, x; "a" for b, c, d, g, j, k, p, q, t, v, w, y, z.
Quote:
Originally Posted by breadbooze
Accidents don't "normally" happen either. Better to avoid the abnormal than to assume things are always normal.
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What I meant is that you have to pay attention to what's behind you. If a car comes up behind you, back off a bit, and if a semi is following you, obviously you want an even bigger forward buffer. But most of the time, where I drive anyway, there's nothing behind me to worry about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by breadbooze
Have you plowed into a deer that a semi ran over?
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I've plowed through the debris field of a Porcshe that a semi ran over, but no deer. I don't really see deer being a problem though. First, the semi will probably hit his brakes to avoid the deer, so you'll already know something is up. Second, when he hits it, even if it goes straight under the semi, it will get accelerated to high-ish speeds, so when you see it coming at you under the semi, you won't be doing a 25 foot panic stop from 70 mph, but more of a 100-200 foot panic stop from 60 mph. Third, most of the deer I've seen get hit by a semi went to one side or the other. Fourth, it will be a lot more dead if a semi hits it first, and less likely to kick you to death through the windshield. Fifth, hopefully it'll be on the ground by that time and you'll strike its body with your bumper, rather than taking out its legs and having the body come through the windshield into your lap. Given the amount of crap a deer would have to go through to get to your car, I'd say you're probably safer from deer while following the semi than not. Especially if the likelyhood of a deer strike is high. Not necessarily less likely to hit it, but safer.
But in my experience, you're far safer tailgating a semi than you are passing it. I've been forced to drive off the road and/or stomp on the brakes to avoid getting hit by a swerving/sliding semi more times in the past 2 years alone than I've ever had problems with tailgating one. So while it may be more dangerous than following way back, it's not really that dangerous in the grand scheme of things.