pongobaz

I leave a fair bit of space when stopping; I want to see the tires of the car in front of me touching the ground. It's come in handy quite a few times when I had to goose my car forward to avoid being rear-ended by some cell-talking idiot in a pick-up/minivan/honda/SUV/etc...

Sputter

I find getting agitated over other drivers is just a waste of good stress. I take my lane/speed and watch for others around me. I get guys running me down just to hang off my *** thinking (i assume) i'll catch a speeding ticket first. I guess I hate tailgaters the most. An oil slick ala james bond would be sweet I leave room between myself and anyone else.
I stay out of the packs to avoid the careless people, so if I need to slow down a bit so be it. I'll get to where i'm going with less aggravation.

Christien

Having an oil leak over your hot exhaust helps a lot with tailgaters - they can't breathe!

The DareDevil

I second that!

911 Rod

Try having a red Porcshe. It brings out the worse in people. They want me to die because I passed them.

993c4_Toronto

Not using turn signals to indicate a lane change is my top beef. I actually plan my approach and passing of other cars based on their indicated intentions - crazy huh? If someone doesn't have a signal flashing then I expect they will stay in their lane. Unreasonable??

Mark Lue

Me too, that rule was impressed upon me when I attended Young Drivers of Canada course back in the day... I still follow that rule today. It's one of the hallmark of defensive drivin,... when peeps tail gate you are suposed to allow more stopping distance in front to allow for a smoother safer stop so the tail gater doesn't rear end you.

When UR racing tho throw that rule out the window... racing on the track of course.

keithfox

Since this probably refers to my post I must say I agree, but not so much space someone could pull up in the next lane and parallel park back in ! Being able to see the tires in front was a rule invented when almost all cars were sticks, in case the person in front rolled back. Now almost all are autos. Having said that even that rule yields only a few feet, not a mini-van and a half's length.

I was interested to see the post earlier that someone mentioned they are teaching this extra long stopping in drivers ed.

pongobaz

Yup, Young Drivers of Canada teaches that you should leave enough room so that you could pull around the car in front of you if the car coming from behind doesn't seem to be slowing. It's a bit longer than the visible tire rule I was taught a looong time ago when I was a student at YDC. Can't say I disagree with that technique with the amount of distracted drivers out there.

The DareDevil

I'd like to add to that...

Even the few people who do use their turn signals usually don't use them at the right time. More often than not, I see the signal illuminate after, or just as, the driver has started his lane change.

Edit: Or, better yet, at a red light (in the left lane), car in front. Car in front: Turn signal off. Light turns green, left-turn signal goes on.

Bahama

Rule #1, don't assume anything about what the drivers of cars around you may or may not indicate that they are doing.

That is why leaving some room is your only major defense against unanticipated stupidity.
We live in North America and let's face it, the ethics of the road here are not what they are in Europe (so even more so a reason to go back to rule #1). You folks who drive track, will likely have more comfort in the trust that the ethics encouraged/mandated in that environment will assure you, somewhat more, that the clown in the older/slower Porsche will pull over and let you pass. Don't arbitrarily make that same assumption as you are driving back from a day of tracking at Mosport on the 400 series.
My hope is that now that we have the hands-free law in place, the above mentioned pet peeves may somewhat subside.
My personal favorite being the wide sweeping turn that goes over 2-3 lanes often without any turn signal (a physical impossibility to turn hand over hand to stay in the closest lane while you are holding a phone to your ear, and disrupting your conversation long enough to take both left hand and phone together for a little trip down to the steering column to flick on the indicator light).
Now if the authorities can only stress, via heavy fines/removal of license/car (almost like the 50+ speeding), the "pull over to the farthest right lane unless passing" law, then we might see some improvement...

Regards,
Billy Wong
Owner and Driving Instructor of the Billy Wong Driving School
"Learn to Drive the Wong Way"

Sultan

+1 we need a Serpico to enforce this. What ever happened to keep right except to pass? everyone wants to be in the left or middle lane, get up to 110 or 120 km/h and then throw it into park. I often find myself driving in the far right lane and passing most of the traffic.

I don't hold back anymore, I flash a slow car infront of me to pass like they do in Europe. Some move over, others are "WTF", they have not clue what that means or what they are doing, so I end up going around them.

Torontoworker

At the end of the day... under our current HTA - you would be a fault as the law looks upon you passing to the right as being more of an issue then someone driving the speed limit in the passing lane and not moving to the curb lane or non passing lane as soon as practical.

It sucks that there are people who think it is perfectly acceptable to hog a lane and break the law yet feel it is perfectly within their rights to do so. They drive people crazy and cause others stress and to take chances on the roads and they know exactly what they are doing as most times I can see their beady little eyes staring back at me in their rear view mirrors. But it is what it is.

I would do exactly the same as you… but I KNOW the hard way ( https://rennlist.com/forums/rennlist...n-a-p-car.html ) how cop's would pull you over in your Porsche and ticket you instead of the left lane bandit, just because of the car you’re driving.

Flashing your headlights over here and people will tell you it smacks of 'intimidation'. The cop's get complaints from motorists all the time apparently from people phoning them about stuff like this and they send out those aggressive driving letters to people as a result. These letters really mean squat, but I know a friend who got one and he was sure it was from a guy he passed on a solid line who had been holding him up for miles as a result of bends, traffic and such and his only opportunity to pass was where the road had a solid white line, so he took it. He figures that the guy driving 10K under the limit on this rural road was a 'get even' type and jealous of his nice yellow C6. The HTA seems to protect the stupid and dull personalities, ignore the dangerous until they kill someone and enjoy going after the safe but quicker driver in sports cars.

Christien

Have you ever read the Consumer Protection Act?

theiceman

but to br fair \i think there is a movement on ... quite a few times on the way to the airport on the compass \i have seen "keep left lane open for passing"