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OT / driving/tailgating/SUV stupidity/etc

11/18/2005 9:20 AM
SpeedRacer	OT / driving/tailgating/SUV stupidity/etc and it is easy - particularly when seated higher up - to perceive that one has greater "capacity" in some way, whether to stop, to accelerate, to handle a sharp turn, and so on. AS for tailgating, I'm curious about how the angle of vision at that height alters the sense of distance and acceleration. imho the perspective destroys your sense of "speed". The closer to the ground you are, the more you feel it - and the faster things go by. 70MPH in my old 2 seater Triumph will terrify you. (it should; the car has lousy brakes!) 70MPH in a good modern car is comfortable, and 70MPH in a Chevy Suburban feels pretty slow. You don't hear the engine, you don't feel the road vibrations and it seems to be going by slowly from up there. And you hit the nail on the head- too often they are tailgating - perhaps from this distorted sense of safety/speed. Folks forget (or never get taught) a bunch of things that are taught in drivers ed and also at competition schools.. like it takes .45 seconds (best case) to see something and move your foot from the gas to the brake pedal. This is a half second before you can even begin reacting to something. At 60 mph, you have travelled 44 feet in that half second. An average vehicle is 14 ft long. The math is against you stopping in time. Racers as a general rule are often taught to look 7 seconds up the track so that you will have time to see what is developing ahead of you and have time to react to it. How many commuters look farther up the road than the pair of taillights in their way? Then place them in a 2 ton tarted up pickup truck (which is what they are) with weak brakes, a truck suspension reworked for comfort, a high center of gravity and all season tires and it all comes apart. The mass is the worst offender IMHO. ps: I thought everyone in CA would be good at the winter thing by now? I have friends from up north that don't beleive in snow tires either. It's amazing to me. They are so inexpensive compared to getting towed or hitting something.. I am one of the only folks I know who uses them. It's sad really. The difference is night and day. I pass 4x4's all winter (in a RWD sports car) bc they are on all season radials and can't stop or corner worth a damn. They can beat me off the light in deep stuff bc they have 4wd but that's it. Folks don't understand that 4wd does not help you much anywere but accelerating. pps: 2 words for you mr poet laureat: Bridgestone Blizzaks. Get thee to a tire store and keep yourself alive.

11/18/2005 9:20 AM

SpeedRacer

OT / driving/tailgating/SUV stupidity/etc

and it is easy - particularly when seated higher up - to perceive that one has greater "capacity" in some way, whether to stop, to accelerate, to handle a sharp turn, and so on. AS for tailgating, I'm curious about how the angle of vision at that height alters the sense of distance and acceleration.

imho the perspective destroys your sense of "speed". The closer to the ground you are, the more you feel it - and the faster things go by.
70MPH in my old 2 seater Triumph will terrify you. (it should; the car has lousy brakes!)
70MPH in a good modern car is comfortable, and
70MPH in a Chevy Suburban feels pretty slow.

You don't hear the engine, you don't feel the road vibrations and it seems to be going by slowly from up there. And you hit the nail on the head- too often they are tailgating - perhaps from this distorted sense of safety/speed. Folks forget (or never get taught) a bunch of things that are taught in drivers ed and also at competition schools.. like it takes .45 seconds (best case) to see something and move your foot from the gas to the brake pedal. This is a half second before you can even begin reacting to something. At 60 mph, you have travelled 44 feet in that half second. An average vehicle is 14 ft long. The math is against you stopping in time. Racers as a general rule are often taught to look 7 seconds up the track so that you will have time to see what is developing ahead of you and have time to react to it. How many commuters look farther up the road than the pair of taillights in their way? Then place them in a 2 ton tarted up pickup truck (which is what they are) with weak brakes, a truck suspension reworked for comfort, a high center of gravity and all season tires and it all comes apart. The mass is the worst offender IMHO.

ps: I thought everyone in CA would be good at the winter thing by now?

I have friends from up north that don't beleive in snow tires either. It's amazing to me. They are so inexpensive compared to getting towed or hitting something..
I am one of the only folks I know who uses them. It's sad really. The difference is night and day. I pass 4x4's all winter (in a RWD sports car) bc they are on all season radials and can't stop or corner worth a damn. They can beat me off the light in deep stuff bc they have 4wd but that's it. Folks don't understand that 4wd does not help you much anywere but accelerating.

pps: 2 words for you mr poet laureat: Bridgestone Blizzaks. Get thee to a tire store and keep yourself alive.

Replies:

kg [QUOTE]I pass 4x4's all winter (in ... -- 11/21/2005 10:53 AM