The Lemon Fool

There are approximately 32m cars registered in the UK.

Why do 25% of them park on my street and why do another 25% of them travel the same way as me every morning.

It's nuts

AiY

Actually, I don't get worked up about the cars in front, but I HATE it when, after driving peacefully along a small road, I suddenly have someone behind me. Where did they appear from? Maybe it's paranoia or I was always escaping from prisons in a previous life, but I really don't like having a car 'follow' me.

Re. the number of cars on the road, I believe that the increase far outstrips the actual increase in population. Which makes me wonder if the size of the automotive industry will become as important to the country's balance sheet as our ridiculous house prices. No doubt, we'll see help given to first-time buyers of BMWs?


Steve

stevensfo wrote:Actually, I don't get worked up about the cars in front, but I HATE it when, after driving peacefully along a small road, I suddenly have someone behind me. Where did they appear from? Maybe it's paranoia or I was always escaping from prisons in a previous life, but I really don't like having a car 'follow' me.

I'm with you on that! I think it's because cars following nowadays seem to drive closer to one's rear bumper than in decades gone by, before ABS. I usually pull over and make a single car go past as they clearly want to go along faster than me.

Re. the number of cars on the road, I believe that the increase far outstrips the actual increase in population. Which makes me wonder if the size of the automotive industry will become as important to the country's balance sheet as our ridiculous house prices. No doubt, we'll see help given to first-time buyers of BMWs?

Mortgages on cars next, perhaps?

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:There are approximately 32m cars registered in the UK.
Why do 25% of them park on my street and why do another 25% of them travel the same way as me every morning.
It's nuts
AiY

Didn't know you lived on the M25

Mike4 wrote:Mortgages on cars next, perhaps?

Already there. Not quite "interest only, 2 year fixed", but you borrow on the asset, don't own it but get to use it, pay it off for a bit and then move on to the next one with a new loan.

VRD

Mike4 wrote:

stevensfo wrote:Actually, I don't get worked up about the cars in front, but I HATE it when, after driving peacefully along a small road, I suddenly have someone behind me. Where did they appear from? Maybe it's paranoia or I was always escaping from prisons in a previous life, but I really don't like having a car 'follow' me.

I'm with you on that! I think it's because cars following nowadays seem to drive closer to one's rear bumper than in decades gone by, before ABS. I usually pull over and make a single car go past as they clearly want to go along faster than me.

You talking about the ones who sit on your bumper?

My response to that is[1] to slow down (not brake - too scary if they're that close) until we reached a speed where it ceased to feel threatening. In extreme cases that could be right down to something in the ballpark of walking pace.

[1] Or was. With a motor vehicle, or as a fit young chap on a bike, it makes a point. When you're fat and grey-haired and not going very fast in the first place unless on the downhill, I fear it loses its impact. Besides, around here the more usual problem is the opposite: narrow lanes, and cars hanging back so far you can't wave them past at the next passing spot.

Many years ago , I was grumbling , to an older fellow ,about vehicles that follow too close , when he replied that he was told that if you keep close to the vehicle ahead , then you suffered fewer injuries in a collision . He couldn't grasp that if you kept a safe gap , then likely you wouldn't have a collision .

UncleEbenezer wrote:You talking about the ones who sit on your bumper?

No not really, I mean the ones who settle about 1 to 2 car lengths back from your tail when you are bowling along at the 50mph speed limit on many country A roads nowadays. Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

Mike4 wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:You talking about the ones who sit on your bumper?

No not really, I mean the ones who settle about 1 to 2 car lengths back from your tail when you are bowling along at the 50mph speed limit on many country A roads nowadays. Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

What's the fkin engine in your barge?

servodude wrote:

Mike4 wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:You talking about the ones who sit on your bumper?

No not really, I mean the ones who settle about 1 to 2 car lengths back from your tail when you are bowling along at the 50mph speed limit on many country A roads nowadays. Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

What's the fkin engine in your barge?

I have three vintage diesels in 'barges'. A Kelvin K1, a Kelvin K2 and Gleniffer DB2.

I also have a rather wonderful Samofa 2S 108 on a trailer in one of my garages.

Mike4 wrote:

servodude wrote:

Mike4 wrote:
No not really, I mean the ones who settle about 1 to 2 car lengths back from your tail when you are bowling along at the 50mph speed limit on many country A roads nowadays. Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

What's the fkin engine in your barge?

I have three vintage diesels in 'barges'. A Kelvin K1, a Kelvin K2 and Gleniffer DB2.

I also have a rather wonderful Samofa 2S 108 on a trailer in one of my garages.

If you can get them to 70mph on the motorway you must be doing something right
Kelvins are like the Shanks toilets of the engine world - you meet them all over the world and you probably don't notice unless you grew up where they were made


-sd

servodude wrote:Kelvins are like the Shanks toilets of the engine world - you meet them all over the world and you probably don't notice unless you grew up where they were made
-sd

Kelvin diesel engines are still being made, although nothing like the early petrol-start diesels I have!

https://www.kelvindiesels.co.uk/

One of the great benefits of self driving cars will be when we are able to drive 2 cars at the same time, you could even have races against your other (empty) car as you scream around the bypass.

Mike4 wrote:Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

Well 20 feet at 70mph is pushing things a bit far but you don’t have to be able to stop in that distance, not unless the one in front hits a brick wall which you’d likely see coming, you just need to be able to react.

Lanark wrote:One of the great benefits of self driving cars will be when we are able to drive 2 cars at the same time, you could even have races against your other (empty) car as you scream around the bypass.

What's wrong with letting both cars go on full self-drive and play Scalextric for real? You will be able sit at home with an iPhone and with a suitably encrypted connection, changing the destination, watching both of them from their built-in cameras, consuming indecently large quantities of booze with your mates and cheering when they cut another car up or frighten a pedestrian. Any illegalities, crashes, injuries or deaths? The bill will go the the insurer and criminal liability to the manufacturer.
The world will be your hamster (squashed).

stewamax wrote:What's wrong with letting both cars go on full self-drive and play Scalextric for real?

You would need a couple of cross-overs on the M25.


Julian F. G. W.

quelquod wrote:

Mike4 wrote:Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

Well 20 feet at 70mph is pushing things a bit far but you don’t have to be able to stop in that distance, not unless the one in front hits a brick wall which you’d likely see coming, you just need to be able to react.

At just 60 mph one second carries you 26 metres (1600/60) down the road, so if your reaction time is 0.5secs you travel 40ft or so in just that 0.5secs

Charlottesquare wrote:

quelquod wrote:

Mike4 wrote:Far too close for the stopping distances in the Highway Code, yet many drivers see nothing wrong this. I see this 20ft-at-70mph constantly on the motorway too.

Well 20 feet at 70mph is pushing things a bit far but you don’t have to be able to stop in that distance, not unless the one in front hits a brick wall which you’d likely see coming, you just need to be able to react.

At just 60 mph one second carries you 26 metres (1600/60) down the road, so if your reaction time is 0.5secs you travel 40ft or so in just that 0.5secs

Of course so around 40 feet is a minimum, however the point I was making is only that after reacting both you and the chap in front slow down together. If everyone left an actual stopping distance to the vehicle in front (approximately 100 yards in good conditions from 70mph) there wouldn’t be enough road for us all.

quelquod wrote:Of course so around 40 feet is a minimum, however the point I was making is only that after reacting both you and the chap in front slow down together.

Actually I don't think that is entirely true. When both cars are conducting a full-on emergency stop, ABS operating, the lot, yes the two cars are decelerating (negative acceleration) rapidly*, but both having started decelerating from the same speed and at the same rate but not at the same point in time (the following car starting half a second later) means the gap between that cars will be reducing as the both decelerate.

The half-a-second head start the front car has in this deceleration means the leading car will come to a stop half a second before the following car stops, and the gap between the two cars will be constantly reducing. Should the gap reduce to zero before the speed of the following car completely stops, it will hit the leading car. The question is, how much will the 40ft gap reduce by the time the second car comes to a complete halt?


* And not necessarily at the quite same rate but I'll let that pass.


Edit to adjust a nonsense sentence.

If there is a constant half-second gap between the cars (until the front one stops), the car behind will just touch the one in front when it stops. This assumes identical braking distances. Not all cars are Ford Anglias (upon which the braking distances in the Highway Code are based), however, and tyres, brakes and load will also affect the braking distance.


Julian F. G. W.