What gives: the 20ft "gappers" at lights?

[Little Red]

I have several theories about these drivers.

(1) Poor depth perception. This person shouldn't be driving, of course. But because some ethnic groups and age groups are far more likely to fall into this category than others, and there's no constitutional way to write laws based on what appears to be racism or ageism, we're stuck sharing the road with a lot of people who are dangerously unable to gauge their distance from other vehicles. These same drivers usually also fail to respond appropriately to other visual cues in the driving environment, and are often dangerously timid on the road. Except when you "recklessly" move into an empty, static space they've created; then they're angry.

(2) Want to leave enough room to change lanes. This person is thinking ahead, in a way. If they do need to change lanes because of a breakdown in front of them, they'll have the space to make the manoeuvre. But they annoy other road users with their lack of consideration and mindless inefficiency.

(3) Want to leave a cushion in case they are rear-ended. Again, thinking ahead, in a way; they could keep a simple rear-ender from becoming a chain-reaction pileup. But once traffic is all lined up behind them, they could safely close the gap. They just don't, maybe because they're too busy texting on their cellphones or blackberries.

All of these categories of driver become irate when you take advantage of their inefficient road use: either they're territorial and that space is "theirs", or you appear reckless and unfair to them, failing to respect the rules of the road.

But let's face it: the rules were created for safety and efficiency. But drivers frequently feel personally affronted when it's pointed out that their behaviour supports neither. It's also pretty impossible for someone who's never ridden a motorcycle to appreciate that your machine can out-accelerate anything on 4 wheels from a zero start; they will be as mad at you as they would at a cager who'd pulled in front of them.

The best response I've figured out, when the 20-footer gets mad at me, is to point out the huge space by pointing to both ends, pointing out how big my bike is, and then ignoring then ignoring them while they spend the rest of the light trying to figure out what I meant by all the sign language.

Then, when the light does change, chances are they'll never see me again.

[Cloned]

Originally Posted by teeter

It's a bummer when you're first at a light that you can't trigger and the safe, friendly driver behind you is stopped prior to the sensors. I've had this happen a number of times.

You can't get pissed really because at least they're considerate and not parked on your pillion. It's still frustrating though. I always want to somehow wave them forward, but I know that would be a confusing "come hither" gesture.

I had that happen just the other day. I was stopped for five minutes, the line behind me just kept getting bigger. After another couple of minutes, I just went through, I was holding up at least ten cars.

[rbesr]

Tailgate,
Yes, you can be cited for not leaving a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. The vehicle that hit you did not make contact with the car in front of you, your's did. If an adequate amount of distance is left between the two vehicles, the less the chance that your vehicle will hit the car in front. Most LEO's will take into consideration all information concerning the accident and make a judgment call as to whether the vehicle that was initially hit could have avoided hitting a second vehicle or not. It's not a given that you will be cited for hitting the car ahead of you. It can and does happen, though.

Here in the Columbus area, if you leave a safe gap between you and the car ahead of you, three cars and a tractor trailer will try to pull in front of you.

[VEGASRIDER]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

Am I the only one or is there some sound logic to,the cagers who don't queue up normally at a light and will leave up to a 20ft "gap" between them and the crosswalk line

Yeah, I see that done all the time as well over here. But I'm not sure why you would get too upset over this, it's just an open invitation for you to get pole position my brother. Whenever I see that done, I say thank you very much!

[CHEMIKER]

Really guys?

Can I get cited for getting hit from behind and slammed into someone? I don't think so. I'd like to see the law that states that it is my fault.
It may vary from state to state but I doubt that if I leave reasonable room between me and the car in front of me (a foot or two) I will be liable for someone rear ending me into them. I bet you 98% of the time I will not get cited and the other 2% of the time my lawyer will be able to prove that the citation was BS.

Also, I have paid a lot of attention to these people and I feel that most are just not paying attention to what's they're doing. I don't have that much faith in other drivers to think that they are putting enough thought into what they are doing to do this on purpose.

I'm with Vegas; IMO they are giving me the pole position

[kvanderploeg]

We were taught in FedEx driving school to leave enough room that we could see the entire crosswalk over the hood. This was due to an incident that occurred previously. A driver was pulled right up to a crosswalk at a red light. He took a look down at a clipboard, studying upcoming deliveries. When he looked up the light turned green and he took off. There was a person that had been crossing in the crosswalk and had dropped something, and bent over to pick it up. He ran that person over.

One more reason in addition to all the others that have been listed so far.

Kent

Don't drive so fast to save a minute, you need your head, your brains are in it.

[Rushiku]

I had also been wondering what the deal with the massive gaps was, so, thanks everyone for clearing that up.

Though it still doesn't explain, to me, why someone would choose to sit 20-30 feet back from the line, as the first car, at an intersection with a median (as in, the only way a left turner could hit you, even if you were past the line, would be to attempt to drive up the wrong side of the street...which, given that you're sitting there pointing the other direction is pretty obviously the wrong way - and now that I think about it, sitting that far back actually _encourages_ people to do exactly what one is trying to avoid, as they won't see you sitting where you should be)

I assumed they were afraid of imposing upon the light, y'know - it's rude to ask the light to change just for you and all, all the work it would have to do. Detect your presence, turn a few bulbs off and some others on, whew, don't want to wear it out.

I'm in the process of teaching my 15 year-old to drive, I use the 'If you can't see where the tires of the car in front you meet the road, you're too close' approach. This allows enough room for you to get out from behind without backing up, which is all one really needs.

If you get rear-ended, does it really matter if you bump the car ahead of you? You've already been in an accident (the rear-ending), your insurance is going up and your day has been ruined, why not share the fun?

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by rbesr

Tailgate,
Yes, you can be cited for not leaving a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. The vehicle that hit you did not make contact with the car in front of you, your's did. If an adequate amount of distance is left between the two vehicles, the less the chance that your vehicle will hit the car in front. Most LEO's will take into consideration all information concerning the accident and make a judgment call as to whether the vehicle that was initially hit could have avoided hitting a second vehicle or not. It's not a given that you will be cited for hitting the car ahead of you. It can and does happen, though.

Here in the Columbus area, if you leave a safe gap between you and the car ahead of you, three cars and a tractor trailer will try to pull in front of you.

Okay, rbesr, according to this theory then if a driver, first in line is, say, 5 feet---or even less---from the crosswalk and this driver is rear-ended from behind by another driver resulting in first driver's vehicle bumping into a pedestrian in the crosswalk the first driver is going to be cited? I'm curious: what is the V.C. violation? And if it's illegal to stop, say a reasonalble 5 feet of so from the intersection line/crosswalk then why do the traffic engineers sign off on there not being an intersection line 20-30 feet before the crosswalk. I don't know about Ohio (and I'm starting to question this state's traffic laws) but in CA you are cited ONLY if you stop in or past the crosswalk. As long as you're stopped before the intersection line/crosswalk it it not a vehicle code violation. By the way, I now realize that few drivers I have noticed stop even more than 20 feet back, more like 30 feet. I'm not upset, but, it's a head scratcher. If it means, as a result, denying some poor blike already late to work access to a left-hand turn lane it then turns into an irritant.

[Hollow]

I don't know for sure the law with a car or motorcycle, but when I got my job with our water distritbution system I also got my cdl so I could drive the dump truck hauling the backhoe from job to job and back fill. I was taught to never ever stop to were you can not see the other cars rear tires. This also implies to when were driving regular company vehicles. It is for sure a safety thing. But you and I both have to remember there is retards that do stop 20ft or more back. I have seen it time and time again. It does piss me off but usually I keep my cool.

[jsteinb95]

Originally Posted by Hollow

I was taught to never ever stop to were you can not see the other cars rear tires.

+1
That's what I learned.