The 3 second rule saved me this morning

[JohnP]

This past August I attended an advanced driving training school with my two kids. In Control Advanced Driver Training. My daughter is a brand new driver and my son has been driving a couple of years. During the course the kids get to beat the hell out of some late model Toyota Camry's. The cars need new tires every 7 days and new brake pads every 3 months just to give you an idea how intense the course is.

There was lot of emphasis on the 3 second rule (stay 3 seconds behind the car in front of you) as a way to avoid rear end collisions which are the #1 type of collision for teens. All of the students failed to brake adequately during the tailgating exercise, sending most to the hospital and a couple to the morgue (virtually of course). During the day my daughter mentioned how often I fail to follow the 3 second rule. This was a surprise to me, because I think of myself as a good driver especially with family in the car. Upon self examination I found that when in a hurry or pre-occupied with other thoughts I often follow 1 second behind the car in front of me. When I'm thinking about my driving I follow 3 seconds or more behind. My perception was that I always follow the 3 second rule. So I've been making a concerted effort to concentrate more on my driving and specifically avoiding tailgating.

This morning on my routine commute to work (at a FROSTLY 30 degrees on the FZ6) I'm following a silver Chrysler Concord at around 60 MPH on a 2 lane country highway, leaving plenty of space between us. An approaching car turns left directly into the path of the Concord! The Concord locks the brakes up and the approaching driver see's her mistake and stops dead in our lane. I thought sure I was going to see a hell of an accident. The driver of the Concord skillfully steered around the idiot stopped in front of him. I'm guessing if they had collided it would have been a 50mph T-bone, not pretty.

Now when this happened I came to an easy stop and watched everything unfold in front me. Even if the collision had occurred I was far enough away to avoid get hit by hurling car debris. For me it was a complete non-event. Had I been following at 1 second behind, I'd most definitely be in the hospital instead of typing this post.

Be safe out there...and follow the 3 second rule!

-John

 

[Nelly]

This past August I attended an advanced driving training school with my two kids. In Control Advanced Driver Training. My daughter is a brand new driver and my son has been driving a couple of years. During the course the kids get to beat the hell out of some late model Toyota Camry's. The cars need new tires every 7 days and new brake pads every 3 months just to give you an idea how intense the course is.

There was lot of emphasis on the 3 second rule (stay 3 seconds behind the car in front of you) as a way to avoid rear end collisions which are the #1 type of collision for teens. All of the students failed to brake adequately during the tailgating exercise, sending most to the hospital and a couple to the morgue (virtually of course). During the day my daughter mentioned how often I fail to follow the 3 second rule. This was a surprise to me, because I think of myself as a good driver especially with family in the car. Upon self examination I found that when in a hurry or pre-occupied with other thoughts I often follow 1 second behind the car in front of me. When I'm thinking about my driving I follow 3 seconds or more behind. My perception was that I always follow the 3 second rule. So I've been making a concerted effort to concentrate more on my driving and specifically avoiding tailgating.

This morning on my routine commute to work (at a FROSTLY 30 degrees on the FZ6) I'm following a silver Chrysler Concord at around 60 MPH on a 2 lane country highway, leaving plenty of space between us. An approaching car turns left directly into the path of the Concord! The Concord locks the brakes up and the approaching driver see's her mistake and stops dead in our lane. I thought sure I was going to see a hell of an accident. The driver of the Concord skillfully steered around the idiot stopped in front of him. I'm guessing if they had collided it would have been a 50mph T-bone, not pretty.

Now when this happened I came to an easy stop and watched everything unfold in front me. Even if the collision had occurred I was far enough away to avoid get hit by hurling car debris. For me it was a complete non-event. Had I been following at 1 second behind, I'd most definitely be in the hospital instead of typing this post.

Be safe out there...and follow the 3 second rule!

-John

We must be better in the UK as we got the 2 second rule lol.
Sorry all joking aside, you are a top fella for a number of reasons.
1. You are trying to keep your children safe through education.
2. Instead of just brushing your daughters comments off you reflected on them and change accordingly.

Fair play to ya,
Thanks for sharing.

Nelly

 

[necrotimus]

Glad to hear you are ok and that nothing happened.

Just be sure to look behind you to as you are stopping/stopped. Too many people don't follow the 3 second rule and even if you stop they might not. Glad you are educationg yourself and your kids :thumbup:

 

[JohnP]

We must be better in the UK as we got the 2 second rule lol.

Yes they've added 1 second to the 2 second rule because of all the distractions most drivers deal with these days.

Sorry all joking aside, you are a top fella for a number of reasons.
1. You are trying to keep your children safe through education.

Thanks! They quote that 44% of first year drivers get into collisions and only 4% who take this course do. Me and my brother both totalled our first cars, so if this course keeps them from repeating our mistakes it's more than worth it.

 

[JohnP]

Glad to hear you are ok and that nothing happened.

Just be sure to look behind you to as you are stopping/stopped. Too many people don't follow the 3 second rule and even if you stop they might not. Glad you are educationg yourself and your kids :thumbup:

Yup, fortunately no one was behind me today.

 

[Tailgate]

Tailgating (the driving kind) sucks. When an idiot is tailgating me then I have to open up even more territory in front of me since #1 idiot behind will run me over if I have to make a sudden/hard stop. So, if effect, one has to evaluate both, the distance in front and the distance behind. Someday, maybe, vehicles will be equipped with sensors/warning devices that calculate distance and speed necesary for safe operation. Not that they should be necessary but there are just too many idiots on the road who don't anticipate an emergency. Unfortunately, many of the same idiots would probably just ignore an unsafe zone alert and continue to tailgate. It's so reckless when it's a rider in front.

 

[DefyInertia]

Be safe out there...and follow the 3 second rule!

-John

Especially when it's 30F out there!

 

[Denver_FZ6]

I've always used the 2 second rule in the car, but have adopted the 3 second rule on the bike. Also, leaving a 2-3 second gap also allows me to easily absorb the speed variation caused by tailgaters ahead, who frequently must overbrake when traffic slows. I don't feel I'm as likely to get caught in a squeeze play with the cars front/behind me.

I've stopped preaching the 2 second rule to others though. The response is always, "but people will cut in front of me". I can't rationalize that with the result... a rear end collision in my fault.

 

[Tailgate]

I've stopped preaching the 2 second rule to others though. The response is always, \\\"but people will cut in front of me\\\". I can't rationalize that with the result... a rear end collision in my fault.

Yeah, ones as these lack so much intelligence, it's probably easier to potty train an infant than to educate them.

 

[Cmayer31]

Glad the 3 second rule saved you from the potential accident. Just want to add that even when using the 3 second rule make sure you keep an eye on the rear view because chances are the person behind you isn't following the 3 second rule.

 

[jsw4178]

Glad you are okay!

 

[Hollow]

Glad eveything worked out man and you were okay. Later and take care.

 

[FZ1inNH]

I can't speak for other states but here in NH and in MA, when you are that safe driver and leave a 3 second gap, it is a GUARANTEE that someone will slide into that gap and remove your safety zone. It happens every single trip out there on the bike or in the cage. I get so damned frustrated with it and it is very hard to remain the sane driver, yet I do.

Glad the rule worked for you John and extra glad there was no idiot there to fill the gap or 1 second behind you! Way to go!

 

[Doorag]

+100

As FZ6inNH said - the only problem I have with the 2 second rule is that as soon as you leave that much space between you and the car in front, someone pulls into it and then you have to slow down to get the gap back and then someone pulls into it, repeat ad nauseam...

 

[lonesoldier84]

read a stat somewhere that said something to the effect of:

-most every moto-crash gives you 2-3 seconds to start and finish ALL evasive maneuvres/braking


look at picture:

the more accidents happen with point of impact being closer to the front of the bike. so what that means is MOST of the accidents happen because of something happening 2-3 seconds of travel distance IN FRONT of you (i.e. cars turning right from parking lots, changing lanes, left turn etc). So what that means is if you are EXTREMELY vigilant in keeping track of EVERYTHING that could possibly happen in a 2-3 second distance in FRONT of you...then you are doing very wel for yourself.

 

[lonesoldier84]

yes my bike is a peanut. what you gonna do about it? walk away? thought so punk.

 

[bluenova]

I hate tailgaters, that and people on their phones are the 2 things that annoy me most about other drivers. People in Belgium have no concept of 'remafstand' (braking distance).

In the car I always keep well over the recommended braking distance (25 meters @ 70 km/h on a dry surface) and I have a sign in the back of the car reminding the driver behind me about 'remafstand' and it works, people do back off when they read it.

On the bike I'm not so generous, I keep a thinking distance and would never antagonise the person in front of me, but I would normally not come to a stop in a mass slowdown on a motorway, as I have been rear-ended on the bike doing this before, I will always weave passed the issue.

 

[Tailgate]

You probably don't have to worry that the idiots (more concerned about somebody "cutting into" their gap) are airliner pilots because pilots have formal training about avoiding stupid mistakes. Who hasn't experienced the idiot driver behind who behaves highly disturbed that you have 2-3 seconds in front. You know---the driver will tailgate you in an apparent effort to get you to move over and if you don't, then the idiot makes a big effort to change lanes, pass you and then move back into your lane but in front. All this effort to arrive at a destination maybe 1/10 second earlier (if he/she doesn't get into a chain reaction tailgater's wreck first). And, of course, you then watch the same idiot's brake lights come on, go off 1,000,000 times with repetitive accelerate/brake action. I expect to encounter these and other sophomoric type of drivers on the road everyday. They probably constitute a good percentage of today's motorists.

 

[CooperFZ6]

The 3 second rule saved my bacon this weekend too! I was following a Honda Accord on an on-ramp at about 60km/hr. As we approached the highway, I did a shoulder check to see what I was merging with. There were 2 cars, almost adjacent to me, moving at a pretty good clip. When I turned my focus back to the front of the bike and started to accelerate, what do I see, but, THE HONDA HAD STOPPED ON THE RAMP! I guess she figured she couldn't get in front of the traffic, so, she stopped to wait for a gap! So, into an emergency stop I go. Curbs on either side of the ramp limited my options. I thought for sure I was going to end up in the back seat of her car - I just got the bike and I'm still getting familiar with it's performance limits. Luckily, I stopped with about 12" to spare and didn't drop the bike. The back end fishtailed a little, that was the worst.
I likely was following more like 2 seconds behind, and, I don't think her tail lights were working, so, my reaction time was cut down. I honestly don't remember seeing any brake lights on her car, and, who expects anyone to stop on an on-ramp? I'm going to space it out a little more in the future.

 

[Nelly]

yes my bike is a peanut. what you gonna do about it? walk away? thought so punk.

I thought the peanut was the rider........my mistake lol.

Nelly