- Joined
- May 13, 2008
- Messages
- 198
- Reaction score
- 5
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Massachusetts - North Shore
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
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