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What driving concept you feel that most drivers don't understand? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/cars@lemmy.world
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I’ll start. Stopping distance.

My commute is 95 miles one way to work, so I see a lot of the highway, in the rural part of the US. This means traveling at 70+ mph (112km/h) for almost the entirety of the drive. The amount of other drivers on the road who follow behind someone else with less than a car’s length in front of them because they want to go 20+ over the speed limit is ridiculous. The only time you ever follow someone that close is if you have complete and absolute trust in them, and also understand that it may not even be enough.

For a daily drive, you likely need 2-3 car lengths between you at minimum depending on your speed to accurately avoid hitting the brakes. This doesn’t even take into account the lack of understanding of engine braking…

What concepts do you all think of when it comes to driving that you feel are not well understood by the public at large?

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[–] 12 points 3 years ago (1 child)

Driving is an unnatural, fairly sophisticated activity that many people don't have an intuitive sense about. Especially when it comes to the proximity of danger to themselves or others.

I live in a developing SE Asian country where the only rule is: there are no rules. You can assume that everyone will always maneuver for their own benefit, especially if their vehicle is larger. This includes turning right in front of you, driving the opposite way, and stopping in the middle of all the lanes.

In a sense, this brings a certain type of order because it's predictably disordered. The key rule is that you will die if you trust anybody to look out for you except yourself.

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